Page 15 of Curvy Dirty Omega

Never in a million years could I have predicted the way Liam’s jaw dropped at my confident statement, but Frankie clenched her teeth, clearly annoyed I hadn’t shared that tidbit before meeting with them.

I would have right after the interview, but I’d kept it to myself until now because I’d wanted her to ask her usual questions without any sort of preconceived ideas.

Shifting my gaze from Cassius to Liam, I tilted my head slightly and wondered if he was shocked I knew about their secret relationship, or that I was calling his boyfriend a murderer.

Either way it didn’t matter.

“You’re both alphas, and you, Mr. Valor, are a legacy alpha. I doubt your mother or brother would have approved of such a relationship. The two of you would never be able to go public considering you have a legacy to uphold, but if you were the next alpha of the Valor pack, maybe it wouldn’t have to be kept a secret.”

Those garnet eyes sparkled at me, and I almost couldn’t believe what I was seeing.

Was he…proud?

Why would this fucker be proud of me? We didn’t know each other and I had just called his boyfriend a fucking murder suspect, outing them without a single drop of evidence other than the faintest hint of his scent on the other alpha. I could walk out of here and tell the world, but Liam Valor didn’t look the least bit worried about that.

“It would be extremely impressive if Cassius managed to kill my brother in the five minutes it took for me to get to the lobby and be arrested by the police.” Liam was practically grinning now. “But you were spot on about everything else.”

“Jesus Christ,” Cassius muttered, tossing his tablet on the table. “How did you even scent that? Do you know how long it’s been since we’ve done anything together?”

Frankie snorted and covered her mouth, trying to hold back her laughter, but this was honestly her favorite part of any interview that somehow brought my abilities into question thanks to my designation.

“You two are ridiculous,” she snickered. “You really thought the Lou Parker was just my girlfriend who I dragged around to show off?”

“Your omega who also happens to be carrying a loaded gun?” Liam shook his head. “I never thought she was here just to look pretty.”

“I’m no one’s omega,” I corrected, picking up my pencil and sketchpad once more – doing my fucking best not to focus on the fact that Liam Valor had implied I was pretty. “Frankie and I have a platonic bond. Nothing more.”

It was more than they deserved to know, but I kind of felt like an asshole for outing their secret relationship.

My hand paused once more as I realized they didn’t really know me, or what I would and wouldn’t do. “Just to be clear, I have no intention of telling anyone about your relationship.”

“Not even Valor’s pack alpha?” Liam teased, still leaning forward.

He inspected my sketch, and I grimaced when it made me slip and mess up one of the lines. “She asked for us to find out who the murderer is, not who you’re dating.”

“We’re not dating,” Cassius growled, his deep, gravelly voice making me flinch again.

“Whatever you want to call it. I don’t really care,” I muttered as I erased the fuck-up and made sure the line was right this time.

“I’m wearing scent blockers,” Liam pointed out, watching as I started sketching the wall to my left from memory alone. “How could you tell it was my scent on him, if you’ve never caught a whiff of it before?”

Focusing on the details of the family photo tucked into one of the shelves lining the western wall, I tried to ignore the intensity of his attention – the subtle scent of his pheromones that were curling around me even now.

I really hoped we could get out of here and get to the real work soon. These two were distracting as hell.

“Your scent blockers aren’t as effective right now as you’d like them to be.” It was impossible not to reach up and touch the soothing texture of my own covering my neck. “It’s not as strong as I’m sure it is without them, but I could smell your scent when I ran into you in the elevator. Once those doors closed…it got even stronger. I couldn’t say what it smells like exactly with the blockers on, but it’s clinging to Cassius’s chest…and I ran into him too.”

Liam laughed so loud I jumped, dropping my mechanical pencil.

I stared as he wiped his eyes, tears running down his cheeks from laughing so hard, and for a moment all I could hear was the rain.

The roar of raindrops against the windows drowned out that laugh – even the familiar and comforting sound of Frankie’s breathing disappeared as I watched Liam Valor laugh with tears in his eyes.

Have I ever seen anyone laugh like that before? No, I didn’t think so, but there was something about it that was almost sad.

Melancholy.

All I wanted to do was wrap my arms around him and hold him tight so he would have a safe place to let that strange, despondent laughter shift to misery and tears until it all became a little more bearable.

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