Tilly

After Tilly said her goodbyes, Luca took her suitcase, and Jackson took her hand as they followed me back to the car. I settled myself into the driver’s seat of the Range Rover, a massive car to accommodate the three large men and one small omega.

She stood outside the car, looking in for a moment.

“Are you getting in?” Jackson asked in that stone-cold voice he had when he was pissed off with something. Probably at Luca, because he was sitting in the back with Tilly.

I grinned at Jackson. He growled back at me. “What are you smiling at?”

“The big, bad alpha is grumpy because he didn’t win the toss to sit with his omega.”

He scowled at me.

Tilly smiled at Jackson, and he relented with a grin. She turned to me and asked, “when are you going to tell me everything?”

“I promise it’s being organised. We’ll go home tonight and tomorrow we’ll give you the answers you need.”

The drive was quiet. Tilly cuddled into Luca in the back seat, her head nuzzled against his chest.

Hours later, we pulled into the underground carpark of the apartment block, parked the car and before I had time to breathe again, we bundled Tilly into a lift. She was like a celebrity towered by bodyguards.

The lift doors opened to the apartment. “Let me show you around,” Luca said, taking her hand from Jackson’s. “You’ve been here.”

She laughed. “Yes, it’s a lovely apartment. Do you live together?”

Luca smiled. “Until we complete on the perfect house.”

“I take it you’ve been looking for a while?” she asked.

“No, just lately,” I said.

“Let’s get something to eat and drink and we can all talk,” Luca said.

“Where’s my bag?” she asked.

Jackson growled. “I thought we agreed you wouldn’t take them.”

“Well, look where that fabulous idea got me. I’ve been drugged by my ex-boyfriend and a man tried to kidnap me at work, and then I was saved by Sandy, who said her pack wanted me.”

“The reason you ran wasn’t because of us? Or me?” I clarified.

Her eyes fluttered closed. She shook her head.

“I’m sorry, but I thought you were safe because of us, because we ensured your safety. Because we put surveillance on you, meaning you’ve had security for five years. I created the job at the Hanson Group for you because I knew I would inherit my father’s company when he retired. But I never thought for one minute you were safer because of your mother’s invention,” I said.

She smiled, but tears laced her eyes.

“Maybe we need to do something about that,” I said. “Omegas can’t run companies that make suppressants, but alphas can.”

“What are you saying?” she asked, staring at me.

“I’m saying my father knew you were my mate, our mate, but he only scented you once. So the suppressants are good for alphas who don’t scent match.” She nodded, and I continued. “What I’m saying is your mother’s invention needs making for the wider omega population.”

Her mouth fell into an “o” and her eyes were pools of water.

“Are you ready to accept us?” Jackson asked, stopping all conversation of suppressants for a little. He was impatient. I was. We all were, but he annoyed me because I was trying to build something with her. I glanced at the ceiling for inspiration, but it wasn’t forthcoming.

“To keep you safe, we have rules. You live with us, you use our cars, you check with us if you’re going anywhere, and you stop putting suppressants in your body,” Jackson said. Her being away for three days had changed him. He was more determined than ever for her to comply.

Her eyes raised.

I stared at her, waiting for her to look at me. “And I won’t mate with you, knot you, or bond with you. Not until you ask me to,” I said, placing a soothing hand over hers. Her eyes flicked to my hand and just that one gentle touch was enough, and I closed my eyes, inhaling her sweet scent.

”Ask you to?” she repeated.

“Or beg me to,” I said and laughed.

Her eyes shot open to see me grinning at her, and she smiled back. “Promise.”

“That I’ll make you beg?”

She burst out laughing, but I was sure it was nervous tension. Probably still taken back by backing the suppressant for the wider market.

Luca and Jackson looked at each other and smiled. But her face went serious as she searched my face for a moment, desperately wanting to ask the next question.

“No, I didn’t,” I said.

“What?”

“I didn’t kill your father. I was there that night. But not for the reason you think.”

“I always knew it was you from the moment I scented you in the restaurant, like caramelised popcorn,” she said, “with an earthy undertone. Your smell was seeping through the gaps into the room I hid.”

I looked at her incredulously. “You scented me that day?”

“Yes, it took me a while to get over it and it sent me into an early heat and I couldn’t come out of the panic room for days.”

“Oh fuck, that could have been a disaster,” I said. “I’m sorry, I never thought.”

“Do you know who killed my father?” she asked.

I gave a casual nod. “We are leaving after breakfast tomorrow morning and you’ll learn everything. But I want you to know that I want you, Luca and Jackson to continue your relationship and I’ll be ready when you are.”

“Do you have a lover?” she asked. “The lady’s clothing.”

“Those clothes are yours. Your room.”

“My room and my clothes,” she whispered, her mouth opened wide.

I nodded. “Your apartment too and if you don’t believe me yet, you will soon enough, because I’ve always known Tilly. You and me.”

Tilly looked at me for a long, searching moment. And I felt something shift between us. Together, we removed one brick from the wall she’d erected.

I hoped I was right.