Chapter 5
FIVE
Crystal’s face transforms from one that loves to try my patience to a compliant customer service mask. It’s impressive, but not her, and I find myself missing the sassy smirk the moment it’s gone.
I step to the side and usher in the group of four Alphas. I didn’t want to allow them into her room tonight, but Kieran vetoed my veto. These Alphas specifically requested an Omega, which is a red flag in and of itself, and then they wanted to ensure they weren’t interrupted.
That request is why I’m here now. Usually, a rotating security staff filters in and out of the rooms since I have a lot to oversee in the day-to-day operations of Prism, but Queenie has me permanently tonight.
It’s not like it’s a hardship for me. I wouldn’t trust anyone else for the job, and Kieran agreed.
Tyler, the bartender she always works with, would not be able to protect her from four Alphas, and despite what she thinks, she’s not just another Omega. She’s important to Kieran. He’s grown quite fond of the little Omega since she joined his team.
He’s not the only one.
If she knew how many men had ended up in the interrogation room because of what they said about her, maybe she’d understand how good she has it compared to some of the others.
She’s protected in a way that most Omegas who come into Kieran’s clutches aren’t.
I’m doing my best to make sure her story has a happy ending, but sometimes she makes it so damn hard.
I do my best to help her when I can, but her attitude will get her in trouble one day when she mouths off to the wrong person, and I won’t be able to step in like I have in the past.
The four Alphas spread out around the U-shaped couch, practically drooling at Crystal in her tiny plaid skirt scarcely wider than a belt. A shiny patch of plastic bandage peeks out from the bottom of the skirt. She’s chewing gum, undoubtedly part of the character she’s putting on tonight, with her hands propped on her slim hips.
“Hey, doll, we’ll have four glasses of your best scotch.”
She nods, looking at Tyler to make sure he heard the request. When she turns back to the men, she asks, “With bubbles or without?”
“With,” one of the men says quickly. When an Alpha with glasses whispers a question, likely asking what it means, he waves him off. “With, please. For all of us.”
Crystal nods tightly and heads behind her serving station. She’s the best we have when it comes to selling fizz, but it’s still strange to see an Omega who went to finishing school selling drugs.
“Now, when it comes to bubbles, I highly recommend you take some home with you and have smaller amounts tomorrow to help with the crash.”
“This isn’t our first rodeo, princess,” another Alpha says, raising my hackles. “We know what to do. We’ll be okay.”
“I’m not a princess,” she says through gritted teeth. She takes a few steps closer to the offending Alpha, baring her teeth as she leans into his face. “I’m the fucking Queen. There’s a reason why. Take my opinion or not, but don’t insult me regarding my business.”
I rub my hand over my face to hide my laugh. Crystal hates all of the royalty nicknames, but none more than princess. This guy unintentionally stepped onto a landmine there.
“I’ll take an extra dose,” says the bespectacled Alpha, who questioned the order initially.
“Me too, I guess,” grumbles Princess Alpha.
Crystal smiles warmly in a look she reserves for what feels like everyone but me.
Tyler comes over with their drinks balanced on a tray. He’s smaller than the other Alphas, but his unusual dedication to Crystal makes him dangerous to customers. I have no doubt he could bark these guys into submission if he needed to. I know something happened between them, and I did my best to cover their tracks to ensure Kieran didn’t catch wind of it. It makes me feel better knowing Crystal always has him by her side.
“Here we go,” he says with a forced smile. “Queenie, do you have the bubbles?”
She waves her hand over the glasses, the drugs falling so quickly it’s nearly impossible to catch, and the drinks immediately fizz up. “Here we go,” she says with a flourish. “Enjoy, gentlemen. Please do not hesitate to let me know if you need anything.”
With sleight of hand worthy of a magician, she passes off an extra dose to the Alphas who requested it and steps to the side. She beelines for me, and I push myself further against the wall and deeper into the shadows.
Not to hide from her, but to hide my reaction to her.
“Puck, to what do I owe the pleasure of your supervision?” she snaps. For such a tiny thing, she’s got an attitude. She also seems to forget that I outrank her significantly here and could make her life hell if I wanted to.
Not that I do.
“It’s not on you to question mine or Kieran’s decisions,” I remind her. “Just say thank you for the extra protection and move along.”
Or don’t.
But she probably should.
“I’m not going to thank you for anything.” Her lip twists into a sneer, and she crowds me further, making me hold my breath. “I wouldn’t be here if not for you.”
We never talk about the fact that it was me who showed up looking for the spouse of a Beta gambling addict and ended up signing an Omega onto Kieran’s roster. I still feel guilty about not putting up more of a fight to keep her out of this. At the time, I was nothing more than a grunt, and that incident is one of the reasons why Kieran’s trust in me has grown significantly since that day.
“I asked you if you were sure,” I remind her in a low voice. “I didn’t force you to come here.”
“What other choice did I have?” she spits at me with a level of vitriol that feels like a physical attack. “It was either me or my sister. There was no other option.” She sighs, rubbing her face with her hand, careful not to smudge her makeup.
“I’ve tried to look out for you. You know that, right?” She stares blankly at me. I doubt she believes me. “You’ve got it pretty good, Crystal,” I remind her. “Kieran takes care of you.” If I say it enough, maybe I’ll believe it.
She winces at my words before schooling her face into a scowl. “Sure, I guess he does. For a jailer. But why? Why does he treat me so differently from the others?”
I can’t tell her that. No one can.
Because no one knows but Kieran.
Instead of reminding Crystal of that, I shake my head and gesture back to the patrons. “It seems your subjects need you, Queenie.”
She huffs and spins around so fast I worry those sky-high heels will take her to the floor, and she returns to the obnoxious Alpha, who is snapping his fingers in her direction.
My phone buzzes in my pocket, Kieran’s name flashing across the front. “Yep?”
“I need you to meet me in interrogation.”
“I’m with Queenie,” I remind him.
“Isn’t Tyler there? Let him keep an eye on her for a bit. I need you here. Now.”
It’s a direct order, and I can’t ignore it.
Storing my phone, I head to the bar to talk to the blond Alpha. “I have to head out for a bit, and I need you to look out for Crystal. These guys set off a few red flags.”
“What kind of flags?” he asks, talking out of the side of his mouth and not taking his eyes off of Crystal. I think he cares for her as more than as a coworker, which works out for me now.
“They wanted to make sure they were alone with an Omega.”
“And you let them in?”
I put my hand on his shoulder, squeezing tightly. “Don’t forget your place, Tyler,” I snarl. “Smarter people than you make these decisions.”
Tyler isn’t a part of the Conglomerate in the way Crystal and I are, but he knows enough of what’s going on here to be wary of me.
He shirks away, nodding his head. “Understood, boss. Yeah, I’ll be on top of it.”
Satisfied that he’ll keep her safe, I leave Queenie’s lounge and make the long journey to the interrogation rooms.
I find Kieran leaning casually against the wall of the first one, arms crossed over his chest. The Alpha is a force to be reckoned with, and it seems someone tried today. Blood splatters his white shirt, and his salt-and-pepper hair is a little disheveled. He smiles when he looks up, catching me with his dark gaze. It’s feral, all teeth, and unnerving.
“Puck, thanks for coming. I have someone I want you to meet.” I turn my attention to the man chained to the metal chair in the middle of the room. “This is Jarvis. Jarvis here works for me.”
“Nice to meet you, Jarvis,” I say flatly. This type of performance from Kieran is starting to get old.
But I play along.
After a silent beat, Kieran kicks Jarvis’s chair. “Say hello to Puck, Jarvis.”
“Hello, Puck,” the man grunts out. His mouth is full of blood, and I see a few teeth littering the floor beneath him. He’s gotten a good beating, but nothing permanent.
Yet.
It depends on why he’s here.
“Jarvis has been working for us for a few years now. He’s low-level, of course, but still, even the cogs are essential to the operation of the machine.” Kieran stalks forward, squatting in front of the shaking Beta. “I like my machine, Jarvis. I built it myself from the ground up. Every part and piece is one I selected. So when the machine breaks down, I take it personally. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
Jarvis’s eyes are wide, but he doesn’t speak. Smart kid. Interrupting Kieran is never a good idea, especially when he’s on a tear like this one.
Kieran looks over his shoulder at me. “Puck, did you know Jarvis here wanted to break the machine?”
“Sounds like a bad idea, boss,” I drawl.
“I agree. But Jarvis thought skimming off the top of his wares and padding them with filler to have some to sell on the side was a good idea.”
I cringe. For a minute, I thought the kid may have been able to get by with just a light maiming, but this is something Kieran won’t let go.
I’m not sure who manufactures fizz, but I know Kieran is very protective of it. He never wants it to be seen as a cheap street drug.
And Jarvis tried to make it one.
I should ask where Ricky is. Step out and say this isn’t my business.
But Kieran made it my business, so here I am.
“What do we do with broken parts, Puck?” he asks, snatching Jarvis by the chin.
I suck on my tongue. “We replace them, boss.”
Jarvis’s eyes widen, and he shakes his head. “I’m sorry. It won’t happen again. I wasn’t thinking. I’m sorry. I needed some extra money. I have a baby on the way.”
“A baby. I do love a baby,” Kieran sighs, standing up. “And if you had come to me, maybe I would’ve found a way to put you in a more lucrative role. But messing with fizz? The product synonymous with the Conglomerate? I can’t let that slide.” He pulls a switchblade from his pocket. “You understand that, right? Fizz is my legacy. And you made it dangerous. You cheapened it.”
He hands me the blade, and I step forward, sliding it open and holding it to Jarvis’s throat.
Kieran takes a step back and sneers down at the Beta. “You cheapened me . And that is something I can’t let slide.”
Kieran won’t ask me to kill him.
That’s not his style for an infraction like this.
But he will want me to send a message.
“Puck, make sure he knows how important it is to listen to his superiors.”
I squat in front of the man and tilt my head as I take in his appearance. I have a reputation, and it seems he’s aware of it because quiet tears roll down his face. I tap the blade on his forehead.
“You’re getting over easy, Jarvis,” I say softly. In a swift movement, I slice off Jarvis’s ear and then drag the blade down his cheek, leaving a gaping flap of flesh.
“There you go, boss, that should do it, I think,” I sigh, tossing the ear to the pavement and wiping the blade off on the drug dealer’s pants.
Kieran claps his hands together with a broad smile. “Well, I certainly feel better. Suffice it to say you’re fired, Jarvis. But you have your life. Don’t throw it away by putting my name in your mouth, yeah?”
Jarvis, tears running down his face and brutal sobs racking his chest, nods rapidly. “I won’t say anything,” he manages through pained sobs. “I promise.”
“Good. I’m glad we had this chat.” Kieran turns to leave, placing a hand on my shoulder. “Call the doc and update Trey that he’ll be arriving, and then get back to Queenie.”
I pull my phone out and call Walter Talbot. I don’t need to wait around for him. He’ll come. We have too much on him for him to ignore. Trey will get him where he needs to be.
With barely a glance at a bleeding, crying Jarvis, I leave interrogation to find Trey.
I find the slimy fucker in the hallway by the staff entrance. “Trey. The doctor is on his way. Send him to interrogation when he gets here.”
“Not going to wait for him?” he asks, not looking up from his phone.
“No. I’ve got other things to take care of.”
By the time I’m back in Queenie’s lounge, it’s been nearly an hour. The club’s main floor is getting busy, and I’m sure requests to meet the Queen will begin soon.
When I open the door to the lounge, I immediately know something is wrong.
Crystal is perched on one of the Alpha’s laps, her body slack, her eyes cloudy. Tyler is nowhere to be found.
“Hands off her,” I snap, stalking forward. I grab Crystal by the arm and yank her into my arms. Her body is warm and pliant as I pull her against me.
The smarmy Alpha, who must be their pack leader, adjusts his tie and sneers. “She can make her own choices, Brutus.”
Brutus? Like Cesar’s right-hand man?
I’m almost impressed.
“That’s a pretty clever joke, I’ll give you that. But Queenie doesn’t partake in bubbly drinks, yet appears to be under the influence. Anyone want to tell me how that happened?”
My hands are shaking with rage as I clutch Crystal tightly, both at these assholes and Tyler, who was supposed to take care of her. An Omega on fizz is asking for trouble. And she was left alone with four Alphas?
Fuck. If I had been gone even a little bit longer, she could’ve been seriously hurt. I never would’ve been able to forgive myself.
Her head lolls over, and she smiles at me with hazy eyes as if she just noticed I’m here. “Puck,” she slurs as she tries to palm my face but ends up clutching my clavicle. “You are so fucking sexy. How are you a Beta? You smell so good.”
She ducks her head into my neck, inhaling deeply, trying to scent something that isn’t there. “That’s the fizz,” I tell her gently. “You’re going to think everyone smells good because it’s trying to make your body think you’re in heat.” I can tell the drugs are affecting her in the way her hips move, circling into my hipbone as she barely holds herself up on my side.
“Where the fuck is Tyler?” I snarl to no one as I gently place her into a vacant seat. As soon as the words come out of my mouth, the Alpha returns, holding a bottle of scotch. He nearly drops the bottle when he sees Crystal collapsed in a chair beside me.
“They… I had to go get more alcohol,” he stammers, eyes opened comically wide. “I wasn’t gone long.”
“You were gone long enough. They drugged her.” How did they even get the fizz to drug her? Why would she drink something they gave her?
The four Alphas look at one another, faces contorted with confusion. I understand why. I haven’t threatened them or done anything to them yet. They think they’re going to get away with this.
It’s cute.
“You’ll be lucky if you keep your life, Tyler, much less your job,” I growl, pulling my phone out of my pocket.
Kieran picks up on the first ring.
“Boss, Queenie’s subjects drugged her.”
“They did what? Where was Tyler?”
“They sent him out for another bottle of scotch.”
Kieran’s swearing is so loud that Tyler can hear it, and he flinches.
“I’m on my way.”
The line goes dead, and now the four Alphas look nervous. They’d be idiots not to be.
Everyone knows Kieran Cobb is the King.
And they just attacked his Queen.