Page 143 of Wanted Beta

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

I’m not sure I even want Enzo to see me.

He’s been my best friend for eight years, sure, and we’ve been pack brothers for at least six of those years, but this is the worst I’ve felt since I found my mother dead. The dread of that moment, knowing she was gone and what it would mean for me …

It’s still buried inside me.

My body can feel it now.

My gut twists up, and I go ice-cold.

I need to get that money. It can’t wait. It’s better to have it, even if we don’t end up needing it.

Instinct or not, I have to do this.

“I said come home, Giovanni Esposito.” The command rings through the line, crisp and clear.

He hangs up after he issues it, and I start to walk the second after I slip my phone back into my pocket. It takes a second to realize what just happened.

He used his Alpha command voice on me, forcing me to do what he asked.

The relief that burns through me is intense.

I’m not in control of my own body and it feels good to let go.

I follow Enzo’s order, putting one foot in front of the other until I’m standing in the alley behind the restaurant, and he’s coming out of the open back door to get me.

Chapter Sixty-Seven

Enzo

It’s the first and only time I’ve ever used my Alpha command voice for a serious reason, and I can see from the look on Gio’s face that he needed me to use it. His eyes are unfocused, and he looks completely deflated. I’ve only seen him look like this a couple of times in all the years we’ve known each other, and it’s only ever been related to his mother.

That woman made his life torture for years until her overdose, and then she died before he turned eighteen, which left him with a lot of hard decisions to make on his own.

“Come inside, Gio. You need to sit down.”

He frowns at me. “I’m worried all the fucking time, Enzo.”

I nod slowly. “Okay. What are you worried about?”

He shrugs and starts pacing on the spot. “Nothing. Everything. I don’t know.”

“There’s nothing to be worried about, Gio. There’s nothing we can’t handle, together. You know this.” I step out into the alley, because I know he’s too wound up to come inside.

“I can’t lead this pack.” He lets out a sigh as he stops pacing. “I’m not strong enough. I thought … All this time I thought gambling was the one thing I was good at. I saw it as a strength. It’s a weakness, Enzo, and it’s a big one. I don’t want to do it anymore, but I don’t know who I am if I stop. I don’t have skills like you do. I’m not focused or talented like Jack is. I’m not anything.”

I shake my head. “That’s where you’re wrong. You’re a leader, Gio. You have solid instincts, and you know how to protect your pack. It’s like the air that you breathe. You’re our lead Alpha. That’s never going to change. I won’t let you try to change it.”

He stares back at me. “I’ve been gambling to make the money I needed to survive since I was a teenager. It’s so ingrained in me now …”

“I understand why you had to do that way back then. I do. It was an awful situation. But that’s not how things are now. All you need to do is lean on us a little until Beth gets this restaurant turned around. It’s going to make money. We’re not going to have to worry about anything.”

He doesn’t look sure. “I know Beth can fix this, but we don’t know how long it’s going to take.”

“Something happened to you today. I’m not sure what it was, but I feel like you’re seeing things more clearly now. You can see the right thing to do. You know what it is. Now all you need is to do it, and trust me, we all have your back. You’re our leader, but that doesn’t mean you have to shoulder all the responsibility for everything all the time. Talk to me when you’re worried about something. Share the things that are on your mind. There’s no problem we can’t solve.”

His wry smile is weak, but it feels like progress. “You sound like one of those inspirational quote posters now.”

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