Page 43 of Curvy Nerdy Omega

I hid my wince, knowing how much Lucy would hate it that they were talking about her like this. “You should just ask her yourself.”

“Lucy has a hard time speaking with me after I got upset when she didn’t want me to adopt her,” Francisco admitted as he poured three cups of coffee. Peter glared at me before he left, but it wasn’t quite as cold as it was when we first got here. “She wants nothing to do with this life, which I understand, but it’s…difficult. I’m an alpha. I want to protect her and she won’t let me. She barely even allows Frankie to take care of her.”

I sighed and placed a cube of sugar in my coffee. A small splash of milk had it the perfect cocoa color. I felt the weight of a legacy alpha’s attention and ignored it as I stirred.

Yeah, Liam had taught me all the bullshit etiquette rules of his world, just like I assume Frankie had taught Lucy, but this wasn’t my world no matter how well I could perform. I was just a well-trained dog.

“You’re very strong for someone who doesn’t possess red eyes,” Francisco admitted as he sipped his coffee black. “You and Francesca are a lot alike.”

What the fuck was I supposed to say to that?

“Are you calling me an asshole right now?” she demanded, the shears in her hand looking more like a weapon now that she was pointing them at her father.

“I’m simply making an observation.” Francisco didn’t look away from me as he took another sip of coffee. “Tell me, what do you think of an omega working in such a dangerous field?”

This was exhausting. I wanted to get back so I could watch her on the cameras, but this was what she wanted me to do so that’s what the fuck I was going to do.

Had she known Francisco would grill me like this, or was she really that worried about Frankie? Did she know how close these two really were?

“I think an omega can do whatever they want to do,” I admitted, even if it irritated me to no end that she wanted nothing to do with me right now. “It’s up to the alpha to keep them safe, right? If I can’t support her endeavors and keep her safe at the same time, then I’m not the right alpha for her.”

Frankie looked shocked, but Francisco gave me a sharp, predatory grin. “You believe you can do that? How?”

“It’s not just me,” I reminded him. “It’s also Liam, and all the resources we have access to. She can run around as much as she wants as long as she sticks to a training regimen. One of us will always have an eye on her no matter what she does.”

“And she’s fine with that?” He poured more coffee into his cup, clearly unconvinced that I could manage that. “The only protection she’s ever allowed me to give her is my eldest daughter. I’d do more if I could, but Francesca is one of my strongest. She’s done well up until now, hasn’t she?”

“She has.”

“A shame she and Lucy weren’t scent matches.”

“I’m sure she feels the same way,” I muttered, glaring at the coffee in my cup. “Lucy knows we’re watching her, even now. If she didn’t want that, she’d destroy every camera we have on her, but she hasn’t. She’s more worried about the case right now than Liam’s psychotic tendencies.”

The last thing I expected was for Francisco to laugh. A loud laugh full of humor and joy.

“I’m glad she seems to like you.” Then any trace of humor disappeared and that cold look was back in his eyes. “Ask me the other question your master sent you here to ask.”

I shared a look with Frankie and she shook her head, pleading with her eyes for me to keep my mouth shut, but I couldn’t just ignore the alpha of an entire legacy pack in his own home.

“Lucy would probably want me to ask where you were the night of Gideon’s murder,” I admitted as I sent Liam another text. “But you weren’t at the top of her suspect list. You weren’t even in the top five.”

“Lucy, not Liam?” The sharp smile on Francisco’s face was a warning, but the chill in his eyes was starting to thaw.

“If you think Lucy doesn’t have complete control over Liam, whether she knows it or not, you’re not paying attention.” I ran my hand through my hair and checked the footage real fast to see Lucy was digging through her apartment like she’d lost something. “Liam is now slated to take over Valor, and he would do anything for her.”

“Clearly, if he was willing to go to war.” Francisco seemed pleased even if his expression barely changed. “Tell Lucy I’ll forgive everything that happened and everything that will happen with Arturo. As for where I was when Gideon Valor was murdered, I’ll send proof of my alibi as well as my schedule, the information regarding our interest in the docks, and anything else my daughter asks for. Just tell Lucy I would rather she ask than hack into my servers again.”

My eyebrows rose and Frankie blushed as she finished arranging the red roses in the vase. This pack was fucking bizarre, but I couldn’t say I didn’t like it. If anything, it felt a bit more normal than the Valor pack.

“I’ll also send over my research on dominant omegas,” Francisco stated. He stood and I immediately followed suit, watching as the older alpha clasped his hands behind his back to inspect Frankie’s work. “There’s not much, but I would assume it’s better than nothing.”

Well, I would fucking think so.

“This is very nice, Francesca. Thank you for helping.” Her father smiled slightly before leaning down to smell the roses. “I expect to see you on Sunday, my daughter.”

“Of course, Pop.” She reached for the last dark rose that hadn’t been used, eyeing it like it had all the answers we could ever need. “I just have one last question.”

“Oh?”

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