Hearts of Deceit (ManxMan)

Epilogue: Misha

1 Month Later 

"Joe," I sighed.

"Mm, yeah, say it just like that." 

"Joe." This time, I followed it up with a little shove. The alpha still stayed glued, stubbornly, to my neck. I could feel his smile against my skin. When he didn't let up, I felt an elbow to the ribs was in order. 

"Oof-! Gah-! What the hell?"

"We're going to be late," I said.

"Late for what? Central Park stays open till 1 am!" 

"Ah, yes, because we'll want to stay in a big, dark, empty park till 1 in the morning."

"You could take down three full grown male alphas if you wanted to!" Joe argued. I would have taken it as a compliment if not for the fact that he was trying to keep me caged between him and the kitchen counter. Some silly thinking of mine had me assured Joe would be less of a nuisance with Hans, Ross, and even Conrad around. Oh, how naive I was. By some remarkable ingenuity, the alpha still had time to catch me in his hormone-driven state. 

I heaved out a sigh and slipped past him, the black trench coat catching my eye in the distant corner of the kitchen. "Conrad's been waiting in the car for ten minutes and with you it'll turn into an hour."

Joe followed me as I slipped on the coat and searched for my keys on the hooks above the dining table. He crossed his arms and smiled. "Is that really a bad thing, though? We'll ask him to join us."

I snorted. "He's barely shown interest in kissing or cuddling. I highly doubt he'd be down for a spur of the moment threesome."

There was an unbidden silence that followed as I located the keys and went for the closet by the front doors. Joe followed but didn't comment. Something shifted in the air. A complete one-eighty. Those seemed to be more common around here now. 

When I finally managed to wrangle my old boots on, Joe spoke up.

"If shit hits the fan today, don't take it too hard. Con would have left by now if he didn't think we were worth it."

I smiled wryly as I looked up at him. Joe was a strange package of contradictions and mild chaos. He liked to keep the pain and emotions deep down like the good alpha son of old money and purported nobility. Ironically, he was the most emotionally volatile of us next to Conrad. His feelings and sentiments came out in a rushing explosion of rage, panic, or frustration like the eruption of a supervolcano. It was an easy doorway for a look into the state of his thoughts. Right now, the peak inside made it very clear that Joe was hurting and would hurt if Conrad ever decided to leave. The idea that the red-headed delta was hanging on for this long for a reason was particularly appealing to someone who couldn't face the truth.

The truth being that we'd messed up and Conrad owed us nothing. The truth that he could be hanging on out of spite, boredom, or apathy. Maybe even pity. The truth being that I might even deserve the pain. 

I mulled this over as I smiled up at the alpha with the nervous tick in his eye that he tried hard to cover up. Unlike Joe, I knew how to keep the mask on. Even when it hurt the most. 

"I'm fine. I'll be fine. Conrad and I are just having a simple talk."

He looked a little skeptical. Was my mask slipping? Was I getting old at the game? I shook my head, gave him a hesitant kiss and stepped out into the gentle light of the warmer-than-usual winter afternoon. My heart swelled a little, catching sight of Conrad in the passenger seat of the Rolls Royce, distracted by something on his phone. 

"Hey," I said once I reached the car. He glanced up for a second. His eyes jumped down to his phone just as quickly. 

"Hey," he muttered.