After a while, she drags in a breath and pulls back. “I’m okay now. I think. God, I probably look a mess.”
“You’re still beautiful,” I tell her sincerely.
“We should probably get back to the bakery,” Xavier says.
Dismay fills Penelope’s eyes. “I can’t believe my grand opening got so ruined.”
“It’s not ruined,” Dominic tells her. “We handled all the remaining customers while you were gone. Don’t worry about it.”
“Thank you.”
“Of course.” He stands up and the three of us escort her back to the bakery.
All the customers are gone, but her old pack is still there, sitting down at a table like they own the place. Rage rises in me, and it takes a massive force of will to keep me from grabbing Isaac and slamming him against the wall. And that would just be the start.
“Had your little tantrum, Becca?” Isaac asks, looking at Penelope condescendingly. “Fuck, you always were a massive fucking baby. Crying anytime you couldn’t get your way.”
Dominic and I put ourselves between Penelope and the three men. “You don’t talk to her,” Dom says. “If you have something to say, you can say it to us, but leave her out of it.”
Isaac rolls his eyes and leans back in his chair. “Fine.” Something about his tone says he’s behaving for now, but might change his mind if he feels like, and it makes me grit my teeth in irritation.
“Why did you come here?” I ask them. “Are you trying to get her back?”
“Not necessarily,” Isaac says.
Dominic makes a face. “Then what is it? You didn’t come here just to tell us the so-called truth about her. You want something, so stop playing fucking games and come out with it already.”
“She left us,” Isaac snaps. “She was ours, and she just up and left without our permission. That really hurt.” He puts on a pout that’s fooling no one. “And it turns out she managed to find herself a trio of rich men who cater to her every whim. That doesn’t sound fair to you, does it? That she ran out on us and gets to live a lavish life. Liars don’t deserve things like that.”
“That’s not for you to decide,” Dominic growls. “What we choose to give our wife is our business.”
“Sure, sure.” Isaac waves a hand. “But see, we deserve some compensation for what we had to go through. We lost a member of our pack. All for money.”
Penelope tries to say something, but Xavier puts a hand on her arm, shaking his head subtly. Nothing she has to say is going to sway these men. They look at her like she’s below them, like she’s just a ticket to their revenge or whatever this is. They won’t even hear her.
But the truth of the matter is right there in front of us now. “You want compensation,” I say. “You want us to pay you off.”
Isaac grins. “Now you’re getting it. You can clearly afford it, three big shots like you. And since we’re giving you our sloppy seconds, it only seems fair, right?”
I’m two seconds from lunging at this fucker, but Dominic stops me with a shake of his head. I stand down. Barely.
“You’re nuts if you think you’re getting anything from us,” he replies.
Mitch and Vincent are watching me now, both of them with hunger in their eyes like they’re spoiling for a fight. They’re letting their leader do the talking, but they’re paying attention to everything.
“You either give us what we want, or we make things very hard for your little wifey there.”
“You won’t touch her,” I snarl.
“We don’t have to,” Isaac shoots back. “We could drag her name through the mud. Let everyone know that the wife of three illustrious billionaires has a not so spotless past. I’m sure the people in your circles would love to know about that. So you either give us money or a leg up or we talk. We’ll reveal everything about how she played the system and stole from us and is now trying to use the same con on you.”
“That’s a lie,” Dominic points out.
“But will be people see it that way? It’ll be our word against hers, and I’m sure people will wonder why three important men married a nobody. The damage will be done. And if that’s not enough, we’ll take her to court.”
I frown. “On what grounds?”
“For damages. She caused us pain and suffering. You can’t imagine how much it hurts when your beloved Omega runs away.” He presses a hand to his chest. “We were distraught, weren’t we, boys?”