Page 10 of The Beta's Bargain

Iarrive in the penthouse with no memory of how I got here. I’ve stopped just beyond the lift doors, barely able to see or think. Tight shudders run up and down my spine, and it takes everything I have to contain the rage. My tie feels like it’s choking me, and my shirt feels too tight. I can still feel the female omega’s fingers on my hand, her scent in my nose. Bile races up my throat, and I close my eyes and fight to keep it down. How did this happen?

Grayson pauses near the couch and studies me. He rakes his fingers through his blond hair, and his grin, with all those dimples that I love, slowly fades. He reaches out and pulls on a singlet, covering up all those chiseled muscles, like by doing so he’s putting on armor. I hate that his hopeful expression withers and dies, but I have nothing good to share with them. Nothing.

Falcon comes out of his office rolling up his shirt sleeves and sits on the couch. His calm expression lingers on me, pulling out my secrets without my say so. Falcon is beautiful in a cold way, in an untouchable way. But when I look in his eyes, I see safety. I see unconditional love. I can’t face it right now. His white shirt is unbuttoned two extra holes, which is unusual, and I focus on it so I don’t have to meet Falcon’s intense gaze and admit I failed. “So?”

“He hates us more than ever.” I run my fingers through my hair and scowl at the carpet. “I just, I don’t know what we can do anymore. Is this a punishment? Is this rebellion? Can’t he see that we’re sorry?” My voice comes out in a roar of pain.

Falcon leans forward, his eyes, the colour of the shallows of an exotic island, narrow as he focuses on me. They can be ice cold like glaciers or change to the aquamarine that is sparkling at me now. He clears his throat and I snap my attention back to what we’re talking about. “What happened?”

“It worked. Our plan.” I walk around and throw myself on the couch. “The twins came out. One is a beta who works for us, and the other is the omega. Just like we guessed.” I smile ruefully as Grayson perches opposite me. “That beta has been hiding her twin this whole time. Masking her scent with scent deodorisers. Giving her suppressants. Keeping her in that hovel. I had them. I had them right there in my pocket. All I needed to do was find out her price.”

I stand up, pacing back and forth. I wind back and slam my fist into the wall. “We were wrong!” I howl.

Falcon stands up. “Silas, what happened?”

His question contains a bite, a demand, but I fight it, shaking my head in denial as the events replay in my mind.

“It’s the beta.” I rasp out.

“What’s the beta?” Grayson asks.

I swallow hard and rip my tie off. “He wasn’t interested in the omega. Oh, she’s pretty, but her scent isn’t appealing at all. Not to me, not to him. But the beta…I couldn’t get close.” I turn to Falcon, moving into his space, leaning over him, gripping his shoulders. “He wouldn’t let me. He stopped me. I dismissed her. I tried to get rid of her. He’s even more furious with us. Whoever that investigator is, fire him. He said that he smelled the person Dylan was following, and it was the omega. It wasn’t! It’s ‘very much’ the omega.” I blurt sarcastically, shaking my head, unable to grasp how badly I ruined our plan.

“He wants the beta?” Grayson mulls it over. “That makes things easier and harder. Our omega is slippery. Always with the surprises. He is a worthy catch.”

“He isn’t ours,” Falcon says tersely.

“Yet,” Grayson says and gets up with a bounce. “He isn’t ours yet. But he damn well is, and we all know it. But the question is why a beta? What has she done for him that we haven’t been able to? Is this revenge? Is she a shield?”

I follow Grayson towards the vast windows. “She’s nothing special. Not beautiful. Nor is she clever, talented, or intelligent. This beta is average across the board. She blends in with all the workers we’ve had over the years, and you’d never look at her twice. She is nothing exceptional.”

“So, our options are to separate them,” Grayson says and leans against the window. The sight makes me nauseous. “We could, theoretically. She does work for us. We could send her to the other side of the world to work.”

“And risk driving him further away? Risk more months of desperate searching?” Falcon growls. “No. We need to start playing his game now. It was our mistake, us that fucked up. We hurt him, and if we want to earn his forgiveness, we need to work with, not against.”

“What are you saying?” I ask stiffly.

Falcon goes to the bar and pours three glasses. I join him and take mine.

“Let’s court him.” Falcon says.

I stare at him for a long moment. “Are you insane?”

“No, I’m not. I’m saying let’s court him properly. Let’s woo him and win him away from her. She can’t have what we have. We’re his scent matches. He needs us.”

“So ridiculous,” I mutter and shake my head. “Wooing an omega twice.”

“Got a better idea?” Falcon asks coldly.

I stay silent because I don’t. But I’m surprised Grayson stays quiet, too.

The glass of whiskey keeps me company while I try to get through some of the emails I have to answer, but in the end, I can’t resist. I open up her personnel file and scan the contents before starting again at the top.

Onyx Laural Davies. Twenty-three years old. High school dropout. No college. Her address is an area that should be condemned. I make a note to speak to someone when we get back to town. She has glowing referrals from every single person she’s worked for. Words like hard working, respectful, takes initiative, polite, no trouble, good with customers, willing to learn. All the words a businessman like me loves to hear.

And yet, she’s protecting her hidden omega sister like a vicious dog.

I exit out of the office software and do a general internet search. No socials. That’s odd but not unheard of. Ah, here we go. I click on the link and pause at the photo of a fireman supporting one of the twins as they walk away from a massive house fire.

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