Page 30 of Heat Me

I couldn’t argue with that. Compared to the previous two, this omega was in rough shape. His grayish, unhealthy complexion and dark circles under his eyes made him look sickly, almost anemic. His face seemed drawn and tense, and his eyes unfocused on the camera, restless, like someone who’d been through a lot. Maybe he’d been handsome when he was younger—his features were regular enough—but now he just looked exhausted, even emaciated.

"I’ll have to talk to him too," I said. "If he’s hoping for another surrogacy contract, it’s going to be tough with his medical history. No one’s going to take that risk."

"He looks like someone struggling with depression," Damien said softly.

We sat in silence for a moment before Damien broke it. "Maybe he’s just lonely."

"Probably. Like a lot of people," I muttered under my breath, and Damien shot me a quick look, biting his lip as if to add something, but decided against it.

I scrolled to the next profile. "And here’s the last one. This one’s… a beta. And what an interesting name: Salt!"

"Whoa!" Damien leaned forward, his intense gaze locking on the screen.

"Yeah. Whoa," I agreed.

The beta’s face was striking, to say the least. One side of his head was shaved, and the other half was dyed electric blue. His eyes were mismatched—one jet black, the other gray, like a stormy sky. Tattoos of predatory insects—maybe spiders—crawled up his neck and onto his face, while piercings decorated his nose, eyebrow, and ears. Objectively, he had handsome,sharp features, but the edgy style wasn’t exactly mainstream. He reminded me of someone, but I had a hard time remembering who it might be.

"This is a first for me," I admitted. "I’ve only heard about cases like this before!"

"What do you mean?" Damien asked, glancing at me.

"Sometimes, the government lets criminals enter marriage contracts under special programs."

"Criminals? Shouldn’t they be in prison?" Damien blinked in surprise.

"Normally, yeah, but there are exceptions. If they’re part of a government initiative like Second Chance, they can serve their sentence at home with an ankle monitor. According to the file, this beta’s serving time for murder. Oh, wait… quadruple murder!"

My pulse quickened as I read the details. Damien was so close now I could smell his scent—sweet, warm, and totally distracting.

"He’s twenty-two, same as Star," Damien murmured, his eyes still fixed on the screen.

"Yeah. Says here Salt killed four alphas who supposedly murdered his brother. There wasn’t enough evidence against the alphas, but the case against him was solid. He barged in on them bragging about how they’d raped and killed his brother and just… shot them, one by one. The Second Chance agency got him into this program for ‘redeemable’ criminals."

"It’s hard to imagine. A quadruple murderer?" Damien muttered, shaking his head.

"Apparently, contracts like his are cheap and come with great terms. But there’s more—it says here Salt is part of another program, and that info’s… classified." I clicked the ‘See More’ link, but it was locked. "I’ll have to call Mr. Ragu for details.Finding someone willing to marry a quadruple murderer? That’s gonna be a nightmare."

Damien chuckled. "This is insane. This guy might actually be harder to match than the ex-escort omega!"

"Oh, definitely. Looks like Fate’s Choice took Salt’s contract because the government paid extra. They’re really losing it—taking huge risks for money!"

Damien turned to me; his expression serious. "Your job isn’t easy. Even I can see that, and I barely know anything about matchmaking."

I met his gaze, and for a moment, we just stared at each other. His eyes held an unexpected warmth that made my chest tighten.

"It’s tough," I admitted. "If I mess this up, Mr. Ragu won’t hire me as a matchmaker."

Damien’s eyes widened. "Then… you’d have to go back to working at Dark Dreams?" His voice was quiet, almost shaky.

His concern made my heart race. Did he actually care?

Choosing my words carefully, I said, "No, Damien, I won’t go back to Dark Dreams. I know a job like that lowers my chances of finding… someone for… a real relationship. I can’t expect anyone to… accept this type of work in his partner."

Damien quickly looked away, his cheeks flushing. "Yeah, for m—I mean, for many people, that’d probably be a dealbreaker."

He almost saidfor me. I was sure of it.

Our hands were so close, but I couldn’t bring myself to reach out. That would be too much—too intimate.

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