Page 12 of Sandro

“If you would rather, I can call Rio and have him come back and take us to the villa. There will be a flurry of activity there, as there always is. But you would not be alone with me in what appears to be a remote cabin in the middle of Canada.”

“Is that where this is?”

“Yes. Rio mentioned that the kitchen is fully stocked. Perhaps something to drink if you aren’t hungry?” I moved over toward it, and as expected, I found bottles of water, juice, sport drinks, fizzy drinks, and a few others. There was also a wide selection of what appeared to be prepared fruits, chunks of cheese, and many other snacking foods. “Did you eat lunch?” I asked Leo as I turned to look his way. I was a bit surprised that he was standing just on the other side of the kitchen.

“No. I had to finish scrubbing the floors first. That didn’t happen, and I ended up running instead of sticking around to see if I was going to be punished. I’m not too hungry though.” Leo looked around once more.

“Very well,” I said as I pulled out a bottle of water and closed the refrigerator. “What do you wish to do? Perhaps we could sit and talk? You must have some questions for me.” I knew I had plenty for him. First and foremost, I wanted to know his full name so I could let the family know to look into his parents. He’d mentioned that they’d died but didn’t sound as if he believed it was an accident. That was certainly something that Marcello would be good at looking into.

“Talking is always good. I’m not sure what all there is to discuss though. You’ve lived a whole lot more than I have. My life, you basically already know everything that’s happened. It’s not really been all that exciting or anything.”

“There’s always more to ourselves than we realize,” I said. “I’ll start boring you with all of the old man stuff that I do, and you can tell me that I need to enjoy life more.” I handed Leo a bottle of water because, despite him saying he didn’t wish for anything at the moment, I knew that if you were running from others for an extended period of time, you would become parched. “Shall we?” I asked, holding out my hand to my beloved.

He placed his free hand in mine, and after I slowly walked back to the sofa, I sat and pulled Leo down with me. He turned to me with rounded eyes. I shrugged. “It’s not as if we’re not going to get to know one another,” I told him. “I’m not going to claim you until you’re ready, but I will warn you that it is only so long that a vampire can go without blood. Not only that, but there is also the issue of your heat that will set in with you having met me.”

“I’m on suppressors though,” Leo said. “Alpha Franco didn’t like for any of the omegas to have heats unless we were claimed.”

I slowly shook my head. That was something else that needed to be looked into. “I’m not certain, and it’s possible that they will work. But there is also the possibility that, despite you being on them, you will go into heat even if we don’t claim each other. Simply being in close proximity can set it off.”

Leo sighed. “Very well. They’re not fun, and I really would rather not have one, actually. Have you ever been around a cat in heat? It’s much the same, but I was told that’s just how it is with feline shifters. Maybe that’s why Alpha Franco didn’t want us having them either. That and because most of the pride are assholes.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose. There was so much to discuss. The question was, where did we begin?

Chapter 6

Leonardo

When suddenly faced with the prospect of having nothing else to do but talk to my mate, I was at a loss. What did you tell your fated mate? I looked down at the water bottle that he’d handed me, and in that moment, I was thankful that he’d been thoughtful enough to grab one for me, despite me saying no to anything. I was thirsty. I’d been working for some time at the pride house before I attacked Pietro and took off.

“Do you have questions for me?” Sandro asked.

I shook my head while swallowing the water. “I should,” I said after I put the cap back on the bottle. “I didn’t expect to meet my mate. And the thing that keeps running through my head the most is that you’re older than me. You have lived so much more life, and you have it together. I went to school, but I never went to university. I was lucky to be allowed to go to secondary school.”

“What were you studying for?”

I sighed. “I wanted to go into IT. I wanted to work with computers, and for a time, I thought that Alpha Franco was going to let me continue on at university. Then my parents died, and his entire attitude toward me shifted.” I shrugged while thinking back to the change. “At first, I was just happy to not be thrown out. I didn’t know what to do. Alpha Franco took care of the funeral and everything with that. I was able to grab a few of my parents’ things, but it was too overwhelming to even enter their rooms, so I only grabbed a few pictures and small things. By the time I was thinking a bit more clearly, the pride had already gone in and cleared everything out.”

“Did they say where they put their stuff?” Sandro asked.

I focused on Sandro and shook my head. “Alpha Franco said they disposed of everything. They didn’t keep anything. I don’t even know what happened to their papers or their banking documents. He just got rid of it all and told me to be thankful I wasn’t out with them because I no longer had ties to the pride.”

Sandro scowled. “You were born within the pride, were you not?”

I nodded absently. “That didn’t really mean anything when your dad was human. Alpha Franco didn’t like the fact that my father was human. Not at all. For whatever reason though, we never left. I’m not sure why. Dad was an accountant, and Mom used to be a teacher before she had me. Once I was born, she stopped teaching to raise me.”

Sandro was quiet for a moment before he moved enough to get his phone from his pocket. “Do you mind if I send some information to Marcello to look into? It’s what he does now, and perhaps he can find out some more information about your parents and what happened.”

I shook my head. “I don’t mind. I’m not sure what all he’ll be able to find though.”

“You would be surprised at what information Marcello and the others can dig up. What are your parents’ names?”

“Emilio and Sofia. Our last name is Mosca. As far as I know, Mom was born into the pride in Rome. Dad was born in Palermo.”

Sandro froze, then looked up at me. “Emilio Mosca. From Palermo, Sicily.”

I nodded. “Yeah. Is something wrong?”

Sandro tilted his head. “Possibly not,” he finally said. “Do you know anything at all about your dad’s family?”