by Donya Lynne
The fact that he and Sev had mated would be inconsequential in the eyes of his parents. He and Sev would have to keep their mating a secret and have an affair for them to remain together. That was the only way this would work. Arion felt his world crumbling around him, but he couldn't lose Sev. He reasoned that an affair would be enough. It would have to be enough.
What had started out to be such a perfect evening had now been reduced to shit.
"Now, what is it you wanted to talk to us about?" his mom said.
"Nothing." Because his life was nothing now. He had no life, only misery.
"Well then, get back out there to your fiancé. She’s been dying to meet you." His father gave him a pat on the back.
"Yes, sir." Could his spine have been any more yellow? He felt like a chump. A sniveling, weak-ass chump. He wasn't good enough for Sev. Sev deserved a strong male, not some chicken-shit. And Ari would always be a chicken-shit.
His father opened the door, and once more their façade of happy, doting parents fell into place. "Congratulations, son."
His mother hugged him. "We’re so happy for you."
Great. At least someone was happy. Arion just wanted to find a gun and put himself out of his misery.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Sev stopped in front of the long driveway that wound up to a house that was bigger than the entire AKM compound. Shit. He knew Ari’s father was someone important, but this was over the top and not what he'd expected. The residence intimidated him, and money and fat cribs normally didn't intimidate Sev. No wonder Ari hadn’t been able to get out from under his father’s thumb all these years. Someone with that much money exuded a lot of power and influence. He imagined Ari felt he could never measure up.
Well, all that ended tonight. He drove his Challenger up the drive, parked and got out, passed his keys to the valet, and trotted up the steps.
"Last name?" A man behind a podium addressed him. He had a list in front of him.
"Bannon."
"Lakota?"
Sev frowned. What the hell was his father’s name doing on the list? "No. Severin." He clipped his response, not caring that the man had called him Lakota by accident.
"Ah, yes, there you are. Enjoy your evening, sir." The man gave him a tight, apologetic smile, obviously aware he had inadvertently offended Sev.
Sev frowned as he walked away from the guy. How the hell had his father earned an invite to the party? Just as long as he didn’t see him, there wouldn’t be a problem. He wasn't in the mood for his dad right now.
The place was already crowded, but he only wanted to see one person. He needed to find his Ari.
He grabbed a glass of green beer and made his way through the crowds, stepping past groups of people, some of whom wore clothes worth more money than he made in a year. Too-heavy perfume assaulted his senses, making him cough as he wandered from the main hallway into the room where everyone else seemed to be congregating.
Green, green, green everywhere. Someone set a green hat on his head. He didn't know who, though.
"Isn’t it wonderful?" someone else said.
"I can’t believe he finally did it," said another.
"One of our most eligible bachelors, off the market." A female passed him on her way out, shaking her head at her friend.
"I know. And did you get a look at her dress? I wonder how much that frock cost her?"
What the hell were these people talking about?
He wandered further into the room then turned, looking for Ari.
That was when he saw it. He almost dropped his beer when he read the sign announcing Ari’s engagement to someone named Persephone. The room seemed to spin for a minute then his eyes landed on Ari. He stood behind the balustrade on the upper level that overlooked the room, his arm around the waist of a blonde Sev recognized. Who was she? He had seen her before, but where?
Ari’s eyes were dull, his face almost vacant as he listened in on a conversation with the blonde and three other people. Her arm slid around Ari’s waist and she nodded and tilted her head toward him affectionately and kissed his cheek. Ari glanced at her and smiled wanly.
Anger coiled up inside him. His mated side reared its head and he suddenly wanted to rip that female apart for touching his mate like that. He was about to roar up the stairs and do just that when someone gripped him hard from behind.
"Out. Now."
"Micah?" Sev was momentarily caught off guard.
Trace grabbed his other arm and the two males pushed him toward the door.
"Let me go," he said, trying to push them off.
"Shut up and fucking chill," Micah said, his voice quiet.
"Excuse us, please." Sam darted in front of them and made sure the path was clear.
"What are you doing? Leave me alone." Sev tried to pull away. He just wanted to go to his mate and pull that bitch off him.
Micah and Trace practically carried him out by his arms and rounded a corner into what looked like a library.
"In here." Sam waved them in and closed the door.
Only then did Micah and Trace let go of his arms.
He shoved off and snarled at them both. "Let me out. Let me go."
"No can do, Sev." Trace joined Sam by the door, arms crossed, making like a roadblock.
Sev needed to get back to his mate. His whole body ached and shivered, the pain growing and spreading. Finally he doubled over and gagged, landing on all fours. The pain – the pain was wretched, worse than the other night, shredding every ounce of dignity he had right there in front of his teammates and Micah's mate.
Sam rushed forward with a trash can and held it in front of Sev just in time to catch his dinner. He retched then retched some more, hugging the can as his stomach heaved and tears of agony streamed down his cheeks.
Micah knelt beside him and Sev felt something he was sure was a mistake. Micah was stroking his back. His palm smoothed up and down gently, trying to comfort him. Had he entered the Twilight Zone? Hell, this was Micah, for God's sake. Micah didn't do gentle and he sure as hell didn't do comforting.
"It’s okay, buddy. I know it hurts. Let it out." Micah wrapped his arms around him, holding him up as another convulsion rocked his body and he vomited again.
He continued heaving for what felt like forever as both Sam and Micah held back his hair. Trace paced uncomfortably to the side, but Sev could feel how hard it was for him to watch what he was going through. He retched again and Micah snapped his fingers and pointed at Trace. "Get his ass in here. Now!" Micah was pissed. "Go get him. He needs to know what he's done."
Him. Ari.
Trace didn't hesitate and barreled out and shut the door behind him.
He felt Sam clasp hands with Micah across his back. This was what Micah had gone through before he had met her, but from what Sev had heard, it had been much worse.
"Yeah, Sev, I went through this. It sucks. It hurts." Micah tucked Sev's hair behind his ear. The gesture was so tender Sev had to look to make sure it was Micah sitting next to him and not someone who only sounded like him.
Yep, it was Micah. And his navy blues were full of compassion and understanding.
"That's right, Sev. I know how you feel. I wish there was more I could do for you to make it better, but I'm here for you. I had hoped it wouldn't end up this way for you. I really hoped Ari would get his head out of his ass and do right by you, buddy."
Buddy? Micah was calling him buddy? Seriously, Sev was beginning to think he had entered another dimension. He had never heard Micah speak so tenderly except to Sam. And he had never in a million imagined that Micah would refer to him as his buddy.
But one thing was clear. He had been right the other night. Micah did know about him and Arion.
"How? How did you know about us?" Sev tried to breathe, but all he got was tightness and pain.
Micah let go of Sam’s hand and pushed Sev's hair back even more so he could stroke his fingers over the pulse point on Sev's neck. Micah was a fucking magicia
n. The ache soothed, and the spasms in his stomach calmed enough so he could sit back on his heels.
"Is that better?" Micah cupped his palm around Sev's neck and continued massaging.
Sev nodded, watching Micah closely as he panted for breath, still waiting for an answer.
"Sev, I’ve been around a long time. And I…well…I just know things, okay. I can't turn off my ability to see inside people's minds and into their thoughts. It just happens. Leftovers from my former life." Micah waved his hand as if dispelling old memories. "So, I’ve known for a while about Ari, even if he didn’t. It’s one reason why he and I never got along, because I knew he was living a lie and couldn’t see it, but he always wanted to get up in my shit about my life. I thought he was a hypocrite, but then you joined us. When you came along, I saw the connection between you two immediately. I knew it was only a matter of time before you mated."
"But…"
"Ari didn't know until recently. Yeah. I know. But I could see what was going on inside his head. I could just tell." Micah paused, his palm still massaging Sev's pulse point. "Sometimes, when you're in the thick of the forest, you can't see the way out even when it's right in front of you. But when you're above the forest and looking down, you can see everything. Ari's too deep in the forest, Sev." Micah gestured and lifted his other arm up as if marking a higher level. "I'm above the forest. I could see how lost Ari was, and I could see his way to being found. In you. You are Ari's way out, Sev."
Wow. For real, who was this guy? And where the fuck was Micah?
Sam took Sev's hand and squeezed it. "It’s okay, Sev. Somehow this will work out."
Sev turned toward her and knew that Micah had revealed everything to her. Her gentle eyes softened even more as she tried to give him a reassuring smile.
"Ari doesn’t want this marriage any more than you do, Severin." Micah stood up and planted his hands on his hips as he huffed. "Fuck, Ari’s messed shit up good."
* * *
Gina pulled up to the valet in front of the Savakis residence and handed over her keys. Lakota came around the back as the valet drove off to a nearby parking space. She made sure she watched where so she could find it later. Her rifle was in the back.
Lakota took her hand. "Thanks again for driving. I don’t know what’s wrong with my Suburban. It was fine last night."
"That’s okay. These things happen."
She knew what was wrong with his Suburban. She had disconnected the battery while out "jogging" before sunrise. While he had remained sleeping in her bed, she had changed into her running clothes, stolen his keys, grabbed her rifle in its compact carrying case, her nine millimeter, extra clips, and then concealed everything under a bulky jacket and jogged down to the parking garage. She loaded her weapons in the back compartment, found his Suburban, unlocked it, popped the hood, and disabled the battery. After her task was done, she hurried back up to her room, snuck in, and deposited his keys back where she found them before he awakened.
After that, they had spent the day not getting out the bed. Lakota was insatiable, but she enjoyed herself. Even if there were no long-term plans with him, she had to admit, the sex was good.
"Shall we?" he said.
"Absolutely." She was more than ready. Finally, she would get her shot at Severin and put the past behind her.
He leaned toward her as they stood at the end of the line of people waiting to have their names checked off the guest list. "You look lovely, by the way." His warm breath whispered over her ear.
"Thank you." She had purposely dressed in black slacks, a black cashmere sweater, and black coat. Black clothing would make her task easier later. At the last second, she had remembered she needed something green and found a simple emerald brooch and fastened it to the turtleneck bunched around her throat.
"You look good, too," she said.
Lakota cleaned up well in slacks and a navy blue sweater. On such short notice, he couldn’t find anything green to wear, but it didn’t matter. He was still handsome. And she had already gotten in her pinch.
* * *
Sev thought the pain couldn't get any worse, but when the door to the library opened and Trace shoved Ari inside, Sev thought his insides were being ripped out. Because he knew the male in front of him wasn't his. Somehow he knew that Ari had backed down. Trace slammed the door as Sev dry heaved again.
"Oh God, Sev. What’s wrong with him?" Ari looked at Micah.
"You tell us, genius." Micah ambled over to Trace by the door, looking pissed off and frustrated.
"Did you tell them?" Sev asked when he could speak again. He already knew the answer, but he had to hear it.
"Tell who?" Ari nervously glanced at the others in the room then looked back to him with fear in his eyes.
Sev could tell Ari hadn’t told his parents. He was even afraid to admit the truth in front of Micah, Trace, and Sam, when it was obvious they already knew.
"Your parents, Ari! Did you tell your fucking goddamn parents about us?!" He could feel the blood rising in his face, the suffering claiming him full throttle.
Ari stumbled backward as if Sev had pushed him and his eyes jumped to Sam and the others. "I…what? I don’t know…what are you talking—"
"They know, Ari! They fucking know already!"
Micah and Trace looked Ari in the eye and Sam lowered her gaze to the floor.
"What?" Ari’s breathing quickened, his hands visibly shaking.
"We know about you and Sev," Micah said. "We know you're mates."
Sev shook his head at Ari. "I’m never going to be good enough for you, am I? I’m always going to be your dirty little secret, the toy you take out to play with when no one’s looking but shove under the bed when anyone walks into the room. What are you going to do, Ari? Marry your fucking little princess and see me on the weekends? Huh? Hide me away from the world and leave a few bucks on the nightstand when you leave?"
Ari fell to his knees in front of him. "It’s not like that, Sev."
"Then what’s it like? Tell me, because I need to know. I need to know where I stand with you."
Ari looked down at the floor and didn’t answer him.
* * *
Gina and Lakota made their way inside and she snuck a peek at the guest list as Lakota gave his name. She found Severin’s name and saw the tick mark by it. He was already here. She bit her lip to keep from giggling.
Lakota guided her to the main room. The place was wall to wall with people, but she saw the table of masks and hats. Well, that could come in handy. She grabbed a feather-covered green masquerade mask and slipped it on.
"Mmm, that’s sexy," Lakota said.
She laughed and plopped one of the green hats on his head. "So is that."
He rolled his eyes and took off the hat and placed it on her head. "I’m not a hat person."
"Fine, I’ll wear it." She tipped it to the side and gave him a flirty look.
He bent down and kissed her. "What do you want to drink?"
She looked over the sign above the bar. She knew he would go for something non-alcoholic, and being that she was working tonight, she thought non-alcoholic would be a good idea for her, too. "I’ll take an almond iced-coffee." She had to shout to be heard over the din in the room.
"You don’t have to not drink because of me."
"I know, but I want to."
He smiled graciously.
She patted his arm. "I’m going to find the ladies room while you get our drinks."
"Okay, I’ll meet you back here."
She nodded then turned and made her way back through the crowd toward the hall. It was time to find Severin.
* * *
Sev stared at Ari, his anger rising to replace the pain. He was back to feeling betrayed again. Hurt and used. "Are you going to answer me?"
Ari looked up at him. "I’m sorry, Sev. I tried, but they threw all this on me right after I got here. I can’t…"
"What? You can’t tell them that you and I love each other? Th
at we’re mates?"
He hated doing this in front of the others, but right now his mated side was flipping off proper manners and decorum.
Ari looked away. "Shit, Sev, I don’t know what to do. I’m dying here."
"You know what. Fuck you, Ari." Sev stood up. "Fuck you. You’re not the one who just came in here and puked up his breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Don’t fucking talk to me about dying." He stormed toward the door, but Trace stopped him, blocking the way and holding his arm out.
Sev glared at him. "Let me out! I want out of here. Now!"
Micah put his hand on Trace’s arm. "Let him go."
"Sev, wait," Ari said.
"No."
"Sev!"
But he charged through the door as soon as Trace moved out of the way. He was done. Checked out. But he knew better than that, didn’t he? No matter how many times Ari walked away from him and put him through this hell, he would always welcome him back. Even now, if Ari showed up at his house later tonight, Sev would take him in and hold him for as long as they had together, then let Ari break his heart again, only to take him back. There was no other way to exist now that they were mated.
All the more reason to be fucking pissed off at the world and jonesing for a fight.
He broke into a jog through the crowded main hall, pausing just long enough to snag his keys off the valet board before running out and finding his Challenger without waiting on the valet to bring it up. He jumped in, revved the engine to life and squealed the tires. He just needed to get away.
* * *
Gina gasped. The large male who had just jogged past her in the main hall. That was Severin. She took off after him.
"I’ve got it," she told the valet as she grabbed her keys and darted down the steps outside. Severin’s car roared to life and she quickly opened the passenger door on the driver's side of her SUV, pulled out flat rubberized slippers, kicked off her heels, jammed her feet into the slippers, yanked out her guns, and hopped behind the wheel.