AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“What are they gonna think about me? Or is this a regular thing that happens around here?”
I could hear the vulnerability in his voice, but I didn’t have a great answer. Honestly, weird shit happened in my house all the time, and me buying some omega from the casino wasn’t the weirdest.
“They’ll meet you at some point, but not today. Let’s just get inside, and we’ll come up with a story.”
“Will they be mad at me or you? What will they think of me? What if they don’t approve of what you’ve done?” He was spiraling and again, it was for ridiculous reasons that he didn’t need to be worrying about.
“No, it’ll be fine. I just don’t want to deal with anybody’s shit today.”
“Okay.” He didn’t seem to buy it, but he stopped asking questions.
When we got out of the car, Ethan fell in step behind me, so I grabbed his hand and gave him a tug, pulling him inside the kitchen right behind me. His hand fit easily inside mine.
He was so small, like I could tuck him close to me and no one would even know he was there.
The kitchen was usually empty of family members, but for some unfortunate reason, Andro and Joey were just walking in as Ethan and I were passing through.
“Hey, Sino. Good timing. We’re heading out to dinner. All of us.” Andro looked at Ethan and then back at me. “Who’s your friend?”
Fuck. I didn’t know what to say, but I couldn’t exactly say nothing as I pulled Ethan closer to my side and slipped my hand behind his back. “Ethan. I met him at the casino.”
Joey was quick to reach for Ethan’s hand to shake it. “Hi. I’m Joey, Andro’s husband. I’m so happy to meet you. I can’t wait to get to know you better.” I could see the interest in Joey’s eyes already. He knew I never brought omegas back here.
I looked at my brother. “Thanks for the invite, but we can’t?—”
Andro raised an eyebrow. “You guys are coming. We’re leaving in three minutes. Be ready.”
“Yeah, okay.” As we walked away, I glanced down at Ethan.
He looked like he was about to burst into tears.
Slipping my arm up over his shoulders, I pulled him against my chest. “It’s fine. My brothers are cool. And you’ll like their omegas. Just… I don’t know what you wanna tell them. It’s fine to tell them the truth. But if you’d rather say we hooked up, I don’t care either way.”
“I don’t want to tell them the truth. Maybe just tell them…” His brows furrowed as he looked up at me. “That you actually like me. Not that I’m…your property.”
Wasn’t that a kick in the nuts? It wasn’t that I disliked the kid. I’d just paid a shitton of cash to keep him safe. “I do like you, Ethan. At least, I’m sure I will once I get to know you better. And I hope you like me too. But yeah, a story like that is easier than the truth sometimes.”
Chapter 5
Ethan
I was grateful that Orsino was willing to lie about how we met. It would be mortifying for his family to know I sold myself to a stranger to protect my deadbeat father. But we never got a chance to test out our lie because, apparently, gossip traveled quickly in the Ferrini home, and his brother outed me the second he saw me.
A good-looking man who was clearly related to Orsino, but an inch or so shorter, bounded down the stairs with an omega at his side. “Hey, Sino. Is that the boy you bought?”
I felt the color drain from my face as Orsino stepped closer to my side as if shielding me. “Hey, Louie.” He cleared his throat. “This is Ethan.”
“Hey, Ethan.” The alpha nodded to me. “Good to meet you. Roland told me what happened with your dad. Tough break, kid. But what you did is pretty admirable. Selling yourself to a stranger to save your dad is not something just anybody would do. Good on you.” He clapped my shoulder. “This is my omega, Connor.”
Okay, I guess we were going with the truth. I straightened my shoulders and held my hand out to Connor first and then to Louie. “It’s nice to meet you both.… Yeah, Orsino really saved me.”
Connor glanced up at Louie. “Louie saved me too. I was part of the harem.” He looked slightly uncomfortable, but then he smiled. “Are you going into the harem? We can make room for you. There should be a single room open right now, and I can introduce you to the rest of the omegas.” He looked between me and Orsino.
I froze, not sure how to respond.
Thankfully, Orsino spoke up for me. “No, he isn’t going to the harem. He’ll be with me. Only me.”
I felt my lips pull back in a smile, but I was quick to hide it. I shouldn’t have been so thrilled that this man I had coerced into buying me was now stuck with me despite my obvious lower status.
