The Exiled Alpha's Human Male Mate.[BL]

"My family is involved in businesses and activities that would be considered criminal, even by the standards of people who know how the world works. In other words, we’re a Mafia family."

Dave started.

"That life existed long before I was born. It didn’t begin with my father, and it didn’t begin with my grandfather either. It has been passed down through generations, and eventually, it became my life too."

Dave lowered his gaze briefly.

"I never told you because I knew you’d freak out. I thought you’d leave the moment you discovered what my family really was."

Bryce’s breathing caught. He couldn’t deny that Dave had been right about one thing.

He was terrified.

From the moment they had walked into that room and Bryce had seen men aiming guns at one another, he had already suspected what Dave’s family was. Still, hearing the truth spoken aloud made it brutally real. Mafia. The word itself carried everything Bryce feared most.

Violence.

Blood.

People being hurt or killed without hesitation.

He hated anything that made him feel threatened, and even darkness could make his imagination run wild despite knowing there was nothing waiting for him inside it.

He had never enjoyed watching action or horror movies.

Now he was being told that the man he had loved for six years came from a family where violence was part of their way of life.

And Dave himself was clearly capable of it.

Bryce had already seen enough to understand that.

The way Dave had seized Mr. Anderson by the throat without hesitation.

The calm certainty in his voice when he warned that he never made empty threats.

The way Dave had suddenly begun taking control of his life, coupled with the dark obsession he could already sense beneath his affection.

Bryce’s heart hammered as though he had only just realized the gravity of what he had gotten himself into.

His fear intensified as another thought settled over him: Dave wanted him, and that clearly meant he had no intention of letting him go. If Dave decided Bryce was staying, would he ever be allowed to leave simply because he wanted to? Or would Dave refuse to release him until he was the one who decided their relationship was over?

Bryce’s heart began pounding harder.

The thought of being trapped in a life he had never chosen made his chest tighten until every breath felt insufficient.

"Bryce?"

Dave’s voice reached Bryce faintly, as though it were coming through a thick layer of water, and he barely registered it, too deeply absorbed in his thoughts to react.

"Bryce?"

Dave called his name again, louder this time.

The sound finally broke through the haze in his mind, and Bryce blinked, his attention snapping back to the room.

Dave was watching him closely.

"You don’t have to be afraid. I promise I’ll protect you from anything that comes our way. I won’t allow my family’s business to involve you in any way," Dave added.

Bryce barely heard the reassurance.

If Dave’s enemies ever discovered how important Bryce was to him, they could turn Bryce into a target simply to get to Dave.

His life would be disrupted. He could be dragged into conflicts he knew nothing about, held somewhere against his will, or forced to live under constant protection he didn’t want.

And what would happen if Dave had to choose between him and the business?

Could Bryce trust that Dave would always choose him?

The thought frightened him.

But there was something even worse.

What would happen if he gave his heart to a man whose life was filled with danger. A man who could walk out of the house one morning and never return.

A man whose death could arrive as a phone call, a message, or perhaps not even that.

His mind dragged him back through all those years he had been deeply in love with Dave, never knowing that the man he trusted was involved in a world like this.

If something had happened to Dave during all those years, Bryce could have spent days waiting for him to come home, unaware that he had been killed somewhere and with no one to tell him, because Bryce hadn’t even known his family existed.

"You’re panicking."

Dave moved toward him, his hand lifting as though he intended to hold him, but Bryce immediately shifted away.

"This is exactly why I didn’t want to tell you," Dave said, frustration and regret mixing in his voice. "I knew you’d react like this. I knew bringing you here would frighten you."

"Then why did you bring me?"

Bryce’s voice trembled despite his effort to keep it steady.

"Because we’re safer here."

Dave answered without hesitation.

Bryce’s mind had become a tangled mess of fear, doubt, and questions he couldn’t organize. He had already told himself that he would stay with Dave for now, wait until he was stable enough, and eventually leave. That had been the plan.

But now, surrounded by Dave’s family and everything they represented, Bryce wasn’t sure that plan was still possible.

His family had welcomed him.

They already regarded him as someone who belonged here.

Would they simply allow him to walk away if he changed his mind?

Or would Dave find him regardless of where he went?

The uncertainty made his stomach tighten.

He knew he hadn’t stopped loving Dave overnight. The problem was that love was no longer enough to make him trust him.

He didn’t know if he wanted to remain with Dave anymore.

He swallowed hard and forced himself to meet Dave’s eyes.

"You still haven’t told me who ’him’ is."

Dave’s expression shifted again.

"I asked you about him, and instead of answering, you told me something else."

"I was getting to that," Dave answered.

Bryce’s stomach tightened.

Whatever Dave was about to reveal, Bryce already knew it had to be something significant. The way he had avoided the question from the beginning made that impossible to dismiss.

Bryce waited.

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