Page 10 of Omega's Runaway Love
I cringed.
Dad sat again, and I followed suit.
“Regardless of whether you slept with that omega or not…” papa started.
“Not.”
Dad growled at me, and I shut up.
“As I was saying,” papa continued. “We’re now in a bind.”
“No we’re not,” I interrupted, crossing my arms. “Let them go to the press. I know I didn’t do anything, and any paper that runs it can look down the barrel of a libel suit.”
“And any judge wouldlaugh youright out of court,” dad huffed. “One more article can’t damage your reputation any more than the slew of true ones until now.”
“Then why am I here?” I snapped. “Is this just a heads up?”
Dad stood and started pacing behind his and papa’s chairs. “We’re well beyond heads up, or even come to Jesus meetings, Cadence. This is a ‘you’ve fucked up, and now we have to address this properly’ meeting.”
“I didn’t though! I was at the club to enjoy the music. That was it!”
“That doesn’t matter now,” dad stated. “Your choices led to this, and now it’s going to cost us.”
“You can’t really be thinking about paying that nutcase, can you? Just let him take it to the press if my reputation is so tarnished.”
“Unfortunately, that’s not an option,” papa said.
“Why not?”
Dad took his seat again and scrubbed a hand down his face. “Cadence… You may not realize this… but we run a restaurant chain that’s known for its family values. Every time there’s a news article about your shenanigans, investor confidence goes down. They know that you’re in line to be the next CEO, and you’re hardly the personification of the values that we claim to hold.”
I cringed.
“You’ve really left us no choice. We’re not going to pay this man, but our attorneys are facing an uphill battle. They’re going to find out if criminal charges are possible, since this is extortion. But we fully expect that the process of dealing with this will cost as much, if not more, than paying him directly,” dad said.
“In the meantime, we have to rehabilitate your reputation,” papa added. “We can’t take the chance of this happening again.”
“How exactly are we going to do that?”
“You’re getting married,” dad stated.
“What?” I demanded.
“Investors want to see you getting serious about your future role in the company, and as a respectable alpha,” papa explained. “And, to be honest, so do we.”
“So what, you’ve just picked out an omega for me to marry and mate?” I growled.
“Not quite,” papa replied. “We’ve hired a mate matching service to find a suitable omega for you. You will be expected to meet with any prospects, and to take the process seriously.”
“In the meantime,” dad snapped. “No more clubs. No more scandals. We’ve discussed it, and we’re ready to cut off your access to funds if we feel you’re not acting in good faith.”
“And what if I don’t match with any of them?” I asked. “Lately I’ve felt more and more that I have a fated mate out there.”
“Maybe you should have considered your potential fated mate before you decided to knot anything with a pulse,” dad retorted. “And if you do have one, then you’d better hope that he’s among your potential matches, because your papa and I still reserve the right to choose for you if we feel that things aren’t moving along.”
“So that’s it then?” I snarled. “I’m getting married whether I like it or not, and possibly not even to a man of my choosing?”
“Yes,” papa stated.
