12. Orsino

Chapter 12

Orsino

“Why exactly do I have an email thanking the Ferrini family for our generous donation to a dog shelter I’ve never heard about?”

I didn’t bother looking up from the ledgers I was reviewing at my desk. Andro may be the boss of the family, but he didn’t need to barge into my office without knocking, especially since I wasn’t expecting him—I was expecting my Ethan.

“Don’t worry about it. It wasn’t a large sum of money by our standards.”

“It was large enough.” Andro gave me that annoying look like I would just cave and give him all the answers. And damn it, I kinda did. When it came to spending family money, we did need to keep each other informed.

“It’s the shelter Ethan works at. I made a donation in the family’s name. I’m simply paying them as an apology for me kidnapping him for the past month.”

Andro raised a brow. “Is he returning to work? With the amount you gave them, we pretty much own the place.”

“We’ll see.” I stood and buttoned up my jacket. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m expecting Ethan to show up any minute.”

Andro chuckled and shook his head. “You’ve got it bad.”

I wasn’t gonna even try to deny it. I wasn’t dumb enough to lie to my brother. But still, in the back of my mind, I worried. Maybe it was unnecessary, but I worried nonetheless. I had bought Ethan when he was in a jam, and I still knew little about him outside of our arrangement. Was he really there of his own free will or simply to save his father? Would I ever know for sure?

It started out as a simple arrangement, but for me, it had morphed into so much more. What was it to him?

I exited my office with Andro tailing behind me just as Ethan turned the corner. His eyes lit up when he saw me.

He bounced as he walked like an excited puppy. “Are we ready to go?”

“We are.” I held out an arm, and he looped his arm through mine.

“Do I get to find out where we’re going yet?”

“It’s still a surprise.” I squeezed his hand.

Andro chuckled and kept walking. “I’m going to collect my winnings from Louie.”

I rolled my eyes. Assholes.

“What did he win?” Ethan was so sweet and innocent.

“Nothing.” I didn’t know the specifics of whatever bet they had, but I knew it pertained to me and Ethan. When it was Louie and I betting on Andro and Joey, Andro didn’t like it. Now I knew how he felt.

Soon, we were in my car, and I was driving. Our bodyguards were following in a separate car, but it was nice to be alone with Ethan sometimes. The only other time we got to truly be alone was in our bedroom, and I was always too distracted by him to have an actual conversation.

At least here, I had to focus on something other than his delicious body. “How was your day with the other omegas?”

“Really great.” Ethan shifted toward me in his seat. “We had a lot of fun. I can’t remember a time when I laughed that much.”

“I’m happy to hear that. You’ll have to make that a regular thing, for sure.”

Ethan was quiet like he was thinking about saying something, but he hadn’t yet voiced it.

I gave him space to think. Hopefully, after today, he would be more comfortable with me. I wanted him to be able to say whatever was on his mind and not worry about how I might react. It seemed my omega still operated with a bit of hesitancy where I was concerned.

His eyes widened as we pulled into the parking lot of the shelter. It was outside the city limits on a 20-acre property that was heavily wooded. The large building that housed the dogs was old and in need of updates, but there was a lot of love in the setup, with several areas where they could take animals to play, including long runs where dogs could get their exercise.

“What are we doing here?” Ethan asked.

“Visiting your second favorite place.” I turned to him and winked.

He laughed and leaned over to kiss my shoulder. “Where do you think my first favorite place is?”

“Our bedroom, of course.”

“Yeah, I suppose you’re right.”

Once we were inside, Ethan ran around to the other side of the desk. “I just want to see who’s still here. I’m curious if they got adopted. I hope we have updated pictures. I love when the new owners show how happy they are.”

“Ethan!” A lady came running out of the back room. “We’ve been expecting you.”

“You were?” He cocked his head as he looked at me.

She reached out a hand, and I shook it. “Yes, and you must be Mr. Ferrini. Thank you again for your generous donation.”

“It was nothing.” I didn’t like to make a big deal of these things. “Happy to support a project Ethan is so passionate about.”

“You made a donation?” Ethan’s eyes were glassy, and he swallowed hard.

I smirked. “I owed them after occupying all your time for the past month.”

My omega blushed and squeezed my hand before turning to his friend. “How have things been here? I’ve missed you all.”

My stomach twisted at that. Had I been keeping Ethan from his real life, and did he want to return to it now? As much as I wanted him all to myself all the time, he needed something to keep himself busy and feeling useful.

“Things have been just fine around here. Two days after your last day, Kira had her puppies.”

Ethan’s eyes lit up. “She did!”

“There were only four, much to our surprise, but probably a good thing since we’d be hard-pressed to find homes for all of them.”

“How’s she doing?” He looked around as if he might see a litter of puppies hiding in a corner somewhere.

“Why don’t you go see for yourself? Your alpha here has reserved the place for the day, so you’ve got it all to yourselves. Since you’re here, I’m gonna go run a few errands. It’s really great to see you, Ethan, and we hope we’ll see you back on the schedule soon.”

“Of course!” Ethan gave her a quick hug. “Thank you. Thank you so much.”

“Who’s Kira?” The place was quieter than I expected once we were alone, except for the occasional bark echoing from the pens.

Ethan sighed. “Only the greatest dog that ever lived. Come on, I’ll show you.”

I followed him back to the kennels where there were a billion different dogs. Once we stepped inside, they all perked up and began pacing. Some were more vocal than others, and while some jumped against the fence panels in excitement, others cowered with nerves.

“This is where we house some of our longer-term residents. We’re a no-kill shelter, so we keep everyone, even those who aren’t good adoption candidates.” I saw more than one three-legged dog and a few with mangled ears or missing eyes.

“This here is Kira.” He stopped in front of a kennel. Inside was a large German Shepherd mix lying on her side. Her tail thumped the minute she saw Ethan, and nestled against her belly were four puppies.

“Oh, Kira.” Ethan’s hands flew to his mouth. “They’re so beautiful.”

“And what makes her not adoptable?” She looked like a perfectly good dog to me. If I were a person who liked pets, she’d probably make a good one.

“She’s a mutt. German Shepherd, beagle mix. A big dog, sheds a lot, plus having puppies—no one wanted a pregnant dog. But she’s just the sweetest thing. When she first got here, she needed 24/7 care, so I kept her at my house for a while.”

In that moment, I knew there was no way in hell we were walking out of that place without that dog and those four puppies.

Ethan sat down and started stroking her fur and then inspecting each puppy one by one. I pulled out my phone, snapped a few pictures, and then sent out some instructions to my guys.

There was some prep work to do before we got back home.