Page 117 of Curvy Quirky Omega

Yeah, we hadn’t been able to get any physical proof that Helen was responsible for Gideon’s death, but now we knew all the things he was hiding over the last three years which meant Liam could make sure it didn’t happen again.

I grabbed one of the pretty little pastries and turned back to Frankie. For the first time in years it felt awkward between us because it wasn’t just the two of us anymore.

Now River Steele was at her side.

The other omega was insanely gorgeous and she watched Cas and Liam dance among the other couples, her hands clasped demurely in front of her with an expression on her face that reminded me of my favorite sculpture of Medusa with Perseus head in her hand.

River didn’t ever smile and her beauty was cold—sharp…like she was here to judge our souls and punish those who didn’t measure up. She turned her head slightly and caught my eye, nodding slightly in a show of respect.

I don’t know why, but I felt compelled to offer her the pastry in the shape of a flower in exchange. “Could I ask you something?”

She didn’t accept the pastry, but Frankie did. She took a bite before handing it over to the other omega and only then did River take it.

“You may ask me anything, Ms. Lopez, but I’m not obligated to answer,” she told me before taking the tiniest bite I’ve ever seen.

It was crazy to see the perfect omega in person. I couldn’t say for sure what it was, but something about her made the hair on the back of my neck stand up on end. She wasn’t pretending to be nice either which…I really liked.

“Why didn’t you want Liam as your alpha? He said that rejecting the engagement between you two was mutual.” I grabbed another pastry, the dough a pretty lilac color instead of the white one I’d given River.

“I don’t know if we should talk about that here,” Frankie warned, moving so her body was between us and the rest of the room.

“It’s not a secret.” River looked down at the flower in the palm of her hand and I could have sworn I could smell the tiniest hint of cinnamon and orchids coming from her. “He’s a good friend, but I can’t stand him.”

Why…was that…hilarious?

I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing, but Frankie snickered and I couldn’t hold it in anymore. I covered my mouth to make sure no one could see my teeth, doing my best not to laugh too hard and mess up the makeup I spent two whole hours on.

River looked up from the pastry to watch us with exasperation in her eyes which only made me laugh harder.

“Why can’t you stand him?” I popped the rest of the pastry in my mouth and tilted my head to the side as I chewed. “I don’t care that you went out with him on a blind date. I’m just curious.”

River’s eyes were such a light grey they were almost as silvery white as her hair in certain lights, and you’d think with a silky white dress like that her features would be washed out, but her eyebrows were a dark brown and so were her eyelashes. The thin, dark ring of grey around the silver in her eyes emphasized the contrast and I wondered for the thousandth time why she was letting her father arrange all these marriages for her.

She looked back to the dance floor, still holding the pastry in the palm of her hand like she had no plans to eat it or give it away. “Liam is impulsive and difficult to control.”

My eyebrows rose and I realized then that River wasn’t being used at all. At least, not in the way it seemed.

She was the one using everyone else.

I took the pastry from her hand and ate that too, feeling giddy for some reason. “Are you going to give me a present then? It’s almost my birthday.”

Evidence from the other side that Gideon was working with Steele to launder money, but more importantly, a backdoor into their computers so I could get proof that Helen was helping him hide it from the Valor pack.

Once we had that…there would be enough to connect Gideon and Helen to each other outside of work and we could legally search her house for his wedding ring and the murder weapon.

Honestly, I don’t know why Nicolette wasn’t planning to destroy the Tinley pack the same way she had the Anderson pack, but I had to assume it was because of how public Gideon’s death had been.

After they went to prison…it wouldn’t be hard to make them disappear.

“I should be able to get you the blueprints for the new layout in three days,” River murmured. “Liam told me he was looking to expand his home in Chinatown and I hope you’ll be pleased with what I designed.”

Perfect. I could definitely work with that. “I appreciate it,” I told her. “I’m not that good at decorating honestly. Cas is much better at it than I am.”

Frankie gave me a grin, her eyes flashing with excitement. If we could find where that van was being stored and get the legal proof we needed that Helen had contact with the Steele pack, the rest would be easy.

And the fact that River had a whole set of code words and phrases was amazing. I couldn’t wait to find out what she was really up to. I had a feeling it would be fun.

Frankie frowned and her mood changed so swiftly I stiffened, wondering who the fuck she hated that much…

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