Chapter 133: I’m Angry at My Husband (Again), but His Shirts Smell Nice

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Lorenzo’s arms tightened around me, and when he spoke again, his voice had lost its softness without becoming loud.

"Whoever ordered this will be found, Alex. I will discover why they did it and make certain they never get another opportunity to touch you. You have my word."

The cold certainty in his voice made me believe him, although the thought of what might happen to the person responsible was probably something I should avoid contemplating while I was barely capable of standing upright.

He looked down at me, his expression softening again as he brushed his thumb across my cheek.

"But you don’t have to worry about that right now. This won’t be like those times you had to go through it alone. I am your husband. I’m here and I will take care of you, amore mio. Will you let me?"

I swallowed, trying to ignore the way my chest tightened at his words.

Part of me still wanted to yell at him for keeping the truth from me, but another part was frightened enough to want nothing more than to believe that I wouldn’t have to endure the coming days by myself.

I nodded against his shoulder.

"Yes, but I’m still angry with you."

"I understand."

"And I’m going to remind you of that later."

A faint smile touched his mouth. "I would expect nothing less from you, tesoro."

Once the shower was off, Lorenzo wrapped me in a thick towel and carried me into the bedroom, ignoring my halfhearted complaint that I was perfectly capable of walking when my legs had apparently decided to resign from their duties.

He dried me carefully, helped me into a soft shirt that smelled faintly of him, and settled me on the bed while he contacted the doctor to report the sudden onset of symptoms.

I listened to the conversation with only half my attention, catching enough to understand that Lorenzo wanted the physician available and intended to follow the medical instructions carefully. When he finished, he returned to the bed, but before he could sit beside me, an unfamiliar urgency seized my attention.

The pillows were wrong.

The blankets were wrong.

Everything was so wrong.

I needed something softer, something that smelled like Lorenzo, something that would make the bed feel like a place where I could finally breathe without fighting my own body.

Before I could think the idea through, I climbed off the mattress and went straight to his wardrobe.

"What are you doing, love?" Lorenzo asked.

"Nothing."

I opened the doors and began pulling out his clothes.

He fell silent, which was probably the wisest response he had made all morning.

I gathered several shirts and a soft sweater, choosing the garments that carried his scent most strongly, then returned to the bed and began arranging them across the sheets.

I tucked a shirt beneath one pillow, spread the sweater near the centre, and gathered the blankets around the clothes until I had created a small, comfortable enclosure that felt instinctively right.

A tiny corner of my rational mind observed that I was committing a wardrobe crime in broad daylight, but the rest of me had more important concerns, such as making sure the sweater was positioned correctly and that the pillow near the head of the bed smelled sufficiently like my husband.

By the time I finished, I was breathing a little more easily.

I curled into the nest, pressing my face against one of Lorenzo’s shirts, and felt the tension in my body ease as his scent surrounded me.

It was embarrassing how quickly the arrangement comforted me, but I couldn’t bring myself to care enough to dismantle it.

Lorenzo watched from beside the bed, his expression warm with unmistakable fondness, but he didn’t attempt to rearrange anything or tease me about the clothes scattered across the mattress.

Instead, he asked gently, "May I come in?"

I lifted my head and nodded, reaching toward him before he could mistake my silence for a refusal.

"Yes, Alpha."

The word escaped before I could stop it, and my cheeks warmed as Lorenzo climbed carefully into the nest, settling beside me without disturbing the arrangement I had made.

He drew me against his chest, brushed his fingers through my hair, and pressed a gentle kiss to my forehead.

"Good omega, Alex," he murmured, his voice low and sincere. "What a beautiful nest you made."

An unexpected warmth spread through my chest, entirely different from the feverish discomfort that had driven me into the shower earlier.

I didn’t understand why his praise made me feel so pleased with myself, but I found that I wanted to hear it again, which was deeply inconvenient for a man who had spent years cultivating an intimidating reputation for being difficult to impress.

"It’s a pile of clothes," I mumbled into his shirt.

"It’s your nest, tesoro."

"You’re being suspiciously nice about the fact that I’ve stolen half your wardrobe."

"I can buy more clothes."

"Of course you can. I forgot that you’re offensively rich."

His quiet laughter rumbled beneath my cheek, and I snuggled closer before I could stop myself.

The movement felt natural, as though my body had already decided where I belonged and saw no reason to consult my pride before making the decision.

"I missed you," I murmured.

Lorenzo’s fingers paused in my hair, and when I looked up, I found him studying me with brief surprise before a familiar smirk appeared. "Have you now?"

I couldn’t help but nod.

"You left me alone for days, and I was bored, and the guards are annoying, and Leon keeps asking if I need anything every ten minutes."

I tightened my arms around his waist, suddenly determined to defend my confession before he could turn it into a lifetime supply of teasing material. "If you leave me alone like that again, I’m going to hate you."

He chuckled and kissed my forehead.

"Then I shall have to make certain you never have a reason to hate me for leaving you alone."

His promise that he wouldn’t go anywhere settled something inside me, but the reassurance also intensified the restless warmth beneath my skin, and I found myself pressing closer as my scent thickened around us. Lorenzo noticed, his expression turning gently amused as he brushed his nose against my hair.

"Someone seems to like having his alpha close," he murmured.

I lifted my head immediately. "First of all, rude. Second, I am not discussing my current biological difficulties with you while you’re looking at me like that."

I glared at him, although the effect was somewhat ruined by the way I was practically wrapped around his body. My instincts wanted his scent, his warmth, and the comfort of his arms, while my pride was busy drafting a formal complaint about the entire situation.

Lorenzo brushed his thumb over my cheek, his expression growing tender again.

"Tell me what you need, Alex."

I hesitated, embarrassed by how much effort it took to say something so simple, before finally meeting his eyes.

"I want you to stay with me," I whispered. "I want you. c–close."

"I’m staying."

"And hold me."

He drew me into his arms immediately, pressing a soft kiss to my lips before resting his forehead against mine.

"Yes, Alpha," I added quietly when he waited for me to finish, the words making my cheeks burn even as I leaned toward him.

Lorenzo kissed me again, gentle and unhurried, then held me against his chest while his fingers moved soothingly through my hair.

"I won’t leave your side," he promised. "We’ll get through this together, amore mio. You don’t have to face any of it alone."

I pressed my face into the hollow of his neck, breathing in his familiar scent as the nest surrounded us and the world outside the bedroom finally seemed far enough away to ignore.

I was still frightened, and I hadn’t forgiven him completely for keeping the truth from me, but his arms were warm around my waist, his heartbeat was steady beneath my cheek, and he had promised to stay.

For now, that was enough.

I curled closer, letting my eyes fall shut as the heat settled more firmly into my body, and Lorenzo held me securely among the clothes I had stolen from his wardrobe, kissing my hair and murmuring reassurances until my trembling finally eased.

Whatever the coming days brought, I wouldn’t have to face them alone, and as I breathed him in and settled deeper into the nest, I allowed myself to believe that my alpha would keep his promise.