Order of Importance

To think that his son hadn't tired of the beta was beyond his comprehension. 

After a couple of days of nothing, he was notified that the tracker in Luca's watch had reactivated. He had given his son that watch originally to track his pheromones and be sure he had an omega nearby whenever he went into a rut. 

However, the data showed that Luca's pheromones were unstable. This type of thing happened the more he resisted his natural instinct. How ridiculous was his son to believe that he could win over nature. He was going to be in a lot of pain if he continued with the beta for too long. The sex likely wasn't enjoyable for her anyway. 

Mr. Morelli sat at his desk, displeased at the most recent development of the situation regarding who was supposed to be his most eligible heir. Of course, Luca continued to disappoint him and taint the Morelli name. It was why he was supposed to be killed. 

He said to make his son's death look like an accident but the real accident was Luca waking up. Needless to say, the grunt who failed to do that very basic task was done away with. He would never see the light of day again. 

However, now that the alpha had put on his watch, it was going to be easy to figure out where he had disappeared. 

When they went to the registered address of the woman who was taking care of him, Sophia Prince, her address led to a bakery and that was where the trail ended for a while.

He had to orchestrate a way to get his son back and under his control again, but dealing with betas he was going to have to be careful. 

It was only a matter of time. 

+

Luca and Sophia had been sitting in her kitchen with a variety of tools trying to get the watch off of Luca's wrist, but it was to no avail. The pins couldn't be taken out and the clasp that had originally clasped closed was nowhere to be found underneath layers of the platinum metal.

As Sophia gave one last-ditch attempt to take the watch off of Luca's wrist, her expression was focused and he observed her face while she worked. 

He wondered if she knew just how she smelled to him or what it did to him even when the situation didn't call for it. 

When Sophia sat up straight and tossed her tool on the countertop, she sighed. 

"I give up," she said. "I have never seen a watch like that before. Not to say that I'm particularly gifted in things like this. Who would have thought a watch wouldn't be easy to take off?" 

The side of Luca's mouth was upturned in a slight smirk. He was simply satisfied that she was fussing over him. All he wanted was to occupy her thoughts. 

Sophia's green eyes landed on his face and she was immediately unnerved but undeniably drawn to him. She was at a loss as to how a simple expression could ignite her heart so much. 

"Has anyone ever told you how beautiful you are?" he asked seemingly randomly. 

Momentarily, she wondered if it was a mistake to pursue someone so attractive. She felt like she would never know peace as long as he continued to give her looks that melted her from the inside out. His words were abrupt enough that she was totally speechless for a moment. 

"Don't say things like that," she said shyly. "You're going to make me embarrassed." 

Before she could slip off of the bar stool as she intended to, Luca put his hand on the back of her chair and stopped her from turning away from him further. 

"I like when you're embarrassed," he admitted.

It was a way for him to ensure that he was under her skin in some small way.

Luca moved closer slowly, giving her opportunities to stop him, but he was relieved when she didn't. 

He had been well-behaved all day and controlled himself despite all the times he got a craving for her taste and smell again. Even on the car ride to the hospital where all he could smell was her sugar cookie scent, he somehow kept himself together even if it hurt. 

Her acting cute was what put him over the edge. 

Luca only kissed her once but it was slow and full of all the things he couldn't say without scaring her off. When there was space between their mouths again, he was surprised to find her being the one leaning in and silently asking for more. 

He was so caught off guard his hands went to her knees and he slid them upwards slowly. 

Sophia's heart fluttered at the feeling of his hands on her legs and she wrapped one of her arms around him in response, her fingers able to explore more now that his staples were no longer there. However, she was still delicate. She never wanted to hurt him. If she knew that each time they were close to one another he was hurting, she would be horrified. 

Even when she was trying her hardest to resist, she couldn't kiss him in a way that implied she was asking for something more. Her body was telling her to give herself to him but she didn't know if it was misleading her like all the other times she thought it was telling her the same thing. 

Luckily, or perhaps unluckily depending on how they looked at it, the decision was made for them as Ethan came through the front door carrying two bags of food. He was none the wiser to what had been transpiring just before he interrupted them. 

"Cheat day!" he exclaimed. 

Normally his diet was pristine and each calorie was accounted for, however, on cheat days, Ethan was known to hit it hard. It seemed that nothing had changed. 

"I got you a BLT from your favorite greasy joint," Ethan said to his roommate as he moved towards the kitchen. He then turned to the imposing man to her right and shrugged. "I got burgers for you. Something tells me you like a lot of meat." 

Sophia had been hungry but it was forgotten when Luca kissed her. Now that her head was clear again, she remembered.

"Thank you!" she said, getting up from her barstool and joining him on the other side of the large island, trying to sound enthusiastic so he wouldn't suspect a thing.

Luca thanked Ethan for the food but, as he looked between Sophia and Ethan, a sliver of worry appeared in his thoughts.