“How could I not be?” They all snorted atmy flippant answer. “Fine.”
They were so bossy.
“Yes, he’s sweet and funny and so sexy hejust sends shivers right through me every time he looks at me.” Wade wassmiling, so I ignored Tanner’s questioning look and focused on Wade. “He thinksI’m funny and is a fabulous Dom but doesn’t…doesn’t over-manage me.”
I waved my hand around as I sat up. “Youknow what I mean. He doesn’t take control when I don’t need it. Like the policelast week.”
Bradley winced, but Tanner shook his head,still not able to process it. He was the one who had taken the most offense atwhat the cops had done. Thankfully, he hadn’t blamed me at all. Especially oncehe’d realized how neatly we’d solved the whole “no single omegas going to thesex toy shop” rules. Not that he was thrilled that I was a part-owner of a sextoy store, but he was less frustrated than my accountant had been.
He’d nearly cried when I tried to explain Iwasn’t going to get any money from it.
“I just can’t believe they went around somany laws like that.” Tanner leaned back in the overstuffed chair and stretchedout. He looked relaxed, but I could see his brain whirling. “If they’re doingthat to one owner, what are they doing to others when no one is watching?”
“Exactly.” Sitting up straighter, I pulledmy legs up onto the couch and crossed them, smoothing the long skirt over mylegs. “Bertie was frustrated but not as shocked as he should have been. He knewthey were pushing the limits but didn’t realize how badly.”
Wade snorted. “And he wasn’t expecting themto go after something where you were involved.”
“If he thinks I’m donating more money nextyear for him to go after stupid shit like sex toy stores under the guise ofcleaning up our city, he’s insane.” I could feel myself getting more frustratedthe more I talked, but I couldn’t help it. “I was told that money was goingtoward shutting down illegal businesses and helping the homeless. Illegalbusiness means things like sweat shops and illegal gambling, not adult noveltyshops.”
“Did you make it clear to dear old Bertiethat you were not pleased?” Bradley grinned. “I have several clients who mightwant to know how those donations are being used.”
Waving a hand, I gave him a little bow.“Please feel free to pass the story around. Of course, you can’t use my name.”I grinned as he chuckled. “But I’m sure you’ve heard several rumors that thepolice were going after legitimate businesses.”
“Do you really think that Bertie didn’tknow?” Wade looked a little sad. “I like Silas, and Matthew would have likedhim too.”
Shit.
I’d forgotten Bertie and Matthew had a morebuddy relationship than the rest of us had with Bertie.
“He probably didn’t realize how zealous theorders were taken as they moved down the food chain.” I scrambled for areasonable option. “You know cops. They always want to impress the higher-ups.I’m sure it wasn’t done on purpose.”
Smiling, I pulled Wade down to sit besideme. “And you know he wouldn’t have encouraged them to assume I was an omega orto do that stupid sting operation so often.”
At the very least, he’d have been smarterabout it and wouldn’t have wasted money. As far as I could tell, Silas hadalways been very careful and it was at the point where he had a legitimate casefor harassment. No police chief wanted that mess on his hands.
Wade leaned into me and laughed quietly. “Iwould have loved to have seen you driving those cops nuts.”
“They didn’t know what hit them.” I giggledas I pulled him close. “They were so mad, but once they realized who I’dcalled, all their eyes went wide like they’d seen a ghost.”
As everyone laughed, I pressed the back ofmy hand to my forehead and sighed dramatically. “Because I’m just a helplesslittle omega who needs a big alpha to make decisions for me.”
“You know,” Tanner was smiling, but I couldsee the wheels turning in his head, “as much as everyone campaigns forequality, this is completely disregarding the purpose behind it all. As an omega,I need an alpha’s permission to do something with my sexuality? That gives analpha entirely too much power over me. Why hasn’t this been challenged in thecourts yet?”
“Because there aren’t any big companies totackle the lawsuit.” I’d been looking into it for a while. “Every shop in thecountry I could find is a small business that has no means of affording legalaction. So they suck it up every time they’re cornered by the police and eithermove the shop or just close up.”
It was incredibly unfair and felt like aslap in the face to small business owners.
“There has to be something we can do aboutit.” Dakota was usually the most cautious when it came to jumping on causeslike this, so if he was frustrated, I knew the average person would be too.
“I think there is.” I’d been waiting forthe right way to make a change and I was pretty sure I’d figured it out. “Iactually found a few small lawsuits and legal challenges in several midwesternstates. They’re tiny and no one is paying attention to them, but I’ve had mylawyer looking into them. He thinks two of them have good cases.”
“What are you going to do?” Tanner knew Iwouldn’t just quietly watch things play out.
“Nothing outrageous.” I grinned as theylaughed, breaking some of the tension with my campy reply. “I plan on makingsome very generousanonymousdonations to their legal funds, and my lawyeris going to carefully bring it to the attention of a few people who might beable to help bolster their legal teams.”
No matter how in the right you were, afabulous legal team couldn’t hurt the situation.
Tanner leaned forward, bracing his arms onhis knees. “Send Shane the info. I’ll make a donation too. I don’t want chaosin the streets or people being abused, but the government shouldn’t controlwhat I can do in my own bedroom. Not if we really have equality.”
