Chapter 4
Chapter Four
Nathaniel
T he crisp air of the back garden surrounds me, the earthy scents of damp soil and freshly mown grass filling my nostrils as I fight for calm.
“I told you to manage things better, Nathaniel.” My father’s gruff voice grates through the phone pressed to my ear, each word a stinging barb of criticism. “This accident is costing us time and money we don’t have. The foundation for the fitness center should be underway, not halted for an investigation.”
Walking toward the back gate, I stare toward the shut-down site. The trees mask it from view, but my mind pulls up the image of police tape surrounding the giant hole.
While I wasn’t here during the incident, Dominic told me how Grady had been found lying motionless at the bottom, his leg broken and unconscious. And Chloe had almost ended in the same fate.
Why was he even out there? None of the trails from the garden lead to the future expansion area.
My jaw clenches, and I twist the thick silver ring on my finger, the one Grandad left me. Round and round it goes as I fight to maintain my composure.
“We’ve already approved the timeline,” I say through gritted teeth, annoyed that we keep circling back to this topic every time he calls. “The fitness center and spa aren’t launching until next year. We can still open the resort on time.”
His scoff crackles through the speaker, immediate and dismissive. “You think you can just sit on a project that big? You need to listen to me, son. Push the schedule, get ahead. The longer this takes, the more money you’ll bleed.”
My free hand forms a fist, short nails digging into my palm. The constant pressure, the implication that I’m nothing without his backing, grates on me. How many more of these arguments must I endure? When will anything I say be enough for him?
I exhale slowly, the cool air doing nothing to soothe my rising temper. My pulse pounds a staccato rhythm in my temples, the headache only adding to my anger.
Needing to do something to burn off this energy, I turn toward the house, and my heart leaps when movement in the window draws my attention.
For a fleeting moment, I imagine it’s her, the little Omega who swept through our home, throwing everything on its head before she vanished from our lives. Every so often, I catch her lilac and lily pheromones lingering in the dining room, enticing the Alpha within, even as my rational mind resists.
I tune back in on the call, my father still laying down commands.
“I have this under control,” I interject, steel in my voice. “The resort will open on time, the accident investigation be damned. Trust me to handle it.”
With that, I stab the end button, resisting the urge to fling my phone into the hedge. I slide it into my pocket and take a deep, centering breath. The crisp air fills my lungs but does little to untangle the knot of frustration.
I straighten my quilted jacket and pull back my shoulders. However much I may want to linger out here, I have work to do.
The warmth of the house envelops me as I step inside, holding the faint scent of cookies from last night. Holden has been keeping Quinn busy with baking, which means my construction crew gets a new batch every morning when they arrive.
Depending on how the day goes, sometimes they get another batch to take with them on their way home.
I glimpse my reflection in the hallway mirror, the pressed shirt, the styled hair, the polished veneer of a man in control. But my eyes reveal the strain I’m under, and not just from the call with my father.
My pace quickens, taking me out of view of the cracks forming in my facade. I need a break to rest and solidify the bonds with my packmates, but there’s never any time.
I step into the dining room, the warmth from the fireplace doing little to thaw the chill clinging to my cheeks. My steps slow when I spot Holden and Blake sitting on the bench at the long table, their exhausted faces tinged with excitement.
Holden’s head lifts as I enter, his hazel eyes rimmed in red from too many sleepless nights. “I got into Grady’s laptop.”
I freeze mid-step, my mind going into overdrive.
Should I ask if Grady woke up? Or worry that my bondmate will need a lawyer when Chloe’s agent comes out of his coma to discover we violated his privacy?
The logs crackle in the fireplace, pockets of sap bursting to fill the silence that settles over the room.
Blake shifts, his muscular frame uncoiling as he leans forward. “Grady would want us to help Chloe. Were he conscious, he’d give us the green light.”
“We don’t even know if she needs help.” When the two men glare, pressing their shoulders together to close rank on me, I feel our pack bond pull taut and sigh in defeat. “What did you find?”
“I haven’t started looking yet.” Holden opens the laptop, his skilled fingers flying over the keys.
I walk over to stand behind them, and Blake’s hand finds the back of my thigh, his body shifting to include me.
The touch helps anchor our bonds and settle the anger still lingering from the talk with my father. I lean against his side, needing comfort, even if I can’t bring myself to ask for it.
Despite our recent conflict over Chloe, Blake and I grew up together. Our shared past built a bond between us that predated our second genders. As Alphas, we realized we could be each other’s pack and escape our domineering families.
Then we accepted a loan from my father that brought all that pressure back down on our heads.
I grip Blake’s shoulder, squeezing the tight muscles in silent thanks.
“Here!” Holden straightens with excitement. “The same day Grady arrived here, he filed for a restraining order… against Vivian Sinclair.”
Stunned disbelief courses through me. “Her mother ?”
Holden nods. “It makes sense. We talked about how Chloe wanted to cut her off, but doing so would leave her at the mercy of her debtors.”
Blake stares at him. “What?”
Holden huffs, annoyance flushing his cheeks. “Dom’s right. You didn’t talk to her at all before falling into bed with her.”
I lean down to wrap my arm around his shoulders, nuzzling his face, his vanilla cake scent holding a burnt edge to it. “We’ve already had this fight, remember? If Chloe wants to chastise Blake for that, she can once we find her. She’s the only one who gets to be upset, or not , about what happened between her and Blake.”
Based on the way Blake spoke to her the last time they were together, though, I’d guess theirs will be a rocky reunion.
Holden remains stiff for a moment before he leans into my touch. “You’re right.”
“What did Chloe tell you?” Blake demands.
“When she and Vivian were kicked out of the Sinclair pack, her mother refused to change her spending habits or get a job. With social events and the private school she kept Chloe in, she racked up a significant debt. They were in bad shape when she landed her current benefactor.”
My hand tightens on Blake’s shoulder as he spits, “Louie Santaro.”
“So it would seem.” Holden runs a hand through his golden-brown curls. “Her first book advance went toward the loan, and she’s been paying ever since. Right before the accident… Well, it sounded like she had decided to stop. She planned to sign on for another three books in her series and wipe the debt clean.”
I’ve only met Vivian Sinclair once, but she left an impression. She had been cold and calculating, a trait I’m used to from my father. The thought of the adorable Omega who made two of my bondmates so happy being abused by that woman makes my blood boil. My Alpha instincts roar to life with the primal need to protect what’s mine.
No, not mine . I rein in those thoughts. Not my Omega.
“It doesn’t appear Grady responded to the publisher before his…accident.” Holden twists to look up at me, then Blake. “That’s weird, isn’t it? Why would he jump on filing for the restraining order, but then drag his feet on responding to the publisher, unless…”
His fingers fly over the keyboard, and search windows pop open and close too fast for me to follow.
“No, he wasn’t drafting a counteroffer that I can find.” Holden pops back over to the emails, scrolling and clicking on one. “But he had the forwarded email from Chloe to the publisher. These things are time-sensitive.”
As I skim the offer from her publisher, my brows shoot up, and I let out a whistle. “That’s nothing to sneeze at.”
“Chloe said it would be enough to pay off what her mother owed.” Holden nibbles on his bottom lip. “She needs this contract to free herself from the Santaro Pack. Grady wouldn’t sit on it.”
“Unless he didn’t know how much she needed it.” In her situation, being sold to pay off a debt… I would have kept that information to myself. “They may be friends, but there’s shame in being blackmailed by family. She could have hidden just how bad things were from him.”
Holden’s expression turns grim. “She seemed reluctant to even talk about her money troubles.”
“What about the restraining order?” Blake asks.
Holden clicks back to the email, then follows a link. He slumps. “It’s still pending confirmation from a judge, but once it’s granted, Vivian won’t be able to keep Chloe with her.”
Blake lets out a shaky breath, and relief sweeps through me. It’s not much, but it’s a start. Which is more than we had before.
Dominic strides in from the back hall, sparkly clips glinting from the black braid on top of his head. When he sees us huddled together, he hurries over. “Did you find something?”
“Maybe.” Blake scoots back on the bench. “How’s Quinn?”
“Just fell asleep with Sprinkles on the dog bed.” He leans in. “Is that a restraining order against Vivian?”
“It is,” Holden confirms. “Still pending with the judge, though.”
“Does it have an address?” he demands, then scrolls through it himself in search of answers. “How or where she’ll be served?”
Holden’s face falls in defeat. “No. Grady filed it, but they hadn’t gotten to that part yet.”
The air in the room thickens, the tension palpable as Dominic’s jaw clenches, a muscle ticking beneath the taut line of his skin. Frustration rolls off him in waves before he stills, and an unsettling calmness comes over him.
“I have connections.” He straightens, a steely glint in his gray eyes. “I’ll track her down. After she’s served with this restraining order, she won’t be able to keep Chloe hostage.”
A flicker of admiration for my bondmate sparks at his fierce drive to protect what’s his. It’s a quality I recognize all too well, an instinct that runs bone-deep in every Alpha and what drew us into a bond. Where Blake allows his instincts to lead him, Dominic is coolly analytical, balancing out Blake’s fire with his ice.
I turn to Holden, the glue that holds us all together. “Anything else on Grady’s laptop that could point us in the right direction?”
A furrow forms between his brows. “Not in his emails or browser history, but I’ll keep digging.”
“We’ll find her.” Blake’s hand falls on Holden’s shoulder. “I’ll talk to our lawyer and try to push the restraining order through faster. We need to be ready to act the second Dominic finds us a lead.”
I step away from the others, their voices fading into the background as I move towards the window. The pathway still needs to be regraded out front before it rains again, and Cabin One, where Chloe first stayed, requires extensive repairs from a tree falling on the roof.
My fingers curl around the windowsill, the wood rough beneath my palm. With so much to do, why does my mind keep fixating on soft pink eyes and rosebud lips? I hadn’t had a single conversation with her, but she haunts our home with her floral scent, her room shut tight, just waiting for her return.
The call with my father replays, his words a constant loop I can’t escape. He expects me to fall in line, to prove I’m worthy of the Burton name. I need my attention on the Resort, but how can I focus on business when every instinct screams that my Omega is in danger?
I draw in a deep breath, trying to center myself, but it’s no use. How can I be calm when my bondmates are hurting? When I’m hurting for a chance I didn’t take ?
If I’d known the ache for her would feel like this, I would have listened to Blake. I’d have taken the time to meet her, to see what we could be. He was right that she was already in my nose, and now my Alpha insists that our pack won’t be complete without her.
The sound of footsteps pulls me from my thoughts, and Blake steps up beside me. “We’ll find her.”
“Why are you reassuring me? It’s not like I even…” My throat closes, unable to voice the words.
I had told Blake I would give Chloe a chance, and now I can’t even lie and say she means nothing to me.
Blake leans against my side. “It’s okay to be upset by all of this.”
Deep breath in, hold, and exhale. He’s right. It’s okay to be upset, but that doesn’t mean I can spiral into the same pit that has sucked in the rest of my pack. One of us needs to keep a level head during this.
Only after our Omega is back here and safe can I allow myself to contemplate what else I feel.