Page 3 of His Gentle Omega
He was going to kill me. This time he was going to kill me.
Chapter Two
Shay
“Master Shay, Master Shay, please wake up.”
The urgent voice tugged at my consciousness, invading the peaceful darkness I had been floating in.
“Master Shay, you have to wake up.”
Groaning, I moved my head to get away from the annoying voice. The slight movement caused pain to explode across my face and head, and I let out a pitiful moan. Every single cell in my body hurt in some way. Had I been in an accident?
Was Lucas alright? Had our car been hit?
“Master Shay!”The sharp tone, followed by a forceful yet somehow still gentle shake of my shoulder, had me trying to blink my eyes open. I was pretty sure only one of them opened fully.“You have to gobefore he comes back!”
Our butler–because of course we had a butler–Albert Santos leaned over me, his wrinkled face filled with worry, his dark brown eyes troubled as he took a quick glance over his shoulder. The events of earlier came rushing back to me, at the same time all my nerve endings decided to wake up and flood my body with sharp stabs of throbbing pain.
Edward.Fuck, he’d been drunk and out of his mind, hopped up on something.
Rolling to my side, I gasped as my ribs screamed at me. They were badly bruised but not broken. I knew the difference by now. Pausing to catch my breath–what little of it I could get into my aching lungs–I saw Albert’s hands hovering over me. Like he wanted to help me but didn’t know where to touch me that wasn’t going to hurt me. The answer was nowhere. There didn’t feel like one place on my body wasn’t throbbing with some level of pain.
My throat ached from my cold and from Edward’s fingers digging into it, cutting off my airway. I felt a cough bubbling up, tightening my chest, and I braced myself for the agony the act was going to cause.
“Lucas?” I gasped when my coughing fit was over, and I found it hadn’t in fact killed me.
“The missus is gathering some things for him. We’ve been trying to coax him from his hiding spot but I’m afraid he won’t come out for anyone but you. He thinks Master Edward–” he choked on the words, his dark brown gaze not meeting mine.
He didn’t need to say it. I could figure out what Lucas was afraid had happened. That this time, this time Edward had finally done what he had threatened me with so many times. Hell, maybe Edward did think hehadkilled me and that was why he had left. The truth was probably that one of his many “friends” had picked him up, so they could continue their night out partying. He probably hadn’t given me another thought.
It was a dance we did, Edward and me. He got fucked up, came home angry and looking for a fight. And I acted as his own personal punching bag. Who needed a gym membership when you had Shay Pierce to practice your right hook on? If it meant he left the baby alone–left Lucas alone, even though he wasn’t a baby any longer–I would let him knock me around. Edward left, and I healed. He came home, both of us acting like nothing had happened, and our lives continued.
One endless dance.
Finally able to get my legs underneath me, I stood shakily, trembling like a newborn foal. The room swam dizzily for a minute, and I felt Albert’s hands lightly steadying my arms.
Albert handed me a wad of Kleenex, motioning me to wipe my face. I did my best to clean up the worst of the blood, so that I didn’t completely frighten Lucas more than he already was. It took several tissues to mop up the mess my nose had made. With shaking fingers I tested it, wincing when I touched the sore appendage. But it didn’t feel broken this time. My lip was split, and I reasoned the blood was a combination of my nose and lip. My left eye was rapidly swelling shut, but I didn’t have time to fuss with it. I’d clean up when I packed my bag, once I got Lucas to come out.
“Thank you,” I managed, tossing the bloody rags into the trash can in the room. I waited a moment for everything around me to stop spinning.
“Master Edward’s taken the Ferrari,” Albert informed me, his voice tight. That damn car Edward’s father had bought him for his last birthday–after endless whining from Edward–was going to be the death of him. Or someone else.
Turning to look at Albert sharply, I groaned, “He’s driving? Please tell me he’s not driving.”
Albert’s answering silence told me what I feared, as we made our way slowly down the hallway to Lucas’s bedroom. Me, with one hand on the wall to keep myself upright and one hand wrapped around my aching middle. Albert followed, holding his hands out, like he was going to be able to catch me if I did fall.
The man was an alpha, but he was pushing seventy if he was a day. I had about three inches and seventy pounds of muscle on him. If I went down, I’d take him with me.
“Mijo, please come out for me,” the soft, feminine voice that drifted out into the hallway belonged to Albert’s wife, Maria, our housekeeper. They were both well past retirement age, and I had a strong suspicion they were only still working here because of Lucas and me. They loved my son as much as I did, and in some ways, they had become substitute parents to me. As much as they could be, anyway.
Panting against the pain, I haltingly made my way into Lucas’s bright blue bedroom. His bookcase was moved several inches, books scattered on the floor in front of it, to make room for Maria’s short, round body. She was crouched down on her knees, the cubby door open, holding a hand towards the opening.
“I’m here, Maria,” my voice was raspy, barely above a whisper. “Let me get him.”
Fuck, bending down was going to hurt. There was a good chance if I got on the floor, I might not make it back up. Instead, I leaned against the opening, so that Lucas could see my body and whispered, “Lucas, come out for daddy. I’m okay, I promise, but we need to leave. Can you come pack some things for me?”
Albert helped his wife to her feet, and worry radiated from both their lined faces. Albert kept glancing at the doorway, asif waiting for Edward to materialize like some ghost coming to haunt us. I could tell by the way he angled his head he was using his shifter hearing to listen for the roar of the sports car returning.
