Page 33 of Omega Inked

He turns around and strides inside, and I'm right on his heels. Liam stands wide-eyed at the stove, watching as Phoenix climbs the spiral staircase two at a time then slams the door.

I stay on the main floor.

Just...wrecked.

"What the hell happened?" Liam asks.

Fuck it. I may as well rip off the band-aid.

"I told him who I am," I reply. "The missing daughter of Eduardo Cruz."

"Oh shit," Liam says.

Am I about to lose them both?

But he blows out a breath. "I bet he didn't respond well to that."

"Why?"

"Phoenix has his own history with the ACB," Liam explains. "He was one of their test subjects--black-bagged by them and used to study the mutation. He's been on the run ever since."

My heart pounds harder, thinking about what Phoenix must have gone through. "I had no idea," I whisper.

Liam shakes his head. "No one does, other than us. He doesn't talk about it. But you can't blame him for being angry. Your father is the head of the organization that did that to him."

"I know," I say, my voice small. "But what do I do now?"

Liam gives me a sad smile. "We wait," he says. "We give him some space. And when he's ready, we talk. Together."

Then he frowns.

"Wait a second," he says. "Does Mercer know?"

I nod. "Yeah; he knew when he got back last night."

"Okay," Liam says. "So Mercer isweirdlycool...and all we need to do is work on Phoenix."

"Can we go after him?" I ask.

"No," he says firmly. "We need to let him cool down. But don't worry--we're not leaving you. We made you a promise, Olivia, and we intend to keep it. We'll figure this out together."

I nod, grateful for Liam's words. But inside, I feel like a mess. My secrets are coming to get me, and I don't know if I'm ready for the fallout.

For the first time since meeting Phoenix and Liam, I feel truly scared. Because now, my heart is on the line. And I don't know if I can handle losing them both.

14

Mercer

TheRaftistheEnclave's greatest asset--but it ain't anything fancy. It looks like a heap of junk floating out in the middle of the Atlantic, a rusted relic from the era of Solstice Bay's creation.

I'm mostly eager to get to the Raft because the situation on the houseboat is deteriorating fast. Olivia came clean about who she is; Phoenix didn't react well. Liam is trying to mediate between them, and apparently he's decided Olivia is pack now, so that's a whole other mess.

And somehow,I'mthe one in the middle.

I have to be the neutral party.

And fuck, she still smells amazing.

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