Page 8 of His Captor

It turned out that Davy had already been on the fence, but the kids thing was the deal-breaker. That had hurt. Not so much that one minute we were talking about marriage and the next we were two strangers who used to date, but that he’d held back how he really felt from me for so long.

“You still there?” Alex asked, making me realize I’d gone silent.

“Yeah,” I said with a sigh. “Just stuck in memories for a second.”

Alex let a beat pass before saying, “Hang in there. It’ll happen someday.”

Paradoxically, I laughed. “You sound like my Aunt Myrtle,” I said. “She keeps telling me at every family gathering that my time will come and the right omega, one who wants a family, is out there waiting for me.”

“Your Aunt Myrtle isn’t wrong,” Alex said, teasing in his voice.

“Oh, so you think I’m going to find an omega who likes consensual non-conandwants to have a large, traditional family?” I asked.

“Dude, people are kinky,” Alex said. “That doesn’t mean they don’t also want a completely normal life on the outside. In fact, I think the more normal people appear to the rest of the world, the kinkier they are behind closed doors.”

I made a face, even though Alex couldn’t see it. “You’re probably right. But I have way too much going on right now to sign up for any of the normal, vanilla dating apps. I’ve got Colin and the company to deal with, for one.”

“That situation won’t last forever,” Alex reassured me. “I’m sure one of my staff can advise you on the best way to get out of the company with your intellectual property intact. If it comes down to it, would you be willing to pay Colin a percentage of sales for anything you developed while working with him?”

“As long as it means he doesn’t have any control over my tech or who I sell it to, yeah,” I said.

“Then I think you’re in a pretty good position,” Alex said. “If worst comes to worst, you might be able to dissolve Horizon Tach and form a new company that Colin isn’t a part of.”

Relief surged through me at that suggestion. I would feel like shit for leaving our entire staff without jobs all at once, but they’d all get top-notch severance plans, and nothing said I couldn’t hire them for my new company.

“I bow to your superior judgment on these things,” I told Alex, turning onto the road that would take me the rest of theway to my play apartment. “And if you want to go into business with me….” I let the question hang.

“I would seriously consider it,” Alex said.

More relief washed through me. Going into business with Alex would be a definite silver lining to the cloud of bullshit I’d likely have to deal with if we actually did find a way to dissolve one company and form another.

“And now,” I said, changing back to a happier topic, “I’m on my way to my play apartment to make sure it’s nice and set up for a certain kidnapping that’ll take place on Friday.”

“Ooh, a kidnapping fantasy,” Alex said. I could hear the smile in his voice. “Those omegas are always a blast. They fight back.”

“Just the way I like it,” I said, settling into my good feelings again. “As soon as I reach the apartment, I’ll send you his contact info so you can meet him and get in touch with his second.”

“I’m looking forward to it,” Alex said before we said their goodbyes and ended the call.

I was looking forward to it myself. A hell of a lot. Not only was I eager to test my tech, I needed to blow off some steam with a lively omega. The only thing that could have made the fantasy better was if Billy went into heat. Since he hadn’t mentioned it, I assumed his heat was a long way away.

It didn’t matter. Playing with likeminded omegas was a blast, and from the short exchange we’d had, I had the strong feeling that Billy would be one to remember.

CHAPTER THREE

Hayden

The conference had been an exercise in sameness from day one. I’d done everything I was supposed to do for work, took notes, circled back with the guys in the office, participated in teambuilding exercises, and all that. But the entire time, my mind was racing forward to Friday night.

“Everything is in place, I think,” I told Ari as I packed the last of my things into my small suitcase and did a final, visual sweep of the hotel room to make sure I wasn’t leaving anything behind. “You spoke with Ace’s second?”

“Yep,” Ari said on the other end of our phone call. I could hear one-year-old Gwen fussing in the background, but Ari didn’t seem at all fussed. “Alex is a good guy. He vouched for Ace unreservedly.”

“That’s good to know,” I said, closing my suitcase, then sitting on the bed and checking my watch. “I messaged him about an hour ago with a pic of what I’m wearing and to let him know I’d be leaving the hotel at five.”

“Late check-out?” Ari asked with a grin.

“Technically, I have the room until I leave for home on Monday.”

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