After a filling lunch, Alastair invited Noel to swim in the pool behind the villa. Noel, feeling hot and bothered, accepted the invitation and immediately took off his clothes and jumped into the pool.
He was wearing only his boxers. When he surfaced, wiping the water from his face.
"It feels so refreshing. Today is truly my second best day after the one we spent together last week!" he said, referring to their first hangout. Or rather, their first date.
He turned to the Alpha, the man who had just surfaced from the water, pushing his hair back. His broad chest and the muscles in his arms, which were clearly visible for a moment, made Noel pause.
His heart was beating so fast, seeing the attractive sight in front of him. He had never seen an Alpha male with biceps like his.
'He looks so cool. His biceps aren't too big, they match his abs and body shape. Wait... Why am I thinking about this?!' he thought, feeling confused, then he shook his head quickly to snap himself out of it.
But still, he couldn't deny that he was interested in what he was seeing right now. Especially the Griffin shaped tattoo clearly visible on the man's neck. Previously, the tattoo hadn't been very noticeable because he always wore a shirt or turtleneck.
Only this time, because he was wearing only his shorts, the tattoo was visible, which made Noel curious to find out more.
"Nice tattoo. Where did you get it done? It looks really cool. Isn't that a mythological creature called a Griffin?"
Alastair touched the tattoo on his neck and nodded. "That's right, it's a mythological creature that many people know about."
The Omega didn't know that the tattoo actually symbolized the mafia group led by the Alpha. They chose the Griffin as their mafia symbol because the Griffin had three symbols that they thought were suitable to describe their group.
Starting from the head of an eagle, the body of a lion, and also wide wings. It symbolized that they had sharp eyes like an eagle, a strong body like a lion who was also a leader, and large wings that were capable of fighting anyone.
Hearing the meaning of the symbol on his tattoo, Noel was very impressed by it. He thought that Alastair used the tattoo only to describe himself, but that was not the case.
While swimming, Noel revealed that he had never felt so free around someone. Even with Regis, he sometimes felt confined.
"I've never felt this free before. I can truly do whatever I want and whatever I like. Regis forbids me from doing anything he considers dangerous. But that just makes me feel constrained by every rule he gives me."
"Including not being able to leave the mansion?" asked Alastair.
He nodded. "That's right. He doesn't allow me to have my own home and live my life as I please. He always finds reasonable excuses, saying that I can't take care of myself, especially when I'm in heat."
Noel knew that everything Regis did was for his own good. But once again, he didn't want to stay in his safe zone and wanted to try things outside of it. Regis even kept Noel away from their family's mafia business.
"But with you, I feel like I've been reborn. Even though we've only known each other for almost six months, I can feel that freedom," he said with a smile.
This smile wasn't the usual mischievous one he always showed, but a sweet and sincere smile from the Omega. Previously, he had never felt this comfortable around others, but Alastair had managed to make him feel at ease in a short time.
"This scared me at first, I thought you were just trying to take advantage of me. Especially with everything you did for me, like asking me out and picking me up from campus. It felt so strange for someone I had just met to do all those things," he said again.
Hearing all his words, the Alpha mafia could only laugh and reply that he wasn't trying to take advantage of him.
"To be honest, I am interested in you. But I'm not trying to take advantage of you in any way, and the effort I'm putting in is a way to get you," replied Alastair.
"For an Alpha like me, it would be easy to get you just by releasing my pheromones. But for me, that would only bring hatred." He continued his sentence while looking at Noel.
He realized that this Omega was not the type who would melt and submit to him with his pheromones. Physically, he might submit because of his biological nature as an Omega. But his mind would continue to resist and hate him. That was what he wanted to avoid.
Alastair then swam closer to Noel, positioning himself right in front of the man. Their chests were almost touching.
"If you feel burdened by your life with your older brother, how about you come live with me? I won't treat you the way he does," he said in a low, heavy, calm voice.
Looking into the mafia boss's eyes, Noel saw the sincerity in them. He could tell that the man was sincere and truly wanted Noel to experience the freedom he deserved.
However, he replied that he couldn't just leave Regis. After all, he was the only family Noel had.
"Since my parents died 15 years ago, Regis has been the only one by my side. He took over the family business and raised me when he should have been enjoying his freedom. I can't just leave my older brother," he replied.
No matter how bad Regis' attitude was towards him, the man had never once hurt him physically. So he had no reason to actually leave him.
"Besides, I can't possibly live with you. Regis will definitely come after you later. You won't be able to fight him and his men," replied Noel, who still believed that Alastair was just a regular guard and not a mafia boss.
The Omega man then chose to swim to the edge of the pool because he wanted to check his phone. Just as he reached the edge of the pool, Alastair asked something that made Noel freeze in place.
A question Noel had never heard from anyone before.
"Why do you trust your brother so much?"
He turned his head and looked at him, who was still standing in the middle of the pool, staring at him with a serious look as if he was questioning him about it.
"Are you sure he's your family?"