“A friend of mine needs your services. He’s lost something precious to him.”
“I’m not a private investigator. Does he know my rates?”
There was a pause so long I worried the connection had been lost. Mother would blame me for it, of course.
“You will do what I tell you, including finding what my friend has lost. And you will do it free of charge.”
My growl volleyed down the line and I regretted it immediately. I hated being told what to do, but I didn’t often lose control. This situation with Kiara had me on edge. I’d made a misstep with Soren yesterday too, and I could hardly believe how much my emotions were cracking my professionalism.
“If you ever do that again, you know what’s going to happen,” Mother said, a hard edge to her voice.
I did know.
It wasn’t like I did her bidding willingly. I was being blackmailed by my own mother, for fuck’s sake.
“Yes, I do.”
“I’ll text you the address of my friend. Go meet him immediately.”
She hung up, the beeping of the line rattling around in my head. What was she going to do when she found out I dark bonded an omega? Would she decide I was more trouble than I was worth and release every secret she kept stowed away?
I ran my hands through my hair and slumped down into a desk chair, each breath heavy with stress. She’d been using me for years. I’d always been careful to keep people out of my life because of her, and now that I finally had someone to help my oppressive loneliness, everyone could be caught up in the crossfire.
Because it wasn’t my secret she kept to blackmail me. I didn’t have anything I fucking cared about.
It was my brother’s.
The door creaked open and I lifted my head, eyes blowing wide when I saw Kiara there.
Her hair was dripping wet, the fluffy towel wrapped around her barely covering her ass. Thick thighs were on display, making it far too easy to imagine what was between them and how it would feel for me to be there.
She clutched at the towel and shifted from foot to foot, the knife held in her other hand. “Are you alright?” she asked, teeth biting down on her bottom lip. “I could feel… you.”
My irritation.
Damn it.
This bond was hard to turn off. I hadn’t realized I was projecting that.
I opened my mouth only to scowl when I caught the scent of Dash’s arousal filtering into the room. Kiara had walked through the living room like this. Wherehewas.
He was irritatingly brazen in letting me know he was interested in what was mine, especially considering he’d walked in and claimed their pack never dated omegas.
“Come here.” My command was potent in my words and Kiara immediately started forward.
She kept coming until she was standing between my legs. With how short she was, my legs ended up around the middle of her thighs.
“I’m fine, just have a minor problem to deal with,” I said. “I appreciate you checking on me, but next time put some clothes on first.”
Her throat bobbed as she swallowed. Seeing those bruises on her neck made it even harder not to touch her, but I was resisting. My hands were on my thighs, as much as I wanted them to be on hers.
“Why? I’m your omega now.”
She tentatively dropped the grip on the towel. It stayed up on its own. Barely. Kiara reached that hand out and rested it on my shoulder. Warmth spread from the spot, arousal zinging through me. It was almost impossible to resist.
And why did I need to resist?
She was mine, like she’d said. If she ever fucked anyone else I’d have to kill them, but it wasn’t fair to force her to stay celibate for the rest of her life.
