Which was exactly what he did. On purpose and illegally.
His money sheltered him from being exposed, especially because no one knew he was gold pack. Any time he left his house, he wore illegal coloured contacts. He didn’t bother putting them on with me, because I knew one of his sons who was in my brother’s pack.
“Are you aware of how my mother knows Noah Connolly?”
Soren laughed. “Ah yes, poor Edith. She’s really gotten wrapped up in them, hasn’t she?”
“I wouldn’t know. All I know is she sent me to his house for a job, and he gave me the task of finding Kiara Connolly.” I raised an eyebrow at him. “Which I can’t do because that would be going against your instructions. What am I supposed to do in this situation?”
He snorted. “Well, Leigh-Leigh, who do you fear more?”
My blood ran cold. I didn’t have an answer for that, because both of them were blackmailing me over the same damn thing—but my mother had an additional threat hanging over my head. What was I supposed to say?
“Let me flip that. Who do I care about more?” I asked, doing my best to hide my panic. “And the answer is Kiara. I had to dark bond her, so I’m going to do whatever is best for her in the long run.”
“So, you’re going to follow my instructions,” Soren said.
“No. Not unless you tell me what you need her for.”
He snapped his book closed and grinned, standing up from the circle chair. I averted my eyes, but he didn’t turn. He strolled closer to me, fanning himself with the thin paperback.
“You’re demanding today, and I’m not particularly a fan,” he said. “But I’ll give you a pass this one time because you’re protecting your new omega. I will not, however, be telling you my motivations. You know I like to keep an air of mystery about me.”
I grit my teeth, holding back more demands.
“I’ll give you one hint though: what is it that I like to do most? That’s my entire motivation behind sending Kiara your way. Plus, I thought you would be more fun if you bonded an omega. Not the case. A shame, really.”
His grin revealed shiny white teeth, bleached to an almost unnatural perfection. What he liked to do the most was stir the pot, disturb shit, and, oddly enough, protect omegas.
Did he think I was capable of protecting her without his help? I was well-equipped and organized, but not enough to take down a beta crime family. I wasn’t a goddamn criminal like him.
Or was this simply his way to stir the pot and entertain himself?
“It’s hard to have fun when I’m under so much stress,” I muttered.
Standing, I smoothed down my pants and peered around the library. It had high ceilings and plenty of cozy chairs, but I imagined there would be a layer of dust on the books if Soren didn’t employ a large cleaning staff. The man didn’t actually read tomes like Pride and Prejudice, even though I spotted four different editions of the book on a nearby shelf.
“Stress is of your own making, my dear,” Soren said, clapping a hand on my shoulder. “Stop creating it, and you’ll be so much better off.”
Yeah. Says the billionaire who can afford to throw money at all his stressors.
“What sage advice,” I said, trying not to sound sarcastic. “I’ll be sure to take that under advisement.”
He beamed. “Perfect. I’m glad I could help. Lyra will of course show you out, and I believe she has some paperwork with a couple of tasks I’d like you to complete in the next couple of weeks. This was a wonderful visit. We should do this again—except next time, don’t wear those ugly clothes into my house.”
I really should have pulled out the bright red suit I had in the back of my closet for Soren visits. Dash would have gotten a laugh seeing me in it, but maybe Soren would have given me more information if I’d catered to him a little better.
All I got out of this was a headache and more work put onto my docket.
Perfect.
* * *
I had to at least make an effort to ‘find’ Kiara until I got myself out of this mess. I spent the afternoon making calls, trying to find out if anyone had a clue where she was. No one did, and I got a sense of satisfaction from sending that text update to her father.
By the time I got back to my condo, I was more than ready to bathe off the day and spend an evening curled on the couch with my omega.
It was so damn domestic.
