Page 69 of Curvy Dirty Omega

“How should I address your omega?” the servant asked as he led us through the mansion decorated in cream and white.

I blinked and nearly stopped in my tracks when it occurred to me this man knew I was an omega. How? Had the guard forwarded the information or had he sensed it?

“You may address her as Ms. Lucy.” Liam settled a hand on my lower back to keep me walking. It was so smooth I didn’t stumble or catch my toe on the rug as we made our way to the drawing room drenched in sunshine. “But hopefully, it won’t take very long until you can address her as Mrs. Valor.”

Jesus Christ, was he really going to say something like that now? As far as the rest of the world knows, we’ve just met. We haven’t had a single public date, and yet he wanted to start rumors that he had plans to marry me?

This fucking guy…

I was so irritated I let him pull me in close and brush his lips against my cheek. Then I blinked and saw the low table between two couches in the sunny drawing room was set like we were about to have afternoon tea.

Was all this really necessary? I just wanted to go through the house uninterrupted. I didn’t want to have to pretend I was Liam’s girlfriend or cater to Gideon’s widow with all this rich people nonsense.

Our country was a democracy so why did the wealthy like to pretend they were nobility anyways? It made no sense to me.

“Tell Melinda to take her time,” Liam told the servant. “Lucy is also the detective my mother hired and she wants to take a look around the house first.”

The man in the smart vest and matching pants bowed his head slightly and then disappeared down a hall, leaving us alone without a single protest. I’d have Frankie talk to him, but servants in households like this one were usually loyal.

“Is he the only one who works here?” I took my phone out of my pocket and selected the video option. Pressing the red button started the recording and I slowly spun around the room to get everything before heading toward a door in the opposite direction the servant had gone.

“Melinda has a personal assistant to help her manage her schedule and whatever she needs to get done, but no one else who works for her has access to this house. Her agent meets with her at Valor Enterprises, which is also where her personal trainer works with her three days a week.”

Liam followed behind me as I went into the butler’s pantry, filming the whole thing before going out the other side to see the space open up to very tall, vaulted ceilings with an open floor plan.

A casual dining room, a kitchen that looked like a mix between something homey and rustic and what you might see in a world-famous restaurant. There was a massive living room with a large couch and so much natural light.

But the creams and whites felt a little washed out when compared to the golden glow of the sun.

This minimalist design wasn’t really my thing but it was ridiculously popular with the wealthy. I suppose it made sense when they had someone else to keep it clean, but I could never find something like this welcoming and cozy enough to call home.

I considered the large space, breathing in deep to see what the various smells could tell me, but there was nothing. Not even the smell of food lingered in the kitchen and it didn’t look like anyone had cooked here despite the food I’d seen in the drawing room.

The fridge was well stocked and I breathed in again, getting a light sense of what fruits and vegetables were stored there. Aside from that, all I could smell was cleaner. It was strong too, but not ammonia or bleach.

Maybe the servant who’d greeted us had cleaned up just before we’d arrived. I couldn’t smell his pheromones either, but that didn’t necessarily mean anything. Most rich people insisted their servants wore heavy-duty scent blockers and switch to clean uniforms a few times a day even when they were weaker betas.

But this was more than that.

This house was nothing but a pretty façade hiding the emptiness inside.

CHAPTER 24

Lucy

Turning to the massive room with the couch, I tried to get a sense of who’d been here over the last twenty-four hours but again, I smelled nothing but industrial cleaner. Maybe no one really used this room and it was just for show or the occasional gathering.

Gideon had spent a lot of time in the office and Melinda still worked as a model. They might not spend a lot of time here at all.

There was nothing of interest in the pantry or the powder room so I headed upstairs, Liam a silent shadow behind me.

It was kind of weird he didn’t try to direct me or tell me I had to stick to the public rooms. Honestly, it made me nervous. If he had no intention of stopping me from say, rifling through Melinda’s underwear drawer or maybe her jewelry box, did that mean he’d pull rank if his sister-in-law freaked out?

Who ever really knew what Liam was planning? Certainly not me.

The stairs had framed pictures on the wall from Gideon and Melinda’s wedding, but even that went with the theme of white and cream. Gideon hadn’t worn a black tux, but a white one. It looked kind of stupid, honestly.

“The rest of us wore red,” Liam told me.

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