Page 79 of The Omega Lesson

“Wait up!” Mattie says behind us, his fingers flying over the screen of his phone. “Fuck-a-duck! Ben said someone overrode the security system. He’s with his guys now, trying to work out what the fuck is going on.”

Ice-cold fingers suddenly pluck at my ribs. “What about the penthouse?”

“Not sure. Seems to be just the elevators and some cameras on the hotel side… Shit. His pilot just said there’s an unknown chopper on the pad.”

“On the pad?”

“Right above the penthouse…”

Travis makes a strangled sound while Jack pulls his keycard from his wallet, and Mattie dials Ben. But we all jump as the reader light suddenly turns green. We tumble into the elevator right as Ben’s voice comes through on speaker. “We got the system back, but I have to stay and monitor it from here. If someone’s screwing with the elevators…”

“Don’t fucking jinx us, bro!” Mattie yells, snatching a switchblade from his boot with one hand and slamming a fist on the top button with the other. “We’re headed up to the penthouse now. You got any cameras up there?”

“They’re still offline.” Ben sounds fit to kill someone. “Fuck, that chopper’s gone. Military grade, so it left mine in the dust.”

“You think they were in the suite?” Mattie asks, flicking open his knife and running his thumb over the blade. In any other lifetime, it would be as hot as fuck, but right now I’m frozen to my bones. And our Bratty Boy is looking at me with terrified eyes. “Jesus, Lexi’s up there alone, Noah. Do you think they… took her?”

Before I can respond, the doors ping open, and those icy fingers slip between my ribs and grab my heart. Because Lexi’s scent is strong, but the stench of unknown alpha is even stronger.

“Find him,” Travis growls, heading into the suite while I cut towards the stairs to the roof. Mattie is right on my heels, and I almost fall on his knife as Lexi comes running down the stairs towards us.

“Hey!” She throws her hands up, like she’s trying not to startle us.Too fucking late.“It’s okay. He’s gone.”

I snatch her up hard enough to bruise, while Mattie slips past and heads to the pad.

“She’s here!” I bellow at the others as I carry her back into the suite. Travis and Jack come running, but it’s Mattie I need. And as soon as he joins us, I yell, “Tell Ben to fucking lock this floor downnow!”

“Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.” Mattie tugs on his hair as he fumbles with his phone, his switchblade hitting the floorboards with a thud.

“Holy shit, guys!” Lexi gasps, wriggling to get down, butthat’snot fucking happening anytime soon. “It’s okay! He’s gone. And he didn’t touch me, I promise.”

“Who, Lexi?” Ben barks through the phone, his voice cracking. “And how many?”

“Just one.” She bites her lip, looking almost apologetic. “It was Finn Visser.”

Jack rounds on Travis, his eyes lit with manic fire as he shoves him hard enough to knock on his arse. As soon as he’s down, Jack leaps on him like an MMA contender, while Ben yells expletives through the phone. “This is your fucking fault, Travis, you paranoid fuck!”

“Oh, my God! Stop!” Lexi somehow manages to peel herself out of my arms, stepping right up onto the coffee table. For a heartbeat, I think she’s going to throw herself into the fray, WrestleMania-style, but the next moment she lets out a piercing whistle.“Listen up, you crazy bastards!”

There’s enough alpha command in her voice to stop the impromptu wrestling match on the floor, and we all gape at her, panting and strung out.

“He came here totalkto me. That’s all. He has a research project on switches and he wants me to help out.” She looks at each of us – who aren’t exactly melting with relief - then shakes her head and takes the phone off Mattie. “Ben, everything is okay up here. I don’t think he messed with anything except for the elevators. Is the security system working again?”

“Yes, but don’t go anywhere,” he snaps, clearly on the move from the way he huffs down the phone. “I’ve locked the floor down and I’m putting my best guys on all the exits. Mattie, there’s a wall safe in the main bedroom closet. Code is your birthday, backwards. Can you get the handgun out and have it ready for me?”

“Handgun?” Lexi squawks, but Mattie grabs his phone back and is running across the suite.

I twitch with the need to follow him, but Lexi is sitting on the couch, and I feel like I’m being ripped in fucking half. But then Travis strides over to Lexi and drops at her side, pulling her onto his lap. It’s obviously his suit jacket she’s wearing, but I gape at the way she melts into him, their mouths fusing together like magnets. “I’m sorry,” he huffs when they finally break apart. “If I didn’t take you to that fucking facility…”

“Forget it,” she soothes him, brushing her hands down his face. “He just talked to me; I promise. Well, lectured me on the sexual habits of seafood, but that’s not the point. He really was just here to ask me to work on his project.”

Travis looks as sceptical as I feel. “The Vise doesn’t do anything without an end game, Lexi.”

She nods, like she’s not totally convinced, either. “Which is why you need to check him out. I’m not doing anything until we all agree it’s safe.”

My heart is slowly starting to thaw, but she’s crazy if she doesn’t think Visser is now on the top of our shit list.

“What about you, Jack? Are you okay?” Lexi lifts her hands to him, and it’s only then I realise Jack’s plucked the switchblade off the floor. He’s still scowling at Travis, but he pockets the knife and drops a kiss on her brow. She breathes in deeply, making a low humming sound of appreciation. But before she can nab his arse, Mattie is striding back into the room toting a large black pistol.

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