“He’s just pulling up through the gate,” she intones.
Wow. Now they are some super sharp omega instincts. I bet she’s wired to know when he comes and goes. I bet it’s a survival instinct for her.
There comes a knock on the front door, and poor old Alfred can be heard exclaiming in horror how he could have sworn he just let my brother inside. But then my twin chuckles, and the sound makes my blood simmer.
He has such an insincere laugh.
Rome enters the room at last, and his cruel eyes fall on me instantly. They’re the same shade of brown as mine. He even has my square jawline and the cleft chin, but I do think I got the looks.
His nose is a little more crooked than mine, and I smirk at my small triumph.
Not that it makes any difference who’s better looking. Deep down, we’re both rotten.
“Roman… to what do I owe the pleasure?”
Please. I’m not buying his bullshit. He couldn’t be any more pissed to see me.
“Rome, we need to talk.”
He clenches his jaw, and for a moment I think he’s about to attack. A low growl rumbles in my chest in warning. I have a lot of balls to challenge another alpha in his own home, but this goes beyond our petty squabbles. Grandma needs help. So we’ll have to measure our dicks later.
“Jeanette. Drinks.”
The omega rushes out of the room to prepare us drinks, and the way he speaks to her. He didn’t even bother to glance her way.
He doesn’t care about the omega, and a part of me wishes that I could snatch her away and find her somewhere else to live. Surely, there have to be better alphas out there for her somewhere. Ones who would treat her right.
Ones who would give her their bite.
I suppose I’m being a hypocrite; I haven’t exactly been nice to Dove either. I put a fucking tracker around her neck.
Yet it’s not my place to worry. Jeanette is not the reason why I came here today.
Grandma is.
Time to talk to my shithead brother.
***
Rome swirls his glass, gazing at the amber liquid inside with an indifferent expression.
I just finished telling him about grandma.
It breaks my heart that I have to come to him like this, which is an impressive feat. I thought that thing broke long ago.
Can a broken heart break a second time?
Rome sips his drink slowly next, taking his sweet time. Jeannette stands behind him, a beautifully sculpted statue. Her green eyes have lost all their shine now, and I remember Dove looking the exact same way too in her photograph.
It seems a little life has returned to her now, and maybe it has to do with our clothing her and feeding her. I sigh, getting her off my mind.
I have to focus.
I finished my drink half an hour ago. My twin notices my empty glass and clicks his fingers at the omega beside him. She springs into action, pouring me another glass, and I wonder what she does with herself when he’s on one of his business trips.
How does she entertain herself? How does she even function? As an entity with no life of her own, it must be a terrible existence to be without your alpha.
Even though she’s not marked, she is still bound to serve him, and a bitter taste forms in my mouth.