The coffee tasted bitter. Ren set the cup down.
“So what then? Do I stay hidden here forever?”
“Not forever. Just until…”
“Until it’s safe. Everyone says the same thing, but no one tells me what that means.”
Rocco tilted his head. He studied him with something that might have been respect.
“You’re pretty rude for someone who just escaped an auction.”
“I’m always pretty rude.”
Rocco burst out laughing. Short, genuine. And Ren felt something loosen inside his chest, a knot he didn’t know he had. There was nothing dark in Rocco’s laughter. No intention, no calculation. Just pure fun.
“I like you, kid. That’s going to be a problem.”
“For whom?”
Rocco opened his mouth to answer but didn’t get the chance.
The kitchen door burst open. Brody filled the doorway with his shoulders. His jaw was clenched, and there was a tension Ren sensed before he even saw it. The scent of raisins and walnuts flooded the space all at once—thick, hot, aggressive in a way it hadn’t been until now.
Brody’s gray eyes darted from Ren to Rocco. From Rocco to Ren. They settled on Rocco.
“Don’t you have anything better to do than entertain the omegas of the house?”
His voice was low and controlled, but there was something dangerous beneath it.
Rocco didn’t flinch. He stepped away from the counter, ran a hand through the back of his neck, and looked at Brody with a smirk that curled the left corner of his mouth.
“I was just feeding him, boss. Someone had to do it.”
The tendons in Brody’s neck stood out like guitar strings.
“Get out.”
Rocco raised both hands in a gesture of surrender and headed for the door. As he passed Brody, he slapped him on the shoulder, which Brody took without moving, like a wall. Rocco’s smile widened another millimeter before he disappeared down the hallway.
Brody closed the door. He stood with his hand on the doorknob and his back stiff. Ren watched him breathe. Once, twice. Each exhalation expanded his ribcage as if it contained something large inside.
Ren set the cup down on the island.
“What was that?”
Brody turned.
“What was what?”
“Snubbing him like that. We were talking.”
“I saw that.”
“And?”
“And Rocco has work to do. He’s not your babysitter.”
Heat rose to Ren’s neck. He stepped down from the stool.