2. Orsino

Chapter 2

Orsino

This poor kid had no business being there. He was about as green as a fucking Christmas tree, and the fact that I had to be the one taking him into the classroom really fucking sucked.

We called that particular room “the classroom” because that’s where lessons got taught. If this kid’s dad was in there, it was not a lesson he would soon forget. But the boy came to bail out his father, so who was I to judge him for that? God knew I’d bailed out my own father from sticky situations in the past. Not quite as dramatic as this, but certainly awkward, and sometimes in scenes I wish I’d never walked in on.

“Where are you taking me?” The kid, Ethan Madrone, seemed to finally realize I was ushering him down an isolated hallway that could’ve led anywhere. It was a little late for his survival instincts to kick in.

“Your father is back here.” I blew out a deep breath and stopped walking. “Look, kid. I don’t know the full story of what he’s gotten himself into, but if he’s in here, he’s in some deep shit. You probably aren’t the best person to be dealing with this, but if you’re sure you want to go in there, you need to brace yourself for what you’re about to witness.”

“Is he—” His eyes went wide and his breathing increased like he was having a panic attack.

“Hey, now. Don’t pass out on me.” I reached for his cheek to give him a light touch to refocus his attention. “I just want you to be prepared for the worst.”

His face lost all color, and his eyes rolled up as his body slumped forward.

“Fuck.” I grabbed the boy and lowered him to the ground, then I propped him up beside the door to the classroom and checked his pulse.

Solid. Fast, but strong.

Why the hell would some dude bring his omega son to a place like this when he clearly didn’t have the constitution for it? I called Roland from just outside the room to give him an update. “Hey, I’m with the son right outside the door, but this kid has already passed out once. I don’t think he can handle going inside.”

“I don’t give a shit what he can handle,” Roland said, his breath heavy from exertion. “Drag his ass in here and put him in the corner. His dad has been insistent that the kid would cover his debt, so that kid ain’t going nowhere.”

Roland seemed to forget that he wasn’t the boss. Andro was. Sure, this was his job, but as Andro’s enforcer and brother, I outranked him by a lot. Then again, I wasn’t the type to micromanage, so I just disconnected the call.

“All right then.” I twisted the door open and wedged my foot in the crack to keep it from latching, and then I scooped up the omega into my arms and carried him inside. “Here we go, kid.”

He was just coming to, but I knew that wouldn’t last long once he got a whiff of the coppery smell of blood mixed with piss and vomit that we were walking into.

“You might want to look away. Your dad has seen better days.”

Of course, instead of listening to me, he pushed out of my arms and searched the room with his eyes until they landed on his dad. The man was slumped in the corner, bloodied and almost unrecognizable unless he always had eyes that were swollen shut, a purple jaw, and fingers going in unnatural directions. “Oh my god, Dad!” He drooped again, so I grabbed his arm and shoved him toward a chair before we had two bloody Madrones to clean up after.

Tears formed in the kid’s eyes, and I couldn’t help feeling sorry for him. No man should see his father in that condition. Then again, no father should put himself in situations where his omega son had to bail him out while he was in that condition.

I scowled at the lump in the corner. “What’s his story?”

Roland laughed. “Seventy-two fucking grand is his story. He was on a winning streak and started doubling down on credit. Apparently, things didn’t go his way, and instead of stopping like a fucking man, he decided to keep spending our money until I had to bring him in here for a little lesson in financial management.”

I stared at the man and then looked down at Ethan. “You brought seventy-two grand in that little backpack of yours?” Unless he had some vintage thousand-dollar bills in there, it seemed unlikely.

“Wait, what?” He looked between me and Roland. “Two thousand. The message said two thousand.” His breathing started to increase again, and I put my hand on his shoulder to steady him in case he took another dive. “We don’t have seventy-two thousand dollars. I have two thousand. Well, I don’t even have two thousand. I had to borrow against four different credit cards and empty my savings account to come up with this much.”

I turned away, inhaling deeply through my nose as I tried to hold back the rage that was building inside me. I fucking hated these situations. This was why I never wanted to be the one in charge. Andro could handle this shit better than me, but somehow, I ended up with most of the casino detail. And now I had to witness whatever was about to go down. “You came here with two grand?”

Tears were already streaking down his cheeks as he nodded. “Please don’t kill him. I know he’s an asshole but… You don’t have to kill him. I’ll pay it off somehow.” He turned to Roland. “Can you take payments? Maybe two hundred a month for…the rest of my life.” He shrugged and looked back at me, begging me with his eyes to help him. “I know he has a gambling problem. I’ve begged him to get help. This time, I’ll make him go. I swear it.”

Fucking hell. I turned to Roland and shrugged, not sure how to offer any kind of help.

To his credit, Roland looked as uncomfortable with the situation as I did. There was a wholesome innocence to Ethan that we didn’t often see. “I wish there was something I could do, kid, but we can’t let people cheat us out of money. They either pay with cash, or they pay with their life.” He turned to the man who was barely conscious but obviously aware enough to know his time was running short, and then looked back to Ethan. “I’m sorry we brought you all the way down here , but…you’re probably gonna wanna leave now.”

Ethan was hysterical as he reached for my hand and held it to his chest. “Please, help me. Don’t let them kill my dad. He’s an idiot and a terrible father but…he’s my dad. What if you take me instead?” He seemed to perk up as the thought solidified in his mind. “Yeah, you can have me. For whatever you want.” He swallowed hard and glanced into my eyes before looking at my hand against his chest. “I’m a…virgin. Isn’t that worth something to guys like you?”

Fuck yeah, it was. I saw the light flicker on in Roland’s head. We did have uses for virgins who were looking to make money. Between our harems and the auctions, Ethan was worth a hell of a lot more than seventy grand to the organization. But I couldn’t do that. He was just so damn innocent. He didn’t belong there and definitely didn’t belong with some pervy alpha who was rich enough to buy his way through any vulnerable omega he came across.

Without giving it more than a moment’s thought, I nodded once. “I’ll do it.” I glanced at Roland. “Take the money out of my account. He’ll come with me.”

Roland was shocked by my statement, but he didn’t react as Ethan’s grip on me tightened even more while he pulled me closer to his chest.

Ethan closed his eyes and sighed. “Thank you.”

“Yeah, well, you can’t go around offering yourself to guys like us. You have no idea who you might get stuck with.”

“Dude, I had no idea you could be such a softy.” Roland chuckled and shook his head. “But if this is what you want, it saves me some paperwork.” He looked at the guy slumped in the corner and then back to Ethan. “What do you want us to do with him?”

He frowned at me and then at Roland. “Can you get him to the hospital? I think he’s gonna need some stitches.”

Yeah, more than a few and probably a cast for his hand, but I kept that to myself.

Roland motioned to a couple of the other guys that were in the room with us. “Yeah, we’ll get him to Valley Med, and then he’s on his own from there.” He looked right at Ethan and made sure his words were heard. “He better not ever show his face in this casino again because there won’t be a phone call for help next time. He’ll just disappear.”

Ethan swallowed hard and then sniffled. “Understood.” He glanced at me. “So, now what?”

Well wasn’t that the question of the fucking day?