Page 122 of Fallen Omega

“Dad said the people there were realer than the ones in rich packs and high rises. The working class, the undocumented who keep the city going, the rejected, the shunned, and those who get creative to make ends meet are the real people. Not the council with their stupid rules. And…” I smile. It’s shaky, but it’s there. “I agree.”

“Creative, like criminal activities?”

I nod.

“Well, kid, he sounds like a smart man. And he’s right. In the Council’s eyes, Julien and I are forbidden. We can never have kids, but do we look like the picket fence type?”

“I think you are if this is your happy pack.”

“Lizette…Christ. These guys are going to eat you alive.”

I frown. “I’ll be okay.”

I want to say I’m learning my place in this pack. I want to say it isn’t true. But I don’t know. Just like I don’t know how I can want three different men so much.

And I do want Dante. It doesn’t matter how I feel about him, my body wants him. It wants them all.

“Learn your place.” She puts her glass down as her phone buzzes. “It’ll make life easier.” She reads the message on her phone and looks at me. “But a word of advice? They’re all dangerous men. Knight’s wild and ruthless when he feels like it. Reaper… He doesn’trandomlykill. I don’t think he commits crimes of passion. Except, perhaps the fucker who cut him up. And if I’d been around? I’d have helped.” She shrugs. “But if he has to, he’ll kill you. That’s it. Friend or foe. He’s cold blooded, deadly, what some might call a psychopath.”

“I call it surviving.”

Darcy doesn’t speak for a long time. “So would I. Outside of Julien, Dante, and maybe Knight, I’ve never heard anyone else put it that way, or get him.”

“There’s more to him.”

“A lot more that should be left alone.”

I don’t miss the warning in her voice.

My heart starts to beat faster.

“Dante?” I ask.

“Don’t fall in love.”

“With him?” I push out a laugh, even though I know the weird emotional and physiological dynamic with him and me, with all of them, and me, well…I don’t think it’s in my hands. Not unless I disappear for good.

And I don’t know what to do.

I’m scared, curious, turned on, wrapped tight.

“With him. He’s handsome, always gorgeously dressed. He can move in all parts of society and look at home. From the deepest parts of the underworld to the highest levels of the privileged and connected.” She looks me in the eye. “But he’s a volatile bastard. Red hot in his violence and need for revenge. And he’s calculated and controlled. When that goes? He’s the most dangerous of them all.”

I flicker a glance at her. “I’ll be alright.” How many times do I need to say it before I believe it?

“Just…don’t be so vulnerable. Shit. You need to go. And I need to take care of Dante’s mess.”

Terror rides waves of thrills through me and I don’t know which way’s up.

“You should go to bed.”

“Darcy, I have to meet him,” I reply.

“What the fuck are you doing here? Go.”

She leaves, and I sit. Not moving. I’m not sure I can.

My heart and brain whisper to run.

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