10. Felik

FELIK

Jeremiah was my mate, my one and only, the be all and end all of my existence.

That much I knew was true, but also, in hindsight, perhaps sneaking into his room and staying the night in his bed was not the smartest thing I"d ever done. It was right up there with coming home with him and completely blindsiding his three alpha brothers with my presence.

The fact that I did both those things in less than a twelve-hour period was not indicative of my intelligence.

I was just so head over heels for Jeremiah. That was the only explanation. I couldn't bear the thought of him thinking I was only there to betray him. He needed to know how I truly felt.

The minute I opened my eyes after our glorious night together, I had a gun staring me in the face and three angry brothers hovering over me.

As if sensing my tension, Jeremiah"s eyes popped open. He took in the sight of his three brothers staring down at us. Our bodies were entwined, the sheets tangled in our naked limbs and barely covering us where it mattered most. Though we weren't fooling anyone, considering the room reeked of sex.

"For God"s sake, guys. We"ve got to stop doing this." Jeremiah placed his head over my chest, knowing that would divert the barrels.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill him." Andro aimed out the window but stared at me with venom in his gaze as he cocked his gun.

"Because I love him." Jeremiah was not deterred in the least. "And he"s sorry."

"Oh, he"s sorry?" Louie scoffed, always the smartass. "Well, that changes everything. He"s sorry that he planned on using you as leverage against us? Perhaps killing you, kidnapping you at the very least? It"s okay, though, because he"s sorry."

"Sarcasm does not look good on you, Lou. Is that the kind of example you want to set for your child?" Jeremiah's tone made me tighten my grip on his arm, reminding him to take heed. Though, I had to bite back a grin. I loved that Jeremiah stood up to his alpha brothers. No other omega in the world would do that for me. My mate had balls.

Fortunately, his brothers clearly loved him very much.

"Get out of bed. We"ll meet you in the sitting room." Andro put his gun away, holstering it under his suit jacket. I did not, for one minute, think that meant I was safe.

Seriously, who wore a suit in their own home on a Saturday morning? Apparently, I hadn't packed correctly for this trip. My wardrobe might make an even worse impression than my attempt at kidnapping.

The three brothers left the bedroom, leaving me alone with Jeremiah. That gave me hope. It seemed to be a good sign if they trusted me to be alone with him.

Jeremiah and I got up, smiling at each other as I pulled him to my chest. "Good morning, my love."

He kissed me and smiled against my mouth. "Good morning."

Once we were fully dressed, I stood in front of Jeremiah and rubbed my hands up and down his arms. "Are you ready for this?"

He nodded, a smile on his lips. "They don"t scare me, but that doesn"t mean you shouldn"t be scared of them. They've killed alphas for lesser offenses."

"The only thing I"m scared of is them keeping me from you." At least, that was what I would admit to out loud. In reality, they could do far worse things than that. They could keep me away from Jeremiah and torture me. They could keep me away from Jeremiah and kill me.

"I won"t let that happen." He ran his palm up my chest, caressing my muscles along the way. "I promise."

I cupped his cheek in my hand and brushed my thumb over his soft skin. "Nothing"s keeping me away from you, love. I swear it." I wouldn't go down without a fight. Knowing that Jeremiah felt the same way about me meant I was fighting for him. I needed to rebuild the trust I had destroyed.

"We"re waiting!" Louie shouted from the other room.

Jeremiah rolled his eyes. "Hold your horses. Sheesh."

The two of us linked hands and walked out to meet our fate. The sitting room we were sent to was connected to Jer"s bedroom. His suite was nearly the size of his entire apartment at school. Did he prefer living in the mansion? Or once this situation with my brother was resolved, would he prefer a more modest dwelling? I knew which I would prefer.

"I don"t trust him." Andro had his arms crossed as he stood next to where Orsino and Louie were sitting.

"Well, I do." Jeremiah wasn't backing down.

"After what he put you through?" Orsino asked, imploring his brother to take their side.

Jeremiah took a deep breath and rolled his shoulders back. "Yes. He came here knowing it was very likely he wouldn't walk out of here alive. Then he got free from your guard, and instead of running away to report back to Vince, he came to me."

"This could be a ploy," Orsino said. "To gain your trust."

"Well, then it"s your job to figure out what his endgame is." Jeremiah pulled me to the couch and sat me down. Then he settled on my lap, creating a barrier between me and his family. "Quite frankly, I"m surprised you let the Mennettis get the upper hand."

That got Andro"s attention. "Jeremiah, you don"t know what you"re talking about."

"Perhaps. But only because you won"t let me be involved in the business." Jeremiah had clearly been thinking about this. "You wanted me to go to law school to learn the ins and outs of whatever laws we're bending. But you"ve kept me shielded from everything important. Maybe if you had let me know what threats were out there against our family and had shared all the information you seem to have about the Mennettis sooner, I would have recognized Felik. Instead, you left me totally vulnerable. Now, I can"t regret that too much, considering I love him and it has worked out in my favor, but you guys could have told me so I was prepared. What was the point of teaching me to defend myself if I can't even recognize our enemy?"

Andro crossed his arms, glaring daggers at my mate. Meanwhile, I sat there proud as a peacock. "You really love him, Jer? You trust him?"

He shook his head, leaning closer to me. "I do."

"We"re not letting him out of our sight." Andro looked between me and Jeremiah, warning us equally.

"I told you last night that I'll work with you to take my brother down. I'm not letting him harm Jeremiah or any of you."

Andro strode forward, and I could see why the man was feared by many. If I didn"t have Jeremiah so close to me, giving me strength, I just might've actually quaked in my boots.

"Stand up," he said.

I obeyed, placing Jeremiah on the couch alone.

Andro gripped the collar of my shirt and squeezed until the fabric constricted around my neck. "If you fuck my family over, you will regret it. I will make your death slow and painful. There will be nothing left of your remains for your family to identify. You will be nothing but a rumor by the time I'm done with you. Do you understand?"

"Yes." I maintained eye contact with him, even though my stomach roiled with nerves. But I didn't let my fear of Andro sending me to an early grave deter me from earning Jeremiah's love.

Finally, he let me go. "Fine. If Jeremiah trusts you, then we will as well. But we're watching you, Felik. One wrong move, and I'll make use of the jail cells in the basement."

"Seriously?" Louie said, throwing up his arms in disappointment. "Here I thought I was gonna wake up and kick some ass today."

"It"s still early," Andro said. "And this one has a lot to prove. Get dressed. We"re having breakfast as a family to celebrate Pop"s birthday."

Jeremiah bounced to his feet. "Oh good. I brought him something from the gallery. He's gonna love it."

"Oh, that reminds me, Joey loved the piece you did for our wedding, and he's hoping you might be able to do a portrait of Theo." Andro's tone had already lightened a great deal from how he talked to me just a minute ago.

I had whiplash from how quickly we changed topics. Or perhaps I was still recovering from having my windpipe squeezed. Either way, the attention was no longer on me.

For now, the brothers weren't going to kill me, and I could remain with Jeremiah. I would do my best not to jeopardize that. Even if it meant selling out my sad excuse for a brother.