Chapter 12 - Flynn
Waking up in my alpha’s arms for the first time had been bliss—as had been the lovemaking right after.
Unfortunately, we weren’t able to stay in that romantic bubble for long. Tuesday morning meant that we each had jobs to deal with—even though I didn’t know how much longer mine would last.
There was a voicemail from William when I arrived at the office.
He seemed marginally annoyed when I informed him that I was going to pass the information for Dylan’s company to the landlord, and I was sure that he had been hoping to smooth things over with the health spa people by being able to get them in at a later date.
Luckily, he seemed eager to get me out of his hair. And he was still going to make a nice commission.
Connie arrived later that morning with the financial packet for the landlord. She smirked at me when she noticed the fresh bond bite on my neck, but didn’t say anything about it.
After that, everything seemed to happen in record time. The landlord had approved the lease reassignment by Thursday, and Dylan’s boss flew out the following Monday to tour the building and sign in-person.
Dylan and I waited in the lobby for his boss—Linden—and Connie to arrive for a final walkthrough and the signing.
“You ok?” Dylan asked, brushing his lips across my temple.
“You didn’t like this building just because I was here, did you?”
My alpha burst into laughter. “No, omega-mine. If I didn’t like the building, then I’d have said so.”
“Really?”
“Promise. I love you, and I’m glad I was able to rescue you from brokers and sitting in here alone.
But there are other people I have to think about, too.
I’m about to have a lot of interns under me, along with mentors and other staff.
All those improvements being left behind are an amazing bonus, but this is a good space where I think my people will be able to flourish. ”
I smiled, hummed, and tucked myself against his side.
We stayed that way for several minutes until I noticed two men approaching the door. Dylan straightened beside me as we waited for them to press the buzzer.
I unlocked the door for one of the final times as a representative of Carré.
“Linden,” Dylan greeted, then he turned to the older man. “Alan. I didn’t know you were coming today.”
The older man—Alan, if I’d heard correctly—laughed. “Linden invited me to see where you were going to set up.”
Dylan laughed. “I’m sorry I didn’t think to invite you myself.”
Alan shook his head. “Don’t worry about it. Now, who is this?”
Another nervous chuckle from my alpha. “Sorry. Linden, Alan, this is my new mate, Flynn. Flynn, this is Linden McKinney, Chief Operating Officer of Techspeed Consulting, and Alan Beischel…”
“From the incubator?” I gasped.
Alan laughed. “That’s me!”
“Sir… it’s…” I fumbled over my words at having a literal billionaire standing a few feet from me.
He stuck out his hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you too. Please, call me Alan.”
I accepted the handshake with a bit of awe. Sure, I’d seen billionaires come in, but they were usually flanked by security and the top agents. To have one casually standing there chatting with me was something I’d never expected to happen.
“New mate?” Linden teased.
“I told you about him!” Dylan protested.
“Seeing and hearing are two different things,” Linden replied.
Dylan laughed. “Fair.”
Linden turned to me. “So,” he started, “Dylan says you work for the previous tenant.”
I nodded. “Well… worked. I’m out of a job after everything gets transferred.”
“What are you doing next?” Alan asked.
I shook my head. “I don’t know.” I looked around the empty lobby. “I think the fact that Carré pulled out means that there’s not a market for a man with my skills here.”
Alan snorted. “I don’t know about that.”
“Hmm?”
“The market wasn’t there for them, but there’s a market here if you know where to look.”
“What do you mean?”
“Look, Carré’s a good name, and they’re gaining market share by being where the other high-value art insurers aren’t.
But they forgot that of the eighty or so houses on Billionaire Row, only a handful of us live here full-time.
Without a strong auction market, their potential was limited from the outset.
If I’m bidding on an investment piece in New York or London, I’m having it appraised, insured, and stored in a freeport.
I’m not going to risk shipping it here just to do the paperwork. ”
He paused. “That said, when my mate David and I attend a gallery show opening and buy a barely-dry painting because he likes how it looks… that’s a different policy.
The wine collection he’s building… Those things require insurance too.
I have a guy in New York who handles a lot of it for me, and I fly him out as needed, but he’s said that he’s busy enough that it can be a struggle.
I’m sure he’d much rather handle things there and let somebody else handle this side of the country. ”
“Hmm…” I mused.
“One thing I learned when we got successful,” Linden added, “is how much is not covered by a standard homeowner’s policy. There might not be many multi-million dollar paintings here, but I would be willing to bet that in a town like this, there is plenty of meat on the bones.”
Alan nodded. “We’re here for something else today,” he said.
“But drop by the incubator sometime and chat up some of the mentors. I’m pretty sure you don’t need much.
Small office somewhere, if that. You might be able to work from home to start.
There are people who’ve been in your shoes, and they’ve got good advice. ”
I started to smile, then my expression fell. I sighed. “I signed a non-compete.”
Alan shrugged. “There are options. Carré won’t want those small policies. I’d heard they took some, and I’m surprised they did. See if you can be an independent agent for anything that needs them, then contract with somebody else for the other stuff.”
“Hmmm…”
“Think about it,” he urged. “I think you’ll find plenty of business.”
I smiled and nodded. “I’ll do that… and drop by. I’d rather not have to start from scratch in a new industry.”
Alan reached out and squeezed my shoulder. “You’re welcome whenever you’re ready.” He paused. “But you might want to make it sooner than later.”
“Why?”
He chuckled. “That new bond bite makes me think you might have a bun in the oven. My David got so tired during the later months of his pregnancies. You probably want to have the paperwork out of the way so you can rest once that baby starts stealing your energy.”
I glanced dow,n and my fingers drifted across my middle. Was my baby already growing there?
Linden chuckled. “I know that pose. Ryan often looked at himself like that in the early days.”
There was a beat of silence, during which I could only smile down at my middle.
“Ok,” Linden said. “Dylan, show me your unicorn.”
My alpha laughed. “You got it. The unicorn is already equipped and has basic furnishings. People can start moving in over the next couple of weeks.”
I followed the three alphas as they toured the building.
One door in my life was closing, but maybe Alan—who was a billionaire known for building businesses—was right, and another was opening.
∞∞∞
~May~
“I can’t wait for you to meet Adam and Taal,” Dylan declared as we waited outside the secure area of the small airport. “We started out as work besties, but eventually just became regular friends. They’re going to love you, and I hope you like them, too.”
I smiled. My alpha was so excited for his friends to arrive and officially get his branch started.
“Oh! There they are! Adam! Taal!” he called and waved above the crowd.
Two men strode over, and I blinked.
“Flynn,” Dylan started, then motioned to the omega of the pair. “This is my friend, Adam. Adam, meet my new mate, Flynn.”
“Nice to meet you,” I said almost absentmindedly as I stared at the other man.
“And this is Taal. Taal, Flynn.”
“You’re… white?” I blurted out.
Taal laughed. “Yeah, I get that a lot. I mean, a lot, a lot. Most people take one look at my name and assume I’ve got Middle Eastern or Asian heritage. What I’ve got instead are two white parents who decided it was fun and quirky to pick two letters from each of their names.”
I started laughing. “Really?”
He nodded. “Mama’s name is Tammy, and Dad’s is Albert.”
“We give him shit all the time,” Adam said. “Especially when we’re testing résumé and application systems. I plug in his details to look for inherent bias. We make bets about how bad it’ll be, and he usually walks away with a pile of sweets.”
“Office Guinea pig right here,” Taal said with a grin. “My name gets used for testing, and I get rewarded with treats.”
“Ummm…” I glanced at Dylan.
My alpha chuckled. “Programs are only as smart as the people who write them. Sometimes bias happens and it’s not intentional.
If I feed a program a spreadsheet of a thousand hires that worked out for a company, and it sees a lot of ‘white’ names, some then boost white names because that’s the data it has.
It’s not somebody in HR tossing applications, but just a computer doing math. ”
“But if we can identify that problem,” Adam said, “then we can figure out a way to make things more equal… or recommend a different system.”
“I think I get it.” I paused. “Has it been a problem for you?”
Taal smiled. “Yes, and no. It’s weird. My last name is Marin. It’s pretty ambiguous. There have been times when I’ve felt like I’ve been passed over… then…”
Dylan snickered.
“Asshole,” Taal chuckled.
“What?” I asked.
“Every time some tech company announces a diversity initiative,” Adam said, “Taal’s inbox blows up with recruiters looking to get a bonus for bringing in somebody with his experience as a diversity hire.”
“It’s like they don’t even bother!” Taal grumbled. “I use my photo on professional sites. If they took two seconds, they’d see that I need sunscreen to sit near a window.”