Page 67 of Curvy Dirty Omega

It would have been too easy to take her father’s offer, but I hadn’t wanted that.

Now here I was, drooling all over a fucking legacy alpha like I didn’t know all these rules would apply to me too if I chose to be his girlfriend for real.

“What if the Valor party dies and the spouse is found cheating after the fact?” I kept my eyes on Liam instead of the security guard heading toward the car. I didn’t want to miss a single possible clue if I could help it.

“It’s handled on a case-by-case basis,” Liam admitted, keeping his eyes on mine even though he had to hear the guard kitted out in paramilitary gear approaching. “If the death of a member of Valor is caused by this infidelity, we take care of it. If it’s not, then we reduce their allowance as punishment for the adultery, but that’s it.”

My curiosity piqued when he said we take care of it, but before I could ask what exactly that meant, the security guard knocked on Liam’s window. I turned to look out my own window, hating that I felt relieved.

If they were doing weird shit under the radar, I needed to know on the off chance it was related to this case, but at the same time I didn’t want to carry any more secrets that weren’t mine.

None of it mattered anyway, not unless it was connected to a future case, but after this I would make sure I was never assigned another Valor case again. It was just too much for me to deal with on top of everything else.

I hated the attention, and if by some miracle solving Gideon Valor’s murder didn’t put my face all over the internet, I wasn’t going to risk letting that happen in the future.

Maybe I should move to another city after this was all over. It would do me and Frankie some good to put more distance between us and her pack anyway. The last thing she wanted was to rejoin that world.

“Lucy, I need your photo ID.”

I opened my purse and took out the slim leather wallet with all my credit cards and identification. Handing it over to Liam felt strange, but there wasn’t anything in there I didn’t want Valor to know about.

My passport and conceal carry permit was in the other case tucked into my pocket along with my Genesis badge.

But the wallet I handed Liam would tell this paramilitary dude I was an omega and that would make all this real.

As I expected, his face changed when he took my driver’s license from Liam to enter the information into his tablet, but it was impressive how professional he was. His eyes widened ever so slightly, but they didn’t go back to normal until he blinked, handing the license back to Liam when he was done with it.

Such a tiny change in his expression, but I’d seen it.

How long would it take before everyone was talking about the omega Liam had brought to his fancy estate?

“Thank you, Mr. Valor.” The security guard scanned Liam’s very expensive-looking smartwatch and there was a small chime in response. It didn’t even really look like a smartwatch but a Rolex until the face changed when it was tapped to show a variety of options too small to read.

Good to know.

All it would take was a watch to get into this place, but I doubted much got past this kind of security even with a top-notch disguise and an identical vehicle. Who knew what the cameras could see when scanning the driver?

Liam had given me access to the estate security as well, but there wasn’t a manual or a list that told me everything it could or couldn’t do. I was honestly still shocked he’d give me and Frankie access to something so vital to his pack’s safety.

Especially after he’d made it very clear he didn’t trust us.

Something had definitely changed since our initial meeting, and I couldn’t figure out why.

The security guard leaned down to get a good look at me through Liam’s window and nodded once. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Parker.” Before I could respond, he pushed off the car and headed back to the guardhouse.

A few seconds later the wrought-iron gates opened toward us and Liam took my hand in his, placing it over the stick shift and then laced his fingers through mine, using my hand to put the car in first gear like we really were a couple.

“Welcome to the Valor estate, Lucy.”

Somehow, he made it sound like he was welcoming me home.

CHAPTER 23

Lucy

The Valor estate was idyllic and peaceful with all the jacaranda trees getting ready to bloom. The winter to spring shift was cold and rainy but occasionally it was sunny and warm like it was today with just enough of a breeze that I was grateful I’d chosen to wear a turtleneck despite the sun warming my hair.

Liam parked and then got out, coming around the car to open my door for me like a true gentleman. He even offered me his hand with a small smile, like he knew I’d take it even when I hesitated. I stared at his pale skin, noting the calluses on his palm as well as the creases that were unique to him.

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