Page 106 of Two For the Show
But I’m going to do whatever it takes to secure her future.
Tony hookedour trailer up in a campground right outside of the city about an hour ago. While he’d been filling up our water tank when he could along the way, it’s nice to know we’re stationary for a bit and can take long, hot showers.
I’m combing my hair back, wrinkling my nose at the bit of dark roots I’m starting to see, when Alex comes up behind me and wraps her arms around my waist.
“Stop fretting. You look handsome.”
I roll my eyes. “There’s a lot riding on this.”
She shrugs, and I feel the movement against my back. “There sure is. But I have faith in us. In our plan. We have no other option.”
I turn around, resting my forehead on hers. “How can you be so calm?”
“Oh, I’m not. Inside, I’m freaking the fuck out. But I can’t go into this as a hysterical Omega. They’ll use it against me. So I’m burying it deep down, in the meadow in my mind, and I’ll let out my fear when I’m safe.” She cups my cheek, thumb stroking my cheekbone. “I’m not going to let them take me.”
“I’d like to see them try,” Quinton says, breaking up our moment. “If they can use the FOS diagnosis against you, can we use my Rot against them? Claim that being separated from you is a death sentence for me?”
Alex leads me out of the bathroom, and we follow Q into the living area of her trailer.
“Maybe. It’s not a bad idea, if we get desperate,” she tells him. “But I would prefer not to have to reduce it to that. They shouldn’t require anything other than my word that I want to leave those three assholes, and yet here we are.”
Jude unfolds himself from the table, where he had been putting pieces into the puzzle that we’ve all been workingon. He looks uncomfortable in the suit Matteo bought for him this morning, and he pulls on the red tie anxiously.
We’re all dressed up, camera-ready, for the press conference Alex called.
Quinton crosses the room to kiss Matteo on the cheek. Matteo’s grey suit and navy blue tie are the inverse of the Alpha’s navy suit and dove grey tie. Dario and I are dressed alike, except that he has a pink tie with his black suit, and I have a baby blue one.
Alex, with her hair pulled into a low bun, bangs styled to fall on either side of her face, and wearing a wool, form-hugging black pencil dress, looks incredible. She sits on the couch to slide her heels on over her stockings and surveys all of us.
“No matter what happens, I will not go down without a fight.” Her voice is tense, and I can feel her determination in our bond.
That’s still weird for me, to be acutely aware of her emotions and receive echoes of their own from each member of our pack. It’s not uncomfortable, but it can be overwhelming at times. It’s easy for me to get overstimulated, and everyone else’s feelings don’t help with that. I’m going to have to figure out how to block them out before I end up grinding my teeth into dust.
“How long until we have to be at the capital building?” Matteo asks, sipping his coffee.
Jude checks his watch. “Forty-five minutes.”
Alex had the brilliant idea to call the press to the capital, right where the governor has his office.
I dare him not to come down and address the accusations after we’re done.
Dario sits down next to Alex and gently massages her shoulders. “The whole country is going to know what those assholes did to you. They won’t get away with it.”
“I hope not,” she says quietly. “Because I can’t stand the idea of this happening to anyone else.”
“Then we’ll kill them.”
Jude walks over and slaps my brother on the back of the head. “It wasn’t a good idea then, it’s not a good idea now.”
Alex whips her head around to stare at Dario. “I’m sorry, what? How many times have you suggested murder?”
He casually crosses one leg over his knee. “This is only the second time. Well, unless you count two times in one conversation as separate times? I don’t.”
She laughs and rolls her eyes. “Let’s keep the murder talk to ourselves, yeah? It may hurt our credibility.”
This was the levity we needed before we head out to fight for our Omega.
Chapter 42
