Chapter Twenty-Eight
Booker
His bear was doing a full on swing dance, booty popping and giving out all the happy vibes at Frey’s confession. Booker reeled from those four words. ‘I’m falling for you’, but what did that actually mean? Frey had blurted it out, almost as if afraid to speak them aloud.
Was Frey happy to have feelings for him?
The way he’d touched his lips after the kiss, he’d looked…
Gods, how he looked knocked Booker six ways to heaven. His heart stopped, then got shocked with force when Frey had run the tips of his fingers over his lips with an air of such wonder.
Was this his first kiss?
It had to be ?
The fucker who’d attacked him was after fucking, not taking care of Frey. Anger that came with thoughts of anyone violating their little fox ran through him, heating his blood. Booker kept his breathing steady and even, but despite that, his heart thudded hard with the urge to hunt down the shithead.
He had no time to get further in his head when the glass partition between them and their driver whirred as it lowered.
“Sir,” the driver looked at them in the rearview mirror, his expression giving nothing away, “we need to buckle up before I can leave.”
Booker resisted snapping back at thoughts of placing Frey back in his seat. He glanced at the seatbelt and, with no hesitation, pulled the strap across the pair of them and buckled up. “There,” he replied, not sure he could believe his own behavior.
Frey’s mouth formed a perfect O before he placed his head in the crook of Booker’s shoulder, not looking at anyone, but he didn’t protest.
If the guy's lips twitched at such a move, Booker acted like he’d not noticed. “Thank you, Sir.” The glass partition closed, and Booker didn’t know how to go back to the conversation.
Frey remained silent, his fingers staying curled around Booker’s shirt, an occasional finger played with his chest hair. Those little touches played havoc with him, and he had to keep his thoughts from straying with Frey sitting on his lap .
As the silence lengthened, nothing about it suggested Frey wanted Booker to break it, so he didn’t. The weight of Frey against him, the sweetness and spiciness of his scent on every inhale, was perfect. He’d not had many moments like this in his life and Booker found his own enjoyment at the simple pleasure, which didn’t evoke panic. When that reality punctuated through his thoughts, he actually grinned at himself right until the car stopped. Before he could release the seat belt, the door opened, and Taylin appeared.
One glance inside the car and Taylin gave Booker a sly smile he knew well.
Fuck, here it comes!
“Well, what’s going on here, bro?” His voice was full of amusement that he didn’t even try to disguise.
Frey stiffened in his arms and Booker gave Taylin a warning glare that told him to ‘shut the fuck up’. “Nothing. Now be good and help with the suitcases.” His smile was all threatening teeth as he kept his voice devoid of emotion.
Did Taylin take the hint? Did he fuck.
“I knew your ass was big, but I wasn’t aware it meant poor Frey would have to sit on your lap.” Taylin didn’t hold back his hilarity.
“His ass is perfect,” Frey exclaimed snappily, clicking the seatbelt release catch. He didn’t give Booker time to help and shimmied off his lap with more dignity than Booker would have thought possible. Frey waved his hand at Taylin to get him to move. “You’re just jealous,” he continued.
Taylin stepped back, laughing. “Of his ugly ass? I don’t think so. ”
Frey, now out of the car, wore a look Booker had never seen before and his body reacted forcibly. One leg out of the car, he hesitated to watch the show and get his body to behave.
Frey’s hands went to his hips, his nose rising in the air as he gave Taylin a once over. It showed exactly what he thought of him and, to Booker’s utter delight, it wasn’t pleasant. “There is nothing ugly about my bear . Now you take that back and apologize to him for being mean!”
My bear.
His other side was back to booty popping.
Taylin never lost his amusement, but he attempted to look contrite, much to Booker’s amusement. “Sorry,” he murmured.
“So you should be.” Frey cast Taylin one last look of displeasure before he stalked off to the waiting jet.
“That told you.” Booker couldn’t help but rub in his satisfaction at Taylin getting dressed down by his feisty fox as he got out of the car.
A scowl appeared, then disappeared as Taylin eyed him. “Yeah, well, let’s see how you fare when I tell the guys what’s going on.”
Booker, who was on his way to the trunk to retrieve their suitcases, halted and glanced back. “You better keep your mouth shut!”
“What? And ruin a great opportunity to deflect from my engagement to Hollis? You gotta be kidding me.” A second later, he held his phone. “Now, how to start the conversation? ”
Booker made a dash for Taylin, reaching for his hand, only for his brother to skip back, laughing, slapping his hand away. “No you don’t. You couldn’t stop with the digs yesterday. Let’s see how you like it.”
“Don’t you dare!” He scowled at the unrepentant look Taylin cast in his direction, his digits flying over the phone screen as Booker charged at him again.
“Too late!” Taylin exclaimed, shoving Booker back with one hand while his phone went into his suit jacket pocket. Taylin was strong enough to stop Booker’s forward motion. “Revenge is always best served with a helping of ‘serves you right’.” He didn’t lose the smirk even after stepping away from Booker and grunting when he picked up Frey’s large suitcase.
Booker’s phone buzzed frantically in his pocket. “I’ll get you back for this!” he muttered crossly, resisting the urge to see exactly what Taylin had put in their group chat as he stalked after his asshole brother.
After arriving at the same hotel they’d stayed at during their previous visit and dropping off their bags, everyone headed right back out to visit the scumbags’ lawyers. Booker was pleased to see they had the same suite, only nothing was the same this time round. The sexual tension between him and Frey when they’d dropped off their bags was different. Intense. It messed with Booker because acting on it was not his decision, it was Frey’s.
In need of something to distract him, his brothers seemed like the best option after they’d decided to have fun at his expense on the flight. Rue, Taylin, and Kodi had spent hours winding him up. Their PAs had sat huddled together with Hollis, at the opposite end of the jet to work, or so it seemed.
Whereas his brothers thought it would be more amusing to rag on his ass than work. He’d pulled out his laptop ten minutes into the flight and pretended to ignore their jibes, while the whole time his awareness was on their fox. Any signs of distress and his brothers would have gotten their ass’s kicked.
Frey had to have heard the conversation, yet he’d not looked in their direction. Why was that?
“Pay attention,” Rue muttered under his breath, nudging his shoulder just enough to gain Booker’s attention, but not so much that any of the others in the fancy lawyer's office noticed.
Booker glanced sideways, then back at the elegant shark in front of them. The assholes’ lawyers had ambushed them when they’d arrived, and the brothers’ own lawyers had muttered some nonsense about being respectful. So now they were sitting listening to this shark trying to explain how they’d gotten it all wrong about their clients. Booker would have words with their suits once this shit show was over. It hurt him to look at Frey, who was at the opposite end of the table to him, looking pale and glassy eyed .
At the bullshit whitewash, Booker’s frustration grew until he'd had enough. He didn’t need to know exactly what they were saying. It was the same rhetoric they’d gotten before, he was sure. The assholes thought they could do whatever they wanted to divergent omegas with no comeback.
They were wrong.
He came forward in his seat, making his presence felt as the biggest man at the table, his gaze connecting directly with Amatus, the smug faced fucker.
“How did we get it wrong? Men were chained in squalor. Held against their will. Had their pittance of a wage taken from them, leaving them destitute if they’d had the actual choice of leaving.”
Booker gave each and every man sat opposite him a steely eyed look that Silas had once told him could make a person piss themselves in fright. “Tell me again how we got that wrong? Because I’m at a loss how you think we’d change our statements, be stupid enough to believe the utter bollocks coming from your lips.”
“There is no need for that,” the shark stated in a snobby tone that grated on all of Booker’s nerves.
Booker glanced at his brothers, and as a collective, they stood, their PAs following suit. “This shit is over.” He waved in the direction of the assholes. “Prison is too good for them. They’ll get three meals a day and be able to have a fucking wash.” Back was the seething anger and Taylin placed a hand on his arm, which visibly shook with his rage.
“You needed us here to verify our statements, not have a discussion about the truth of our discoveries. That is for court. Now gentlemen,”—the way Taylin said it inferred they were anything but—“our time is precious. So we bid you good day.”
Booker heard sharp, exclaimed words as they left the room, their own lawyers running to keep up with them. In the corridor Booker cast their lawyers a scathing look. “Why didn’t you stop that bullshit? It was upsetting on so many fucking levels and totally unnecessary. Why do we pay you fucking big bucks if we have to wipe your damn asses?”
Taylin chuckled, whereas Rue made a choking sound that came out like he was struggling to breathe. The suit's lips flapping uselessly about just pissed Booker off further when Frey looked so upset. He continued down the passageway, only slowing to reach out and take Frey’s icy cold hand and whisper in his ear, “I got you, my little fox.”