Chapter 32

Chapter Thirty-Two

Brooklyn

M ost everything that's discussed over the next couple of days goes over my head. It's clear how much Gunner's boss and the Russian guy he brought with him know about Avan and his family.

I'm supposed to be at the dress shop with Libby right now.

It's such a bizarre feeling.

Rationally, I understand that Avan can't hurt me. He'd have to go through a lot of highly trained people that I've come to trust if he wanted to punish me for not showing up.

With a little distance from him, it's easy to see all the ways he conditioned me to do what he wanted. Being an omega made knowing he was angry or upset even worse, because I could feel his emotions toward me. It doesn't help that my instincts always pushed for me to please him.

If I could head off the explosion, then I never needed to feel the cloying panic that would come when I felt his anger.

It shaped my behavior more than I realized. Even now, it's still having an effect on my system.

It's impossible to settle my shot nerves, and the impulse to check my phone to see if the line of hateful messages has started.

I don't even have my phone, and I'm suddenly immensely grateful to Bless for taking care of that.

My instincts are torn between burrowing and hiding or pacing the floor bare.

Libby plays on the floor with her toys, but she keeps glancing at me as she puts the diaper on her baby doll.

"You okay?" she asks, like she's picking up on how unsettled I am.

"I'm good." I offer her the sincerest smile I can offer when I feel like I might vomit. "You did a really good job with that diaper change."

"I did," she agrees.

My feet actually leave the floor as I jump when someone pushes inside the bedroom door.

It's Maverick, with Gunner behind him.

Nova runs in, checking on Libby before running over to rub her entire body against my leg.

"Whoa, naked baby alert." Maverick laughs. "Where's your baby doll's clothes?"

"Um, right here." Libby pats the pile. "I had to change her."

"Oh, I see." Maverick takes a seat on the floor at her side. "That other toy set had all the good stuff, huh? Why don't you show me the extra clothes and stuff that you got?"

Gunner comes to a stop in front of me and tenderly plants a hand on my lower back before pulling me to his chest. "Maverick is going to keep an eye on Libby for a few minutes while you come sit down with me until we get your panic under control."

Dammit.

I thought I was blocking that from the bond. Gunner's huge hand soothes up and down my spine, and his head tilts, like he's just waiting for me to agree.

So, I do.

I give him a nod and send my appreciation toward both of them in the bond.

Gunner purrs, teasing his hand down my back. He lies stretched out on the couch, and I'm on top of him with my face on his chest. I don't know where he found the super soft cotton blanket that's wrapped around my back, but I might have to steal it if it's not important to Bless.

I keep most of my weight off my stomach by using my knees and forearms to support myself. The baby has been moving around, but it's playful wiggles, or possibly, the kid is doing jumping jacks in there.

"Damn," Gunner says, laughing. "I felt that."

"He or she is seriously active right now."

"When is your next doctor's appointment?" he asks, moving his hand to cradle the back of my head.

"Um, shit." I frown, trying to rack my brain to produce that information. "It's supposed to be next week, but?—"

"We'll get you in as soon as we get back to Virginia. The doctor is a coworker's brother, but there's also a female doctor if you'd prefer."

My head shakes. "I don't mind either way, but that's another big thing to worry about. Avan always privately paid for all of mine and Libby's appointments."

"We'll add you to our plan," Gunner says. "Which means we'll need to apply for a pack commitment license, but don't stress. We've got time. It won't break the bank to pay for an appointment or two out of pocket. Have you given any thought to if you'd like to learn the gender?"

My heart thumps erratically, but I nod against his chest. "Yeah, I'm not against it. I think it kind of messed with my head last time. Avan's entire demeanor changed when he learned that she was a girl. Then, the pressure and stress of wondering if this baby would be a boy…"

"It would make it easier when we plan for the nursery, but I'm not opposed to waiting." He sounds so sincere, but it's feeling it in the bond that truly sets me at ease. "My mom didn't find out with any of us, but she admitted she wanted to with my sister." He laughs. "She's the youngest, and my parents already had two boys. They knew they were going to be done after number three, and my mom was worried she'd be disappointed with another boy."

It's nice hearing Gunner talk for a change. He's an excellent listener, but he rarely opens up about himself.

Locke comes into the living room and takes a seat in the club chair. My head tilts until I can see his face.

I feel like he's been purposely giving me space because of how similar he and Avan look. The main difference is Locke has long hair that he often wears in a bun on the back of his head.

He sees me looking and smiles. "Did you know my omega is also pregnant? The babies will be cousins."

I swallow around the lump in my throat and remind myself Bless trusts him. There's also a reason he's estranged from his family.

"You live in Virginia too?" I ask.

"We do," Locke says, nodding. "I've been in Chicago for basically the last ten years. Compared to that, Virginia is paradise. There's so much space. Libby will have a real backyard to run around in." He scratches his jaw. "Wait, you and Maverick have to have a backyard for the dogs, right?"

Gunner snorts, still trailing his hand up and down my spine. "Yes, we have a backyard. A pretty spacious front yard that's away from the main road too."

They've told me a little about their house, but it's hard to imagine.

I'm not picky.

Settling in anywhere sounds like heaven when my life has been so chaotic lately.

"Well, I'm not trying to pressure you into accepting me as family or anything, but Laken and I will be around if you or Libby need anything," Locke says.

I give him a soft smile. "I appreciate that. It's kind of daunting to realize I won't know anyone."

My head tilts as noises head our way, and Noble gets closer in the bond. He's not frantic, but he's got one thing on his mind—me.

He stomps around the couch and lifts me without saying a word. I wobble in his hold as my center of gravity changes, and my hand wraps around his neck. Once I finally feel like I know which way is up, Noble takes a seat on one of the chairs. He sits me sideways across his lap and runs his hand over my stomach.

"Are you okay?" I ask as Ranger and Soren come into the living room.

"I'm good," Noble lies.

I frown, trying to decide if I should give him the chance to talk about it later without an audience.

They didn't specifically say they were going to watch the dress shop, but leaving a few hours before the time I was told to be there did seem suspicious.

"Did something happen at the dress shop?" I ask.

Soren snorts. It's a very condescending sound that has my head whipping in his direction. "Something happened, all right. I'm sure if we give it an hour or two, we'll be able to watch it play out on the evening news."

Ranger steps around the sofa, taking a seat on the opposite end from where Gunner now sits. "Would you like to tell her, or should I?"

Noble growls, sounding feral and intimidating. "It doesn't matter, because we were never going to let you anywhere near that place."

"Well, someone fill in the rest of the class." Locke leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees.

"Bless and Stacia didn't show up," Ranger says.

"So, Ranger and I got to play the happy packmates, looking for a store to send our omega to," Noble says. "We went in and looked around. Met the sweet old lady running the store. There's no way she was in on it?—"

Ranger takes over again, saying, "None of the sales associates were, either. I distracted them while Noble snuck the necessary equipment into their surveillance system, and we got the hell out of there."

"Ranger and Noble left the building," Soren clarifies. "We stuck around in the SUV while Noble monitored for trouble."

Noble's sadness fills the bond, and it startles me enough that I turn into his chest while trying to focus on releasing soothing pheromones.

"It's not unusual for some systems to have a processing delay, especially the older ones." Noble sighs. "This one was three minutes. By the time I saw the thugs enter on my screen…"

"We made it back to the building, but it was doused in accelerants and beginning to burn." Ranger shrugs. "You win some, you lose some. If they'd come in the front, we would have seen them from our location down the street. Since Bless and Stacia failed to arrive, we had no second vehicle to monitor the rear."

Soren gestures at me. "He really wanted you dead. The team was extremely efficient. Three minutes is pushing it for five kills. It would have been seven if you and the girl were?—"

"Seriously?" Locke growls. "How about you censor the conversation, like you'd do for your own omega?"

It's kind of him to try to stick up for me, but honestly, I want to hear this. I trusted them when they said Avan wanted me dead. It's not even hard to believe, but now, I'm at the point where I want to hear these things.

Ranger nods. "Locke is better at determining what's reasonable to share than I am."

Soren bows his head. "My apologies. However, you don't need to worry. We caught up with them attempting to get into their car several blocks away."

"And they said it was Barrett who hired them?" Gunner asks.

"Avan himself." Ranger nods.

"In the world of organized crime, men are given more leeway than women," Soren says. "However, when inheritance and things like lines of succession come into play with two powerful houses, there are often set terms. I've seen marriage contracts with swift penalties if either party has children outside of the marital union. There's every possibility that Avan's upcoming contract has something similar. If Libby was discovered after the fact, there could be unfavorable penalties that he would have to honor."

"So, it's easier to kill us?" I scoff.

"From his point of view?" Ranger quirks an eyebrow. "Yes."

My system finally spits out soothing pheromones, but I don't know if it worked to soothe me or the still-anxious Noble.

"Thank you for being honest with me," I finally choke out. "I think I'm going to go snuggle my kid while you guys continue talking about whatever else you need to."

I'm not sure what to do with myself. Five people died today because Avan wants me and Libby dead. The guilt is so thick it threatens to consume me, but what I really need is to hold my daughter.

"I'll come too," Noble says, standing with me in his hold.

"Send Maverick out," Ranger commands. "We're going to start planning the siege."