Page 74 of Alpha & Omega

My eyes blinked open to pain again, and my body shivered from the cold. I must have passed out. The noise, sirens, flashing lights, and people trying to talk to me overwhelmed my senses… unable to get my bearings. Crunching metal sounded as someone tried to get me out of my car. I kept blinking as the red and blue lights stabbed my fucking brain.

Why was I upside down?

Right… I’d been in a car accident.

“Sir, can you move?”

I shook my head, or I thought I did.

“We’re going to get you out of there. You’re stuck, so it’s going to take a while to pry you out.”

I nodded before blackness consumed me again.

Afterwetalkedinthe early morning and I didn’t hear back from Kingston for the entire day, I started to worry. Sure, he was busy with Tony in the hospital and getting him packed up, but Kingston had always been responsive whenever I texted. Maybe not right away, but he wouldn’t have waited this long. What worried me the most was the boyfriend coming after them.

Regardless, I had to get ready for work, so I took a quick shower, pulled up my hair to keep it out of my face, and got dressed.

Before I headed out, I texted him again.

Me: Hey, how are you and Tony? I haven’t heard back, and I’m

getting a little worried. Are youall okay?

I looked at my phone, begging him to respond, not sure why my gut was twisting so violently, telling me something was wrong.

“You ready, Hud?” I yelled at his bedroom door.

“Yeah, be there in a sec.”

Hudson was working at the restaurant tonight, so I just drove him in with me.

We arrived a little early for work so I could prep, though my staff was good at that already, but I wanted to stay busy and distracted. My mind kept playing tricks on me that something had happened to Kingston and Tony. If a man could abuse his boyfriend, who knew what else he was capable of? Shit, what if Kingston went after the guy instead?

Okay, one more time, I told myself.

I texted Kingston one last time before I got too busy. Although my message showed it had been delivered to his phone, none of my messages had been read, which didn’t ease my worry. I said nothing to Hudson, not wanting to get ahead of myself or make him worry, too.

The evening grew busy, and I didn’t have much time to stop and think about anything as I kept up with the demands of making meals.

“So, how are you and your boyfriend? What’s his name again?” Terri asked.

I smiled as I plated some of my now famous mussels, and handed them over to my pantry chef. “Kingston. We’re really good. He’s met Hudson, and they’ve hit it off.”

“Aw, Chef is in love.”

I smiled and shook my head. “Not gonna deny it.”

She looked over at the restaurant, watching my son clean tables. “He’s so responsible,” she said.

“Of course he is. He’s my son.”

“Do you think he’ll be a chef like you?”

I scoffed. “He likes junk food too much. Nah, he’s more into science and has big plans already.”

“Nice. I didn’t have my shit together until my mid-twenties.”

“I’m really proud of him.”

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