3. Lucy
CHAPTER 3
Lucy
Liam was bigger than I’d expected, but I couldn’t say why I thought he would be anything like the average alpha.
His blond hair was usually slicked back and styled, but today it was loose. It fell in his face in a way that was almost romantic, getting in his eyes since he had to look down at me…like really far down.
Geez, he was tall.
Really tall.
I was only a few inches shorter than the average beta male, but this guy absolutely towered over me.
The sheer size of him would tell me he was an alpha if those gentle traces of his pheromones didn’t. They weren’t very musky, but they were sharp. Even my defective ass was responding to them.
Hopefully, he didn’t notice the way my body temperature was rising.
Wait .
Exactly how long have we been standing like this?
“I’m sorry,” I pushed away from him harder than necessary, but he held on until I regained my footing .
God, this was embarrassing. Could I maybe just disappear?
“Are you all right?” Liam Valor asked, his deep voice making me jump in shock at the depth of it.
I nodded, staring up at him in surprise.
What the hell was wrong with me?
Alphas usually had deep voices, but I didn’t usually react like this to them. It was irritating enough I fucked up and went to glare at him, but all I could see were those pretty red eyes that managed to look like he didn’t give a shit if I was actually okay or not even if he was staring down at me with an intensity that took my breath away.
There was something familiar about this alpha’s face, but that was no doubt due to the fact that he was a celebrity.
It was rare for anyone’s face to look familiar to me, which meant it was most likely because of the thousands of pictures of this alpha I’d seen on the internet over the years had made him vaguely familiar.
“Are you sure?” he asked, tilting his head to the side like he didn’t believe me, making his hair fall into his eyes.
It was supremely unfair how beautiful he was.
And what the fuck was I supposed to say to that question? I hadn’t been hurt. I’d just stumbled into him like an idiot because I hadn’t been paying attention, and now I couldn’t stop staring at this ridiculously attractive alpha like I was breathing in the full weight of his pheromones.
But I could see the tiny shimmer over the side of his neck that told me he was wearing scent blockers too except they were transparent, unlike mine.
Frankie cleared her throat and I took another step back, feeling strangely cold when his warm hands left my arms. “I’m fine,” I told him, sliding to the side to be as unobtrusive as possible. “I apologize again.”
“Mr. Valor.” The receptionist sounded like he was trying not to have a meltdown about our current situation. “I didn’t realize you’d be back so soon. I can send them up in the next elevator after you.”
Shit. This was going really well already, wasn’t it?
I moved to get out, but that warm hand gently took my elbow to keep me inside. “It’s fine. They can ride with me.”
Frankie and I locked eyes, both of us wondering if this was going to become a problem.
“Ah, very good, sir.” The receptionist gave me a nod and then turned back to the vice president of Valor Enterprises. “These are the private detectives the chairwoman hired. They’re here to meet with you.”
Before Liam could ask any follow-up questions, the receptionist turned on his heel and left.
Frankie grabbed the doors before they could close, stepping inside like she planned to rip that hand right off of me if she had to.
To my relief, Liam released my arm as easily as he’d grabbed it.
Why the fuck was my heart pounding?
I tucked my hands into my coat pockets, leaned against the wall farthest away from Liam Valor, and tried to catch my breath while Frankie put herself between me and the corporate prince as he pressed the button for whichever floor we were supposed to go to.
Elevators make me nervous even on a good day, but this day had quickly turned into a shitshow thanks to…chaos.
No matter how well I could read patterns, how prepared I might be for a situation, or the possibility of things going awry…I could never quite prepare myself for the chaos factor that was a part of life no matter how much I fucking hated it.
If we’d been five minutes earlier, or five minutes later, this moment never would have happened. We would have been able to meet the newly minted heir to Valor the way we were supposed to – not with me literally tripping into his arms .
And this elevator was awful.
I rested my head on the cool metal to help me calm down, trying not to focus on the fact that there wasn’t a single sound outside the three of us breathing, and the whir of the mechanism that felt a little too smooth, almost like we weren’t moving at all.
Vertigo hit and I closed my eyes, wishing I couldn’t smell that tiny hint of alpha leaking out from under his scent blockers. The effectiveness was starting to wear off, and based on the state of his clothes, he’d been at the police station all night.
Probably carted off as the prime suspect.
The elevator stopped at the sixty-ninth floor, and it hung there for almost a full thirty seconds – long enough for me to wonder if we were going to get stuck in this elevator with a fucking legacy alpha whose scent blockers were wearing off.
Normally that wouldn’t freak me out, but this alpha…his pheromones were actually affecting me.
Which should be impossible.
My stomach flipped and I opened my eyes to glare at the doors, daring them not to open.
Finally .
Fuck me, why did the doors have to take so goddamn long—I bounced back when I tried to rush through and smacked into a wall.
No, not a wall. A fucking person.
Jesus, was I looking at some guy’s bare chest right now?
Scrambling back, I bump into Liam, who once again grabbed my arms to steady me before I fell. It was impossible not to laugh at just how ridiculous this situation was, but the alpha glaring down at me was fucking terrifying.
I swallowed down the hysterical laughter and glanced down to see he was actually wearing a shirt, it was just unbuttoned far enough down that my nose had been buried in his chest and the light scent of his alpha pheromones was doing weird shit to my head .
I couldn’t stop staring at his skin and the ink that decorated it.
Then I made the mistake of looking up.
Where Liam’s eyes were the most entrancing red, this alpha’s were the deepest blue. Even his black hair was the opposite of Liam’s white-blond, but he was just as fucking tall.
Frankie grabbed my hand and yanked me out from between them. “Can we get out of this damn elevator already?”
Blue Eyes stepped to the side, giving us the smallest escape route possible, but I took it.
A deep breath of fresh air helped cleanse some of those pheromones from my nose, but the hint of sandalwood and vanilla settled on the back of my tongue. It wasn’t exactly unpleasant, but I wasn’t used to reacting to anyone’s pheromones, let alone something this subtle.
“And you are?” that strange alpha demanded, making me flinch at the sheer depth of his voice. It was even deeper than Liam’s, and there was this rasp to it that made goosebumps skitter across my arms.
“We’re the Genesis detectives Valor requested.” Frankie stated, her attitude coming out as she pressed her arm to mine to make sure she was between me and these two male alphas.
“This is Frank James and Lou Parker.” Liam managed to sound amused and his voice was soothing somehow despite that irritating tone. I could listen to him talk forever, but it annoyed me he was mocking us.
“These two are James and Parker?” the other alpha asked, looking down at his tablet as if he didn’t believe Liam.
They must be really close for this guy to have such an attitude.
I did a quick survey of our new surroundings as I avoided looking either of those two in the eye again. I would have to eventually. This was a fucking job, and sometimes I had to do shit I didn’t want to do, didn’t I ?
“I’m Frank,” my partner confirmed, holding out her hand for him to shake.
The weight of Liam’s attention on me made my skin flush and I suddenly felt warm, sweaty even. It was strange considering how easily I got cold, but I wouldn’t peel off my coat no matter how badly I wanted to.
If I did it now, they’d know they were affecting me. If I waited until we sat down to take off my coat, neither of them would realize how flustered I was.
Like a baby omega who had just gone through her first heat.
“This is my partner, Lou,” Frankie informed them, stepping aside just enough Liam and the scary one could see she meant me.
They were silent for what felt like forever, and I could feel them both studying me from head to toe.
My stomach flipped again when it suddenly occurred to me the scary one probably already had the paperwork we’d filled out – he knew what I was.
But Blue Eyes firmly shook Frankie’s hand like nothing was wrong.
“I know my mother asked Genesis for their best. I suppose that means you two,” Liam said as he shook Frankie’s hand a little harder than necessary. “I have to admit, I’m curious to see how you perform.”
My nose wrinkled in irritation before I could stop myself, and Liam smiled slightly as if he’d noticed, but he didn’t look away from Frankie.
“We have consistently closed the most cases out of everyone in our agency,” Frankie reassured him. “I’m sure this will be no different.”
For someone who had been overthinking herself into a tizzy just an hour ago, her confidence was fucking astounding.
“Excellent.” Liam left it at that and tossed his blazer over his shoulder before turning around to lead us toward a set of double doors .
Even with a few minutes to calm down, I couldn’t quite get my shit together.
I tasted panic on the back of my tongue as I realized how laser focused I’d been on him and the other one.
There was a whole other fucking person in this room with us that I hadn’t even noticed, and it was my job to notice shit like that.
My gaze slid to the woman sitting at the sleek, modern desk to the left of us, but she didn’t look up from her monitor even when Liam reached for the handle of the door across the way.
This was some kind of waiting room with a gorgeous view of the city. There was even a couch and a few armchairs scattered in a circle to my left in an attempt to look welcoming, but it was just as sterile as the rest of this place.
Modern elegance, but it had no personality.
How had I missed all these details? Were their pheromones really that strong? I mean, my skin did feel flushed, and I was actually warm enough to take off my coat, but pheromones didn’t ever affect my recessive ass like this.
It was seriously concerning.
“Please come in,” Liam said, holding the door open for us with a small smile playing on his soft lips – a smile that didn’t look the least bit welcoming.
The alpha with the blue eyes wouldn’t stop staring at me, glancing down at his tablet only once before fixing me with an intense look that made me feel…hunted.
Both of these alphas were looking at me now, not Frankie.
Fuck, I needed to remember I wasn’t just an omega. I was a detective, and a damn good one at that. The way they smelled and sounded couldn’t affect me.
I forced myself to take a step forward, annoyed that my legs felt shaky.
Brushing my arm against Frankie’s as I walked, she fell into step beside me without hesitation. The tap-tap of the woman’s keys paused as she took in my appearance, and I tried to ignore it.
Most people stared at me for one reason or another, and you’d think I’d be used to it by now, but it really irked me when people thought I couldn’t do my job based on my feminine appearance, or my designation.
It shouldn’t fucking matter what clothes I was wearing or that I was an omega. I could do this job better than most veterans in the field, and with Frankie as my partner, there wasn’t a single murder we hadn’t been able to solve.
This one would be no different.
But the way Liam’s gaze ran over me almost made me falter. If Frankie’s familiar scent and warmth hadn’t been pressed against my side, I might have frozen all over again.
I really wished I’d dressed like an actual adult with a real adult job today instead of all these baggy clothes, even if they were the most comfortable.
The reason I’d even started dressing like this was because people only ever saw an omega in an alpha-dominated field the moment they found out I wasn’t a beta. Not that I tried to hide it, but most people just couldn’t tell.
Once they knew what I was, they always assumed I couldn’t rub two brain cells together, no matter what I wore, so what was the point in trying?
Except now, Liam Valor was studying the baggy grey jeans I wore with ripped holes in them to show off my black tights like he couldn’t believe I was the internet sleuth Lou Parker.
I really should have worn the suit today.
“Would you two like some coffee or tea?” Liam asked, his gaze settling on the way Frankie’s arm was pressed into mine.
“We don’t have time for that,” the other alpha said; his voice was sharp even though it was quiet enough I had to strain to hear him. “We need to get this shit figured out as soon as possible.”
Liam didn’t look away from me or Frankie, but those glimmering garnet eyes suddenly hardened until they were nothing but the cold, emotionless eyes of the man I’d seen in all those photos.
“I apologize, my assistant can be a bit of an asshole,” Liam murmured, his gaze settling on mine. “Especially when someone’s framed me for murder.”