“Matty, this isn’t… just go away.”
By the time eight o’clock rolled around, Oliver was so worked up that he had to splash some cold water across his face.Just get in, speak to Helena, get out. He chanted the phrase in his head as he packed up his laptop and went to grab the recording equipment.
“Ready?” Matteus said, standing in the doorway with a bag slung over his shoulder.
“What do you mean, ‘ready’? You’re not coming.”
“I know. But I’m helping you carry this equipment down to the car park, whether you like it or not.” An impish grin played on his brother’s lips as he began walking towards the double doors. “Hurry, dear. We don’t want to keep the sergeant waiting.”
Grumbling, Oliver tried to dislodge the bag from Matteus’ shoulder, but the omega held onto it with the strength of an ox. As they walked down the stairs and towards the car park, Matteus hummed and looked over his shoulder. “Call me if you need anything. I know I take the piss, but I’m here for you. Okay?”
“Yes. Thank you,” Oliver snapped, holding open the door.
As they rounded the corner to the staff bays, the roar of a six cylinder twin turbo was unmistakable. There sat Lucas White in the scuffed up British racing green BMW, his forearm resting across the open window, and a pair of sunglasses perched on his nose.
“Fuck,” Matteus muttered.
Oliver gave him a look that said ‘do you see what I mean?’
Matteus gave him a look back that said‘I’ll see you in the afterlife, brother.’
Taking a deep breath, Oliver approached the window and bent down. Lucas slid the sunglasses to the end of his nose andstared up at him with the intensity of a predator. “Morning,” the alpha said, his voice like rolling thunder.
“Hi,” Oliver replied, keeping his tone even. “We don’t take personal cars to jobs.”
Lucas smirked, running the tip of his tongue over his bottom lip. “This is an unmarked vehicle. If you couldn’t tell by the piss-poor state of the bumper.”
Oliver raised an eyebrow. “You’re kidding, right?”
Lucas’ smirk grew even wider. “See for yourself.”
Frowning, Oliver sidestepped around the car and peered at the front grill. Sure enough, he spotted hidden blue lights peeking between the carbon fronds. “Just how big is the Met’s budget?” He asked, though it was a small comfort that even his city-bound colleagues took no pride in the up keep of their job-cars.
Shuffling back round to the window, Lucas looked as though he were about to answer, when his gaze slid to Matteus. His eyes flicked between the two of them, nostrils flaring before his gaze finally landed back on Oliver. And Oliver couldn’t really blame him. Matteus was beautifully androgynous, the very embodiment of a male omega. Whilst they shared the same white-blonde hair, grey eyes and freckled cheeks, Oliver had the sharper jawline and heavier brow. He was also broader and had much longer legs.
“Get in,” Lucas said, snapping Oliver out of his thoughts.
Annoyance prickled his neck, the alpha side of him momentarily flaring at the command. “You’re joking, I hope?” Lucas tipped his head and frowned in response. “There’s no way we’re meeting Helena in that thing. If she’s being groomed—which we highly suspect she is—the last thing we want is to be surrogates for her abusers.”
Lucas’ hazel eyes studied Oliver’s face, ghosting over his lips and ears. “Explain.”
Oliver tutted. “It’s why I asked you to wear normal clothes. If we rock up suited and booted, she’ll just look at us like another couple of rich blokes ready to take advantage of her. These kids are more perceptive than you think.”
“It’s true!” Matteus piped up.
Sighing, Lucas slid his hands around the steering wheel before pulling the key out the ignition. “So, what are we going in?”
Oliver smirked and pointed towards a blue Honda Jazz that was parked under a tree. Well, it had once been blue… underneath all the dust and bird shit. No one in the Child Protection Unit bothered to clean the cars unless they were transporting kids.The alpha wrinkled his nose, the look of disgust giving Oliver a small pang of victory. Those feelings of playfulness were rising in him again, and he clenched his teeth to stop them bubbling out.
Matteus waved them off with a wide smile—a little too eager to send them on their way. Oliver frowned as he glared at his brother in the rear-view mirror, thinking of all the ways he’d get revenge.
“Your brother?” Lucas asked.
“Yeah,” he replied, turning left onto the main road.
“He seems excitable.”
Oliver inclined his head and put the car into third gear. “He is. You should see him on a Wednesday night after a few shandies.” Thoughts of Matteus and Nancy clinging to a bucking bronco during their most recent night out brought a smile to his face.
