Lola & the Millionaires: Part One (Sweet Omegaverse #2)(102)

“What else are we doing aside from your business?” I asked, bumping my hip against his.

“I booked us a wine tour on our way to the open house. Which is less about the house than it is about the land. And then if we can keep our eyes open after that’s done, there’s a great dinner reservation here in Valletta tonight too. Tomorrow we can be lazy until we have to check out?”

I nodded and squeezed Leo’s hand in mine. I was tempted to ask if I could call off work on Monday or even Tuesday too, and see if we could stay a little longer. We were really only here for thirty-six hours, and that suddenly didn’t seem nearly long enough. But Leo had already covered the expense of putting Caleb’s—first class—ticket in my name. A whole new flight and more nights at the hotel was too big an ask.

“Ah! Dezerta,” Leo said, pointing to a sign in a glass window. In front of the first-floor shop, two small tables with chairs sat waiting for customers. “I think we just found your cannoli.”





Warm after our wine tour and day of sun, and cuddled into Leo’s side in the back of a small taxi, I watched the sea curving around the edge of the island.

“Seeing this property at sunset seems strategic,” I mused.

“Oh, definitely. There aren’t a lot of places in Malta that don’t have a good view of the sea, but I think this one adds some serious weight to their asking price,” Leo agreed.

“And it’s the land, right? That you want to develop?”

“It is, but it comes with an old salt farm and a homestead. That’s the tricky part of my job on this. The owners would prefer it be kept a private property, but they haven’t found a buyer willing to meet their ask because of how much property there is, so now they’re looking at commercial real estate possibilities,” Leo said. “My pitch is going to be a fairly small resort with the intention of keeping the salt farm intact. I’m hoping that’ll beat out some of the bigger offers.”

I nodded along to his explanation. I was mostly in it for the wine tour and five-star hotel room I’d gotten a peek of earlier. Plus this time with just me and Leo.

“I’m glad you asked me to come,” I said.

Leo turned and caught my eye, dimples winking in his cheeks. “Aw, look at you. You’re a little wine buzzed, aren’t you? I’m thrilled you agreed to come with me. I haven’t missed you, but I’ve missed…” His brow furrowed so I finished for him.

“Us,” I said, nodding.

“Mm, yeah. Just us,” Leo said smiling. “Don’t get me wrong. The more tangled up you are with our pack, the happier I am.”

“I get it. Things to do feel simpler today,” I said, resting my head on his shoulder.

“Do they? Are things complicated with you and Matthieu?”

“Shouldn’t they be? He’s twice my age. He’s my boss. Like Boss boss. He just broke up with someone he was with for years. I’m seeing his packmates, but it’s not like with you and Rake where we can all just curl up in bed together, right? And how long is it going to take before this whole ‘poor little damaged beta girl’ thing wears off, and you all just get tired of me?”

Leo startled as my word vomit ran to a close. Thank god our cab driver had barely any English under his belt. Leo’s hands reached for my shoulders and he pulled me upright, head ducking so we were eye to eye.

“You’re worried about all of that?” he asked softly.

“Tip of the iceberg,” I said with a single nod.

Leo’s lips twitched, and I huffed a nervous laugh out.

“All right, I’m just gonna cover one thing for now, and we’ll get to the rest later, okay? Your trauma is neither part of your appeal, nor is it a detriment to our feelings for you. End of story.” Leo’s eyes held mine for every word, hands rubbing my shoulders slowly, working away a tightness I hadn’t noticed on my own.

“Okay,” I said, nodding lightly.

“Okay. Good. And you never know about the dynamics thing. I’m sure if you crooked your finger, Matthieu would jump in the bed, regardless of who else was sharing it,” Leo said, shrugging and pulling me back into his side. “Also, don’t worry about the boss thing, he’s too far up the food chain at the magazine. Or Carolyn. That was a dead weight relationship they were carrying.”

“So just don’t worry?” I said, smiling.

Leo kissed the top of my head firmly. “Exactly. Hey, I think this is it.”

I sat up, leaning over Leo’s lap to watch the house come into view. “Oh, it’s so sweet!”

The home was on a low cliff overlooking a long stone bench of salt pans—shallow man-made puddles of salt water shimmered in the carved stone, reflecting the sunset like panes of stained glass. The house itself was built in stone brick and mortar, the same tan stone like the buildings in Valletta. It was humble and squat, with dusty pink shutters, and it looked out of place on its own property, surrounded by sports cars and men and women in business attire.

“Will the owners be here?” I asked, as our driver stopped next to a bright red, compact sports car.

“I think it’s just the agent tonight, which is good considering that commercial real estate fighting over land like this can be a swarm of vultures. Go ahead and wander, and I’ll manage the handshaking?”