Chapter 9 #2
I pulled into the parking spot the RV had been in before and cut the engine.
“Don’t tell him,” I said quietly, leaning toward Quincy, “but I’m not going to vote for him either.”
Quincy laughed. It was a pure, giggly sound that took me right back to where we’d been when we’d first run off in the middle of the night. That was reassuring. It was like the Quincy that had inspired me to do things I’d never dreamed of doing before was back.
We gathered up our things from the RV, and with a quick, rueful look around, I decided I would leave Mads and Benny a chunk of cash to pay for having the whole thing cleaned. Beyond that, there wasn’t anything I could do.
I hated feeling helpless.
“You ready for this?” Quincy asked me, taking my hand once we were out of the RV.
I drew in a deep breath and nodded, then started forward with him toward the lodge’s front entrance.
“You know, even though it didn’t turn out like we intended, this adventure might just have changed my life,” I said.
“Oh yeah?” Quincy asked, glancing up at me in the newly fallen darkness. The lamps that lit the parking lot reflected like stars in his eyes.
I smiled and held his hand tighter. “Yeah. I’m going to stand up to my dad. I don’t like his version of what he thinks an alpha should be. I’m my own kind of alpha.”
“You’re a much better sort of alpha than he’ll ever be, I’m sure,” Quincy said as we stepped into the lobby.
“I’m nearly thirty years old,” I went on, gaining strength and courage as I went. “It’s well past time for me to live my own life and make my own decisions about things.”
“Damn straight,” Quincy said, smiling at me.
“You guys are back,” Mads greeted us as we approached the front desk. He wore a smile, but that immediately disappeared. “I’m really sorry to do this to you, but I’ve been instructed to buzz Mr. Salisbury’s room as soon as you return.”
“It’s okay,” I said, holding up my free hand. “We know what we have to face.”
“Sorry,” Mads said again, then picked up the desk phone.
Five minutes later, my dad came storming down the stairs and into the lounge with the fireplace, where Quincy and I stood, looking out at the nighttime vista around Kincade Slopes.
“Where have you been?” Dad demanded through clenched teeth. “This is supposed to be an in-house event. Do you know what could have happened to my reputation if you were seen anywhere in public with an omega like that?”
I blinked and nearly rocked backwards, I was so surprised by my dad’s objection to my and Quincy’s adventure.
“Is that what you’re concerned about?” I asked.
Dad misunderstood my question. “I’m concerned about my son doing something that might reflect badly on me, on the campaign, on the entire family,” he said, approaching us with his puffed up, strongman stance.
I frowned. “You weren’t concerned that I’d gone missing or that I might have been in danger somehow?”
Dad flinched, like the very suggestion that a son of his might have been in trouble was absurd. “You’re not weak enough to be kidnapped or whisked off. Especially by an omega like that.” He stared at Quincy with a look of distaste.
“Quincy is a fantastic omega,” I said, gripping his hand tightly. “To be honest, we had a great time today.”
“Where did you go?” Dad snapped, pale with alarm. “Did anyone see you? Did the press see you?”
“No, Dad,” I said, building up my courage to take a stand. “We just…drove around. I…I went to an audition for a theater.”
Dad looked like I’d told him I went streaking at halftime during a Barrington Barracudas game. “You put him up to this, didn’t you,” he growled at Quincy, trying to intimidate him.
The sucky part was that it worked. Whether it was because he was tired from his heat or still raw from his breakdown, Quincy flinched back.
I wasn’t having that.
“Do not speak to my omega like that,” I said, positioning myself between Quincy and my dad.
Dad looked like he was going to explode. “Your omega?”
“Yes,” I said firmly. I pivoted to bring Quincy out from behind me, resting a hand on his shoulder.
“Turns out that whatever algorithm the Dark Fantasies Club used to pair me and Quincy was spot on. We get along great. We have a lot in common and, well, I’d like to start seeing you,” I told Quincy with a warm smile.
Quincy’s expression lit up with disbelief and hope.
“No!” Dad shouted, shaking both of us out of the cozy moment. “Absolutely not. I forbid it. You will not sully our family name by keeping company with a feral omega whore.”
Quincy flinched.
“How dare you?” I demanded.
“I should be asking you that same thing,” Dad roared at me. “This?” He threw out a hand toward Quincy. “This is the sort of omega trash you decide to spend your time with?”
“Quincy is amazing,” I defended him firmly. “He’s a person, not an object. You will not speak to him like that.”
“And you will not speak to him at all,” Dad snapped. He looked at Quincy like he was a piece of trash and said, “Get out of my sight at once. You will never contact my son again.”
“Dad, stop,” I said, trying to remain outwardly strong. The problem was, my dad was used to getting his way, and he had some incredibly powerful tools at his disposal to make people’s lives, including mine, miserable if he wanted to.
“If it’s an omega you want,” Dad said, still worked up, “then your mother will find one for you. Half of the best families in our society have been asking about you for their omegas for years. You’ll have your pick of the lot.”
“I don’t want a high society omega,” I insisted. “I want Quincy. And it’s long past time that you let me live my own life the way I am most comfortable.”
“Comfortable?” Dad barked, like I’d spit on the graves of our ancestors.
“You think your life will be comfortable once I cut off the money and send you packing? You think you’ll be able to get any sort of job at another law firm anywhere in this country?
Do you have any concept of how dependent on me your life is? ”
I did, and it probably should have given me pause, but for the first time, I could see something other than the life my dad had mapped out for me.
“I don’t care about—”
That was as far as I got before the light touch of Quincy’s hand on my arm stopped me.
I turned to my omega, my heart racing. He looked so sad and so earnest at the same time.
“Excuse me, Senator Salisbury,” Quincy said, his manners impeccable. “Could I have a quick word with your son?”
I narrowed my eyes slightly, wondering what he was up to.
I didn’t think Dad was going to let us speak, but he clenched his hands into fists and said, “I’m going upstairs to pack my things.
I’ll be back down here in ten minutes, then we’re going home.
” He looked at Quincy and said, “You’d better be gone by the time I get back down, if you know what’s good for you. ”
He didn’t wait for either of us to acknowledge him. He turned and stormed off toward the stairs.
“I’m not going to let him split us apart,” I said, ready to pledge everything to Quincy.
“Don’t be dumb,” Quincy said, shocking the sunshine out of me.
I wasn’t sure I’d heard him right.
“Jack, look,” Quincy said, taking my arm and leading me closer to the fire. “I don’t know if you’re aware of this, but your dad is fucking scary.”
I laughed, even though it wasn’t funny. “He’s an asshole,” I said.
“Yeah, he is,” Quincy agreed with a wary look. “But he’s a rich and powerful, society asshole who’s running for governor.”
I was suddenly worried. “Are you saying you don’t want anything to do with me?” I asked.
“I’m not saying that,” Quincy said, inching closer to me.
He glanced around to make sure no one was listening to us, then leaned in and said, “Look, we’re not going to be able to come right out and make any declarations to the world about love across the class divide and shit like that. It just won’t work.”
“I don’t want to walk away from you and never see you again,” I said, panic growing. Quincy had opened my eyes and my mind to so many things in such a short time. I didn’t think I’d ever be the same. I didn’t ever want to be the same.
“That’s not what I’m saying,” he said, lowering his voice even more. “Give me your phone.”
I pulled it out of my back pocket without a second thought and handed it to him.
“I’m putting my contact information in here,” he said, adding himself. He sent himself a text straight away. “Sometimes it’s better not to push back against a tsunami right away. Sometimes you have to ease people into these things.”
“Are you saying you want to carry on a secret affair with me?” I asked. I kind of loved the idea. I mean, I hated that we couldn’t just be together, but there was massive appeal in having a secret boyfriend that my parents wouldn’t approve of.
Fuck. I really needed to work on asserting my independence more. I was too damn old to think it was cool to secretly date an omega from the other side of the tracks. But I had to start my bid to be my own man somewhere.
“I’ve never met anyone like you,” Quincy said quietly, folding our hands together as he handed back my phone. “You’re probably going to wake up tomorrow and think this whole thing was a mistake—”
“I won’t.”
“—but until then, I had a wonderful time with you today,” he went on. “You…you made this heat so much better than it could have been. You made me feel safe, and I haven’t felt safe since….”
Neither of us said another word. There wasn’t time to say everything anyhow. I hadn’t even formed my emotions into thoughts yet.
“I have to go before your dad gets back,” Quincy said, taking a step away from me. “Keep in touch.”
“I will,” I promised.
Quincy turned to go, but I couldn’t let things end like that. I stepped after him and grabbed his hand. When he turned back to me with a look of surprise, I pulled him fully into my arms and brought my mouth crashing down over his.
For half a second, Quincy tensed in surprise. Then he melted against me like a candle burning. He grabbed hold of me and kissed me back with passion that ignited my soul.
In the middle of that heat came the warpy, blocked feeling of my alpha and his omega reaching for each other, knowing they could never touch.
It was painful, but also strangely wonderful.
The potential was there. If Quincy hadn’t been severed, we absolutely would have bonded, and my dad wouldn’t have been able to do a damn thing about it. Quincy was mine and I was his.
We stepped apart shakily, eyes locked on each other, saying more than words ever could. I worked my mouth for a second, trying to form everything from my heart into sound, but it wasn’t going to happen.
“I know,” Quincy said with a sad smile, then turned to go.
And I knew then and there, I wasn’t going to let my omega go without a fight.