Page 79 of Packed Up In Vegas

He moved it out of my reach. “I’m just saying. No one has ever complained they haven’t been paid before and the records were right there. Yes, we should’ve discussed with you before making up our minds, but the facts really were saying one thing.”

“If you’re not going to leave, I am.” I tried to get up, and his hand wrapped around my wrist. “Let go.”

He did immediately. “How long are you going to be upset for?”

I leveled a hot glare at him. “You are really reminding me of my ex right now.”

That statement seemed to shock him into reality. “Fucking hell. I’m not good at this.”

“No shit.”

“I made a choice based on facts, and I’m sorry it hurt you. In the future we’ll talk to you first.” Amir sighed. “I want you to feel safe here, whether or not you want to stay.”

“You know, I can’t think of a single time in my life where someone just believed me immediately. With my mom, my sister could do no wrong, and even when she had fucked up, it took one little lie from Tanya for me to take the blame. With Jerry, I never felt I could do anything right, but I had grown up with that, so I just assumed that was how I would feel forever. I had just started to feel like things would be different here, and then I was right back to square one, the girl getting blamed for breaking something she didn’t touch.” A sob snuck up on me and I hastily wiped away the tears that slid down my cheeks. “I never saw it before. I didn’t know I could feel any other way, and I can’t go back to that.”

Amir looked like he might be sick. He crawled up next to me and pulled me into his arms. “I’m sorry. Fuck me. I know what that feels like. I won’t do it again.”

I held on to his shirt and let everything pour out. He held me without speaking, squeezing tightly until it felt like his arms were the only thing keeping me together. I felt like a pup that had only ever known scolding and then learned what a loving pet was, only to be scolded again and have all that pain rear its head.

“I’m sorry I’m crying on you,” I mumbled. I’d been doing way too much of this since Jerry abandoned me. Grief was tiring, and it wasn’t even grief for him. Just realizing I’d lived a lifetime of pain was overwhelming.

“Cry as much as you want. As long as you hydrate afterward, it’s all good.”

He passed me the drink and I swirled the contents, sipping the cool, fruity coconut mixture. It was a relief against the heat, and it tasted sweeter because he had made it for me. I finished the entirety of it in his arms until my whole body ached from crying and my eyes burned.

“I thought I had communication figured out,” Amir said quietly. “Turns out I’m shit at it.”

I laughed softly. “I see that. I don’t need you all to blindly believe me, necessarily, but please don’t assume I’ve done something wrong from the start.”

“I’ll do pretty much anything to never get compared to your ex again. All of us coming to a conclusion before talking to you was a shit move, and it probably sucked a lot to feel like it was four against one.”

“Yeah. Did not enjoy that part.” I told him about my mom, breathing in his cedar sweetness to keep myself steady.

“I’m just going to say it—your mom sounds like a cunt.”

I let out a strangled laugh. “You’re not wrong. At least I don’t have to worry about talking to her again. It’s kind of freeing even though it’s really fucking sad.”

“I’m sorry you had to take that step.” Amir gave me another squeeze. “I’d say I can’t speak for everyone, but I think in this I can. We’ll do better. I can’t promise we won’t fuck up on occasion, but there’s not a soul in this house that wants to hurt you.”

“I know.” It didn’t fix everything, but it was a bandage over a wound that needed time to heal, and for the moment it would have to be enough.

Callie seemed slightly better when we brought dinner outdoors. Amir was still sitting with her, and she leaned heavily against him, her eyes closed. I’d felt all of her tears but didn’t want to interrupt the two of them. I’d already had a chance to speak to her a bit and needed to leave space for the others. Callie and I had the bond, and it was a constant tightrope balance between letting the rest of the pack get to know her and wanting to keep her all to myself.

Maybe that was a disservice to both of us. Maybe it would be easier for her to feel comfortable with the entire pack if I monopolized her a little more, made her feel more secure in her connection with me? I had never been part of a pack with an omega before now, but it felt like learning as we went wasn’t good enough. Callie had been hurt, almost a decade of her life had been thrown back in her face, and as her bondmate I had to ensure she would never worry about that with us. That was probably an impossible task. She might never truly get over her past, but at the very least we could work on creating a strong foundation to move forward.

“Where’s Miles?” she asked.

I thought he had followed us out, but he wasn’t in the courtyard. “Not sure. Let me go check.”

He didn’t respond when I called for him indoors, so I fished out my phone to text him.

Kai:

Where the hell are you?

Miles:

Be back soon

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