Page 26 of Knight Life In Vegas

I sat down at the head of the table. “There is no common ground when you want to use my company for your own gain. All you have to offer is money, and I don’t need any of that. Show me that one of you gives a shit and I’ll think about it.”

The alpha gaped. I hadn’t even bothered learning what his name was. “Sir…”

“Well,doyou give a shit? Or are you just trying to play ball for your superiors?”

“I…”

“That’s what I thought. You can see yourself out.”

I turned on my heel and stalked out while he struggled to follow. “Wait! Please, Mr. Carlton…”

I stopped short and he nearly collided with me. “How many omegas are in your life?”

“Um…none?”

“So how could you even begin to think your company is capable of working with us when you have none of our demographic in your lifeorin the upper echelons of your company? You’ve been so fucking focused on the money that you can’t use your brains to consider that’s not what matters. Get out.”

I didn’t want to sell, but I was getting a little tired of everything. Not that Las Vegas was going to renew me. Creating safe and sustainable housing for vulnerable omegas required more than money. It took passion, care, and drive to give them the best without pricing those who needed it most out of the market.

“Did you chase them off again?” Autumn asked, appearing at my office door. “I feel like that was in record time.”

“It’s not my fault they keep sending incompetent people who have no skin in the game.”

“I’d bet someone in Vegas is interested,” she suggested. “Do you want me to look into some more companies?”

“Please. Even if I’m not going to hand things over anytime soon, it’ll be good to have them on our radar and see what they do with their power.”

“You’ve got it, boss.” Autumn smiled. She put up with a lot from me, keeping me organized day to day and filling in the gaps where she needed to. “You don’t have any more meetings today. Why don’t we go to an early lunch together and you can finally tell me what’s crawled up your ass this week?”

I barked a laugh. “That actually sounds good.”

Autumn took me for nachos, insisting they were the best cure for a bad mood, and she was rarely wrong.

“So, tell me everything.” Autumn stuffed a chip into her mouth. “Did something happen with your son that upset you?”

I sighed. “Not with him, no. Just fate playing a cruel game I want no part of.”

“So clear.” She ate another chip. “Mind reading isn’t part of my job description. You’re going to have to give me a little more info.”

“I made this company because of my late omega. We built all the plans together before she got sick, and when she passed, I threw myself into work because it was the only thing keeping me standing at the time.”

Autumn nodded thoughtfully. She knew my history, but we had never discussed it much.

“I don’t want to go through that kind of pain again.”

We sat in silence for a few moments more, Autumn’s assessing gaze scanning me as if she actuallycouldread minds. “Did you find another omega? A scent match?”

“Unfortunately.”

“Are they pressuring you?”

“She doesn’t even know,can’tever know. I didn’t tell her and I left before she could figure it out herself. I can’t handle going anywhere near that path.”

“You know,” Autumn said carefully, “they say that the price of love is pain. If you never love, you can never feel the loss of it, but I think we both know that’s a terrible way to live. Are you really going to deny yourself a chance at happiness because you’re afraid of getting hurt?”

“It’s not that simple. I wasn’thurtwith Emily. I was eviscerated on a molecular level. Losing her destroyed who I was as a person. A scent match is too dangerous to entertain.”

Autumn raised a carefully manicured eyebrow and sighed. “Boss, I say this with love, and I don’t say it lightly because I know what you’ve been through, but you’ve had something dropped into your lap that most people can only dream of. Do you know how rare it is for an alpha to have two scent-matched omegas in their lifetime?”

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