Page 52 of Knight Life In Vegas

I pressed my lips together and took slow breaths. “I’m trying to be independent.”

He chuckled softly. “Independence can be great, but it’s overrated in my opinion. Why do you think we formed a pack? It’s in our nature to band together. I’m not suggesting you move in with us tomorrow, but consider the opportunity in front of you.”

“I’ll think about it,” I promised.

With my brain already mush from being around them, a future filled my head, of breakfast in bed, peaceful moments with cuddles and someone else watching my boys so I could turn off my thoughts for a few minutes at a time. They had only been here for an hour and I was already thinking of everything we could be.

“Are you feeling better?”

“Much.”

“I’m sorry the solution is us. I’m sure that reality can’t be comfortable, regardless of who it’s attached to after what you went through. Where is your ex now?”

“Prison,” I stated simply.

“I—uh, that wasn’t the answer I expected. What’s he in prison for?”

I sighed. “A lot of things. Vulnerable omega assault, physical assault of about a dozen people, coercion, fraud, embezzlement. Probably a few more things, but those are the big ones.”

Eduardo’s arms tightened around me. “He hurt you?”

“Not me, not physically at least until the very end. He went after his ex-girlfriend, trying to get her to give up her parental rights. You met their daughter at Night of Knights.”

“That sounds…complicated?”

“Very. It was a whole mess for a bit, but it’s not as weird now as it was when everything was uncovered. My chosen family isn’t conventional, but I love them.”

He nodded and rested his cheek against my hair. “How can we make this all easier for you?”

“I don’t really know.” I leaned back far enough to look him in the eye. “Are you uncomfortable with it being me? Are you guys suffering?”

I knew Beau struggled, but I was hoping that was a cursed quirk between the two of us.

“I have some symptoms,” Eduardo confessed. “Not nearly as bad as yours, though. And… I don’t know. I don’t have any negative feelings about you being the one fate chose for us. A sweet, fierce, beautiful omega and her lovely children seem like a blessing to me.”

“You’re just saying that because you haven’t experienced the full power of our chaos.”

I couldn’t say no alpha out there would raise the child of another outside of their pack—and happily, at that—because Ava’s pack raised Lucy like their own despite her sharing blood with none of them. Men of that quality existed, but how was I supposed to know if these men were of that caliber? How could I afford to risk my children’s happiness like that?

I pinched the bridge of my nose. Maybe the real question was, how could I not? I couldn’t ignore how my boys thrived around Ava’s pack, how much they yearned for father figures who understood them. I’d seen their faces when Dylan and Eduardo had gotten them on horseback.

“I don’tlovechaos,” Eduardo admitted, “but I’m fascinated by you, and honestly, I’m used to chaos living with Dylan and working around horses. What’s a little more added to my life when it comes in such a charming package?”

Emotion clogged my throat.

“You’ve got a lot to protect,” he added. “If you did want to take a little risk, you’d control the pace.”

It had felt like so long since I’d controlledanything.

“You guys really want to throw your hat into this disaster of a ring?”

He smiled against my hair. “I’d buy up a whole hat store and toss them all in. I’ve thought about you since the moment we met, and I don’t imagine that’s going to stop anytime soon. The same goes for the others.”

I pursed my lips. Beyond fate, I knew why I wanted them: they were sweet and gorgeous, protective and vibrant, andsogood in bed my stomach turned to butterflies just thinking about it again. But why did they wantme?

“Can this be a conversation for tomorrow?”

“Of course. All the better when you’re feeling well again.”

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