“Andre has sent new suits for all of you—for you too, Gideon. I even made sure she hasn’t had the sleeves sewn shut,” Frankie says in all seriousness.
“Suits for everyone?” Luca asks, a whine creeping into his voice—of all the pants, Luca hates suit pants most of all.
Frankie smiles and fetches another bag, a discreet tag hanging around the neck of the hanger. She unzips it, revealing a pale gray short jacket with a knee-length skirt. It’s classy and very Luca.
“It’s perfect! Did Lauren pick them all out?” Luca asks, running his fingers over the skirt, revealing the pure purple silk lining.
Frankie nods.
It’s a level of thoughtfulness Jay rarely gives Lauren credit for—exactly the kind of thing Gideon would do to show his love and care.
“Thank you, Lauren,” Luca says respectfully.
“Well, I couldn’t have our Nix facing his nemesis in jeans and a T-shirt. This way, you can show that slimy git how special you are,” Lauren says sincerely, without a grain of sarcasm that usually accompanies her veiled compliments.
Her voice softens. “You are very special, Phoenix Rena, and you are ours. Never forget it. We will be with you—tomorrow and forever.”
Nix throws himself into her arms. Lauren squeezes him tightly, pressing her nose into his hair.
And then it clicks.
He turns to Frankie and asks, “You know, don’t you?”
She nods. “We do. Since that day at the house. Lauren’s brother was an omega, though they never told anyone. Born, not turned, obviously. Buthe lived a life of seclusion. His family kept him hidden—so much so that he never found his mates.”
Frankie exhales, her gaze softening as she watches Nix.
“I think it’s only part of why she loves you so much, of course. You shine, Nix. Your soul is a gift from the Goddess.”
Jay couldn’t agree more.
Chapter Twenty: Leo
“We will see you tomorrow, Boo-Boo,” his Mama-Frankie pats his cheek, making sure she jingles the car keys to remind her wife that it’s her turn to drive.
May the Goddess protect them—and every unfortunate pedestrian—from here to the Costas’ house.
He and his Mom watch as she stops to point out something to a Sentinel agent installing a motion detector system along the courtyard. The woman in black eyeballs the spacing between the neighboring device before moving it two inches to the left.
“Leo,” his Mom says and clears her throat. She is working up to something that makes her uncomfortable, and, boy, is that a weird sensation.
If there is something he can always count on, it’s Lauren Arnell Costas always having an unapologetic opinion with facts to back it up.
“Mom?” Leo prompts.
His dread of her uncertainty comes from his confidence in her certainty, and seeing her falter is disconcerting. Come to think of it, he’s seen more of that faltering in the last week amongst his own usually resolute alphas than he ever has before.
“Leo,” she begins again, and this time, he looks up to see her gazing at him. “I apologize.”
Holy shit.
“Uh…for what exactly?” Leo would never be fool enough to assume and get caught out.
She tilts her head and squints her eyes suspiciously like she can read hismind. Maybe she can. “For keeping the truth about your Uncle Lance from you all this time. He and I were close as children, and once I presented, my parents sent me away to school.”
His mom had graduated from La Sorbonne, spent her early adult years modeling across Europe, and eventually returned to America to pursue an acting career. “I missed him terribly, and when he…died, I felt like a piece of me died, too.”
His mother’s normally firm tone is soft, and just for a millisecond, Leo sees the slightly softer younger woman she had been. “I’m sorry you lost someone you loved. That must have been life-altering.”
