“Oh, calm down. All I want is to know how she plans on keeping Kiara safe from the Connolly crime family all on her own.”
Of all the ridiculous pieces of information to ask for.
My brain to mouth pathway was fucked up, because Ididn’t care. I didn’t. I should have asked about her clients or their dirt or anything that could bring me some fun in this boring fucking existence. But, no. Instead, I ask about her omega.
The one that will be back with the Connollys within a week if Leighton doesn’t have anyone to help her.
Leighton growled. “I’ve got it.”
“If you had to live stream an interaction with Tobias Connolly to me, of all people, I don’t think you’ve got it. And that doesn’t answer my question, anyway.”
“I don’t need your help, Dash,” Leighton said.
I hadn’t offered her help. She’d jumped to the conclusion all on her own, and I smirked.
She crossed her arms over her chest and gave me that look—the one that always made me hard as stone. She looked down her nose at me with her eyes narrowed, lips tight with displeasure. Could I tell you why it was that look that made me want her desperately? No. But it was part of the reason I avoided her like the plague.
Being with my scent match mate’s sister would be a constant reminder of the rejection that still tore my heart to shreds whenever I thought too hard about it.
It didn’t matter how gorgeous she was, or how I’d always thought she would have been a great addition to our pack.
“Wasn’t offering it,” I said with a smirk. My crossed legs helped to hide the bulge in my pants, thank fuck. “But you do need help. Something clearly happened, and while you came out unscathed, neither ofthemdid.”
I nodded to Ambrose and Kiara, both injured. Kiara averted her eyes, staring down at her hands, and Leighton shifted in front of her. “The injuries have nothing to do with the Connollys.”
I waited.
If it wasn’t the Connollys, it was someone else.
“Kiara stabbed Ambrose,” Leighton said.
My eyes widened. OK, I hadn’t expected that. The little omegacouldstab someone with that knife she held so dear. I was impressed.
“And I… reacted,” Ambrose grunted.
His expression filled with shame, posture drooping. Knowing his history—some of it, because he was too private to tell us everything that happened, the fucker—I figured his reaction was the reason behind those nasty bruises on her neck.
Losing his parents to that fire had messed him up, but the torture he’d endured before the flames consumed everything was what woke him up in cold sweats.
I used to fish for details until Mercury had threatened to kick me out of our apartment if I ever brought it up again. It was the only time Mercury had been so serious about calling me out, so I’d stopped.
“Damn. Well, knowing you got stabbed makes me feel a lot better. Thanks, little omega. You took the burden off my shoulders. IfI’dstabbed him, he never would have let me forget it.”
She peered up at me with wide eyes, so innocent I had to look away from the baby blues pre-emptively. I needed to get the fuck out of here, because between the two women I was about to lose my mind.
Abruptly, I stood. “I came to talk about the favour you owe me, but that can wait. Mercury is seconds away from calling the police to report Ambrose’s absence, and I doubt that would go over well considering the state you’re all in. You might want to wait on registering that dark bond until she doesn’t look like she’s been strangled half to death.”
Leighton cursed. “Fuck. They’ll think I coerced her.”
A seer could tell if a dark bond was created with or without consent, but it wasn’t foolproof. You could coerce an acceptance with threats of violence or blackmail. It was still illegal, just really hard to prove. The Institute did take shit like that seriously though, and there would be an in-depth investigation.
“They will,” Ambrose muttered. “You’re right that you’ve got to wait. They should fade within a couple of weeks. Until then, you’re not safe from Tobias.”
Even after the bond was registered, they weren’t safe from Tobias. None of us were stupid—a crime family wasn’t going to stay above board and respect Leighton’s claim.
“I’ll stay with you,” Ambrose declared.
I laughed. “No, you fucking won’t. Don’t you feel Mercury’s panic through the bond? He needs you to show back up at our apartment, and then he needs to be tied down and fucked until he screams. It’s the only way he’s going to calm down and not give himself a heart attack.”
