Page 138 of Why Cruise

Aria had an arm around my waist, holding tight as she led me down a dark hallway. Aria was good at her job. She developed vast profiles on her clients, cataloging their likes, proclivities, and interests so she could give you exactly what you wanted. To the public, she appeared fierce and untouchable so that in private, you felt, well, special. On our first date, we’d had a two-hour conversation about rock climbing. And it wasn’t superficial. I still think about her take on the psychological appeal of trad climbing versus sport.

And because she was good at her job, she knew I didn’t like small, dark spaces. Her arm around me was less about affection and more about lending me her supercharged omega aura.

The door at the very end of the hall was ajar. She pushed it open into a carpeted, dimly lit room. The walls were lined with books and paintings. All leather bound. I kept my smile to myself. They had obviously come from some ‘Elegant Trust Fund Chic Starter Pack’. The room was big enough that itdidn’t feel completely awful. I wished there was more light. Aria arranged herself on a blood red love seat.

“Twill.” Winston Knightbridge stood and shook my hand, then gestured to a plush armchair. “I’m not actually sure you’ve met my brother, Star.”

“We’ve met.” I shook Star’s hand and sat.

Win and Star didn’t share a family resemblance. That happened in packs, especially in packs as large as the Knightbridges. Different bio moms, different bio dads. Their pack was unusual in that four sons were born into this generation and all four were alphas. And all four inherited the pack fortune, the businesses, and Port Haven itself.

Technically three. No one was sure if Beg Knightbridge was still alive and I wasn’t about to ask.

“Library fundraiser, wasn’t it?” Star said, folding himself back into his chair and running fingers through his hair. A woman, an omega, stood behind him, half in the shadows. She wore a black dress with knee high black boots and had pale blue hair. Arms crossed, her eyes traveled over me like a scan. It was unnerving.

“That or a dinner for the university.” I sat back in my chair, bringing my ankle up to my knee.

“We’re doing some work in the Mired that you might be interested in. Small business grants, infrastructure updates.”

“I’ll loop in my CFO. She’s big on community outreach right now.” I hoped that was noncommittal enough. I didn’t know if Daisy would appreciate a close business tie. The board, however, would probably eat it up.

“Let’s get to it,” Win cut in as if this much small talk was painful. “As to your first request, we can only do so much about the press. We can catch and kill a lot of stories, but that doesn’t necessarily deter a determined reporter. With blogs and shit now, editorial control on a company level isn’t what it used to be.”

My company had a PR team, so I was quite aware that this was a big ask.

“No one can keep the news of you forming a pack out of the news entirely. We can discourage lengthy thought pieces on your choice of packmates. We, however, are much better equipped to encourage stories we do want coverage for.” He indicated the paragon. “Aria has already suggested some vehicles for that.”

I knew it would be impossible to keep everything out of the news. There were already some trending videos out there of the not-quite-a-brawl on the Games deck. Surprisingly little about the auction. If I had to guess, that was Aria’s work all on her own. I didn’t want connections made between the Delano in my pack and the restaurant fire. I didn’t want that investigation opened. Not because I didn’t want the heat for it, but I didn’t want Ren to relive his parents' death.

“Problem number two is no longer a problem.” Win continued. “We know exactly where Nolan is. No one in his pack was strong enough to take over leadership, so that pack fractured.”

My stomach flipped. I knew exactly what broken bonds did to a person.

“Should questions get asked, I have someone who can work on your video and make sure it’s not a problem.”

Translation—He could and would doctor any video evidence of Ren committing a crime.

“And three.” It was Star’s turn, apparently. “The Pax will reopen shortly. Lana is confident that we’ll hear about any…” he leaned forward slightly to emphasize the word, “shenanigans first and discourage that activity.”

Shenanigans was a hell of a way to phrase “retribution plots.” Ren didn’t have enemies. Not exactly. But there were enough people who knew about his work and would see this as a money making opportunity. Ren already felt like he was a liability. Wedidn’t need someone getting the bright idea to extort cash from Justice Twill over a dumb car.

I pulled Catherine’s phone and the thumb drive out of my pocket, placing them on the table. Catherine had been so kind as to put all the information she’d acquired in a handy folder titled “blackmail.” Gaston had not yet been effective in leveraging the information they had gathered, but it was a gold mine for someone like Win. Anything about Ren or myself was carefully scrubbed down to the machine language levels.

“Do we have a deal?” I asked when no one reached for the goods.

Win regarded me, like his mind wasn’t made up yet. Did he think I was going to flinch or melt? Win held considerable power, and was probably super scary under the right conditions. And none of that mattered to me.

Inexplicably, he turned to the omega with the pale blue hair. “Moxie?”

Without moving or changing expression, she said “no.” Star folded his hands in his lap and tried to hide a smirk. Win gave a “what the fuck” hand gesture.

She sighed and rolled her eyes. “You asked me to crawl out of my warm, cozy nest to come down here and tell you what I thought about this deal, him, and I’m telling you no. And you’re somehow surprised by that?”

Win’s annoyance was now like a tangible thing in the room with us. That was how strong his aura was. I would have loved to know if it was because an omega was speaking to him like that or if it was just Moxie, whoever she was.

She held out one finger. “He can afford the best PR team in the country. Will they be as fast and effective as you? No, because you don’t have morals. And you have over 100 years of Knightbridges owning media companies on your side.”

Win conceded the point with a nod of his head. She held out a second finger.

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