Page 94 of Alpha Daddy

He holds up a hand to cut me off. “Not here. Let me get all the customers handled and we can talk.”

I nod, snapping my mouth closed again. Of course, he has to get everything back in order. Replace food, possibly refund checks. He has way more important things to deal with than my mountain of lies and our relationship that just got a whole lot more complicated.

“Why don’t you go wait in the office for me?” he says, jerking his head toward the back hallway. “I’ll be there shortly.”

“No, I can help clean this up,” I assure him, glancing around at the messy floor. “I’m fine, really.”

Alessandro frowns. “I wasn’t really asking. Go wait in the office. It won’t take me long.”

I open my mouth to argue, but then snap it closed again. I know better than to argue right now when Alessandro’s alpha is raging just beneath his skin.

I wish there was something reassuring in his voice or in his eyes that when he comes to find me in the office everything won’t fall apart between us, but there’s not.

All I have to cling to is my fleeting hope that any of this will end well, and my throat tightens at the thought.

I nod, not wanting to make things any worse. “Yes sir.”

With my head hung low, I head to the office and close the door behind me while Alessandro stays behind to take care of everyone else.

It looks like I’ll just have to take care of myself.

thirty-five

JESSA

As soon as I close the office door behind me, I feel it: a faint ache in my abdomen that tells me my heat is closing in fast.

“Shit,” I whisper, dropping into one of the chairs in front of Alessandro’s desk.

I lean my head back, staring up at the ceiling for a moment before closing my eyes, and wish there was a tub of ice water I could submerge myself in to cool my body off. Not that it would do anything to prevent the heat, but maybe I could buy myself a little extra time.

Would anyone care if I crawled into the ice maker?

I take a deep breath and exhale slowly, trying to slow my heart because it’s still racing from everything that just happened. It was all so bizarre, so unexpected. I wouldn’t have believed it had I not seen it with my own two eyes.

My old pack showed up, made a scene, and got their asses handed to them.

Gods, I wish I could revel in this moment more.

Instead, I’m focused on trying to stay calm and figure out how I can possibly survive this heat without an alpha to get me through it.

If I somehow make it to the clinic in the next few minutes, would they be able to give me anything to fight off the heat? Or is it already too late?

I run my hands over my face, and take another deep breath as the ache in my stomach blossoms and becomes uncomfortable.

“No,” I groan, shifting in the chair with my eyes still closed like it’ll somehow make what’s happening less true. “No, no, no.”

Every heat is a little different, so I’m not sure exactly how long I have until it takes over completely. It’s my first heat as an unbound omega, but I’ve heard stories of how horrible it can be to suffer through it alone.How painful it can be.

Not to mention, if Alessandro doesn’t let me go back to his house, I’ll be suffering through my heat in the backseat of my car.

Fuck. I don’t want that.

Just when I thought things were finally looking up, my body has to go and betray me like this.

I don’t know how long I sit there, burning up with my stomach cramping, before the office door finally cracks open and Alessandro’s smoky bourbon scent explodes into the room, making my mouth water.

Even though his presence brings me a small bit of comfort, I don’t bother moving at first, worried any wrong motion will have me doubled over in pain.

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