Lola & the Millionaires: Part One (Sweet Omegaverse #2)(63)

“I could drive you,” Wes said, and the kitchen went quiet. He cleared his throat and shrugged gently. “It’s on the way for me. You can sit in the back if you want.”

I glanced at the rest of the quiet men. Caleb’s eyes were on his immobile fork, and Matthieu was staring over my head at Wes. Rake and Cyrus were watching me.

“I don’t want to treat you like a hired driver, but if you’re sure you don’t mind offering a ride,” I said.

Wes nodded. “Definitely not. The service we use has a few alpha drivers, and I wouldn’t want you to end up with someone unfamiliar. As long as you’re—”

“I’m sure,” I said.

He’s huge. He could overpower you so fast. You don’t know what he wants. He could hurt you.

But he won’t.

I shut down the argument waging in my head with another bite of pancake, and Wes relaxed, digging into his own plate.

“Perfect,” Rake said. “Leo’s back tonight, and Lola will be here. Family dinner?”

“You’d better plan the meal though, and not leave it up to Leo to figure out at the last moment,” Caleb said with a playful glare at Rake.

And the conversation moved away from its awkward pause.





Wes was driving us out of the garage in his sleek black sedan, turning onto the road, when I looked into the backseat for the third time and it finally clicked.

The foggy morning, and the shining black shoes waiting in front of me. The long back seat of the dark car, and the close-cut blond hair of the driver.

“It was you,” I said, barely audible.

Wes’ hands flexed on the steering wheel, and his head twitched in my direction.

“You… Wasn’t it? You picked me up from the Hangmen’s club that morning?” I asked, staring at him in profile. “How is that… Why would it be you?”

I didn’t remember very much of that morning, and I wasn’t sure if it was because of whatever I might’ve been dosed with the night before, or that I didn’t want to remember. I couldn’t recall the face of the man who’d driven me away from Buzz and to the safety of David’s apartment, but I remembered the thick black sweatshirt I’d worn on the ride. My lungs were clogged with alpha scents, covering my skin, and it had taken most of the drive before I realized I was with another alpha.

Wes nodded and swallowed hard. “It was me. David called in a favor.”

My heart sank like a lead weight. “So the others—”

Wes’ head shook, his hand closest to me leaving the wheel and hovering between us like he’d meant to touch me and thought better of it. “No. No, I never said anything to them. It wasn’t anybody’s business but yours. I…”

I turned my face away from his, the city a blur outside of the window as I scrambled to control my breathing, keep my focus on the present and not the past.

“I’m sorry, Lola,” Wes whispered.

“Sorry? What are you sorry for?” I asked, my head whipping to stare at him. “I should say I’m—”

Wes let out a low growl. “Don’t you dare.” My lips snapped shut and Wes’ cheeks reddened, his eyes flicking to me. “I’m sorry for not going back to that place and burning it to the ground like I thought about doing when I dropped you off with David. Then you wouldn’t have this asshole sending you texts. The whole mess would’ve been over.”

His knuckles were white and red around the steering wheel, jaw ticking with tension.

Burning that motel and bar to the ground sounded like a beautiful idea. The very mention of it, and I craved the view, imagining flames eating away at the peeling wallpaper and turning those awful mattresses to ash.

“You didn’t know me then,” I said, studying him.

Wes was all squared angles and thick muscle. If Leo was bulkier than my usual type, Wes was about three of my usual type put together. He wasn’t handsome necessarily, but he was the definition of strength. The anger he’d revealed a moment ago was already bleeding away, leaving me in the car with the gentle giant I’d sat next to at breakfast.

“I had a guess of what had happened to you, and I knew what those men deserved,” Wes muttered darkly. “I’ll find him, and I’ll make sure he never so much as looks sideways at you again.”

Simple as that. Wes’ promise was plain and his voice was confident. I believed him too. I didn’t know why he was so determined to see me safe, but I believed him.

“Thank you,” I said.

His jaw clenched again and his shoulder jerked in an uncomfortable shrug. He glanced at me and the corner of his mouth twitched with an offered smile. “Dig into the front pocket of my laptop bag. Take a look at fifteen across for me?”

I reached down and pulled the newspaper out and Wes’ scent sweetened in the car around me, heady and syrupy. I relaxed into the deep seat, slipping my feet out of my heels and curling them under me.





Twenty





Caleb





It wasn’t easy to be an alpha around Lola.

She was curled up in an armchair in the den while Leo made them each a deep bowl of ice cream and fresh out of the oven chocolate chip cookies. She had my blanket draped over her, even though the house was warm and her cheeks were flushed. I wanted to tear the blanket away from her and replace it with me. If she liked my scent so much, then I would’ve been more than happy to let her steal it directly off my skin.