Page 63 of Omega in Hiding

Connor stares blankly out the windshield. “When the Black Knives went to war with the Murphy’s, I couldn’t believe it. But I also knew that meant it was time to go. I couldn’t risk being found out by either side. I’ve been running for six years from myfamily. The fact they were now at war with the Black Knives was a nightmare. Both sides would want me dead. I had to go.”

“You should have at least told Alessio and Dario you were leaving.” My voice is gruff. “You could have made up some lie. Instead, you left them without a manny. You let them down.”

You let me down.

“I was afraid to face them. I was afraid they’d see through me.” He glances at me. “Why do you think I didn’t say goodbye to you, Paolo?”

“I have no fucking idea,” I say harshly. I hate even thinking about that night. I waited and waited for him to come to me, but he didn’t. Then I discovered he was just gone. He’d left without a word. No concern for my feelings at all. The pain of that night still haunts me. “All I know is everything about you was a lie.” I scowl at the road ahead. “I have no idea who you even are, Connor.”

He hesitates and then says quietly, “Yet, you risked your life to save me.”

I don’t respond because I feel foolish. I shouldn’t have rushed in there to save Connor. He’s my enemy. I should have let him save himself or die trying. But even as that thought crosses my mind, I feel relief that he’s sitting safely beside me in my car. I don’t know what to do about the fact that I feel bonded to him, even as I don’t trust him one bit.

He touches my arm and I stiffen. “I may have lied about who I was, Paolo, but you saw the real me.”

“Bullshit. Everything about you was a lie,” I say bitterly, determined to ignore how good his fingers feel against my skin.

He takes his hand away. “You’re wrong. Do you think it was easy for me to leave without talking to you first? If you think that, you’re wrong. I felt gutted. It was a nightmare situation, and I had to run. You saw how my Da and Patrick are. I couldn’t risk them finding me.”

“They found you anyway.”

He frowns. “Yes. I don’t know how, but yes. They did.”

“Maybe your new boyfriend turned you in for money.” Even as I say that, I know it’s not true. That red-haired alpha wasn’t in cahoots with Connor’s family. He looked innocent and completely out of his depth. Even I felt a nudge of sympathy for the guy after the way Patrick pistol whipped him for no reason.

Scowling, Connor says, “Sully would never do anything so despicable.”

“I don’t know, Connor.” I give him a disdainful look. “People can fool you.”

He gives a frustrated exhale. “If you’re so angry with me, maybe you should just drop me off on the side of the road.”

“And let you disappear again? No way.” I allow a mean little smile. “I’m looking forward to watching you explain yourself to Dario and Valentino. That will be quite the show.”

He goes very still. “You can’t take me back there to them, Paolo. They’ll have me murdered.”

“Not necessarily.” Of course, he’s right. My brother’s first instinct will be to kill him. That’s just how Valentino is. He neutralizes threats. Valentino won’t believe he’s not working with his family. I only believe it because I witnessed the hatred they have toward him.

I don’t actually plan on taking him to see Valentino just yet. I’m only saying that to scare him. To be honest, I’m not sure what to do about Connor. If I want to keep him alive, I need to keep him as far away from Valentino and Dario as possible. Maybe I need to take him somewhere to lie low for a few days. Just until I can figure out what exactly to do with him. The smart thing would be to just let him go, but I’m not ready to part ways yet.

“Why would you save me only to take me somewhere where I’ll be murdered anyway?” he asks quietly. “If that was your plan, you should have just left me back there with Patrick and Da.”

“And rob Valentino and Dario of their retribution?”

He grunts. “I don’t believe you’ll really let them hurt me.”

“You should.”

“Paolo,” he says quietly. “You have to believe that what we shared wasreal. I… I let you knot me. Surely that shows you I wasn’t faking my feelings for you. I’ve been so miserable since I left.”

A wave of relief and pleasure wash over me at his words. I want so bad to believe him. I want so bad for it to be true that he missed me and that he was suffering as much as me. But then I remember he kissed Sully.Hekissed Sully. Sully didn’t kisshim. He initiated it and that’s just a fact.

“Who was that red-haired alpha to you?” I ask gruffly.

He frowns. “You mean Sully?”

“Are there others too?” I harumph, jealousy eating at me.

He sighs. “No. Only Sully.”

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