Lola & the Millionaires: Part One (Sweet Omegaverse #2)(48)

I stared up at him and Leo’s palm covered the side of my throat, his thumb pressing to the corner of my jaw.

“Okay?” he asked.

I didn’t know how to answer. How could he know? What if I grew weak again, needy for attention, approval? But Leo looked so certain. He’d come out of his relationship with Odette and found himself in an amazing pack. Was he just assuming I could do the same because he had?

“Lola,” Leo pleaded, brow furrowing.

I nodded, leaning into his hand. “Okay,” I said, mostly because I hated seeing Leo in any kind of pain.

Leo sighed and bent to me, his lips against the top of my head, deep breaths ruffling my hair.

“Is it okay if I text Wes what you said about the Hangmen and the charges? If there are warrants out for Indy, it might help him track through any leads,” Rake said.

“Do it,” Leo said, muffled by my hair, not waiting for me to respond.

I checked my cheeks, but they were still dry after my initial tears. I felt…kind of hollow. It wasn’t exactly a relief, and I didn’t feel unburdened. More like by sharing what had happened with Rake and Leo, I’d sort of carved myself open to be inspected.

Leo shifted, and within a minute and a few clumsy twists and shuffles, his back was to his padded headboard and I was cradled in his lap. He didn’t speak, and when Rake finished texting he settled his head against my hip in silence, his hand reaching back to cup around Leo’s ankle. Second by second and minute by minute, the hollowness seemed to ease. No one offered me any platitudes or pity. Every one of Leo’s breaths against my skin was gentle and reassuring enough on its own. Rake’s frown was thoughtful, but every few minutes he would nuzzle his cheek against me.

I was safe here with these men, and if I could hold onto this, maybe I would be all right.





Sixteen





Matthieu





The house was eerily quiet with Rake and Leo locked away with Lola, music missing from the kitchen and the pack all keeping to their own quarters. Rake had gone silent from the group chat after delivering the biggest blow yet.

Indy, Vice President of The Hangmen MC. Wanted for sex trafficking.

It was both too much and too little information about the skittish young beta who’d caught the eye of…

Well, our whole damn pack.

I left my own rooms, trying and failing not to look in at Leo’s as I headed for the stairs. The lights were off and I couldn’t hear any voices. Was she still here? Probably. I couldn’t imagine Leo letting her leave after hearing a bomb like that.

Was she one of the…

I swallowed and shook my head, hurrying down to the third floor. Sure enough, Wes was in his office, desk light on and casting a beastly shadow against the wall, a monstrous version of the gentle giant slouched in front of the computer screen. Thin glasses reflected the screen’s glare, and Wes didn’t so much as twitch until I pulled a chair up to his side and sank down, staring blindly at the information on the screen.

“Anything?”

“A lot. Not much useful yet. I couldn’t get in to locate where the text might’ve come from, but I’ve got a guy on it,” Wes said.

“And no one’s spotted him?”

Wes sighed and leaned back, rolling his shoulder and then reaching up to dig his fingers against his forehead. “Honestly? They caught sixteen men. A few more died in the altercation. There were plenty of bulletins posted about this guy, but as far as I can tell, not a lot of work has gone into tracking him down. A fuckin’ year of moving around and getting good at hiding. Or getting lazy, if I’m lucky.”

“A year,” I echoed. Lola had lived with this for a year.

“A bit more than, yeah. How is she?”

“How should I know?”

Wes grunted and nodded, crossing his arms behind his head and closing his eyes. I wanted to urge him to work, to do more, to find the bastard, but Wes would. And I knew shit about tracking someone through the internet.

“Do you think it’s good…her being here?” Wes asked.

I tore my gaze off the meaningless screen to stare back at him. “For her or for us?”

Wes’ frown deepened. “Us? I meant for her, but why would you…”

“I think she is safe here, and if she’s not uncomfortable, then yes. It’s good for her. For us?” My head wobbled, and I reached up to scratch at my chin. “If Leo was not a part of our pack, he would marry that girl before the year was up. But what if she can’t bring herself to become a part of a pack with alphas in it? He can’t, he wouldn’t leave Caleb and Rake. So will he lose her? Will she lose him?”

“We’re not like this guy. She’ll see that.”

“Maybe,” I said.

Wes huffed and sat up, head shaking. “No, Matt. Look at this shit.” He moved his mouse and tapped his keyboard and up came a window with more familiar contents. A criminal record. Joseph ‘Indy’ Franks. He sneered at me through a small photo on the screen, gaze pale and skin pocked. He had a shaved head and sharp, thin features.

“Battery, battery, sexual battery, robbery, drug possession, five more counts of battery,” Wes rattled off.

“Fils de pute,” I hissed.

Wes, used to my slips back into French, just hummed with agreement. “Yeah, but I wouldn’t blame the mother. Did a little research, and his dad stayed clean, but some of the other pack fathers were nasty pieces of work on their own. So trust me when I say, we are noticeably not like this fucker.”