Page 47 of Curvy Nerdy Omega

Valor was an old pack and they still followed some of the antiquated ideas that strength and dominance were more important qualities than intelligence and leadership.

It was obvious to anyone with any observational skills that despite being the oldest, Gideon wasn’t suited to leading a pack the size of Valor the same way Liam was. He’d actively avoided taking on the responsibilities of the pack alpha unless it was directly related to Valor Enterprises.

Even then he preferred to stick to running his subsidiary company rather than the parent company.

Gideon had focused on Valor Construction and Liam had been his vice president. Despite his obvious preferences, Nicolette had insisted on grooming Gideon to take over her position of Chairman of the Board.

Sighing, I decided to give up on finding whatever it was Liam had taken for now and focus on the case instead.

I tapped the earbud and Frankie’s familiar voice filled my head as I crossed the room, avoiding as much of the wreckage as possible.

The living room and kitchen were a total fucking disaster, but I’d been more careful in our office. I’d reorganized my desk and Frankie’s instead of tossing it all to the ground, but everything that was once on the shelves was all over the floor in color-coded stacks.

Plopping down in my office chair, I jiggled my mouse to wake up my computer and tried to ignore the itchy sensation in the back of my head, reminding me I would have an answer to why if I just found what he took.

Whatever. I’d find it eventually.

I entered in my passphrase and watched as the chibi axolotls on the moving background swam around while everything loaded.

Liam had given me access to everything before my heat, but I haven’t had the time to go through all of it yet. Thankfully the Genesis Agency interns already went through Gideon’s email and text messages as well as his phone calls.

There was nothing suspicious or out of the ordinary, but there were some giant gaps of time on the GPS where it looked like Gideon had turned off his phone so he wouldn’t be sharing his location.

I grabbed the cloned phone Frankie must have left on my desk and memorized the times and dates she’d written on a post-it note before ripping it off and tossing it to the floor.

Pulling up the security footage from the dates and times she’d mentioned, I let the oldest one play first as I listened to her start questioning Gideon’s secretary.

This might not point me in the direction of the killer, but if we stopped assuming the motive was tied to his position as Valor’s heir, it could show me what we’ve been missing.

Cross-referencing the times noted with his schedule for the last year, I saw the gaps in time on his phone matched up with days he had blocks of nothing scheduled. So, what was Gideon doing that he didn’t want anyone else to know about?

Gideon had spent most of his time at Valor Enterprises. He was always working, and when he wasn’t, he was with Melinda or Liam. At least, that’s what it looked like on the surface.

His long hours at the office could be because he wanted to avoid Melinda, but I couldn’t know that for sure unless I had some sort of evidence things weren’t going well with them. They’d both been so careful though, like they’d known someone was reading their personal messages and correspondence.

Considering the way Valor monitored their pack members for their own safety, someone probably was.

So, what were they like behind closed doors? Who would know something like that? I doubted even Liam knew the real truth and the only person left alive who might have the answers hated my guts.

I grabbed one of my favorite pens and started writing down potential questions for Frankie to ask Melinda when she redid that interview. I put a star next to the ones that could be used for those we suspected she was having an affair with.

The missing wedding ring was still bothering me though.

If we couldn’t find it, then it was definitely a trophy, and who the fuck would want that? I didn’t think Melinda would unless she was going to sell it, or maybe give it to the person she was having an affair with.

I tried not to sigh as I pulled up Liam’s schedule to see what he was doing during the same blocks of time as when Gideon was free.

A murder of passion was inherently boring. It was the most common reason for someone in a marriage to be murdered.

Even if it was boring, I needed to consider the possibility because I really didn’t think Liam would hire an assassin when he could simply challenge his brother for his spot. It may be outdated, but it was still legal.

Hiring an assassin would be the coward’s route, and I didn’t think Liam would do that when he was just as psychotic as Cassius.

Ever since Nicolette took over as the alpha of the Valor pack, she’d steered them toward a more modern outlook, similar to the Lopez pack. She’d shifted her pack away from a more traditional lifestyle after four generations of committing to the idea that things had to be a certain way.

It didn’t seem like she’d be the kind of person who’d insist her oldest should be the next alpha and chairman if he didn’t want to. I also didn’t think Liam would ignore such a convenient legal clause that no one had bothered to outlaw if he really wanted the position of pack alpha.

Well, Liam wasn’t always free during the gaps of information on Gideon’s phone. There was a meeting during one, and proof he was with Cassius in a public place during another.

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