Page 17 of Mafia's Broken Omega

“Square, round, octagon… At this point, I don’t care.”

His tongue poked out between his teeth as he worked, pretending that cutting and tying required all his strength. It waspretty cute to see this big, dangerous alpha act so helpless. If his enemies could see him now… They’d probably still cower in fear, because he was Cord Mennetti, and he had a reputation.

Cord dropped the knot and picked up another bit of felt then fingered it thoughtfully. “I could make something, too.”

I narrowed my eyes, unsure what he meant. “You mean like a little gun or dagger or something? Baby’s first weapon?”

He tickled the back of my knee. “You think I can’t make something cute?”

I shrugged, honestly not sure what I thought. “Um…is your idea of cute illegal?”

Cord chuckled and then gestured to an empty wall. “Give me a few days, and I think I can surprise you. Will this room work for you?"

I looked around. There were boxes of my things stacked off to the side and a desk with a large leather chair, as well as a comfortable couch and coffee table. The color scheme could use some help. Despite the large window that let in a ton of light, the walls were a dark maroon, and the cherry wood trim made it feel like I was inside a mausoleum rather than an office. "It's great. It just needs some color."

"Change it however you need. Later we can pick out a room to be the nursery."

My heart squeezed at the thought of such a domestic activity. "That sounds great."

"Soon, I'll introduce you to my brother and his omega. They’re here often. And also Andro and his omega. We used to beenemies, but we're practically family now. I trust him almost as much as I trust Rosco."

"Rosco's been with you a long time?"

Cord nodded. "He was my brother's underboss. When I took over, he filled the role of bodyguard and has since stayed in that position. But he does much more than that."

"I'm glad you have him." I meant it. Though we never talked about work before, I got the sense that Cord was struggling with his new role as head of the family. Though, now, ‌he was getting the hang of it.

He put his arms around my shoulder and kissed my cheek. "I'm glad you came to me, Avery. Now that I've let Andro know what’s going on and I have my people looking into it, we'll have answers soon."

I swallowed back the emotion that came and went on a whim. "Thank you."

"In the meantime, you’re safe here, and you can continue running your business."

Ugh. How could this alpha get any more perfect?

"I asked the chef to make that chocolate and hazelnut cake, the one with the peanut butter frosting? I remember how much you liked it."

I groaned in anticipation of how delicious it would be. I had dreamt of that cake. "Cord, if you keep being this amazing, I'm never gonna leave."

He smiled. "Good."

11

CORD

“How did I get roped into doing this particular task?” Andro Ferrini looked unlike how he had ever looked before. Flecks of purple paint dotted his otherwise white shirt, and his jeans were a kaleidoscope of colors.

"You guys wanted a meeting. I had this planned for today. We're killing two birds with one stone," I said. "You missed a spot." I pointed to the corner where Andro's roller had not quite reached the top of the wall.

"Okay, I can understand that, given that you don't want people in your house when your mate has been threatened, but surely you have lowly guards that could be assigned this responsibility." Despite his protests, the alpha took great care in making sure the job got done right. Thanks to his height, we didn't even need a ladder for the job.

The three of us—Andro, Felix, and I—had been tasked with painting the nursery. Avery had requested that we paint the background so that he could come in and fill the walls with a mural depicting a jungle or an undersea adventure—he hadn'tyet decided. We had to paint the bottom third of the wall green, the middle third blue, and the top third purple. Passion purple, to be exact. We were just about finished.

"Perhaps when your mate is finished with the mural in here, I will have him come over to our playroom," Felik said. "Jeremiah has been wanting something special for the walls there. According to him, they're boring."

Andro snorted. "Get some of those sticky stars that glow in the dark, or stickers you could put up on the wall. That's easier than paint."

"I suggested that too, but apparently that's not creative enough." Felik shrugged. Whatever his mate Jeremiah asked for, he got. Same went for Joey, Andro's mate. And, well, being that I had just spent the better part of a day priming and painting a room for our child to Avery's exact specifications, I suppose I fit that description as well. Our omegas were the only ones who knew just how weak we were for them.

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