Page 91 of Packed Up In Vegas

“Okay,” Diego said, “I know you said that as a joke but we do actually have all the skills we would need to do that. We would just need an investor.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. We can’t actually do that… Can we?”

“That would probably depend on what we want this company to do,” said Kai.

“Are you suggesting we create a company that does live shows?” Miles asked.

I swirled the idea around in my head a bit. “I do have a degree in cinematography. And we have a house full of performers, though I’m not entirely sure how that would work because I super do not want any of you fucking other omegas.”

“I’ll look into some things,” promised Miles. “The seed is planted, at the very least. I know how everything runs and it would be a pretty simple matter to secure everything we would need to do it ourselves. It’s only the financial side of things that might make it difficult to get off the ground.”

“It was silly anyway,” I added.

“Not really,” said Amir. “It’s something that uses all our skills and experience. Just because it’s not easy to start doesn’t mean it’s a dumb idea.”

I sat with the concept, trying to sort out how I actually felt about it. If they were going to do it, I would have to do it too, and that would put me front and center again in a live show. I wasn’t an actress by any means, but I could do a killer video edit, and the live shows were livestreamed. There were bound to be people who wanted a more tailored version, but then maybe part of the allure was that it was completely unfiltered.

“We still have to figure out the contracts,” Miles reminded everyone.

“How much would the contract buyout be?” Kai asked.

“About three times as much as we have in the pack account right now.”

“Give us an actual number,” said Diego.

“Hundred grand for each of you. Well, I guess only two hundred total is needed since they want to terminate Kai, so we don’t have to buy out that contract.”

“That’s still bullshit,” Kai grumbled.

“How many heats were you contracted for?” I asked.

“Six per year with options to fill in as needed,” Miles replied. “Yours was their fourth of the year.”

“It’s ridiculous they can charge that much when we only had two heats left. We don’t make fifty grand each during those,” Amir huffed.

“So you have enough to buy out one contract in the pack account right now, and I can buy out one with my tips. That would cover everyone?”

Miles frowned. “We could do that, but then we would have no assets at all.”

“What other choice is there?” Kai asked.

“Not much of one,” Miles conceded.

As nervous as I was about them losing their income, knowing it would be impossible for me to support all of us, I laid it out anyway. “Miles and I both have jobs. Mine doesn’t pay incredibly well, but I can contribute. Maybe with some strict budgeting we’ll be fine.”

“I don’t want to have to budget during your courting period,” Diego said sadly. “You should be spoiled.”

“I’ve already been spoiled. Now we have to take a serious look at making sure our little family is going to make it.”

“We’re supposed to be taking care of you,” Kai insisted. “That’s what alphas do.”

“And you can still take care of me, but once we’re no longer staring down the barrel of this particular gun.”

None of them looked too happy, but we would have to work together on this, and that included me helping however I could. Before we looked at moving into a cheaper home or making any drastic choices, we needed to find out what all we could afford.

The monthly mortgage payment on the pack house was outrageous. Right now they could cover it for about a year, well, significantly less with the contract buyouts. Miles and I could cover the necessities outside of the mortgage, but if we didn’t get some steady income flow, we wouldn’t be able to keep this house.

We poked briefly at the real estate market, and it was a huge relief that we had options big enough to suit us that were much more viable financially.

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