Page 20 of Two For the Show
“Dexter’s idea,” Dario says softly, sinking onto the floor in front of me and reaching up to place a hand on Alex.
“How did they find her?” Matteo asks, moving to my kitchen to pour himself a cup of coffee.
“Someone called the tip line,” Sylvia tells us. “I sent them in the opposite direction, but I know it’ll only last so long.”
“Good thing we’re constantly on the move.” I stroke Alex’s cheek, and she quiets, her face going slack.
She’s fallen asleep.
“She’s… asleep?” Confusion must paint my features thoroughly because Matteo huffs.
“I’m not surprised. If I’m exhausted from the sickness I’ve felt in our bond, she must not have been sleeping well for weeks.”
The woman hums and tilts her head as she looks at Matteo. “The bonded Beta. How have you been holding up?”
“Barely,” Quinton answers, scooching closer to me to get more contact with Alex. “He’s been sick almost everynight. I’m assuming aftershocks of her Foresaken Omega Syndrome.”
“The Alpha with Rot,” Sylvia remarks. “You look like shit, boy.”
“Wow, I appreciate that,” he drawls. “I didn’t have much of a choice here, did I?”
She’s not wrong. His eyes are purple underneath, and his cheekbones poke out a little more than they used to. The bloodshot eyes let me know he’s been self-medicating today.
“But you’ll both get better now,” Matteo says hopefully. “You need each other to get better.”
Dario’s hand brushes my arm as he reaches out to stroke Alex. He looks at her with such devotion and care. Is that what I look like, staring down at her? I know they say absence makes the heart grow fonder, whoever “they” is, but this is different.
It feels like a part of my soul that I didn’t know was missing has been returned to me.
Matteo takes a sip of his coffee and makes a pleasured sound, pulling it away to look into the mug. “This is fucking good. You’ve never made a good cup of coffee in your life, Jude.”
I snort. “Didn’t make that one, either.”
Sylvia waves and smirks at Matteo. “I made it. I own a mobile coffee bar. Big man over there didn’t give me a lot to work with, but I was able to get us something tolerable.”
“So, she’s back for good?” Dario asks hopefully. “She said that?”
“Well, not in so many words. But she knows this is where she’s supposed to be.” The woman stands and moves to my kitchen, rinsing the cup and putting it in the sink. “I need to get going. It’s a long drive back, and I don’t think she’s going to wake up any time soon. Which one ofyou strong, virile men is going to help me bring in her luggage?”
Dario hops to his feet and follows her out of the trailer. He returns a few minutes later with the same beat-up suitcases Alex had first arrived with, and Sylvia has a small, worn duffle thrown over her shoulder. She gently places it on the table and unzips it.
Slowly, she unpacks it and spreads the contents out on a table.
Two worn pillows, the covers clearly in need of a wash.
A blanket that looks like it’s seen better days.
Two t-shirts.
And an eye mask.
“I thought you all should see what she kept in her bed. I have a feeling she was going to try to hide it from you.” The meddlesome, but helpful Beta woman, who took care of our Omega, smiles cheekily. “Wanted to make sure she couldn’t.”
She crosses the room and reaches down to stroke Alex’s head, despite how it’s awkwardly wedged between me and Quinton. “Lexi, don’t give up, girl. On them, or yourself.”
With those parting words, she slips out of my trailer and pulls the door closed. The silence she leaves behind is suffocating. All of us have so many things to say, but the only person we want to say them to is the Omega sleeping in my arms.
I finally get a good look at her. She’s lost weight, her pallor is pale, and her hair even looks a little thinner, but I could be mistaken, there. Her nails are chipped, like they’ve been sucked of nutrients.
