Hearts of Deceit (ManxMan)

Ch 12: Mafia?

After so long, it was strange having another presence in the apartment. It was stranger to see Hans interact with it. He was skittish and tired. His eyes moved over everything with a wary look. Half of me expected a judgmental sneer that I'd get from any other omega but he just stared like he was waiting for something to jump out and bite him. 

"Um, the bed is lofted above the couch but if that makes you uncomfortable, there's a small futon in my room." I nodded towards the direction of the hall. "Doesn't really matter to me where I sleep."

Hans clutched the white trench coat he'd been wearing like it was some sort of shield as he looked over at me with apprehension. It was mesmerizing. Gray-blue eyes filled with worry and looking right at me like they were asking for some kind of guidance. 

"You're safe," I reassured him and walked over to the couch/bed. He'd feel safer in my room, I decided. My mind was already rushing around, thinking about whether or not I had an extra toothbrush or any clothes to give him while the other part ran with questions I didn't feel it was appropriate to ask. I barely missed him calling my name in this ridiculously soft voice. 

"Thank you, but I'm not safe. Neither are you. Not with me here." He was playing with his hair anxiously as I turned to look at him. When I indicated the couch, he took a tentative seat.  

"You're not safe," he began again as I went about making some tea for him. "I...I don't even know if I can tell you everything."

"Oh, don't worry kid. I'm used to the secrets. My last asshole of an ex was an agent or whatever. No, I'm not lying," I said when he gave me a look that said I was being crazy.

I tried a different angle. "Look, for whatever reason, Dominic's men are after you and you don't think telling the cops will help. Well, I know Dominic. We grew up together. He was the only alpha kid on the block. He was kind of an asshole and everyone knew the shady shit his father did but we hung out sometimes. Wanna know the real kicker?"

Hans looked at me expectantly. I started pouring the tea into a small cup. "My closest friend, James, big-shot delta lawyer, is his mate. Well, rejected mate."

Hans started at me. I smiled and slid the tray with the cup of tea to him. His hands were a bit shaky as he went to take a drink. 

There was a moments silence as he took a few sips on the couch while I leaned against the bed frame looking over him. My eyes couldn't help traveling to his pink lips but I quickly shook my head of the thought. I had more than enough evidence to know how a relationship would go for me. 

Finally, he set the cup down. Seeing that he was shivering, I took a blanket from the other end of the couch and threw it over his shoulders. He gave me a grateful look before looking ahead to where the empty black screen of my small TV was. 

"My full name is Hans Anderson," he began softly. I leaned in a little.

"It's a common surname so most people don't know about my family...they are in much of the business that Dominic is in. Only...they're more sophisticated. They've been doing this for a while...since my great-great grandfather first immigrated here from Germany."

Another silence hung in the air. I tried to process everything he was telling me at that moment and one thought jumped to my head; holy shit, is he part of the mafia?

Hans continued when I didn't say anything, his voice much quieter as he went on. "They have their hands in a lot of things. Extortion, drug trafficking, prostitution..." His voice trailed off.

Holy shit, he is part of the mafia. I just attract the best, don't I?

He started down at his hands and sighed. He was nervous. Even more so. More fidgety all of a sudden and more insistent on chewing at the chapped skin of his lips. 

"My father wanted to marry me off to Dominic. As a business proceeding with Dominic's father and probably as some kind of twisted punishment for not being born the perfect alpha son. I ran away." 

He left that to hang in the air while taking a few sips of tea, still not having looked at me once since opening up. Not knowing what to say, I leaned back.

Arranged marriages were rarer and rarer. Many nations and states had banned forcing omegas and alphas into marriages outright. New York hadn't. Not because it was some beacon of the Dark Ages but because no one had felt the need to establish such a law in a supposedly progressive state. Who even did arranged marriages anymore? A lawmaker would ask if you told them about it. Never mind that it was usually the elite that had arranged marriages between their omega and alpha kids. It was a dirty open secret no one talked about and the majority, everyday, average people didn't worry about. 

What shook me even more were the implications. 

"Is your dad looking for you?"

Hans nodded slowly before looking up at me. "And Dominic too. If he's bonded to me, he has guaranteed business and power within my family. He'll be near the top of the hierarchy of one of the most powerful underground families." 

They way he said it all so matter-of-factly and with a bit of numbness had me on edge. 

"What's this about hierarchy? Don't tell me you guys do that medieval pack bullshit?" 

"Many rich families do it," Hans stated. 

Part of me wanted to ask what century he thought we were in. The panic was starting to set in as I took in the full gravity of the situation. The mafia. Dominic-fucking-Seraz. They were after Hans and probably me too, now that I'd taken the omega in. And they followed old codes like packs. Meaning Hans was their property and I would be collateral damage. 

I shot up and started pacing. "We gotta tell someone. The PD."

"I told you, we can't. Dominic has men in there." His eyes were trailing me. I ran a hand through my hair in frustration.

"He can't have men in all of New York." I turned to Hans again about to say more but stopped. There was a look in eyes, a look of fear and a bit of panic. It was clear what he wanted to say. He couldn't take the risk.

"I can't just abandon you, y'know?" I sighed, slowing down my frantic movements if at least to convince myself that I was calm. "I've gone through that shit and your life is in danger. But you gotta give me something to work off of."

Hans began to fidget a bit more. I waited for him to speak. Finally, he stood up.

"Yes, there is something. You see, there was a reason I waited so long at your pub. I was expecting a man to show up but...it seems like he may not have read my message. In any case, he'd be a very important man to have the protection of. I knew him a bit ago. If I could just get to him, I could ask for protection for the both of us." Hans said it all slowly, with a bit of hesitance and uncertainty. The crease in his brow and the way he chewed at his lip told me there wasn't much confidence in his words. 

I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. Somehow, I'd managed to put some mafia family and an unstable alpha on my tail, all in one day, and with not even a pat on the back from whatever cruel god there was doing all this. Anything was worth a try. 

"This man some big-shot alpha or something?" I couldn't imagine anyone else supposedly being able to take on the mafia and Seraz. 

Hans nodded. He looked about to speak. Then he hesitated. Taking a final sigh, he said, "He's our only option, although I don't know how reliable he's going to be. He is worth a try."

"Well," I said tilting my head a bit. "Where do we find him? Any name I'd know?"

"Probably. His name is Ross Edwards."

-8-

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