Page 8 of Marcello
“What does that one mean?”
I smiled a sad smile. “My angel. That is what you are to me and will always be.” I remembered seeing him the very first time and then catching his scent in the wind. “The very first time I saw you was when you were leaving the Council Store. It was cloudy, but you stepped out, and a ray of sunlight broke through the clouds, turning your hair almost white.” I shook my head.“The breeze picked up just a bit, enough for me to catch your scent, and immediately, I knew you were my beloved. I also knew that I could never have you. Even in that moment, I knew we could never be.”
Abel let his head fall back, and I heard it thud quietly against the wall. “I don’t understand. It’s not fair. I’ll never be able to have children. Never have that protective alpha I was dreaming of. Why would they pair me with a mobster?”
I didn’t know I had a heart, but I certainly did when it came to the little omega that was mistakenly gifted to me. Sadly, I didn’t have an answer for him. I pulled out my phone to send a message to Vincent.
Me: You need to open the door. I have been too long without him. He will be dead by the end of the week.
I thought about that a moment. I would be out of my misery, though, because I would follow along behind him. I looked up at Abel just as my phone vibrated in my hand. I would go mad after realizing what I’d done to my precious angel.
Vincent: I know you have more control than that. You are my most trusted family member, which is how you are in the position that you hold. Do you truly feel you are a threat to your beloved?
I closed my eyes. No. I wasn’t a threat to Abel. I meant it when I said I could never hurt him. I would kill anyone who dared to even think about causing him harm. My phone vibrated again.
Vincent: Answer me.
Me: No. I don’t think I will actually hurt him. But his blood calls to me and my fangs ache as they first did when we were teenagers.
My dick was hard and throbbing in my slacks as well, but I wasn’t going to tell Vincent that.
“Can I go home?” Abel’s quiet voice in the room sounded incredibly loud.
“I will do everything I can to get you home as soon as possible,” I told him. I held up the phone. “Right now, I’m trying to convince Vincent to let us out. Mazzi has sealed the room with magic.” I sighed. “They are tired of me and my grouchiness. It has made me extra deadly as of late, and Vincent was certain that bringing you here would be the answer to my problems.”
“Is Mazzi the warlock that brought me here?”
“He is the only warlock we have here in the family. He is mated to Naldo, and they found one another around six months ago.” I smiled as I remembered how utterly happy Naldo had been when he first realized he’d met his beloved and Mazzi was willing to be claimed by him and join the family.
Abel tilted his head to the side. It made him even more adorable. “But he’s pregnant, right?”
I nodded. “I do not know the specifics of their sex life, nor do I need to. But yes, Mazzi is pregnant. He did not get that way until they had been mated for a few months. I cannot answer more than that. Mazzi said he is due sometime next month, but that is the extent of what I know. Vincent has been looking for a doctor to help deliver the baby since ours hasn’t ever delivered a baby.”
Abel’s mouth dropped open. “The council has a great doctor. I’m sure Dr. King would help.”
I snorted out loud. “You were just reciting what the created vampire said about Vincent and us. There is no way the council would be willing to help us with a pregnant warlock. We lost one of our own to help them. Sandro’s brother was killed, and we didn’t even get a sorry. Just an ‘it happens.’”
“What do you mean?”
“You work in the store?” I asked, and Abel nodded. “You do not know all of the ins and outs of the council and what goes on?” I got a headshake this time. “A little over a year ago, when Nikolai reached out to us to ask if we would help find the Gallo boys, we agreed because it was Nikolai.”
“He’s in St. Louis. How do you know him?”
I smiled at my sweet, innocent angel. “Nikolai did not always live in St. Louis, nor did he always used to be as honest as he is now.”
“Seriously?”
“I would never lie to you,mio angelo.”
“Is your coven master going to let me go home?”
“Not at the moment. But I will keep working on him. I promise that even if it takes the week they said we would be in here, you will still be just as innocent and unclaimed then as you are now. I would never force myself on you, nor would I tie you to me in that way.”
Abel bit his lip, and I closed my eyes to block the image. It was too late though. I’d already seen it, and it would forever be in my memories.
“I’m not innocent. You knew who I was. Do you not know more than my name? Or how I came to be at the council?”
“I know all about you. I know that you grew up being abused by your family and that you have had nothing but a life of pain and mistreatment. I know you were sold to sex traffickers andthat you were raped and abused by those that were holding you while waiting to be sent out of the country. I know that you were rescued by the council, and that you have obvious trust issues with certain others.” I opened my eyes as I lifted my head away from the door. “I know many things about you,mio angelo, and that is why I understand that tying you to the Vittone family would be a terrible thing for you.”
