Chapter 33
Chapter Thirty-Three
Calder
W e were wrong when we thought what Briar experienced in Virginia was her heat. The entire trip from Boston to Vermont consists of us taking turns helping keep her fever down. Thankfully we aren’t arrested for indecent exposure. That would be a hell of a thing to get popped for when we successfully wiped out Titus Manzo and his inner circle.
It was a blessing Easton let the teams manage the cleanup after our marriage announcement massacre. That way, we didn’t have to stick around.
I’m still not sure Briar understands it, but Easton coordinated that whole experience in an attempt to help her erase any negative feelings she might have toward weddings.
Really, it only makes sense in Easton logic, so the rest of the world would miss it. I did until he explained it while huffing, like I should have known all along.
Making it to Burlington is a relief, though Easton makes us ride in the back of a delivery truck for the last ten minutes of our trip. It’s smart and ridiculous all rolled into one. The truck will also take away the team that originally brought the SUV to Vermont, so that’s convenient. It’ll drop them off at the car they’ll be taking to wherever they’re headed next.
Briar takes over the pack bedroom as soon as we make it back. Well, kinda the bedroom, but it’s mostly the nest. It’s several days of dirty sex before the post-heat cramps start.
It sucks that Briar doesn’t feel well, but it’s a nice assurance. When an omega conceives during a heat, menstruation doesn’t come.
We’re all in agreement that children aren’t in the cards for us, and I even searched doctors to get the ball rolling. It makes more sense for us to have vasectomies than it does for Briar to have a major abdominal surgery, but she’s going to keep her IUD until we get our post-op sample test back to ensure we don’t have any issues.
We still have to ride out the investigation of Jameson’s disappearance, and my computer alerted me this morning that his mother reported him missing.
The house is so big that it has intercoms that chime, notifying every device when the doorbell rings.
Briar lies on Keir’s chest on the pack bed, and her adorable face perks up. “That must be my chocolate!”
I snort and bend closer, giving her a quick kiss. “I’ll go tackle the delivery driver for your goodies.”
“You’re the best,” she says, patting my chest and giving me one last peck before she rests her head against Keir’s shoulder.
He stares down at her with proverbial hearts in his eyes, and it’s pretty clear he’s as head over dick in love with her as I am.
Shoving myself off the bed, I make my way to the hallway and head toward the stairs.
I need to find a way to tell Briar that I love her. It’s been on the tip of my tongue for the last few days, and knowing my luck, it’ll slip out at an inopportune time if I don’t make a point of telling her in a romantic way.
Being able to feel her thoughts and emotions in the bond makes everything more intense. It might be quick, but I’ve had a killer crush on her since before she and Jameson even broke up. Also, isn’t that the entire goal of being bonded and married ?
Love is the end goal, right?
Voices echo around the spacious entryway, and I freeze a few steps down the front stairway.
“I’m sorry to hear that. I wish I could help,” Easton says. “Unfortunately, I haven’t seen Jameson in two weeks, maybe a bit more. Our office had some renovations scheduled, and my pack and I used the opportunity to take a trip to Virginia. Several of our employees just welcomed a new baby girl. Cute as a button.”
Seriously?
He’s laying it on kinda thick.
“Anyway, with the office inaccessible, we used the trip as vacation to celebrate submitting our pack commitment paperwork.” Easton chuckles good-naturedly, but it sounds weird as fuck coming from his lips. “We were gone for eight or nine days. Barely made it back in time for our omega to go into heat. I’m afraid we haven’t left the house since getting back. And even before that, Jameson was struggling to meet his work commitments. The week before the renovation, he worked two out of the five days he was scheduled, if that tells you anything.”
Shit.
It’s definitely the cops.
I roll my shoulders back and bound down the stairs, making the curve at the landing and moving to the bottom few steps. Pasting on a confused frown, I scratch my bare chest. “I thought I heard the doorbell, but you’re not the delivery I was expecting.”
Easton laughs. “Not quite.”
I sigh, holding a hand out to the officers. “Christian Calder. Sorry for that. My omega is in the middle of a meltdown because the heating pad and chocolates are taking forever to arrive. I probably should have just gone out and grabbed them.”
The officer on the right shakes my hand, while the one on the left continues scribbling in his notebook. “Well, we may have another round of questions if we can’t find something soon, but just to be thorough, would you mind giving us the contact information for the employees you visited?”
“Of course,” Easton says, pulling out his phone.
The doorbell rings, and I barely bite back my smile. Having parts of our story verified only helps to prove we’ve been truthful about the pieces we can’t verify—like us being here rather than in Boston.
Stepping around the officers, I move to collect Briar’s supplies.
I’m not as cocky as Easton, but I know I’m good at what I do.
They can dig and verify all they’d like. Before too long, they’ll exhaust all possible leads, and the case will go cold.
Life gets back to normal over the next couple of weeks. We have regular visits from the cops, but they’re just following up. I know we aren’t suspects, because I’ve let myself into their files on more than one occasion.
If Jameson’s family wasn’t wealthy, they probably wouldn’t have even bothered with the second or third rounds of questioning.
The news finally hits about Titus Manzo and the shake-up in Boston, but we aren’t anywhere near their radar. The same goes for the untimely death of Lorenzo Vincent in a home invasion. It appears the trash of the world is taking itself out left and right these days. Society isn’t missing anything with them gone, though.
Shoving up my glasses, I push my rolling chair back from my computer.
I’m just considering going to find Briar to see what she’s up to when my office door opens.
The little omega shuffles closer, with her long cardigan falling around her thighs, as she holds something in front of her chest. For half a second, I convince myself it’s a guinea pig. I told her about my quest for an office mascot the other night, but Easton was in bed with us, and he immediately vetoed the idea again.
If it wouldn’t hurt Briar… I really would consider stabbing him in the kidney. He has two, and he’s in good health. He could live with one.
Briar’s skirt slides up her thighs as she moves to straddle my lap. My chair is up high enough that only her toes touch the carpet.
“Hey, beautiful.” I smile as my hands come to rest on her hips.
She grins, still covering whatever is in her hands with the long sleeves of her knit cardigan as they rest between us. “I have a gift for you, but first, I want you to know something.”
“Yeah?” I lick my lips and my heart thunders.
“I love you, Christian.” She doesn’t call me my first name often, but unlike when anyone else uses it, I don’t mind when she does. She pushes her lips to mine and sucks on my lower lip before pulling back. “This is for you.”
“I-I love you too,” I say, studying the small black box in her hand.
“Will you wear my ring?” She pops the hinged lid, and it’s a men’s band in dark carbon. I’m pretty sure it’s the exact one I browsed a few weeks ago. Easton picked her engagement ring, so I figured us guys would just buy our own.
“Hell, yes,” I whisper, nodding so dramatically, my glasses fall down my nose.
Briar laughs, pecks a kiss on my lips, pushes up my glasses, and grabs my hand. The ring fits perfectly, and it’s a thinner style, which is good because I have slender fingers. A thick millimeter ring would have looked silly on me.
“God, I love you so much.”
“Me too, but I need you to come with me. I have one surprise left.”
Keir smirks, leaning against the wall in the office Jameson used to occupy.
Briar sits next to me on the carpeted floor, cradling the orange and white fluffy guinea pig to her chest. The one I’ve got nuzzled to my cheek is tan and brown in more of a brindle pattern.
“These are Abyssinian guinea pigs,” Briar says. “They’re sisters and just shy of eight weeks old. The woman who sold them to me said they sleep at night like we do.”
I nod. “Well, they’re crepuscular. Basically, that means they’re most active at dawn and twilight, but they learn their owners’ patterns for things like what time to expect breakfast.”
“They’re so sweet. I held them both in a little carrier on the car ride over.” Briar bumps her shoulder against mine. “Easton is going to be so fucking pissed, but we’ve got another enclosure this same size in the SUV.” She shrugs. “He’ll get over it. I thought you might prefer to bring them home with us for a while. At least while they’re really little.”
“Yeah, I mean, unless traveling stresses them out.”
“We got hay, food, bedding, and a few toys the pet store recommended,” Keir says, coming over to squat down at our side. “But we’ll need to make a grocery run. The lady we bought them from gave us a list of fresh fruits and vegetables they should have regularly and others that are treats.”
“They need a solid source of Vitamin C,” I say, laughing when the little lady nibbles on my finger. “Their food is probably fortified with it, but fresh options are always good.”
Briar leans her head against my shoulder. “Are you happy?”
I really am. I had no idea life could be this good. “Yeah.”
Damn, I can’t wait to tell my grandparents they now have piggy great-grandchildren.
“Good. Now I need one of you to take this one while I go break the news to Easton.” She snorts. “Think of names while I’m being bent over his desk for the greater good.”
Keir scoops the squeaking guinea from her hands and laughs. “I’m sure your bottom will be nice and hot for our drive home.”
“Trust me, I’ve got this.” Briar pushes herself up and smiles. “Even if I don’t, it’s totally worth it.”