He held the description card between two fingers, raising an eyebrow.
“Wilder, call Lyra and ask if there’s really a stingray,” he demanded.
Wilder got out his phone, calling the secretary.
“You need a permit to keep advanced tropical fish like freshwater stingrays in New Oxford,” Soren said, narrowing his eyes at me. “They shouldn’t have let you walk out with one.”
I smirked. “I’m extremely convincing. That’s why you want to hire me.”
It only took a minute to confirm that Lyra was getting Soren’s new stingray settled in his tank.
“The worker said he was a good breeding male. We all know how much you enjoy breeding,” I said.
Wilder covered his mouth with his hand, shoulders shaking with silent laughter. Soren had more children than any other omega in the city, guaranteed. And far more than any gold pack omega had—considering it was extremely illegal for them to have children at all.
Soren sat back down on his lounge chair, letting the info card rest on the small table beside him. He hummed softly, looking me up and down again.
“I really do despise being threatened, almost as much as I adore being pampered. If you were anyone else, I’d have you killed.”
A brief thrill of fear rushed through me. He could do it. There was an illicit side of his business, and it wasn’t without violence.
“Since I’m me, and not anyone else, what do you plan on doing?”
“You’re hired.”
“I only accept if you accept my terms.”
He laughed. “I just threatened to kill you, and you’re still trying to drive a hard bargain?”
“They’re my terms.”
“How are you the same woman who let herself get blackmailed for two years?” Soren mused. “Fine. Noah Connolly is part of a larger plan. He’s not overly important, but is indeed a fun tool to bend to my will. We only discussed the new terms of him doing business.”
If I cared more, I could push for what the larger plan was. But it may be better if I didn’t know. My life would be more peaceful that way—and with an omega in the picture now, peaceful sounded good.
“And Tobias? You’re going to keep him away from his sister?”
“I have it on good authority that Tobias has already been shipped off—bullet holes and all—to be bitten into a West Coast pack. It was the only alliance Noah could get by selling off his useless son. A mostly useless alliance, really, but he wanted Tobias out of his hair as much as you do. If he ever ends up back in town, you’ll be the first to know. I seriously doubt it, though. His new pack is going to keep him… busy.”
Soren grinned. What he meant by ‘busy’ was another thing I would rather not know.
“Your mother’s debt is already mine, so there’s nothing to do there. If you’d like, you can be Edith’s point of contact. I was going to have Lyra manage her, but if you’d rather have the job…”
“I would love to.”
It was probably the only time I’d ever find absolute glee in talking to the woman.
“Perfect. We can discuss other duties at a later date. I’d like your little assistant on my payroll too, but I suppose she would have to come willingly, wouldn’t she?” He sighed. “Ask her for me, would you? I’ve got to rush off to a rather important meeting, but this has been an exhilarating start to my day.”
The hours he slept were a mystery to me, because this was far from what I’d consider a start of the day.
He got up in a swirl of colourful fabric, his sandals slapping against the paving stones as he strode toward the conservatory exit. Wilder gave me a small nod and followed behind, not seeming too concerned for Soren’s safety in this place.
I stretched as I got up from the bench, nursing sore muscles from so many days of heat. My steps were leisurely as I left Soren’s residence, giving Lyra a wave when I passed her beside the giant fish tanks. In my car, parked in his vast cul-de-sac driveway, I made a call.
“This is Edith Winston,” she said in a clipped tone.
I grinned. “Mother.”
