Chapter 15
L eaving Ava’s side was torture. At least she was in New York with me and it would only be for a few hours. If she’d stayed back in Vegas, I wasn’t certain I’d have been able to make it through the day. The longer we were apart, the stronger the nausea and headache became. Alphas weren’t meant to be away from their newly bonded omegas. I should be tucked into bed with her right now, but instead I was at work, sorting through my workload and waiting for my boss to finish his meeting before the one I had scheduled with him.
“What the fuck are you doing back here?”
Rage spiraled through me. I had managed to avoid Andrew Lawson the rest of the convention, but I wasn’t so lucky now. “Speak for yourself.”
“Where is she? She hasn’t answered any of my messages.”
“Ava’s not your business anymore.”
“She’s carrying my child,” he hissed. “She’s always going to be my fucking business.”
“No, she’s not. Now get out of my face.”
Lawson growled, slamming his palms down on my desk. “Where. Is. She?”
“If she wants you to know where she is, she’ll tell you herself. Leave her alone.”
“You really had to fuck everything up, didn’t you? Couldn’t just shut your goddamn mouth.”
“You’d better not be trying to twist this around and make your affair my fault.”
“Everything was fine before you stuck your fucking nose into things.”
Was this guy for real?
“That’s a pretty delusional version of fine. Cheating on your wife with a woman who has no idea you’re married? Bringing another kid into the world when you’ve already proven that you don’t give a shit about providing the ones you have a happy home?”
Lawson seethed, staring at me as if by look alone he could make me burst into flames. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“It doesn’t take a genius to connect those dots.”
“Are you going to tell my wife?”
“ You should be telling her. I don’t know her.”
He looked relieved at that, which only told me he definitely wasn’t going to tell her. “I’ll admit, Ava has a tempting little cunt, but that doesn’t mean you can show up and steal her.”
I moved without thinking, pain shooting up my arm as my fist connected to his face. His bellow drew attention from everyone nearby, including the CEO, who had chosen that absolutely perfect timing to come see me.
“Williams, what the fuck?”
I shook out my hand, my boss walking past me to Lawson.
“Lawson, what’s going on?”
“Just this goddamn nepo baby upstart assaulting me.”
I growled, the edges of my vision flaring red. The only advantage I had ever gotten in this job was when my father had gotten me an internship when I was nineteen. No one seemed to give a shit that our boss had fired his own son for incompetence and didn’t give a damn about nepotism if you couldn’t do your job. They saw that connection and assumed that was the only reason I had climbed as high as I did. “That’s not what’s happening.”
“Well, one of you had better hurry the hell up and explain,” my boss snapped, “or I’m calling security.”
“I uncovered Lawson’s affair and he’s pissed I won’t let him harass the woman he lied to.”
They didn’t need to know who Ava was to me. The fact that Lawson would do this to anyone was a permanent black mark on his record for me.
“Christ.” My boss sighed. “I don’t need to remind you that we have morality clauses in our employment contracts.”
Lawson paled.
“I don’t care what you do in your personal life, but you’d better not be breaking any laws. Keep yourself under control or I’ll have no choice but to exercise that clause.”
That was it?
“Harassment of an omega is a crime,” I pointed out.
“Has she pressed charges?”
I pressed my lips. She hadn’t. I shook my head.
“Then it’s not my concern. Williams, are you ready for our meeting?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Get your ass to my office.”
I glared at Lawson as I passed, and everyone stared at me as I made my way to the CEO’s office, waiting outside until he arrived a few minutes later.
“I’d been coming to see if you wanted to get coffee before the meeting, but that little stunt ruined it. What the hell is going on with you? You don’t behave like this.”
Now that we were in private, I could tell him, had to in order to get the leave I needed. “The woman he was involved with is my scent match. She and I bonded this weekend.”
My boss’s eyes widened. “You punched him because your scent match cheated on you?”
I flexed my hands, curling my fingers into fist. “No. I didn’t find out we were scent matches until after I uncovered the affair. The bond was accidental. It happened later that night.”
My boss looked contemplative. “I see. You need omega leave then?”
“And parental leave.”
“Excuse me?”
“She’s started her third trimester.”
“I thought you just met?”
“We did.”
“I don’t understand your priorities.” He shook his head.
“I don’t need you to understand them. She’s my bonded omega, which makes the child she’s carrying mine. I need to be there for her.”
“So you don’t want the promotion I was going to give you today?”
I swallowed hard. I did, but not if it meant I couldn’t support Ava.
“You’re really going to throw away your career for someone you just met?”
“You have an omega too. Wouldn’t you do the same?”
“At what point in our acquaintanceship have I given you the impression that I put my family before this business?”
“I guess never.”
“Exactly. I’ll give you the leave, but that promotion is going to someone else if you want to put Lawson’s mistress ahead of your own success.”
My stomach turned. I had never heard him put his views so bluntly before, and I knew what I had to do. “I’m sorry that this is what it’s come to. It was a pleasure working for you this past decade, but I think it’s best if we part ways now.”
I stood sharply and turned on my heel.
“You’re making a mistake, Bryce. Your father is going to be so disappointed.”
Maybe he would be, but I couldn’t make a choice as important as this based on what he would think. I kept walking, going straight back to my office, asking one of the admin assistants to collect a few file boxes for me. I immediately began stripping down my personal effects from the office, numbness settling over me. I’d given a decade of my life to this place, but if this was how it had to end, it was what needed to be done.
Coworkers watched on curiously, but none of them were brave enough to come and find out what had happened. I wasn’t sure if I would’ve told them even if they had.
I ordered the car service, and the admin assistants, who I’d always had a positive relationship with, helped me carry my boxes down and load them into the vehicle.
“Good luck,” Jane told me as she passed over the last of the boxes. “You don’t have to tell us what happened, but I hope wherever you end up, you’re happy.”
“I will be.” I fished a handful of bills out of my wallet and passed them to her. It was enough for the group of those who had helped me to have a decent meal. “Take yourselves out for a long lunch on me.”
They stood there waving to me as the car pulled away.
My phone rang before we were halfway back to the apartment, my father’s name popping up on the screen. I opened up the video call with a sigh, revealing his flushed face. We didn’t look very alike, most of my features coming from my mom, like my brown eyes versus his blue, and my black hair versus his brown sprinkled with gray strands.
“Hi, Dad.”
“What the hell is going on? Why is Ralph telling me you quit?”
“Because I did.”
“Are you high? Why the hell would you quit?”
I spilled out everything, telling him about Vegas, about Ava, about my status as a bonded alpha and impending parent.
“You’re seriously throwing everything away for a little gold digger?”
My blood ran cold. “What are you talking about?”
“She finds out her sugar daddy is married and latches on to you immediately after?”
I bit down on a growl. “If you were paying any attention to that story, you’d know I was the one who latched on to her.”
“And she didn’t push you away, did she? You don’t find that odd?”
“She’s a scent match,” I insisted.
“Technicalities. You turn around right now and tell Ralph you’re taking that promotion. Keep the omega around until the bond calms down, pay her off, and continue your trajectory.”
“Don’t speak about my mate that way,” I snapped.
My father sighed. “Bryce, I’m not going to financially support this nonsense. The stronger you let this bond become, the worse it will be when?—”
“Stop.” Rage fizzed in my blood.
“Don’t let her ruin your career. You need to?—”
“No.” Omegas were meant to be treasured and cared for, and I was going to do that with mine.
“What do you mean no?”
“I’m not putting work before Ava. I’m honestly disgusted you would’ve even suggested it. I know you’ve been struggling since Mom?—”
“Don’t you bring your mother into this.”
He hadn’t been the same since she died. It was almost twenty years ago at this point, but I knew it still weighed heavily on him.
“She’d be so disappointed in you.”
My father growled. “Shut up.”
“Dad, please. I love you and I’ve always done everything you asked. Ava is my bondmate. Your feelings on the matter don’t change that. Can’t you be happy for me?”
“You’re making a mistake.”
“Even if I am, it’s my mistake to make. I don’t want this to be the end of our relationship.”
I stared out the window of the vehicle, the buildings a blur, the same numbness from the office settling in my chest. I couldn’t look him in the eye right now.
“Don’t do this, Bryce.”
Apparently today was the day for establishing strong boundaries. I didn’t like it one fucking bit, but it needed to be done.
“I won’t be coming to visit for as long as Ava is unwelcome. I’m not leaving her, and I’m not going to put her or our child in a position where they feel unwanted. If you want to punish me for that, that’s your choice. I can forgive that you don’t want to put your money behind my decision, but I am never going to forget how you’ve spoken about her.”
“Bry—”
I hung up as we arrived at my apartment building. Ava and the others were still out, completely unaware that I had torpedoed everything in my life.
I got all the boxes unloaded into the lobby with the help of our doorman and I took them all the way up to the apartment, stacking them in the living room to give myself time to breathe before I would have to head back out to meet up with everyone.
Bryce:
How is she?
Jesse:
Happy as a clam
Stuffing her face on salt and vinegar chips as we speak
Bryce:
Good
I’ll see you soon
I carried my sadness like a lead weight all the way to the restaurant, arriving to find the others already seated. It was a delicious place in Little Italy that served the best tortellini I had ever tasted. Understated, but classy, and packed to the gills with hungry locals.
Ava grinned when she caught sight of me, hoisting herself up to her feet to greet me. I held her tightly, bowing my head to breathe in her sweet, nutty scent. I had done what I needed to do, and I didn’t regret any of it. All my stress melted away with her in my arms, contentment soaking into my bones.
My perfect mate, and my new pack, were all I needed.