Chapter 54
FIFTY-FOUR
THE DUCHESS
“Laurel?” my father said, snapping my attention back to him. I was sitting between Prince and Dax in the private dining room, Madison next to Dax. The senior Lucas pack was here, too, Ashton, Marcus, and Gordon all looking at me expectantly as I blinked at my father.
“Changing things up?” I said, echoing the last thing I remembered hearing.
My father’s lips pursed in disapproval briefly. “Yes, your pack will take over the Blood Well.”
Why on earth would he be training Finch and Kaos to take over the fights? I opened my mouth before I realized, with a rush of embarrassment, that he was talking about the Lucas pack.
“We’ll have to redo how the Duchess Suite is going to run, like, now,” said Dax smoothly. His top two buttons were undone, revealing a smattering of dark chest hair and a gold chain.
“Now?” I asked politely, and my father’s lips thinned further.
I was distracted today by what Finch had said. How was he so confident my father and the Lucas pack would be gone within the next month? It wasn’t possible, was it? That I could be free of all of them just like that?
“Yes, now we’re engaged,” Dax continued, looking amused at my struggle to follow the conversation. “You were a wonderful attraction to this place, but we can’t keep letting you drape yourself over every alpha that walks through those doors. You understand how that would look for us.”
“Besides, you’ll have a lot on your plate, adjusting to being our omega,” Prince said. “I’m sure you won’t object to stepping away.”
“Oh,” I said, cocking my head. They were trying to take away my job? Yeah, that couldn’t happen right now. I needed to be up there to help Finch.
“Yes?” Dax leaned forward slightly, his eyes fixed on my face.
My mind raced, frantically trying to come up with a way to change this.
“I agree, of course,” I said, dipping my head, exposing a sliver of my neck to him.
“I’m completely ready to step away from hosting as a duchess and embrace a more mature role in the suite.
I’m sure I can play the charming wife for guests just as well as the charming duchess, and for the few I can’t win over, the fights are an excellent backdrop for threats.
I think a rebranding would be appropriate to signify the change—the Royale Suite, perhaps? ”
Gordon chuckled. Madison’s face had darkened, and Dax didn’t look happy as he saw my father nodding thoughtfully.
“Oh! And I bet you have talented women at your places in Boston? We can have some of them take on the front-end hosting, and I can focus my efforts on anyone coming to see my pack,” I continued, eyes fixed on Dax.
Prince looked about to speak, but I beat him to it.
“My father’s vision for the Duchess Suite has been extremely effective, and I’ve been proud to help him out. It’s exciting to continue his work in a new way.”
“Of course,” said Prince smoothly, only a hint of irritation in his voice.
There was no way he could disagree with me now.
If they thought they could control my life without a fight, they were mistaken. I gave Prince a warm smile, and he returned it. He looked slightly confused, as if he wasn’t sure how the conversation had turned out like this. Most people didn’t even notice what I did.
I got the feeling, though, that Dax wasn’t most people. His attention, directed mostly at my father before, now lingered on me more than I was comfortable with. I hoped I was imagining the wariness I read on his face.
The meeting adjourned, and I stood up and headed for the door immediately, intending to get out of here before anyone could catch me. My attempts were thwarted by Dax’s longer legs, and he reached me in the corridor, Prince and Madison right behind him.
“Hey, Duchess,” he said, wrapping an arm around my shoulders and tugging me to his side. “Care to join us for a drink?”
“I’m sorry, but I have to be going,” I said, slipping out of his grip. “There’s only half an hour to get ready before the suite opens. I might be late as it is.”
“We’ll see you there, then,” Prince told me. I could feel his eyes burning a hole in my head as I walked away.
I didn’t know how much longer I could dodge them like this.