Chapter 14
FOURTEEN
TRINITY
I wander through the resort’s vast marble lobby, checking items off my mental to-do list while avoiding the actual issue—I don’t want to go back to the suite. Not with Kyren there. Not with any of them.
Not until I can pull myself together, at least.
The resort staff has everything under control for tonight’s dinner. The flower arrangements are perfect, the menu finalized, and the seating chart meticulously arranged to keep me as far from my sister’s fiancés as possible.
What I really need is a quiet corner to decompress before facing everyone again. Maybe the garden terrace? Or that little reading nook by the koi pond?
My phone buzzes. Josie.
JosieGrossie: Taking a nap before dinner. can’t wait to see your alphas tonight…love you
Great. Because I need another reminder that this dinner is going to be the official debut of my supposed relationship.
I glance at my watch. Three hours until dinner. Three hours to figure out how I’m going to pretend that Kyren—the alpha who ghosted me after our heated service session—is part of my loving pack.
The memory still stings. I can’t decide which option is worse:
He doesn’t remember that we literally fucked in every way possible during my multi-day heat only months ago, even after receiving my file from the matchmaking agency before signing the contract to come here.
or
He cares so little about me—outside of avoiding a stage five clinger—that this is legitimately just a job, and he isn’t bothered at all that I wasted weeks playing phone tag with the agency hoping to see him again.
Neither option is flattering.
I round the corner of the lobby bar and immediately freeze in my tracks.
Standing at the check-in desk are three familiar figures. Egret’s tall frame leans casually against the marble counter while Brendin gestures animatedly about something. Saren stands slightly apart, scanning the lobby, before he looks right in my direction.
My heart lurches into my throat. I spin on my heel, desperate to escape before any of them spot me.
That’s when it happens.
My foot hits a wet patch on the polished marble floor. My ankle twists. Arms flailing, I try to catch myself, but momentum carries me backward.
The world tilts and for a suspended moment, I’m airborne. Then pain explodes as the back of my head cracks against the hard floor. White light. Stars. Darkness creeping in at the edges.
Voices swim above me, distorted and far away .
“Miss? Can you hear me?”
“Someone call medical!”
“Don’t move her!”
I blink, trying to focus as faces hover above me. The ceiling spins in lazy circles.
“Trinity?”
This voice cuts through the fog, both familiar and unwelcome.
Egret’s face appears in my narrowing field of vision, his expression a mask of concern that doesn’t reach his eyes.
“She’s with us,” he says to someone I can’t see. “We’ll take care of her.”
No. No, no, no.
I try to speak, but my tongue feels thick and uncooperative.
“Don’t try to move.” Brendin’s voice now, his hand on my shoulder.
“I’ll carry her,” Saren offers, already bending down.
Alarm surges through the pain. I can’t let them take me. I can’t be alone with them. Not like this.
“I’m fine,” I insist, though my voice sounds distant even to my own ears as I push Egret’s hands away. “Just give me a second.”
Irwan appears in my blurry field of vision, his face contorted with panic.
“Ms. Jones, I’m so terribly sorry! We had a sign posted directing guests to use the garden path instead of walking through from the pool area.” He gestures frantically toward a yellow caution sign that’s fallen over several feet away. “I’ll have someone mop all this water right away.”
Egret rounds on him immediately. “A sign? A sign that’s not even visible is your safety protocol?
” His voice shifts into that cold, authoritative tone I remember all too well and hate with every fiber of my being.
“Perhaps Heat Island isn’t worth our business if you can’t ensure basic safety for your guests. ”
Irwan pales. “Sir, I assure you?—”
“It’s fine,” I repeat, more forcefully this time. I push up onto my hands and knees, then attempt to lever myself into a standing position with a hand on the counter. “I wasn’t looking where I was?—”
I stumble as I get halfway up. Black spots dance across my vision, and my knees buckle.
Egret catches me before I hit the floor again, his arm sliding around my waist with practiced ease.
“Yes, you’re clearly fine,” he says, sarcasm dripping from every word.
“The swollen bump forming on the back of your head and the fact that you can’t stand up without help are excellent evidence of that.
” He tightens his grip as I try to pull away.
“But I’m happy to let you go and see what happens next, if you’re insisting. ”
I open my mouth for a cutting response, but the throbbing in my skull intensifies. Nausea rises in my throat. Any comeback I might have managed dies as I consider the wisdom of throwing up on Egret’s expensive shoes.
He turns to Irwan, who’s hovering anxiously nearby. “I want a doctor sent to her suite immediately.” His tone leaves no room for argument. “And I expect the resort to cover any medical expenses.”
“Of course, sir. Right away.” Irwan pulls out his phone, already dialing.
Another wave of dizziness prevents me from arguing as Egret lifts me easily into his arms and pushes through the gathered crowd.
I hold myself rigid in Egret’s arms, keeping as much space between our bodies as physics allows. The throbbing in my head intensifies with each step he takes.
“So this pack of yours,” he says, his voice vibrating through his chest. “Four alphas, was it? That’s quite a collection.”
I stare straight ahead. “One of them is a beta.”
“And how did you meet them? Through work, I imagine?”
“No.”
“Friends of friends, then? Or a dating app?”
I press my lips together, refusing to elaborate.
“Must be challenging, balancing four men with your career. You always seemed so career-focused.”
The corridor stretches endlessly before us, and my patience snaps.
“Why are you asking me so many questions?” I demand, wincing as my own voice sends a sharp pain through my skull.
He has the audacity to look offended. “You might have a concussion. You’re supposed to keep someone with a head injury from falling asleep.”
“I promise to remain wide awake if you’ll keep your mouth shut,” I retort. “In fact, the pain from listening to you is doing an excellent job of keeping me conscious.”
His jaw tightens. “I’m just trying to help.”
“You can help by walking faster and talking less.”
Egret’s arms tense around me, but he remains silent the rest of the way to my suite.
We reach my suite door, and Egret shifts me in his arms to scan the keycard from my shoulder bag. The door swings open, and he strides purposefully toward the bedroom.
“The couch,” I snap, pointing to the living area. “Put me down and get out. ”
Egret sighs with exaggerated patience. “You need to lie down properly until the doctor arrives. The bedroom is?—”
“I said the couch.” My voice cracks with the effort of not screaming at him. “Put me down and leave.”
He deposits me on the couch with more gentleness than I want to give him credit for. Instead of leaving, he perches on the edge of the coffee table, studying me with those calculating eyes.
“You shouldn’t be alone until the doctor has cleared you. That’s basic concussion protocol.” He says it with the same energy as a father explaining to his toddler why forks and power outlets don’t mix.
“I’d rather fall asleep and never wake up than be alone with you right now,” I snap right back.
He glares at me. “Fine. So then where’s this amazing pack of yours? They should be taking care of their omega.” He makes a dramatic show of looking around the empty villa. “Oh wait, they’re not here. How surprising.”
My head throbs in time with my pulse. “They’ll be back any minute.”
“Trinity.” His voice drops to that condescending tone I still sometimes hear in my nightmares. “You need to come clean about this lie before it gets worse. There is no pack, is there?”
I struggle to sit up straighter, hating that my body shakes with the effort. Though it’s hard to know how much of that is my likely concussion and how much is rage. “You know nothing about my life.”
“I know you’re alone in a pack suite with a head injury and no one to help you. I know you’re still putting work before your own wellbeing.” He leans forward, voice dripping with exaggerated sympathy. “I just wish you could see how much you’re standing in the way of a better life for yourself.”
“And you’re still a judgmental asshole who thinks he knows what’s best for everyone else.” The room spins slightly as my voice rises. “You have no right to lecture me about anything after what you did.”
“What I did?” His voice rises to match mine. “You were the one who?—”
“Who what? Who wanted a career? Who wasn’t content to sit at home and wait for you to come back from your business trips? Who wanted to be more than just your obedient little omega?”
“That’s not what happened, and you know it!” He’s standing now, towering over me.
“It’s exactly what happened! You wanted someone to cook and clean and spread her legs on command. Someone who wouldn’t challenge you or have opinions or want anything for herself!”
“You were impossible to build a life with,” he shouts back at me. “Everything was about your personal plans, your ambitions, your schedule?—
“And everything with you was about control! About molding me into what you wanted instead of loving who I was!”
“What the hell is going on here?”
The commanding voice cuts through our shouting match like a knife. Our voices had risen enough to drown out the sound of the door being unlocked and shoved open.
I peer around Egret to see Matheo standing in the doorway, his tall frame blocking the light from the hallway. His expression is thunderous, eyes locked on Egret with barely contained fury .
Egret spins around, his eyes narrowing at Matheo. “Who are you?”
Matheo’s expression darkens, every word spoken with deadly precision. “I’m the man who’s about to kill you if you don’t immediately back away from my omega.”
Egret’s jaw slackens as he processes Matheo’s words. He turns back to me, disbelief written across his face. “This is one of your alphas?”
I lean back against the couch, body relaxing with relief. “Egret, this is Matheo. You can go now.”
Before Egret can respond, Matheo crosses the room in three long strides. He grabs Egret by the collar of his expensive shirt and hauls him to his feet with frightening ease. The movement is so swift that Egret doesn’t even have time to resist.
“Listen carefully,” Matheo says, his voice low and controlled despite the fury radiating from him.
“I’m looking forward to the big day. Congratulations, by the way.
” His grip tightens, bunching the fabric of Egret’s shirt.
“But if you don’t leave this room right now, you’ll be getting married with a face so swollen your own mother won’t recognize you. ”
Egret’s face flushes with anger, but he holds up his hands in a gesture of surrender. Then he hesitates, glancing between us. For a moment, I think he might rethink his decision not to say something challenging, but he just slowly backs toward the door.
“The doctor is on his way,” he says, addressing Matheo without meeting his eyes. “Try not to let her fall asleep.”
When the door closes behind him, Matheo immediately turns to me, his expression shifting from murderous to concerned in an instant .
“What happened? Are you hurt?” He kneels beside the couch, his hand gently cradling the back of my head.
When his fingers find the swelling, I wince. “It’s just a bump.”
He urges me to lay back down on the couch, careful to keep me from pressing the injured part of my head against the cushion.
“Please tell me your asshole ex didn’t have anything to do with this.
Because if he did, I’m going to have to work a little harder to hide his body after I kill him so I can get away with it.
Pretty sure Indonesia has the death penalty for murder. ”
I laugh, the sound escaping before I can stop it. The absurdity of his comment cuts through the throbbing pain in my skull.
His expression remains grave as he continues to stare at me.
“You’re not actually serious?” I ask, studying his face.
His expression doesn’t change, but then I catch the slight quirk at the corner of his full lips. Not quite a smile, but the ghost of one.
“Probably not. Your ex is likely safe as long as nothing else happens to you on his watch.” His hand gently brushes a strand of hair from my face, careful to avoid the tender spot at the back of my head. “Though I can’t make any promises if I catch him yelling at you again.”
Something warm unfurls in my chest at his protectiveness. It’s been so long since anyone outside of my family looked at me with that kind of concern—like my wellbeing actually matters to them. The feeling is so unexpected, so disarming, that I can’t help but lean slightly into his touch.
“Then I guess you’d better not let me out of your sight again this week,” I say playfully, though my voice comes out softer than intended. “For Egret’s safety, of course.”
Matheo’s eyes darken as they lock with mine. “Deal.”
The word hangs between us, weighted with something neither of us acknowledges. His gaze drops to my lips for the briefest moment before returning to my eyes, asking a silent question.
My heart pounds against my ribs as he leans closer, slowly enough that I could pull away if I wanted to. But I don’t want to. The pain in my head recedes, replaced by a different kind of dizziness altogether.
“Is this okay?” he whispers, close enough now that I feel his breath against my lips.
I nod, my eyes already fluttering closed in anticipation. The dizziness from my injury is long forgotten, replaced by lightheadedness that has everything to do with Matheo’s proximity.
I feel him shift closer, the warmth of his body radiating against mine. His hand gently cups my cheek, tilting my face up toward his. My breath catches as I wait for the press of his lips against mine?—
BANG BANG BANG!
The violent pounding on the door shatters the moment. We jerk apart, Matheo cursing under his breath as he rises to his feet.
“That must be the doctor,” he says, his voice rough with frustration that matches my own.
I watch him go to the door, feeling simultaneously frustrated and relieved. It’s only been a few hours and I’m already letting myself forget that none of this is real.
If I can’t keep him, I would be an idiot to let myself get attached.