Page 29 of Small-Town Secrets
Honestly? Nope, not at all. But I couldn't tell Tyler that. "Sometimes I do," I lied. "But I have you two, and that's enough for me. We'll be fine as long as we have each other, okay?"
"Okay," Tyler grumped, not at all convinced, but that was probably the best I was going to get out of him tonight.
I pressed a kiss to his forehead. "Have a good night."
"Goodnight," he muttered while I got up and turned to my other son, who still had his back turned to me.
I sat on the edge of Chris' bed and gently laid a hand on his shoulder. "Do you not want to say goodnight?"
Chris had his little nose scrunched up. It was funny how I had two boys with identical faces who used their features so differently. I really didn't understand when people had trouble telling them apart.
"I'll be sad if I don't get a kiss from you," I said, rubbing my son's shoulder. "I know times are hard, I'm sorry."
Chris finally rolled over to face me. "You don't have to be sorry. It's not your fault that Paps is an... that Paps isn’t nice."
Well, at least he'd stopped himself from using the bad word again. "I'm still sorry."
"It's okay." Chris relented and leaned up to kiss my cheek. "Goodnight, Daddy."
"Goodnight, Chris."
I left the room and went downstairs, even though part of me yearned to lay down too. It had been a long Saturday and I hadn't been able to get much done with the twins home all day, but I still felt tired. It was really too bad that we didn't have a dishwasher, and that all the dishes in the sink weren't going to do themselves.
Still, I couldn't complain. I had a roof over my head—and over my children's heads—and I didn't have to see Howard anymore.
My situation wasn't so bad, was it?
* * *
Gregory camehome drunk that night.
I was still in the kitchen, scrubbing at a particularly stubborn tomato stain on a pan when he entered the room smelling of cheap liquor. I pretended not to notice the stench. Living with my ex, I'd gotten quite good at that.
"Where have you been?" I asked.
"That's none of your business," he spat.
"Just trying to be friendly." I turned my attention back on the pot. God, I hated drunk people. I was just glad the kids were asleep so Gregory couldn't parade that behavior around them. Then again, their paps had done it often enough it wouldn't be anything new.
"You can stuff your friendliness up your ass," Gregory roared. "I got the bill for the tablet repair today. You'll never be able to afford it. But that's the thanks I get for taking you in. You and your bastard children."
"What did you say?" I could put up with a lot, but I wasn't going to stand here while the asshole insulted my babies.
"Oh please. I heard you on the phone with one of your friends some time ago. You pretended those kids were Howard's when they weren't so he would pay your way. That's low, cousin. That's really low." He approached me with a menacing look on his face. "Sometimes, you know, I feel like omegas today just don't know their place anymore. It's a damn shame."
"Yeah? What are you going to do about it?" I stepped away from the sink as my cousin drew near, but he followed.
Seriously, what the hell?
Was he threatening me?
Ifeltthreatened.
Cold sweat broke out on my skin.
It wasn't only that Gregory knew about the twins' parentage—and I was afraid he wasn't going to keep that knowledge to himself for long—but also that he was radiating alpha pheromones.Hostilealpha pheromones. I'd smelled enough ofthosein my life to know when an alpha meant to harm me.
So I didn't even think about it for long. When Gregory took another step closer and raised his fist, I was faster than him. Because he was drunk, and I was not. I was an omega whose babies had just been put into jeopardy.AndI was an omega who'd learned how to throw a punch only a few days ago.
