He crosses his arms. “I did.”

A spark of excitement flares in my chest, but it fizzles out as quickly when I realize Leo would have mentioned if anything had been uncovered about the missing Omegas through the club’s records.

Unless they’re keeping him in the dark about the investigation?

“Spit out your questions,” Liam says. “The suspense is killing me.”

My fingers tap against the desktop in agitation. “Have you uncovered Tony’s buyer for the Omegas?”

“Not yet.” Liam leans back in his chair, assessing me. “Tony was savvy enough not to do business on the premises.”

I swallow hard, frustration bubbling up inside me. “What about customers who stopped visiting Velvet Oasis after the Omegas vanished? If they were buying them from the backrooms, they’d have no reason to keep being patrons once they had their favorites at home.”

Liam tips his head toward me, acknowledging my point. “We have a few people under surveillance, but if they have the boys, they’re good at hiding it.”

The way he says it sets off my investigative senses. “What job did Caleb go on tonight?”

Liam smiles and taps the side of his nose but tells me nothing.

Frustrated, I return my attention to my laptop. “Anyone ever tell you that you’re annoying?”

“Anyone ever tell you that you smell delicious?”

My head jerks up. “What?”

Liam grins. “Sure about the no sharing thing?”

“Positive.”

An email alert pops up with Lily’s name on the sender line. When I open it, my pulse quickens at the image attached.

It’s one of the photos snapped of me and Caleb stepping out of the alley, looking rumpled. Below follows a demand that she be the first one I send the tell-all story to. If I do, she promises to put one of my other articles on the front page of Nexus News.

My heart pounds as I stare at the screen, bittersweet victory churning inside me.

The offer is everything I’ve been working toward, a place in the real world of investigative journalism, and all it will cost is exploiting Caleb again.

16

The click of my fingers on the keyboard fills the office as I work on an article.

For the last several hours, Liam’s been fiddling with his phone, shooting me a curious glance every so often or throwing out another invasive question. His curiosity burns in the air between us, but I refuse to answer any more of his questions without Caleb here.

The sound of the front door opening and closing sends my pulse skipping as Caleb’s footsteps approach.

Liam doesn’t stir, so he must recognize the cadence, too.

A moment later, Caleb enters the office, pulling off a pair of black gloves as he takes in the scene.

Liam shifts to face his little brother. “How’d it go?”

Caleb shakes his head. “Didn’t find anything. How did things go here?”

“Your babysitter was unnecessary.” The annoyance in my voice draws a smile from Caleb. “No one tried to break in and kill me.”

“Oliver’s been tap, tap, tapping away all day and refusing to answer any of my questions,” Liam complains, giving Caleb a wide-eyed look.

“I offered an exchange of information.” I punctuate the words with a hard click on the save button. “You refused.”