Page 123 of Captive Omega

He nods at my bedside table. “Want me to put it down for you?”

I step aside. “Thanks.”

No sooner has he set everything down than I’m diving for the glass. “I put a fork in there for you as well and some napkins.”

“Hmmm.” Lex is walking out as I drain my glass when I remember Garrison told me to ask him about my Dexter Pieter case. Right now, work offers the perfect distraction from my dumpster fire of a life.

I put my empty glass down and hurry after him. "Lex?"

"Yup?"

"I'm trying to find someone and I'm not getting anywhere."

He shoots me an uncomfortable look as he shifts from foot to foot. “Uh, I don’t help with missing persons. Too deep and personal.”

“Yeah, Garrison said that,” I say quickly when he looks like he’s getting ready to leave. "This someone doesn’t want to be found. I get hung up on constantly and it’s like they don’t exist.”

Interest replaces wariness. “Who?”

"Dexter Pieter."

"Oh." He nods. “Yeah, he definitely likes to stay off grid.”

“Blaine said he has to have assistants. If I could find an assistant, then maybe I could get to him, but I can’t because the assistant is a ghost too. That’s if he even has one. Or two. Or… you get my point.”

Lex is silent for a beat, his expression thoughtful. “Even if he wants to be completely off grid, he can’t in a job like that. He launched an investigation the day after all the stuff about Asylum hit the news. So either he watches TV, or his assistant does.”

I stare at him.

The TV.

That is how I get to Dexter Pieter. Not through his assistant, not by getting hung up on multiple times a day. Through TV. Yes, I am aware of how insane that sounds, but it makes perfect sense to me.

Lex must have gotten fed up with my unblinking stare, because when I blink, he’s gone.

I rush into the hallway after him, another question bubbling up in my mind. “Lex?”

He stops at the top of the stairs. "Yeah?"

"Why does Garrison have to have a nickname?" It’s a random question to throw at a person without warning or even context.

Lex takes it in his stride. "Don't you give nicknames to people you care about?"

When he puts it like that…

"Well, yeah. But he said you asked why he had to have a nickname and you refused to tell him.” I hold my breath and hope he isn’t as cagey about telling me everything the way Vaughn is.

He studies me for a beat. "I guess I do it because I appreciate everything he did for me, and for letting me work how I wanna work without breathing down my back or checking in every five minutes."

“He doesn’t check even once?” My old boss needs to learn that important lesson. Namely, checking on someone every five minutes does not lead to greater efficiency. It leads to less.

Lex shakes his head. “A bunch of people applied to be his assistant. I bet every one of them had at least twice the experience I had and I had none. After I quit my job, most of the people in my life thought I was crazy for throwing away a dream job in Big Tech. Garrison asked why I did it and what I wanted to do, then after he listened to me waffle for thirty minutes, he gave me the job. He cared. He still does. Not just about what I can do for him. About me.”

I frown. “So why didn’t you tell him that?”

His cheeks flush. “Didn't want to make him feel awkward.”

I know how the world works. The only good alpha is a dead alpha. But I keep hearing things that confuse me.

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