Page 83 of Omega in Hiding

Valentino is positioned near the entrance, where he can watch the door through the scope of his rifle, ensuring no oneenters without his knowledge. Dario is hunkered down behind a stack of old crates, not far from Valentino, his handgun at the ready. I’m farther from the entrance than I’d like. But Valentino wanted it that way, so unless I was going to throw a hissy fit, I had to acquiesce.

As we wait, the warehouse is eerily silent, except for the occasional drip of water echoing through the space and the faint rustling of rodents. The wait is long and boring, but eventually the silence is broken by the distant sound of an engine approaching.

Valentino signals with a quick hand gesture for us to be ready. The car outside quiets and we wait for Seamus and Patrick to make their appearance. My nerves jar as the heavy sliding door creaks open. The silhouette of a man stands there, gun in hand.

“Come out, come out, wherever you are, Connor.” Patrick’s mocking voice echoes in the big empty building. “We know you’re in here crying your little eyes out because you had a wittle tiff with Paolo.”

I’m uneasy that I don’t see Seamus anywhere. He isn’t with Patrick. The hairs on my neck prick as I glance around the dark building. There’s no way Patrick came alone. That means Seamus is lurking somewhere. It’s frustrating that I can’t communicate with Valentino or Dario. I don’t even see them anymore. Did they move position?

Patrick enters the building, gun drawn. His eyes dart around the dark structure, and he moves stealthily down the space. He checks dark corners and nooks where Connor might hide. Sweat beads on my brow because I still have no fucking idea where Seamus is. I have a really bad feeling in my gut.

Patrick walks past the spot where Valentino is hidden, but Valentino makes no move on him. We can’t do anything until we know where the hell Seamus is. I jump when Patrick fires his gun into the air.

“Stop hiding you little pussy. Come out and face me like a man,” Patrick snarls, turning in a circle with his gun at arm’s length. “Come on, what are you hiding for? You’re not nearly as tough without your alpha here to fight your battle for you, are you?”

I’d love to punch Patrick in his stupid face for taunting Connor the way he is. But I’ll be satisfied once he and Seamus are six feet under. The problem is, if Seamus doesn’t make an appearance soon, Patrick will figure out that Connor isn’t here. Then what?

Patrick stops, looking annoyed. “Connor, are you here?” His tone has changed. Now instead of smug, he sounds almost bored. He mumbles something to himself and looks around.

Frustration shifts through me. He’s going to leave and then he’ll be free to continue hunting Connor. I know that Valentino and Dario aren’t going to make any move on Patrick. They want both men, not just one. Should I do something? Probably not. I don’t want to ruin the plan.

When cold metal presses the back of my neck, I freeze. “Well, well, well, what have we here?” Seamus says from behind me.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

I knew that bastard was around here somewhere, I just didn’t know he’d actually crept up on me. My gun is in my hand, but by the time I spin around, he’ll have put a bullet in my skull. I need to let Valentino and Dario know that Seamus has thedrop on me. Heart pounding, I say loudly, “Hey, Seamus, fancy meeting you here.”

Patrick stops walking and peers through the darkness toward me and Seamus. “Da, you got him?”

“I got him.” Seamus cackles. “You think we didn’t know you were setting us up, boy? You really aren’t very good at this, are you? Your brother should have spent more time training you on this crap.”

Patrick walks toward us, still peering into shadows. “Is Connor really not here?” he asks.

Seamus sighs. “Of course he isn’t here, Pat. This was a set up to getushere. But instead, we got Paolo Syracuse. Hot dang, this is our lucky day.” He gives another obnoxious cackle. “We’re going to have a lot of leverage with this golden goose.”

Patrick stops in front of me. “Stand up, asshole, and drop your gun on the ground.”

I do as he says, pulse racing. I’ve never had a gun pressed to the back of my skull before. I can’t say I like the feeling. All it would take is one slip of Seamus’s trigger finger, and I’m dead. I don’t know if Valentino or Dario have a backup plan, but I sure wish they’d put it into action if they do.

“Now, I find it hard to believe that Valentino would let you come here all alone.” Seamus murmurs. “That means that rat bastard is probably lurking somewhere in this building. Might want to mind your head, Pat. He might try and pick you off.”

Pat widens his eyes and he ducks behind me and his father. “You think Valentino is here?” I get some satisfaction that he sounds scared. Fair enough, my brother is a man you should be scared of.

“I came alone,” I lie.

“Sure you did,” Seamus rumbles. “Valentino, you better get your ass out where I can see you, or I’m going to splatter Paolo’s brains all over this warehouse.” He leans closer to me and says, “Nothing personal, kid.”

“Yeah, sure.” I grit my teeth. I’m embarrassed I let Seamus get the drop on me. Valentino is probably humiliated to have me as his brother right now. I’m probably going to get him killed too, just because I’m so stupid.

“Just shoot him, Da,” Patrick sneers. “Connor is next, just so you know, Paolo. But first, I’m glad he gets to know you were murdered first. He’ll probably cry like a little baby when he gets the news. He’s such a fucking simp.”

As he finishes speaking, there’s a buzzing sound Patrick’s head jerks back. He makes a sort of gurgling noise, and then he slumps down onto the ground. It takes me a second to realize Patrick’s been shot in the head. I’m in shock and not quite sure what to do. I know I’m not the target, but that doesn’t mean I can’t catch a bullet. I crouch down, as Seamus starts cursing up a storm.

“Fuck,” Seamus growls, and he drops to the ground too, looking up in the direction the shot came from. He’s no longer focused on putting a bullet in my head, but he’s also not panicking. Despite the swear words flying out of his mouth, he doesn’t seem scared. He just seems pissed.

I try to scramble away from him, hoping to slide behind some crates a few feet away, but Seamus grabs hold of the back of my jacket, and yanks me back. I struggle, elbowing him in the gut. He gives a grunt of pain, but then the gun is back against my skull, and I stop moving.

“Now, Valentino, you shouldn’t have done that. Because you were so rash, now I have no choice but to put a bullet in Paolo’s head as retribution for Pat.” He lets out a tired breath and I suspect he actually is sad that Patrick has been killed. It’s surprising, especially considering how heartless he is about Connor’s life. Perhaps that’s simply because Connor left them and he saw that as the ultimate betrayal?

---