Page 63 of Captive Omega

“No,” I lie.

After giving the drums another beating, he rises, leaving the sticks on the seat. “Well, anytime you want to, the sticks are right here.”

“Why did it seem like a big deal that Blaine would be at this party?” I ask as he walks toward me.

“Why would it be a big deal?”

So, we’re back to annoyingly vague answers. “Is it because of his scars?”

He holds the door open for me, giving me an inscrutable look as we leave the gym/studio and head to the front of the house. Lex dropped off a designer bag filled with clothes for me and told me we’d all meet at the front door. “What about his scars?”

“He got angry at me when he thought I was staring. I assume other people have made it a big deal, so he avoids public places like parties.”

A smile lifts the corners of his lips. “Has Garrison tried to hire you yet? ‘Cause he should. Sounds like you might have the instincts to be a good hire. Maybe the best.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” I snort.

My priority is finding Dexter Pieter. That’s it. Then I return to my life. My world. My fiancé. Though maybe not to my old job as a real estate assistant.

They’d have filled my job already, and even if they hadn’t, no way would they take me back. I was terrible at my job. They knew it, I knew it, but no one else would have worked for the pittance they paid me.

About the only thing I did right was make the coffee and get the photocopier working when no one else could. For that, they didn’t fire me.

But to hear I might be good at this thing?

Vaughn is just saying it to be nice. He doesn’t actually mean it.

We get to the entryway, and we’re the last ones to arrive.

Garrison is quietly talking with Frost. Blaine has both hands stuffed in his pockets, head lowered. His body language makes it clear—at least to me—that he might be second-guessing his decision to come.

We’re all in black.

All I’ll be doing at this party is parking myself out of the way, at the back with Blaine, after I speak with Everleigh. It’s not like I’ll actually be working. But I take a second to absorb what it might be like if I did work for Lucas Security, and it feels exciting.

The front of the mansion is quiet, the landscaping immaculate, and at the bottom of the driveway is a black gate with a buzzer to keep people out. A place like this should be safe.

Yet the second we step out the front door, Garrison, Frost, and Blaine move in front, forming a wedge around me as Vaughn remains at my side, his eyes sweeping the garden.

“Is it dangerous?” I hesitate in the doorway.

Garrison peers over his shoulder at me. “It’s our job to prepare for the unexpected. You’re safe.”

I remembered to tuck my knife in the waistband of my jeans. I thought about all the things I want to say to Everleigh, and I even considered how safe it might be to step outside this mansion, knowing I killed Nathaniel’s son and O’Brien is out there hunting me.

It’s only when we’re approaching a gunmetal gray Hummer with tinted windows that looks like it would go toe-to-toe with a tank and survive intact that I realize there’s something I didn’t consider.

The fact I’d be sharing a car with two alphas.

Now I’m the one second-guessing my decision to come.

I’m thinking up the ways I can back out without it looking like I’m afraid when Vaughn bumps my shoulder with his. “You’re in the back with me, bloodthirsty omega.”

No one could know or even understand how those few words just unwound the extreme levels of my tension.

Garrison slips into the front seat, Blaine into the passenger seat, and Frost strides over to a black Audi with tinted windows.

Suddenly, I’m not coming up with ways to get out of this party. I’m climbing into the backseat with Vaughn because he’s a beta, and betas will always be safe.

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