Page 52 of Deadly Sweet

“And that is?” I ask, not liking where she’s going with this conversation.

She looks at me, face softening. I hate all the pitying looks I’ve been getting lately. “Savannah was kidnapped and held captive for years.”

“We know that,” Caleb growls.

“By Corbin.”

“Something we also assumed,” I add. It doesn't come as a surprise; we just never were able to get the proof we needed. After Savannah’s dad messed with his business, he’s been careful to keep his name and ties away from anything shady, having everyone else do his dirty work for him.

“Don’t play dumb,” Daphne growls. “You know the kinds of things that monster did to her.”

We all go quiet. My stomach sours, and bile rises in my throat. It’s something I was in denial about. Something I could never bring myself to think about without puking. Because the idea of someone hurting my Omega like that without me being able to protect her killed me every second of every day.

“Are you able to get past that? Are you able to look at her and not have pity in your eyes? Because I’ll tell you right now, she doesn’t want it. She will stab you if she thinks you believe she’s weak. She’s not. She’s one of the strongest people I’ve ever met. Savvy’s mind doesn’t work like ours. She blurts things out, with no filter at all. She’s blunt and has no shame. She tells you like it is and doesn’t think twice. She’s funny, sweet, kind, and playful. But she will also slit someone's throat in the blink of an eye. We have no idea if she will ever get her memory back, if she will ever be the same person she was before. But in my professional opinion, I don't think she will. Years of therapy won’t fix her.”

“She doesn’t need to be fixed,” Caleb growls. “I want her just the way she is. Crazy and all.”

Daphne snorts out a laugh. “Sure, that's howyoufeel, but what about the rest of your pack?”

She turns her attention to me. “Can you accept her for who she is? That she kills people? That her life’s goal right now is to end every single person who played a part in hurting her? You have a baby. A sweet little girl. I saw how Leroy and Walker were. I could tell they wanted to accept her, but they were thinking of Athena. And of course they were, that's what parents do. But are they going to deem her a danger?”

“Is she?” I ask. “If she’s as unhinged as you say she is, do you think she has it in her to harm a child?”

Daphne’s face goes dark. “She would rather gut herself than ever harm a child.”

Relief washes over me. “Then I don’t see it being an issue. I want her. Just the way she is, however that might be. Even if she never remembers me, I’ll fall in love with who she is now. Because that Omega upstairs is mine. I haven’t given up on her all these years, I sure as fuck am not going to start right now. I’ll talk to the others, get them on board.”

My chest is heaving by the time I’m done. Every word I just said was the truth. I might not know who this Savvy is, but I know in my heart that as I get to know her, I’ll love her just as much as I always have.

“You're really okay with being mated to a killer?” Daphne asks, raising a brow. Caleb goes to open his mouth, but she holds up a hand. “Yes, we know you are, and you have a hard-on about it. She’s literally your perfect mate. I’m not talking about you.”

“It’s going to take some getting used to; I won’t say it’s going to be easy, but I’m not going anywhere. Sure, she’s my scent match, but she’s also my fucking soulmate.”

Daphne is quiet for a long moment before nodding.

“If you're going to be with Savvy, know this: Don’t judge her. Don’t make her feel stupid for the things she says or does. Don’t try to control her. You take things at her pace. If she wants to go from zero to a hundred and you’re on board, awesome; if she wants to go slow, you go at a fucking snail’s pace or I’ll chop your dicks off.”

I nod. I’m not going to argue with her. I’d never pressure Savannah into anything.

“She’s not the best with social cues and is still getting to know the world around her. Think of it as she’s experiencing everything for the first time. While something might be obvious to you, it might not be to her. She doesn’t remember things like going to the movies, driving a car, or walking on the beach. Her knowledge is limited to the things she’s seen in movies and things she’s been doing since getting here, while needing to stay out of the public eye until she can confidently do her job. She’s changed her looks as you can tell, so I’m not afraid of her being recognized if she’s to go out in public. But I know she will turn some heads wherever she goes, it’s just who she is.”

Savannah’s hair might have changed, and yes, to someone else, you wouldn’t be able to see the resemblance between the old Savvy and the new Savvy. But me? Just one look into those baby blues, and I knew it was her. That and her blinding scent.

“You're still in shock.” Daphne doesn’t ask, she tells me. And she’s right. My mind still hasn’t processed this, and I know I’ll break down when I do. That doesn’t change the fact that I meant everything I just said.

“We’ll be fine,” Caleb says.

“You say that now,” Daphne growls. “But Savvy isn’t some sweet little Omega. She’s wild, free, not all there in the head. You say you can handle her now, but what if she becomes too much for you? What if you feel like you’ve taken on too much? If you reject her, youwillkill her. And she will snap. She won’t be able to handle it. Not after everything she’s been through. You don’t understand. The dream of a pack is literally the only thing that helped her keep going in that cage. The idea of Alphas specifically for her, to shower her with love, to make her feel wanted, needed, cherished. If you can’t give that to her, walk away now.”

My heart clenches. I’ve never seen Daphne so worked up before. To the world, they see this stone-cold persona. This bad ass mafia Queen. But there are tears in her eyes, and I can tell she cares deeply for my Omega.

I step closer, placing my hand on her shoulder. “We won’t hurt her. We will do everything in our power to be the best Alphas for her. We won’t give up if it gets too hard. I know it might seem out there for us to agree to something so bizarre, to not think twice, but you know better than anyone the power of a scent match that you would do anything and everything for your Omega. So if we have to look past a little murder, I think we can do that.” I smile.

She laughs. “I should have known better than to second-guess your pack. You might come off as average people with your normal as fuck lives, but you’re all a bunch of freaks.”

“Hey,” Caleb scoffs. “They’re normal. I’m the freak.”

I roll my eyes, smiling. “If we can look past what Caleb does for a living, we can look past this, too.”

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