Page 6 of Give Me You
I look back toward where the rooms are, my chest tightening with worry. Something is really wrong. We haven't fucked in over a week, almost two, and I was sure that our arrangement was over. Emilio's been avoiding me, ducking out of conversations whenever I tried to get him alone.
I thought maybe he'd found someone else, or maybe he just got tired of me. But the pain in his eyes tonight was something different than usual. He wasn't just angry. He was a little scared. Which is unlike the Omega. Emilio doesn't get scared. He gets pissed off, he gets defensive, he gets sassy as hell, but scared? That's new.
It's harder to read him because he doesn't have a scent. Most Omegas I can tell what they're thinking just by the way they smell, but Emilio's always been a mystery. No scent to give him away, no biological tells that make it easy to figure out what's going on in his head. But something was definitely off tonight. The way he practically begged me to fuck him, the desperation in his voice, it wasn't normal. And then there was that moment when I tried to help him clean up afterward, and he flinched away from me like he didn't want me to touch him. Now I'm confused as hell.
I sag back in the seat, running a hand through my short hair. "Just worried for him. Seems like his brother is trying to ruin everything."
Akira laughs, leaning back in his chair with his arms crossed. "You mean that brat of a brother? He shouldn't be running anything. Lost almost ten thousand dollars the last time he tried to run the VIP."
I frown, my attention refocusing on the reason why I’m even at Aurum Pulse tonight. "Is that why we haven't seen Zaden?"
Akira shrugs, his expression unbothered. "I might have scared him a little to keep his sorry ass away. Emilio's much better at handling all this shit, and I know he won't sample the merchandise."
I nod, but I'm still distracted. It's more than just Zaden being a pain in the ass. Something happened tonight, something that shook Emilio enough to send him looking for me. And I hate that I don't know what it is. I hate that he wouldn't tell me, that he shut down the moment I tried to ask. We've been fucking for months, and I thought we had something more than just sex. I thought we were friends, at least. But maybe I was wrong.
Soft footsteps approach the table, Emilio returning from that back room. I have to hold in my purr at how much he smells like me now. The scent is different on him, softer somehow, but it's undeniably Alpha. He looks a little less pale than he did before, some of the color back in his cheeks, and I'm glad for that at least. Whatever was eating at him earlier seems to have eased, if only temporarily.
Akira raises an eyebrow as Emilio approaches, but Emilio dismisses it with a wave of his hand. He starts talking about the logistics for tonight, going over the security measures, the checkpoints, like I didn’t just have my cock in his ass.
Akira nods along, clearly impressed. "You're always good for business, Emilio."
"Likewise," Emilio muses but there’s a curtness to his words that wasn’t there earlier.
His face scrunches up a little bit, and he puts his hand on his hip. My gaze drops to the movement before I can stop myself, watching the way his fingers rest there. And then I see it. His hand moves, just slightly, to caress his stomach. It's a small gesture, almost unconscious, but it's enough. His stomach is slightly protruding beneath his shirt, just a subtle swell that I wouldn't have noticed if I wasn't looking for it.
My breath catches in my throat. No. No way.
Emilio mumbles a goodbye, his voice pulling me out of my spiraling thoughts before he just leaves, my gaze following the small Omega down the steps.There’s no way.Akira kicks me under the table, hard enough to make me wince, and I tear my gaze away from Emilio's retreating form.
"You look fucking heartbroken," Akira teases. "What? He tell you that you guys can't fuck anymore or something?"
"He's pregnant," I say, the words coming out flat. "I'm not sure how I didn't see it before, but since he doesn't have a scent, I couldn't really tell. But fuck."
Akira's eyes widen as he leans forward. "Seriously? What the fuck?"
"I have so many fucking questions right now," I mutter, rubbing a hand over my face.
Akira's expression hardens, his tone turning serious. "You need to sort that shit out. I don't hate Emilio, but I'm also not about to have him trapping you into something you didn't ask for."
I glare at my brother, anger flaring hot in my chest. "For the record, I never said anything against having children. But I'm also not going to shirk my responsibility, especially if Emilio thinks he has to do it all on his own. Fuck, this is messy."
I run my hands through my hair, tugging at the short strands. Is the baby mine? It could be. The timeline fits. We've been hooking up for months, and I know Emilio was sleeping around before that, but if he's showing now, it had to have happened around the time we started. But why wouldn't he tell me? Why would he keep it a secret?
Unless he doesn't want me involved.
The thought makes my chest ache. I've been in love with Emilio for weeks now, maybe longer. I didn't mean for it to happen. It was supposed to just be sex, a way to blow off steam,but somewhere along the way, it turned into something more. At least for me. I started looking forward to seeing him, started finding excuses to be near him even when we weren't fucking. I memorized the way he laughs, the way his eyes light up when he's talking about the club, the way he bites his lip when he's thinking too hard about something.
And now he's pregnant, and he didn't tell me. He didn't trust me enough to tell me.
"Let's just focus on tonight, yeah?" I say, my voice rough.
Akira studies me for a moment, and then nods. "Fine with me. But take care of that shit before it blows up in our faces. This is one of the best places to sell without the threat of cops lingering around."
"Yeah, yeah, I'll take care of it," I mutter.
But my eyes are already wandering, following Emilio as he moves through the crowd. He's greeting people, smiling and laughing. He's good at this, at making people love him, at making them want to be near him. A pang of possessiveness hits me square in the chest. I want to go over there and pull him away from all of them. I want to take him somewhere private and demand answers. I want to know if the baby is mine, and if it is, why the hell didn't he tell me?
But I don't. I stay seated, watching him from across the room, and I try to figure out what the hell I'm going to do. Because if that baby is mine, there's no way I'm letting Emilio do this alone. I don't care if he wants me involved or not. I don't care if he thinks he can handle it on his own. I'm not walking away from this. I'm not walking away from him.
