Xan thought of his cousin, pie smeared all over his face, and his confused, stunned expression as Caleb had stalked out. “You should have seen him,” he said, overcome with a giggle. “He looked so ridiculous. And he tried to play if off, but I could tell you’d put him in his place.”
“I wasn’t about to let him put a finger on you,” Caleb said fiercely.
“I could have held my own.”
Caleb made a noncommittal sound.
“You don’t think I would have won?”
“I think you’re brave. And like most alphas short sighted. He’s got several years and many pounds on you. I can’t remember the last time you pushed yourself physically beyond a game of ball with Jason now and again. How you remain so fit-looking is beyond me.”
“I have training in fighting skills.”
“Rusty skills left over from Mont Nessadare. Compare that to your cousin who runs on the beach every morning, lifts weights at the local gymnasium, and engages in wrestling matches on the weekends at the gentlemen’s club. I had reason to be worried. But I also knew he’d never strike an omega and that I had the advantage of surprise on my side.”
“How do you know all this about him?”
“He brags about it, darling. Don’t you listen?”
“I try to tune him out when we aren’t at work.” Xan didn’t add that his mind was usually occupied with Urho and turning over whatever conversations they had most recently engaged in.
He could entertain himself for hours doing that—thinking of Urho’s chuckle, or the small strain that would come into his voice when he was aroused, or the one time he’d felt sufficiently safe to jerk off with him over the phone, and Urho had grunted Xan’s name when he came. That had been a particularly wonderful conversation and he’d gotten a great deal of fantasy mileage out of it for nearly a week and a half.
“Over breakfast just this morning he suggested you go with him this weekend to the gentlemen’s club to meet the more prominent alphas and their omegas. Something about there being a new member of the club and an upcoming match worth betting on.”
Xan scoffed.
“Not that it doesn’t pain me to credit anything your cousin suggests, but maybe you should consider going to the club with him. That’s where you’ll meet the sort of men your father admires, and perhaps turn them into future clients for the business.”
Xan wrinkled his nose. “Being near him is its own punishment, but soon Urho will be here, and leaving him to go with Janus to some ghastly gentlemen’s club, especially when that will be the only time I can be sure Janus is out of the house and not spying for Father, seems too cruel.”
Caleb lifted up onto an elbow, gazing down at Xan. “Urho will be here for some time, and there’s no reason you can’t take him with you. The club isn’t far from the house and surely he’s not going to be a prisoner here waiting for Vale and Jason’s babe to be born.”
Xan laughed. “I suppose you’re right.”
“And you don’t have to go with Janus. You could just go when it suits your schedule. All I’m saying is that Janus is making connections in town while you’re spending evenings here on the phone with Urho, or lounging in my room thinking about Urho, or walking on the beach dreaming of Urho, or—”
“All right, all right! I get it!” Xan chuckled. “You’re right, of course. As usual.”
“Now, about Janus…” Caleb pushed his hair behind his ears and chewed on his bottom lip.
“I will call Father and tell him that Janus can’t stay here. That you have a history with him that’s far too painful for you—”
“No. I don’t want anyone to know. That must stay between us.”
“Fair enough. But it will make it harder to explain to Father what it is about Janus that bothers you. I can say that he flirts with you, but then Father will wonder why I don’t put and end to that myself. He’ll bring up my failures as an alpha and we’ll end up down some miserable path where I’m a horrible disappointment and he’s a nightmare, and you’re still stuck with Janus here reminding you of things you’d rather forget.”
“I think the solution is for me to move past my bruised ego. If Janus wants to flirt with me, why should I get upset about that? It means nothing in the scheme of our lives. It was years ago now that he shamed me and I’m happy with you now, planning a future, coming up on a heat that has every reason to be a successful one. I’m eager to start our family. Why should his barbs and teasing dig into my skin so deeply? I resolve to no longer let them.”
“Perhaps you still care for him,” Xan ventured carefully, both for Caleb’s sake and to make sure his own possessive alpha response wouldn’t destroy the potential for truth.
“No. He’s handsome and I used to find him funny years ago, but all that remains now is hurt. He saw me in a very vulnerable moment and whenever I look at him I want to show him that I’m strong now. That I’m not that boy he left crying in the garden.”
“You’re definitely a better man than he is. Handsome, strong, determined, loyal, and so much more. He missed out. And I got very lucky.”
Caleb snuggled him again, kissing his chest and scenting his neck. “We both got lucky. You love me just the way I am, and I love you too. More than you know. It doesn’t have to be romantic love to be worthy. We’re family, and it doesn’t matter what anyone thinks. So, alpha mine, let’s both resolve not to let Janus get to us anymore.”
The rising moon shining through the windows caressed the room. For once, Xan let himself drift off to sleep in Caleb’s bed, holding his omega close and taking comfort in his sweet presence.
