Page 58 of Broken Dreams

There’s not a weapon on him, his dark hair is messy, and he's wearing a pair of blue sweatpants. Nothing else.

“Are you asking for yourself or some kind of government agency?” he teases me easily. “I was there, but I’m unsure why that’s any of your concern.”

My anger is now taking over for my previous anxiety, and it’s wanting me to shoot the asshole. Maybe if only to see what his blood looks like on the outside of his body.

“You don’t seem like someone who would pay for sex,” I blurt out instead. Well, that’s ironic and hypocritical since I’ve been doing it for the past ten years.

Get it together, Christian.

Alesso rolls his eyes, shrugging. “Sex without the strings, a chance to be with an omega during her heat in a way that didn’t involve a bite at the end of it? The women who surround me aren’t anyone I’d want to settle down with long term. They’refucking sharks. I thought uncomplicated sex was all I’d get when I booked my space with Slick Dreams, with a hint of what it means to ease an omega through her heat,” he murmurs.

He’s no longer denying he was there, which helps me dial back my inner beast. The one that is pissed he touched my girl. It doesn’t make sense, it’s why Bret bought her to begin with, but I’ve always hated it.

Linus, Makayla, and my relationship is a Gordian knot of intricacies, most of which are due to our circumstances and my inability to tell them they’re my scent matches.

Choices and fate, they’re tricky bitches.

“You sound as if you’re unhappy with what you found,” I state, brow raised.

“That place should be burned down,” he snarls.

“You really didn’t know Slick Dreams is full of sex trafficked omegas?” I ask incredulously.

I’ve always known, but ten years ago I didn’t care. I had an itch I wanted scratched without worries. I got Bret’s name from a contact of mine and organized a visit. It started with watching Makayla dance on stage, grew to a private booking with her for a few hours, until I made sure to see her at least every two weeks.

I knew instantly that she was mine, just like I knew two years later that Linus was as well. The longer time has worn on, the more twisted up I’ve become about it.

“No idea,” Alesso sighs. “Naive, huh? I think I had blinders on to get what I wanted. And then there she was when I walked in, her eyes filled with pain on a thin sheet on a mattress. All I wanted was to help her, no matter what that meant.”

“Is Makayla yours?” I ask, my voice filled with gravel and dust. There’s death and destruction hiding in its crevasses.

“Mine? No,” he says. “I didn’t think about the implications of being with her during her heat. It made me protective, and theowner is a fucking scum bag. We had to force him to bring water for her as well as food.”

“I’ve been trying to get Bret to sell her to me for years,” I grunt. “Not to keep her captive, but because she shouldn’t be there. Neither should Linus.”

“Well, they aren’t anymore,” Alesso says smugly, crossing his arms over his chest. His olive skin is clear of tattoos, his gaze filled with secrets. “Any other questions?”

“Yeah, actually,” I say. “You helped my omegas disappear into the night. They’re my scent matches, and I’m prepared to do some really fucked up things to find them. I don’t suppose you have them hiding up here, do you?”

“No,” Alesso says, amused. “This isn’t exactly a great hiding place, Christian. They’re not here. They’re with two people who are scent matched with them as well. You’re serious right now though?”

“I’ve been going to the club for ten years,” I sigh, my free hand fisting to curb the urge to fuck with my hair.No weakness. “Did you see how many guards there are? It sounds as if you had a lot of luck on your side in order to be able to get them out.”

“We did,” he admits. “Everyone was busy, and Bret left Linus with us because I swear one of us was going to break his damn jaw. The man talks too much. He’s a trash heap of a person.”

“I guess we’ll agree on at least that,” I say. “Look, I need to see them. To go years hoping to get them out, and then have them both stolen from underneath my nose is a bitter pill to swallow. I missed them by hours.”

Alesso appears conflicted as he makes a noise deep in his chest. It’s the sound of someone who doesn’t want to do something, but knows he’s going to anyway. Please, be in my favor.

“I don’t believe in keeping people who are destined to be together apart,” he says. “Maybe call it my incurable romanticside. It’s why I went to Slick Dreams. If I wanted a heat to mean nothing, I figured a sex club would help me do that.”

“Makayla has a way of lighting that idea on fire,” I admit.

“Pretty much,” Alesso says. “It’s the way Linus and Makayla were together as well. All of it just made me decide they couldn’t be there any longer. Bret was pissed for some reason, regardless of the fact that we all sent money to also pay for Linus’ time.”

“That sounds like him,” I say. “The issue with a worm like Bret is that he has to be in control of everything, and it has to go his way. Without that happening, it’s easy for him to become enraged. Makayla is an easy target.”

“I figured that. Fuck. Look, I’m not supposed to do this,” he says, lips tightening. “If you are what you say you are, then you deserve a chance to prove yourself.”

---