“I’m sorry. Morning, my mate.” Cord took a deep breath. “I need to get this out. I didn’t want to, but you deserve to know about my relationship -pastrelationship with Rapid. There’s... history there that I should’ve told you about sooner.”
Billy nodded, his slender fingers tightening around the mug. “I figured as much, given what he sent to my phone.”
Cord ran a hand through his dark hair. “I would’ve cut off my arm if it meant you hadn’t seen them. I never knew they’d been taken. Rapid and I... okay, well, you have realized we were in a relationship. It was over well before I met you. He was on my team, and for a while I thought a lot of things that later turned out to be lies…”
Cord trailed off. Billy had seen evidence of his relationship. His mate’s expression was unreadable as he slowly sipped his coffee. Cord pressed on, determined to get it all out in the open.
“It ended badly. Rapid... he’s manipulative. I didn’t see it at first, but he tried to control every aspect of my life. Gods, I feel so foolish now, but back then… I didn’t see it. Put bluntly, he was after my money. He really didn’t care who he bonded with, he was determined to get an alpha with money. I was the schmuck who thought his attentions meant more.”
“So you cared about him then?”
Cord winced. “Am I going to sound like a bastard if I say not really? I mean, I did in that I got used to having him around. I thought I could see us having a future together. We worked together – he understood what I did and how it impacted me. And then, well, I suppose I liked being looked after, tended to, made to feel as if I walked on water…”
“Sounds like a typical alpha to me.” Billy actually smirked as he took another sip of his chocolate. “What went wrong? Or should I say, when did you see the light?”
“I didn’t, not for the first few months. It was Bullet who started joking about my depleted bank balance one day, although I wasn’t sure what he meant. We all make good money with what we do, including Rapid. But the jokes among the team got moreintense – suggesting someone had a leash around my dick, and making references to balls and chains.
“In the meantime, Rapid was getting overly clingy, claiming he felt disrespected because we hadn’t bonded, complaining my teammates were making him feel like a prostitute…”
“I thought your alpha teammates were your friends?”
“They are. That’s what I mean. I have to trust those men with my life, and I do.” Cord huffed. “I don’t want you to ever worry but things do get hairy on jobs sometimes. That’s why we work in teams. We all look out for each other and make sure the people we save are taken to safety.”
“Including Rapid, I assume.” Billy nodded. “So what changed?”
“I pulled Bullet aside one day and pretty much demanded he tell me what he was seeing that I was clearly blind to. I was desperately tired. Rapid was fighting with me almost every night, and then when I told him to get out, or that I was going to leave, he’d break down and plead with me about how much he loved me.”
Cord looked down. “I was such a fool. But yeah, Bullet set me straight, let me know a few things about how Rapid was talking about me behind my back. Basically how he had an alpha begging over his ass and shit like that. When I finally ended things, he didn’t take it well.”
Billy set his mug down. “Is that why he tried to mess with us during your mission?”
Cord nodded grimly. “I think so. He’s never accepted that we were over. When he found out about you, about us being mates...” he trailed off again, shaking his head.I was such an idiot.
Getting out of his chair, Billy came over, his hand warm on Cord’s shirt. “It’s okay. What happened in the past is in the past.We barely know each other. It’s not like we had the time for you to tell me before.”
Cord reached out, gently cupping Billy’s face. “I know. But I still should’ve done. I guess I was afraid... afraid it might change how you saw me. And face it, when I’m with you, that asshole is the last person I want to be thinking about. But you should’ve been warned… He wasn’t even meant to be on our team anymore. You can ask Bullet. We all got told Rapid had been transferred to another team after he and I broke up.”
Billy leaned into Cord’s touch. “You’re my mate. Nothing’s gonna change that. But maybe next time you go out, and you can’t get in touch for a few days, perhaps make sure it’s the location that’s stopping you from getting a signal, not someone with a cellphone blocker. All right?”
Cord felt a rush of relief and love for his omega. “I can do that,” he agreed, his voice rough with emotion. “I am so terribly sorry this happened to you, and I promise I’m going to see you get restitution from Rapid for this. You were the one who was hurt, and you deserve it.”
“I don’t need anything from him. I just need you.”
“You have an alpha now, babe.” Cord kissed the tip of Billy’s nose. “You deserve someone to look out for you, and Rapid deserves to learn what the word consequence means. Now, can I take you out for breakfast? Have you heard from our realtor? He should have some houses for us to look at by now, don’t you think?”
Was he being fair, changing the subject so abruptly? Cord wasn’t sure. But when Billy wrapped his arms around Cord’s waist, Cord took his actions for what they were. The two men stood, just holding each other and breathing in their joined scents until well after the drinks had gone cold.
Chapter Twenty
Billy adjusted his glasses nervously as Cord pulled up to the curb. The house sat on a quiet street lined with mature oak trees, their branches creating a natural canopy overhead. It was a two-story craftsman with a wide front porch and original wood siding painted a soft sage green.
“This is it?” Billy asked, his voice catching slightly. After the emotionally charged morning, looking at houses together felt surreal. It was such a normal thing for a couple to do - and yet another sign of just how much Billy’s life had changed.
“Yeah.” Cord cut the engine and turned to him. “The realtor said she’d meet us here in about five minutes. We can walk around the outside first if you want.”
Billy nodded, climbing out of the truck on shaky legs. He’d changed three times that morning, finally settling on dark jeans and a button-down shirt that Cece had bought him as part of his mating gifts. He brushed his hair out of his eyes and straightened his glasses on his nose.
“Hey.” Cord came around the truck and caught his hand. “We’re just looking, remember? No pressure.”
