Page 108 of Ruined By the Mafia Kings
“Then you continue as you are,” he said, though his tone suggested this wasn’t really an option. “But I strongly advise accepting. It’s a… generous opportunity.”
“I’ll think about it,” I said.
The morning passed in a blur of dishes and mops and the constant battle against nausea. By lunch break, I was exhausted, the smell of food making my stomach roll. I escaped to the alley behind the restaurant, sinking onto my usual milk crate and letting the cool air soothe my clammy skin.
“You look like death warmed over,” Megan said, appearing in the doorway with two bottles of water. She handed me one and sat on the crate beside mine. “Still sick?”
I nodded, taking a small sip. “Just a bug. Probably caught something from scraping people’s half-eaten food into garbage cans. The glamorous perks of dishwashing they don’t tell you about in career counseling.”
“Mm-hmm.” She gave me a sidelong glance. “A bug that’s lasted two weeks and only hits in the morning? Very specific bug. Does it also make you sensitive to smells and tired all the time?”
“What are you implying?” I asked, though I knew exactly where she was going. “Just spit it out, Megan. Your subtlety is about as delicate as a sledgehammer to the face.”
“I’m not implying anything.” She shrugged. “Just saying, if I were an omega with your symptoms, I’d be peeing on a stick right about now.”
I choked on my water, nearly spitting it across the alley. “I’m not pregnant.”
“If you say so.” She didn’t sound convinced. “But male omegas can get pregnant, right? I mean, that’s kind of your whole biological thing.”
“Yes, Megan, I’m aware of my ‘biological thing,’” I snapped. “But pregnancy requires sex, which requires a partner, which I definitely don’t have. Unless you count my right hand, and last I checked, that’s not capable of knocking me up, thank God.”
The lie tasted bitter on my tongue. I hadn’t had a partner, true, but I’d certainly had sex. Repeatedly. With three devastatingly powerful alphas who’d made my omega instincts sing, whose touch had left me begging for more.
But that was months ago. And I’d been on suppressants. And I’d have noticed by now if I was…
Wouldn’t I?
“Just saying,” Megan continued, oblivious to my internal panic, “you might want to check. Better to know than wonder, right?”
“I’m not wondering because I’m not pregnant,” I insisted, standing up too quickly. The world tilted alarmingly, and I had to grab the wall to stay upright. “Whoa. Head rush. Stood up too fast. Happens to everyone.”
“Sure.” Megan was at my side instantly, steadying me with a hand on my arm. “Happens to everyone who’s dehydrated, malnourished, and possibly growing a tiny human. When’s the last time you ate something substantial?”
I tried to remember. Yesterday? The day before? The nausea made it hard to keep track. “I had toast this morning. Very fancy toast. Artisanal. Practically a full meal.”
“Toast isn’t a meal, Ty. It’s what you eat when you’re sick or five years old.” She pressed something into my palm, a small boxthat I recognized with horror as a pregnancy test. “Just to rule it out, okay? For my peace of mind.”
“Why do you even have this?” I asked, trying to hand it back. “Planning on starting a family with the meat delivery guy you’ve been flirting with?”
“My roommate thought she had a scare last month.” Megan refused to take the box. “Just take it, Ty. What’s the harm in checking? If it’s negative, I’ll buy you lunch for a week and never mention it again.”
The harm was that checking made it real. Made it a possibility I’d have to face. Made it something I couldn’t ignore or deny.
But she was right. Better to know than wonder.
“Fine,” I conceded, shoving the box into my pocket. “If it’ll get you off my back. But when it’s negative, I’m ordering the most expensive thing on the menu every day for a week.”
“That’s the spirit.” She grinned. “Now, did you hear the latest gossip? Apparently, there’s some big power play happening between the Trinity Syndicate and the De Luca Cartel.”
My heart skipped a beat. “What?”
“Yeah, Diego’s cousin works at that fancy hotel on the north side, the one near De Luca’s compound? Says there’s been all kinds of unusual activity. Security’s been doubled, people coming and going at all hours.” She lowered her voice conspiratorially. “Word is, the Trinity’s planning to take De Luca out. Revenge for that bombing a few months back and for kidnapping them.”
My blood ran cold. “Kidnapping who?”
“The Trinity leaders,” Megan said, eyes wide with the drama of it all. “Apparently De Luca captured them. Used them in some twisted breeding experiment with an omega.” She shook her head. “Can you imagine? Kidnapping Anders Knight, Conall O’Reilly, and Wyatt Slater? De Luca must have a death wish.”
The names hit me with shocking force. Anders Knight. Conall O’Reilly. Wyatt Slater. Not the Vitale brothers. The Trinity Syndicate. The alphas who’d been captive with me, who’d been used as I had been used, had names now. Real names. And reputations, apparently.
