Page 95 of Curvy Quirky Omega

Frankie didn’t blink as she read through the messages on the phone and neither did Lucy. Her entire body was still but I knew she was just as restless as Lucy. The only difference was she had the same training my mother did. They had absolute control over their body and expressions because that was what was expected of a legacy alpha.

Something I’ve never been able to master.

I fucking hated that my mother was right about that. I was definitely emotional and impulsive, but I liked to think I was different from someone like Arturo Lopez. I didn’t act impulsively unless it was to protect the people I cared about.

My entire identity as an alpha was to keep my family safe…and I’d failed miserably.

Gideon was murdered in his own office and if that wasn’t bad enough, he’d dragged Dane into all this. Keeping him locked up wasn’t just for show right now, but to keep him safe.

A shame I couldn’t do that to Lucy.

Show them what kind of alpha you want to be.

Lucy had said that to Francisco, but it applied to me as well.

I knew what it meant to be an alpha – what I’ve been taught to do and what I wanted to do, but I’ve lived with all that in the back of my head, telling myself it didn’t really apply to me until I had Lucy back, but was that really true?

Stepping away from it all three years ago hadn’t helped either.

I thought it would give Gideon the space he needed to embrace his position as heir to Valor. I’d thought I was the reason he didn’t want to be the next alpha, so I’d kept my distance from anything that didn’t have to do with my position at Valor Construction or Aegis.

I really thought I’d done the right thing, because I wasn’t the next heir. I was just some guy trying to build a life for Lucy and Cas – someone who was ready to leave at the drop of a hat if that’s what she wanted.

Maybe if I’d been more dedicated to the pack…none of this would have happened. Maybe Gideon wouldn’t have tried to leave…

I couldn’t change the past, but I could change how I dealt with things in the future.

Something definitely needed to change.

No, I needed to change.

But how?

“It’s a great motive,” Frankie admitted. “But there’s no evidence to say who actually killed Gideon.”

“There has to be something,” Lucy muttered, her irritation filling the bond. “We’re going to find something even if we have to stay up all fucking night.”

Crossing my arms over my chest, I leaned my hip against Lucy’s desk and watched her and Frankie go through everything at lightning speed.

I may be her assistant, but Frankie was her partner. Something I’ve never been even when we’d played pretend as kids.

All I could do was wait quietly.

That was it. She didn’t need me for anything else tonight and I felt weirdly…panicked.

Lucy didn’t need me right now, just Frankie.

If she didn’t need me, what was I supposed to do? How was I supposed to keep myself from thinking about all the shit I really didn’t want to think about?

I watched them work, feeling like nothing more than a bystander.

“If it’s going to be a long night, I’ll make some coffee,” I told her, smiling slightly when all she did was nod.

At least I could do that.

Turning to head over to the kitchen, I kept my eyes forward, ignoring Cas’s smothering attention as best as I could. He shifted at the last second, giving me just enough space to get through.

His shoulder brushed against mine as I passed, but he didn’t move to ease the sensation. He kept his body rigid so it felt like bumping into a wall.

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