Baiting Him (How to Catch an Alpha 2)

Hearing scratching, I look down and find LeFou pawing at the door. I bend to pick him up, and once I have him against my chest, he licks my jaw. “He’ll be back,” I say, turning toward the living room, and my steps falter when I find both Chris and Sam smiling at me. “What?” I narrow my eyes on the two of them.

“Nothing.” My brother grins. “We’re just happy for you.”

“Really happy for you,” Sam confirms.

Feeling content warmth filling my veins, I walk to the couch and take a seat with LeFou, and Chris comes over to sit next to me.

“He’s good for you,” my brother says, wrapping his arm around my shoulders as Sam gets up to look around. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so content or relaxed.”

“That’s not surprising, since I’ve never felt like I do when I’m with him,” I tell him honestly.

“That’s love.” His expression softens in understanding, and I rest my head against his shoulder, thinking he’s right.

“Seriously, this place is amazing,” Sam says a few minutes later, coming back toward the couch. “I mean, it needs some color, but I’m sure when you move in here you’ll fix that.”

My stomach drops at his words, but I don’t have time to process the thoughts suddenly filling my mind, because Chris’s phone dings with a text, and the moment he pulls it out to look at the screen, his body goes rock solid.

“What is it?” I ask him, and he tips his head down toward mine.

“Dad says he’ll meet us at two tomorrow afternoon at the diner we used to go to with him and Mom.”

My heart sinks, and fear makes my muscles bunch. “Tomorrow is New Year’s Eve,” I say, not wanting this happy bubble we’ve built around us to be broken yet.

“I know, but Sam and I won’t be around after New Year’s, so this is the only time we have to talk to him together. And since there is no way in hell Gaston will be okay with you meeting up with Dad on your own, tomorrow is the only day we have.”

Crap, he’s right. Even though Gaston has urged me to talk to my dad, if I ever did meet up with him, Gaston would demand to be there with me.

“It will be okay,” Chris says, and I want to believe him, but I don’t. This last year has proven that the man who raised me, the man whom I called Dad, is no longer a man I know or a guy I like very much. My father was a man of integrity, a man of his word, and a man who loved his family and always put them first.

“You’re not doing this on your own, kid,” Sam says, coming over to the couch and resting his head over the top of my head. “Your brother, Gus, and I will be there, so even if it’s not okay, it will be okay. We’ll all make sure of that.”

I look up at him, and my mind starts to spin at the idea of him and Gus coming with Chris and me to talk with our dad and all the things that could happen. “I don’t think you or Gus should be there,” I say, then quickly add, “I mean, I think it would be better if it were just Chris and me, at least at first. Maybe you guys can come in after we’ve had a chance to talk.”

“Are you worried about me or Gus going apeshit?” Sam asks with a smile.

Having known Sam for years, I know that unlike my brother, he is always pretty even tempered. Even in stressful situations, he’s never flown off the handle or lashed out in anger. I cannot say the same about Gaston. Even if I’ve never seen him angry, I know he’s protective, and I have no doubt he’d lose his mind if my dad said something he didn’t like.

“Gus,” I confess, and he doesn’t look offended. If anything, he looks pleased with my response.

I feel my brother take hold of my hand, and my eyes go to him. “I think what Sam means is we will all be here after everything is said and done.” His fingers squeeze mine. “You’re not going through this alone, sis.”

At his statement, tears begin to sting the backs of my eyes, and I try to fight them off but know I fail when I feel wetness track down my cheek. Until Gaston came into my life, I didn’t think about anything but work. I’ve spent the last year focused on my shop, so I haven’t had to deal with how alone and abandoned I’ve felt since our father walked out of our lives. Something that was easy to do with Chris living so far away and our mom checking out until recently.