Page 35 of His Gentle Omega
“I’m surprised he called on a Sunday,” Asher remarked, taking a bite of his soup, then dangled a noodle in front of Tristan. The baby shook his head vehemently, pushing the noodle away.
“Me too, but I’m glad he did.” Bennett turned his attention to me,finallyremembering I was sitting there.
Goddess, what the actual fuck was wrong with me? I didn’t act like this. All…caveman, you belong to me. Did I? I never had before, but the only person I had ever been serious with was Edward. And I wasn’t about to compare anything tothatrelationship.
“Alex Ortega is a family law lawyer.” Bennett told me, ignoring my looks and surly tone. “I’ve worked with him on a few cases over the years. He’s very good. He has agreed to see you this Friday at ten.”
Swallowing around the lump that apparently was going to live in my throat forever, I stared at him dumbfounded. “I…I can’t afford a lawyer.”
Feeling all eyes, including my son’s, on me, I stared down into my soup bowl. Who knew chicken noodle soup could be so fascinating, but it held all my attention. “I can’t afford anything. I have maybe twenty bucks to my name.”
That was embarrassing to admit, especially in front of my brother, who seemed to have his life together. Asher had always been like that though. Always put together, always knew what he wanted, and he went after it. And he always, always got what he wanted. When what Dad had saved wasn’t going to cover the costs of college and med school, my gorgeous omega brother found a way to pay for it. His face and lithe body had graced the covers of more than one fashion magazine. He had even walked the runway in Milan once. Modeling had paid for what Dad couldn’t.
Not once in my life had I ever been able to compare myself to Asher and come out ahead. But at least I had been proud of who I was, and what I wanted for my future. Until Edward.
Now I was just…ashamed and embarrassed of what I had done, and where and how I had ended up on my brother’s doorstep.
Glancing at Lucas, he was giving me a sweet smile, his blue eyes full of adoration. “I don’t need anything, Daddy. I have enough with what I brought.”
Blinking rapidly at the heat burning my eyes, I couldn’t look away from my sweet boy. He had never wanted for anything since the day he had been born. Not material things anyway. He’d always had the best clothes–more than he could ever wear–toys, and all the food he could ever want.
Now we were literally relying on the kindness of strangers. An omega who had taken us in, who might be my destiny if my life wasn’t one giant mess, and a brother I hadn’t seen in twelve years. We were both men now, and knew nothing about each other, and I had shut him out of my life. To have to ask him for anything more than a place to stay was just…I couldn’t do it. It was too much. I didn’t deserve anything from Asher.
Looking across the table at Asher, we stared at each other, two strangers who had once known everything there was to know about one another. How had we gotten to this place? How had I let us get here? My brother had no reason to forgive and forget, and I wasn’t about to ask him to. I didn’t deserve to be forgiven.
Gabe gave Asher a pointed look, pushing back from the table with Rafe in his arms. Bending down, he scooped up Tristan, ignoring the boys’ loud squawk of protest.
Quietly, he told my brother, “Remember what I said. You need to go easy. None of your usual, everything my way or the highway BS.”
Standing to his full height, Gabe tilted his head towards the glass slider doors. “Lucas, you want to come outside with us?Bennett has a big backyard, and I’ll shift into my bear form and you guys can climb on me, if you want.”
“Yeah!” Lucas jumped up so fast he nearly toppled his chair, and I gave Gabe a grateful, thin-lipped smile.
“Be good,” I told Lucas, “and mind your Uncle. He’s in charge just like if I was out there. I can see you if you need me, okay?”
I still wasn’t great with having him away from me for very long, even with Asher’s mate. I would need to get over it, because Lucas was going to have to be away from me at some point. I needed a job, and he would need to start school in the fall.
“I know, Daddy.” Lucas told me, his tone just this side of being annoyed at me for reminding him.
When they were safely outside, the door shut against the hot June air, I reiterated, “I can’t afford a lawyer. I don’t even know where we are going to live.”
Unsaid were the words of me asking Asher if we could stay with him, until we got on our feet. Who knew how long that would take. Months, at the very least. It was a lot to ask of anyone, but especially someone you had been estranged from for so long. And Asher had a mate now, and children of his own.
“Alex has agreed to take your case pro bono,” Bennett told me quietly, none of us even pretending to eat any longer. “He’s very good at what he does, and after looking over the hospital report–what he was allowed to see without breaking patient confidentiality–and the police report, he’s willing to take you on as a client. You still will need to give a full statement to the sheriff, preferably before you meet with Alex on Friday, if you’re up to it.”
Taking as deep a breath as I could muster to try to steady myself, I nodded absently. It wasn’t that I hadn’t thought it would come down to a court fight with Edward, even with me declaringAlpha Law. But I really wished my body hadn’t betrayed me the way it had, and in the hospital of all places.
The pictures Albert had taken were for me to have as a security blanket, to be used on an as needed basis. I never planned on anyone seeing the extent of what Edward had done. I’d planned to flat out lie to my brother about why my face looked the way it did. Making up a bar fight, or a mugging, or a car wreck.
Anything but the truth.
You know you are going to have to talk about it, Shay, my tiger whispered.You know that, right?
I don’t want to talk about it. I want to forget it ever happened.
Never gonna have a future that way,he lamented.
“I…I don’t want to take Lucas to a lawyer’s office,” I whispered, running a finger over the top of the table in a mindless circle. “There are some things that he doesn’t need to know. Edward is still his omega father.”
