Page 20 of The Mafia's Omega Queen

After spending another hour outside in silence, just soaking up each other’s company, Vinny picked me up, forgoing the rest of the mess, and brought me inside. It was a peaceful afternoon, one that I don’t think I’ll be able to forget any time soon.

Now he stands outside my door, his limbs holding me tight, not wanting to let me go. I feel the sentiment deep in my very being, but my mind is still fighting me with how wrong it is to enjoy being in his presence.

Plus, I’m sure he’s behind on work since he spent most of the day with me. Ninety percent of his day is spent behind the doors of his office, so his being away from there for so long is shocking. Issues have to be piling up with no end in sight. But that’s the mafia for you. No rest for the wicked.

“Thank you for indulging me today,” Vinny mutters, “I know I don’t deserve it, but it means everything to me that you did.” Heat scorches my cheeks as he looks down at me like I’m the very reason for his existence. The omega genes in me swoon at the alpha’s attention, but the mafia heir part of me is still scorned by his behavior.

It doesn’t diminish the hope that he’s truly changing, though.

A throat clears inside my bedroom, my head snapping toward the tattooed alpha, waiting not so patiently for Vinny to relinquish his hold on me. Shit, I didn’t even know he was there. Vinny has me all sorts of fucked up right now.

“I got her from here,” he rumbles, gently pulling me from Vinny’s hold. I snuggle into his thick arms, preening at the feel of him against me, but my eyes dart back to Vinny for a moment. He looks like he wants to snap at Hunter for taking me away, but he wisely keeps his thoughts to himself.

“I’ll let you know what I decide,” I murmur. “Thank you for the picnic.”

“You’re welcome, princess,” Vinny says before he disappears back down the hall toward the stairs.

It’s times like these that I wish I had a close girlfriend or something that I could talk all this over with. Get an outsider’s opinion. But I don’t, so that means the guys are going to have to bear with me while I figure it all out.

Hunter kicks the door shut behind him as we reenter my room, and then he heads straight to the shower, flipping on the taps. He sits me on the counter, strips me bare, takes off the bandages on the wounds on my torso, and pulls out a small plastic bag, shoving my casted arm inside and tucking the edges into the small cuff to protect it from the water. Once he’s content that I’m ready, he removes all his clothes and picks me back up, carrying me into the steamy tiled shower.

He doesn’t utter a single word as he meticulously washes every part of me, and his lack of commentary or some kind of sexual remark starts to worry me. My crazy alpha normally has so much to say, or an innuendo to spew, that the lack of one is concerning.

Hunter drops the loofah, seemingly satisfied that I’m clean, he drops his head to my neck, inhaling deeply. The tension riding his shoulders loosens as continues to soothe himself with my scent.

Pulling back, I cup his face, turning him to see into his stunning silver eyes. “What’s wrong, Hunt?” He just shakes his head and buries his nose back into the crook of my neck. “I’m right here, babe. Talk to me. Tell me what’s going on.”

“Fuck, little killer. I thought you were taken. I came in to see you, and you were just gone. It wasn’t until Andre told me where you were that they were finally able to calm me down. But it hurts here,” he rubs furiously at his sternum, “thinking that I lost you.”

Well, if that just doesn’t make me feel like a gigantic pile of shit.

“I’m so sorry, Hunt.” I release the side of his face and wipe the water from my eyes. “I didn’t even think about that. But please don’t blame Vinny. I asked him not to tell you guys. You guys have been keeping me locked up, and I needed to get out.”

“We just want to keep you safe,” he grumbles like a pouting child, making me giggle.

“I know, but maybe you guys can loosen the reins just a little.”

“Fine,” he mumbles, rolling his eyes.

“But let’s get out of here and into bed. There’s something I want to talk to you about.”

He shuts off the water and carries me out of the shower, slowly placing me on my feet. Once I’m steady, he grabs a towel and dries every inch of me, then replaces the bandages before taking care of himself.

Hunter is such a good alpha and an amazing mate. His care and concern for me is palpable in every move he makes. Same with Arden and Gavin. I’m so damn lucky to have them in my life. God knows what mess I’d be in if it wasn’t for them.

After wrapping us both in towels, he picks me up, my legs wrapping around his waist, then heads back to the bedroom and pulls open the covers, carefully laying me down. Hunter climbs in after me, slowly unwraps me like a present, then drags me flush against his hard body.

“What’d you want to talk about, little killer?”

My teeth dig into my bottom lip, wondering how the hell is the right way to ask what he thinks about something transpiring between Vinny and me. It won’t be an easy conversation, but it’s necessary.

“How have things been since, well, you know? The attack. How are you doing with it all? Gavin and Arden, are they holding up well? Has there been any issues with Vinny…” Hunter places a meaty hand over my lips, stopping my rambling.

“They’ve been quiet. Too quiet. Which you should already know, but we’ve failed to tell you. We didn’t want to stress you out with trivial things while you were recuperating. We’re still actively hunting Bianca, but she’s disappeared. Which is odd. We would have thought she would’ve contacted Vinny by now, thinking you passed after what she did. We were banking on it happening so we could get her. But it hasn’t happened.”

“So where the fuck is she?” I mumble behind his hand.

He chuckles, the deep sound rumbling my body, and uncovers my mouth. “That’s the million-dollar question. But it’s been quiet on the other fronts too. No movement from any direction in retaliation for those guys we took out like 5 or 6 weeks ago. Arden is busting his ass on it all, but he’s been hitting nothing but dead ends.”

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