Page 21 of Sandro

Leo blinked at me several times. “Okay, but you didn’t hurt me. Even before I shifted, you hesitated. It seemed as if you recognized that I wasn’t a threat to you. That I was someone else there to maybe help.”

“Did you not know that about pregnant omegas?” I asked. He seemed to dodge that entirely, and I was left wondering if he knew anything about omegas and how everything worked when they were pregnant.

“Maybe? There weren’t a whole lot of omegas in the pride. It’s mostly alphas. There were a few mated couples, but only one was with a male mate, and they didn’t seem to stay with the pride for too long after they found each other. There are a few other male omegas, but I wasn’t exactly best friends with them.”

Most everything about what he’d just shared was concerning. “Why aren’t you friendly with the other omegas?” Did he simply not get along with others? Was it going to be an issue with Abel and Mazzi?

“Because they didn’t like me. They were worried that if they were caught associating with me, they would also become the pride’s servants. I cleaned, Sandro. Every day, I was tasked with something new that needed to be done. I scrubbed floors, toilets, did dishes, cleaned the ugly figurines. I did it all. I changed bedding, vacuumed everything. You name it, I did it. That was how I was allowed to continue living there. I didn’t want to be homeless on the streets of Rome, because I know what that would have meant for me.”

I closed my eyes briefly. I understood as well. Rome was gorgeous, but it had a dark side, just as any larger city did. Leo would have been hunted by those that weren’t kind. Those like me. If he’d been caught and was one of the lucky ones, he would have been held captive and kept for blood and sex. But it wasn’t just vampires. There was a dark paranormal underground in many cities across Europe. I would question him about why he immediately trusted me, but I knew. He could scent me, and his leopard told him that I was his mate. Characteristically, our first instinct toward our fated mate was protection, not harm. That clicked suddenly.

“You said I seemed to withdraw, that I didn’t harm you last night,” I said, changing the subject. Did I withdraw because he was my beloved? Even in that state, did I know he meant me no harm?

Leo smiled up at me. I ran my hand back into his hair and rubbed the base of his skull. Leo smiled at me, and I didn’t know if it was because he was enjoying the attention from me or because I’d changed the subject. “Yeah. You did reach out, at first—right after I touched your shoulder. But you seemed to hesitate. My leopard was well on his way to coming out at that point though, and I shifted anyway. I backed away, I hissed and growled at you, and eventually, you seemed to come out of it. Then you grabbed me and immediately started apologizing. You did that over and over.”

I would never be able to apologize enough to make up for what I’d done to him. “I know I already said as much, but I don’t recall ever lashing out at someone like that before. If I did, it would have been Rio, but he’s not ever said anything about it. He’s seen to all of my care since I was rescued.”

“I don’t know the guy. You could always ask him, but I would think he would mention it to you instead of keeping something like that a secret.”

I nodded in agreement. What was different about last night? Why had I reacted the way I had?

“You’re thinking too hard about it,” Leo said. He pulled away, and I let him go. He poured shampoo into his hand and then replaced the bottle on the built-in shelf. When he started lathering his hair, I realized then that he’d already managed to wet his hair and start his shower routine while I’d been thinking about anything else. While Leo was out of the water, scrubbing his scalp, I stood under it and started rubbing at the mess on my stomach and leg. I needed a good cleaning, which was a pity because I enjoyed scenting of my beloved.

“Can I ask you another question?” Leo asked once he’d finished scrubbing and rinsing his hair.

“Yes. Again, you can ask anything anytime.”

He sighed deeply. “Yeah, I get that you said that, but I wanted to know when you were going to claim me? Don’t you think it’ll be okay? You said you were attracted to me, and I think it’s safe to say that’s been proven more than once.”

I wanted to say that I’d claim him as soon as we finished the shower, but I was still hesitating because of my reaction to him while I was sleeping. Also, the possibility of him not being able to shift and protect himself. “Please try to understand my side of it. I would like nothing other than to already be able to call you mine, but I wish to talk to Rio first. I want to know if I’ve ever tried to attack him while I was recovering.” I would think that he would have mentioned that to me, but possibly not.

Leo’s face fell. I’d disappointed him, and I wasn’t exactly surprised that I had. “So we have to wait a month, huh? Since that’s when we’ll be leaving here, right? That’s what Rio said? He’d come for us in a month?”

I reached out and gently cupped Leo’s face. “Kitten, I’ll call Rio and have him come here as soon as he’s available. But as far as I’m concerned, once I talk to him and get a better idea about how to best protect you from me, I’ll be claiming you before we go to sleep again.” The words were out there, and now that they were, a sense of peace settled over me. Leo was, without a doubt, exactly who I’d needed in my life. The real question though: was I the same for him?

Chapter 10

Leonardo

Iwas trying my best not to listen in on their conversation. I was failing completely, but I was trying. We’d finished our shower, and sadly, nothing further happened while we were both naked. I wanted to kiss all of Sandro’s scars, but I didn’t know how he’d react to that. I knew that on some level, they bothered him. It was unusual for a paranormal to have physical scars because of our ability to heal so quickly. But like Sandro had said, he’d been minutes from death.

Once we’d finished our shower, Sandro and I had gotten dressed. Again, without anything else happening. Once we were downstairs, he immediately called Rio while I went to the kitchen area in search of some juice I’d seen in there yesterday. I was drinking it while leaning against the counter, and Sandro and Rio were talking in the living room area. The sun finally started coming up, but it was still incredibly early here. Combine that with a long night, and if I was being honest with myself, I was a bit irritable. And hungry.

I finished my juice, rinsed the glass, and then placed it in the dishwasher. That was nice. The pride had one, of course, but I’d been the usual dishwasher. And of course, Alpha Franco liked for everything to be hand-washed because otherwise they didn’t get as clean. I shook my head. Of course they didn’t.

But I was hungry, and since what little funds I had were in euros, and we were in Canada come to find out, and I couldn’t drive, I was stuck here. That was fine. I could cook. I’d been doing that for long enough. Luckily for me, I’d not been forced to cook for the pride. My simple cooking skills weren’t nearly skilled enough for Alpha Franco’s tastes. I rolled my eyes at that thought. The man liked to think that he was basically royalty or something, when in reality, everyone in the pride and those who would visit from time to time were not fooled.

I’d already eaten my sandwich from yesterday, and although I wasn’t sure what Sandro might want to eat, or Rio even, I opted to have a bowl of cereal. It was a treat, and since it was here, that meant it was available for me to eat. I found a bowl, opened the box of wheat biscuits, and poured them into it. I’d just added milk when Sandro and Rio came into the kitchen area.

“What are you doing?” Sandro asked.

I stared at him for a moment before shaking my head. “I would think that was obvious. I’m having cereal.” I looked over at Rio. “The white stuff on them is frosting?”

“It was something that Abel suggested. I can get you something else if you wish.”

I shook my head. “I’m good. I just didn’t know how long the two of you were going to be, and I’m hungry. I didn’t get much sleep last night, and my stomach is saying it’s past time to have eaten.” I took a bite of cereal and smiled. It was good. Probably better than it should have been, because it was something as simple as cereal, but when you were used to not getting meals at times, you enjoyed every one that you did.

“Would you care for something more along the lines of what we usually have?” Rio asked.