Chapter 79
SEVENTY-NINE
FINCH
I was sitting at a table next to Soren, watching my mate being felt up by someone else. I had no choice but to sit quietly, even though I was itching to take Laurel out of here. That was probably a bad plan, though, considering how I’d lost it in the back room.
I didn’t know what had come over me.
Just before the party, I’d practically been blasted by lust and ecstasy through the bond. Kaos had been giving off a good mood all day, better than I’d ever felt from him, but I hadn’t realized it was because he’d embraced Laurel until that moment.
I’d been just about to step out the door, but had been stopped in my tracks, distracted by unbidden thoughts of them together.
Tonight, she didn’t look like the Crimson Duchess. She looked like herself—gorgeous, face glowing, golden hair tumbling down her shoulders. Like a goddess, and I’d lost control in that back room, surrounded by her scent and the reminder of her arousal.
And she’d shut me down.
Of course, she had.
The fact it made sense didn’t make the disappointment any less bitter. The first time I’d let myself consider a future with an omega for years, and I’d messed it up.
“What a cute little party,” Soren commented, drawing me from my thoughts. “You should smile, Daniel, or people might think you’re not having fun.”
Soren seemed to be very much enjoying the pretence that we knew each other, and I had to play along. If I risked offending him, he could ruin my cover.
“What are you even doing here?” I asked him. “Isn’t this kind of event way beneath you?”
“Oh, hush,” Soren said. “Laurel’s a dear friend, and I wouldn’t miss this for the world.”
He caught Thaddeus’s eye from across the room and waved. Thaddeus gave a single nod back. Soren leaned back, crossing his legs.
“Oh, that slimy bastard hates me,” he said gleefully, taking a sip from his glass.
“He does?” I asked, confused. Wasn’t I here because Soren had asked Thaddeus a favour?
“Oh, yes. His poor little brain is a touch undeveloped, and he never really grasped the concept that male omegas are supposed to exist. And there’s no power in the world quite like knowing someone absolutely despises you and yet has to make nice. Isn’t that right, Wilder?”
He shot a smug look at his bodyguard, a young alpha with dark curls who had been standing stiffly behind us the whole time.
“I wouldn’t know,” Wilder said in a carefully neutral tone. “You’d be better off asking Ebony.”
“Touché,” Soren said, sourness seeping into his voice for a second.
It was gone when he turned back to me.
“Besides, I wanted to meet you.”
“Really?” I raised an eyebrow.
“Call it curiosity. Laurel must really like you, you know.” He grinned, inviting me to reply.
I kept my mouth shut, not taking the bait.
Soren’s attention was stolen momentarily by a beautiful young woman in a bright pink dress who was making eyes at him from across the room. He winked at her before turning back to me.
“I knew she’d ask me for a favour sooner or later. She just had to work up the courage. But imagine my surprise when she asks for a cover for you. I thought she’d be itching to dig around in her father’s dirty laundry, especially after what happened to her brother.”
He paused, leaning back in his chair a little as he arched an eyebrow.
He’d caught my attention. When Laurel had told me she didn’t want to run away, she’d said it was because she wanted to free Ocean and find out the truth about her brother.
It was obviously important to her, and now was my chance to find out what she had meant.
“What do you mean?” I asked Soren.
“Oh, a tragedy, really. Suicide, if you believe the story.” He gave a smug little tilt of his head, his smile widening.
“And you don’t believe it?”
Soren laughed and leaned closer, lowering his voice.
“See, I knew you were smart. I’d bet my fortune—which is an obscene amount, by the way—that Thaddeus was behind it.
They put on a happy public face, but behind closed doors, there was a lot of tension.
I thought Laurel might ask me to dig a little deeper to see if things really added up.
If Thaddeus might have been up on that rooftop with Julius the night he jumped.
But no, we get Daniel Song instead. How boring. ”
He looked away, distracted again by the woman in the pink dress, who was making her way over to our table. Coincidentally, her cleavage seemed much more pronounced than a second ago.
“Well, this has been fun,” he said, patting my shoulder. “Now that Thaddeus thinks we’re pals, he’ll be bending over backward for you and hating every minute of it. Tell Laurel to send me updates, so I can enjoy torturing him from afar.”
He waved his hand at me in a shoo gesture as the woman arrived. “Now, what’s your name, darling?” he said, pulling out a chair for her.
I stood up, annoyed. He hadn’t given me anything helpful about Julius, and now I was being curtly dismissed. Not that I wanted to stick around and watch him flirt with this young woman. I shot a sympathetic look at his bodyguard before I walked away.
Laurel was still sitting at the front table with her fake pack. I stepped out onto one of the balconies. There was nothing much more to do other than chew on Soren’s words. Maybe I could start making it up to her by helping her find out the truth about her brother.
I shot off a text to Kaos, then looked miserably down at the rose gardens below.