Page 129 of Broken Dreams

“No, I don’t want to upset Linus or Quinn,”he says. “You can tell them whatever they need to know.”

Pack Mohan is very selective about their omegas getting involved in mafia bullshit, which is completely up to them. Quinn is going to be front and center in it as she steps into her father’s position. Even though she knows what’s being said through me, I think Shaw needs to be reminded of her bid for power.

“Quinn is with me, and she’s going to be one of the senior leaders of the mafia world very soon,” I grunt. “Does that change your answer?”

“Man, I fucking hate politics,”he groans. I bark out a laugh, because he’s Corbin’s political consultant at this point. Shaw is very good at seeing how all the moving pieces work.

I think his gut instinct is to protect all omegas from the bullshit, and it’s done in good faith. Quinn doesn’t need to be protected from things, though, because she’s reminded me ad nauseam that it causes more issues when she’s blindsided by something.

I can learn from my mistakes, and if I can, so can everyone else.

“It’s not politics if it’ll bite her in the ass later,” I say.

“Yes, you’re right. Alright, put me on speaker,”Shaw says.

Quinn smirks as she twists in my lap a little to show that she’s listening as I hit the button to project Shaw’s voice.

“Hi, Quinn,”he says, amusement and disgruntlement at himself clear in his voice. “Christian Sanchez sat down with Corbin and I last night to discuss remaining in Minneapolis for an extended period of time. I explained that he needs to show his commitment not only to you and Linus but also to the mafia community at large.”

Quinn bites her lip in thought, and I move the laptop off her lap in exchange for her mini tablet so she can join the conversation if she wants to.

“How will he do that?”she asks through her device.

“Quinn? Well, I’ll be goddamned, girl. Corbin mentioned that you spoke to him, but I didn’t understand how fucking nice it would be to hear you,”he says.

My lips twitch at how genuine Shaw is. He’s got a good heart for how old fashioned he is. Everyone’s heard about her disappearance, even if they never met her before. Quinn is a beloved mafia icon, the girl who was lost and is found again.

His shock is the real deal, showing how more people than not will want to help her.

“Hi,”she says, and I imagine the cute little embarrassed squeak it would be if it wasn’t generated through a device.Technology can only get us all so far, but it gives her the assistance she needs for conversation.

“Fuck, I’ll try to get my shit together,”Shaw apologizes. “So Christian has his head pretty far up his ass, so Corbin and I decided to serve him a slice of humble pie by making it part of his entrance into the community by helping Wren and Aisling with the build for the transitional housing project they’re working on.”

“With Omega’s Haven?”Quinn asks. “I only recently learned of it, but I’ve been poking around their website and some of the servers that talk about the organization. I somehow doubt Alpha Sanchez will have any idea how to build anything.”

Shaw snorts, but all I can think about is how she’s trying to push Christian away by calling him that. Fuck, Baby Girl. I see you.

“You’re not wrong, Quinn. I’m sure he knows how to put together and pull apart his highly weaponized toys, but he admitted that he’ll be useless on a build like this,”Shaw says. “The point of this is that they need bodies because ROWS is encouraging the construction companies to boycott the shelter’s work. Christian needs to learn to give a shit about someone other than himself.”

Bravo. I can feel Quinn’s smirk in my mind even as her lips twist at Shaw’s words. His inaction had as much to do with his own arrogance and selfishness as it did about not being able to find the right opportunity. We created ours, instead of waiting around for it.

“I expect lots of bruised fingers,”Quinn mutters. “I bet Emilia is having a damn field day with this.”

“Have you met her yet?”Shaw asks, surprised. “Tread carefully there, Quinn. She’s tits deep in the trafficking world.”

“I don’t need to think about that bitch’s saggy tits,” I groan. “Emilia has a podcast that Quinn listens to religiously so she can rage about her.”

“She’s a damn menace. Wren likes to listen to The Little Rabbit’s responses and cheer,”Shaw says.

I grin because I am well acquainted with The Little Rabbit, and her well placed presence on Omega Link. The girl likes to give Emilia white hair, that’s for damn sure.

“I do too!”Quinn exclaims. “Ah, so this is a little awkward, but making new friends is painful with my life being a shit storm. Is there any chance Wren and Flynn would be interested in meeting up with Linus and I one day?”

“Yes,”Shaw says. “I’ll have Wren call you. I mean, well yeah, I’ll just use this number.”

I can tell he’s tripping over his words because of Quinn’s mutism, but I can see he’s trying. In many ways it’s selective because she’s able to push out words when she’s relaxed. This is very much trauma focused.

I’m not going to pressure her to fight with it, though. I doubt there are any therapists that would be qualified in our area, though I’m adding it to my list to verify if there are or not.

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