Page 17 of Bound to the Mafia Guard

The limo stopped in front of a restaurant that I recognized as belonging to the family. I moved to exit first, and Andro stopped me.

“You aren’t a guard tonight, you understand? Let Walt get the door.”

Walt was a colleague I recognized as having been a part of Vern’s bodyguard crew.

“This will take some getting used to,” I said.

Louie gave me a playful shove that nearly had me falling on the floor. “Don’t get too used to it. You’ll be back to work in no time, wishing you could have the time off with your omega again.”

Once we were inside the restaurant, all eyes were on us. Andro stood tall and proud, a scowl on his face even though he was in a fine mood. It didn’t look good for the mafia boss to smile too much. The patrons of the restaurant nodded hello as we walkedthrough the dining area to the back room where a private dinner was set up for us. We even had our own dedicated bartender.

We all sat down as the staff scurried to get us our drinks. Appetizers were already on the table, and our dinners would likely be out soon. Andro waited for no one.

Once we had our drinks, Andro stood and raised his glass in a toast. We all followed suit.

“Trev, you’ve always been family. You’re a good man, an excellent guard, and we all would trust you with our lives, the lives of our omegas, and our children. You kept our omega brother safe, nearly making the ultimate sacrifice for him. The fact that you didn’t die is a testament to your strength. Now, we are trusting you with our precious Rowan. We know you’ll be a good alpha for him. Congratulations, brother.”

“Cheers.” Louie dipped his head.

Orsino grunted his approval.

“Thanks, Andro. That means a lot to me. I will not let you down.” I wanted to say more but didn’t trust myself not to cry at the kind words and trust that these men put in me. I’d live up to that trust, no matter what. For me and for Rowan.

10

ROWAN

"You're sure this is something we really want to do today?" I asked.

Trev was in the driver's seat of an SUV we had grabbed from Andro’s garage. Whether it belonged to him or Andro, I wasn’t sure. I should learn more about my alpha. Eventually, I would have to think about getting my vehicle over to Andro's home.

Also Trev and I really needed to discuss where the two of us would be living. If he was going to continue on the security detail, it would make sense for us to be close by—maybe in the mansion itself. Or maybe we should have our own space, somewhere close by. Jeremiah and Felik lived a few miles away, they seemed to like it. They still visited the mansion regularly and even stayed there on occasion.

It was difficult for me to focus and think about the future when I was stuck on the past. We still had no idea who Russo had been working with. Would we truly be able to move on and plan for the future until he was taken care of? Hence the reason we were on our way to Cord Menetti’s house.

"Did you have a different idea for what you wanted to do today?”

“Stay inside the house, locked in our room?"

The corner of Trev’s lips curled into a smile. "We did that yesterday. You missed a class."

I rolled my eyes. "I did not miss a class. I missed an optional study group session. I don’t need to attend a study group. I know all the things I need to know."

"Sure you do."

"Hey!” I slapped him playfully on the shoulder. “I’ve been studying very hard since I got back to school."

"I know you have, omega. I am just teasing."

We had officially closed out my dorm. There was no need for me to stay there anymore, and I certainly wasn't attached to the space. I refused to return to a twin bed when we could sleep in the plush, king-size bed at the mansion.

"Cord might have information that can help us track down who Russo was working with when you were kidnapped. We need to talk with him."

My jaw tensed. I didn’t really want to talk about it, but I knew I had to. Trev had a right to know—sort of—what I had gone through. He hadn’t pushed me to talk about it, in fact we seemed to actively avoid it.

"If you say you want to go back to the house and lock ourselves in our room, we can do that," Trev said after a long moment.

"No, let’s get this over with. We need to. I’m just being a brat. Once we find out who’s behind it, we can be done with it, right? I won’t need a security detail?"

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