Page 25 of Choosing Their Omega

“Of course.” Lawson squeezes my shoulders again and then drops his hands. “So who was this guy that he was so important to the company?”

“We’re a delivery company contracted out with local businesses. He was one of the top salesmen who convinced local and smaller regional businesses to switch to working with us.”

“Mmm.” Lawson’s face darkens again. “The guy who got ‘employee of the month’ all the time, huh?”

“Oh, yeah, the last few months, he was on the company website and everything.” I shrug. “I guess the money they felt he made them was more important than protecting their employees.”

“It never should be,” Lawson growls quietly. “Nothing’s more important than people.” He relaxes and smiles. “You finish up lunch, I’m sure Ben will be up soon. I’m so sorry you went through that. But you’re safe now, okay? If anyone ever gives you trouble, you tell me.”

I nod, and Lawson smiles one more time and leaves the kitchen.

I look down at myself, at where I know the fading bruise is. It wasn’t a fun thing that happened. I was terrified at the time. But it’s good to know that I now live with four men who will protect me and are upset at what that man did.

Lawson said I was safe here, and I believe him.

Chapter 7

Lawson

I haven’t been this fucking pissed in a long, long time.

I’m known for being a fighter, on and off the ice, it’s true. But those are just scraps, they don’t matter, at least not most of the time. This is fucking different.

How dare that asshole even think of putting his hands on a woman who doesn’t want him. And not just any woman, but Lily. The fact that it’s her makes my blood boil even more.

Yes, I admit, Lily’s gorgeous. Curvy and soft, and she smells fucking delicious. And I’ve always been a sucker for redheads.

But I’m not mad because I’m attracted to her. I can’t deny that it’s a fact. But Lily’s just so clearly a good person. She’s clicked with Ben immediately and seems to understand him in a way that I don’t think any of us really thought a nanny could.

She’s eager to jump in to help out around the house, helping Miles with cooking, and she was so startled by our kindness, it makes me protective of her. She’s clearly led a life where she couldn’t really rely on anyone but herself, and I don’t think I’m alone when I feel like I want to change that for her. I want her to be able to rely on us.

She’s a good person. And anyone who tries to hurt her or mistreat her will have to deal with me.

Luckily, thanks to that background check that Cruz and Knox did, we have the exact name and location of her former place of employment. That wouldn’t help me if I didn’t also know the personal info about the guy that Lily just told me.

It’s easy enough to figure out who the employee of the month is at this local delivery company. Especially when he’s been the employee of the month for several months in a row. Talk about some fucking favoritism.

That asshole one hundred fucking percent knows that he’s the favorite and knows he can get away with this kind of thing. It makes my blood boil, wondering if there are other women he’s done this to, women who kept their mouths shut or were also backed into a corner and quit.

I can still see the bruise on Lily’s hip, marring her creamy skin, when I close my eyes. She’s got perfect curves, her body soft and feminine. And that fucker shoved her hard enough to leave a goddamn bruise.

My hands curl into fists as I head out and get into the car. Fuck it. I’m taking care of this.

I get to Lily’s old place of work and park in the parking lot for visitors, then head inside. There’s a reception desk but the woman sitting there is on the phone with her head down, humming and writing on a post-it, so she doesn’t notice when I walk right on by.

This isn’t a huge office with a lot of floors, it’s just got the one with everybody’s cubicle bumping up against each other. I find the wall that has the Employee of the Month announcement on it, then scan the office to find the guy whose face matches.

Bingo.

I stride over. This guy’s kinda good looking, in a boring way. He could probably get actual dates if he wanted to. But it’s never about whether or not the man is attractive, and whether or not he can get dates. It’s about power and control. It’s about wanting to take what isn’t theirs because it makes them feel like a man.

I’ll show him what a real man is.

“Alfred?” I ask, approaching his desk. “Alfred Bowen?”

The guy stands up. “Yes, that’s me.” He puts on a smile that he probably thinks is charming, but I know a ‘customer smile’ when I see one. People give them to me all the time as a professional hockey player, trying to get something out of me. “How can I help you?”

“You can help me by keeping your hands to your damn self,” I snarl, and I haul off and punch him in the face.

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