Chapter 33 Calliope
The last three days with Ayden have been like heaven. He entertained my every whim, which was exactly why we were driving into the city after a hike through the forest around the mountains. One of my favorite authors was doing a signing at the local bookstore. I was so excited to meet her. Ayden had called the store earlier and offered her five grand to have a private signing. The drive didn’t take that long, and soon we were pulling into the parking lot of the store. I couldn’t wait, so I unbuckled and was out of the car as soon as he put it in park. He called after me, but I was already moving towards the entrance. Ayden caught up with me just before I hit the door, getting there just before me and pulling open the first set of doors. The cold air rushed out at me, and I was thankful for it. It had been hotter than usual for summer in the mountains.
I knew better than to reach for the other set of doors. Ayden smiled as he moved past me, guiding me inside with a hand on my back. He moved to my side, leading me to the service desk. The man behind that desk saw us coming and moved to intercept us. “Can I help you?”
“Yes,” Ayden smiled at him. “We arranged for the private signing.”
“We are just waiting for the last of the books. One of the hardcovers was a special edition; we had to call another store. It should be here soon.”
Ayden nodded. “Do you know how long we have her for?”
“I don’t. If you’re ready, I can lead you back to where you’re meeting her. Omega hours don’t start until three.”
“I thought this was an omega-safe signing?”
Ayden’s growl made the beta’s eyes widen. “The signing was. It ended forty-five minutes ago.”
“It’s fine.” I stepped between them before it escalated. One of the benefits of being an omega with family money was the etiquette and de-escalation training I received. Leaning back against Ayden, I smiled at the beta, “Thank you for accommodating us. It would be wonderful if you took us back. I would hate to cause any problems in your store.”
The beta turned, heading towards the back of the store. I shot Ayden a look of disappointment before following that beta. He led us to a private room, this was where they held the events, it was a bigger space than I expected. There was a small sitting area set up in one corner with a table in front of it. Loaded on the table were stacks of books. I gasped, not realizing how large her collection really was . That drew her attention to me.
I was stunned for a moment. Sofia Moreia was in the same room as me. I was trying not to freak out, she was absolutely stunning. Bronze skin and honey eyes stared back at me from a radiant face. Her hand had frozen, pen sitting just above the paper. She took a breath and set the book on the table in front of her, the pen beside it. She stood and approached me. Her stride was long, and she was almost as big as an alpha. I would have thought she were an alpha if she hadn’t been so vocal about being an omega. It complicated the hell out of her signings, I was sure.
Her hand was out as she approached me, a warm smile on her face. “It’s always nice to meet a fan.”
The canned line made me laugh, I couldn’t help it, it was so stereotypical. “Sorry, I’m so sorry.”
I couldn’t tell what she was thinking, but she suddenly burst out laughing as well. “I’m going to be honest with you. I was a little nervous to meet the person who was able to spend five thousand dollars to spend an hour with me. It just so happens that I don’t have anything pressing.”
I smiled and we all headed over to the sitting area. She took her seat, and we claimed the other love seat. The stack of books in front of her was, quite frankly, insane. They were organized into series, each of them a different type of dark romance. “I was so excited to meet you that I completely forgot how many books you wrote when I asked for all of them to be signed.”
“It’s fine. To be honest I did wonder how you managed to buy all of them, plus a special edition—or ten.”
My voice was light almost a laugh. “I have more money than God.”
“I can’t tell if you’re serious or joking.”
I reached into my purse and pulled out my wallet. My hand searched for the right card. Finding the black Amex, I removed it with a flourish. “Does this answer your question?”
“So, you’re rich-rich.”
That made me smile even wider. “I did want to discuss a larger order.”
“Of which ones?”
“The independently published ones. I would like to donate copies to some small libraries and independent bookstores.”
“That’s a great idea.”
Her eyes lit up; we spent the next twenty minutes working out the logistics. Our conversation was interrupted by an alpha coming into the room. I flinched, leaning back against Ayden. His arms tightened around me, I could feel his chest start to rumble, his purr whisking the anxiety away until I relaxed against him. Fuck, I loved this man.
“The manager asked me to bring these in here.” He had a box of books that he set at her feet.
“What’s in here?” She reached down and pulled out what was inside. Special editions—all six of them. She shuffled the books, placing them in even stacks in front of her. “You have two copies of the same three books.” She looked through the pile that was already there. “You have my normal covers of those same three books. May I ask why these three?”
I sighed, “The normal covers are mine.”
“Then why the special editions?”
“Gifts for the same three people.”
“Your pack reads my books?” She almost seemed shocked at that thought.
“Out loud, as foreplay.”
“No fucking way!” My blush was her only answer. “Ok, so I have to know their favorites.”
“Well let’s see, Ayden likes Shadowing Abby. Cain really loves The Bone Breaker. Dax hasn’t really been with us long enough, so I don’t know what he will like.”
“That means this last one is yours, I take it.”
I smiled at her. “It is, I do love a good retelling. Though I had never considered Hunchback.”
“So, one of these is for this Dax?” I nodded. “Who are the other three for?”
“It’s for a close pack friend that is going through something right now. I went through something similar, and books helped me deal with it.”
“You’re hoping that it will do the same for her?”
“That’s it exactly.”
The conversation flowed from there, moving quickly from trauma to favorite movies and TV shows. We chatted about books and how hard it was for independent authors. She told me about the independent author help fund she was trying to set up. Apparently, publishing is expensive, she continued to open up telling me about some of the ideas she had for book boxes and the like. I loved her passion for helping the less fortunate.
As the store employees, all betas, were packing the books, I took her contact information. Before long, we were out in the car and headed back to the cabin. I practically vibrated with excitement at the thought of giving Cain his present. My finger scrolled on my phone, searching for the website for that author fund. Finding it I went to the donate page and it capped out at ten thousand. That wouldn’t do at all. I searched until I found the name of their accountant. I smiled when I recognized it.
I dialed the number from memory. I could picture the Italian woman that answered in my mind. “Calliope, to what do I owe the pleasure of your call?”
“You answer all your clients like that?”
“Only the ones that are like a daughter to me.” Her laugh warmed my heart. “What can I help you with?”
“You’re the accountant that was hired for the Indie Author Fund.”
“How exactly did you find out about that?”
I almost laughed. “The website directed me to you after I tried to donate. Seems that the cap is too low.”
“I’m not even going to ask how you found out about this.” I could hear her typing. “I can wire it, just tell me how much.”
“How much do they realistically need?”
“You know I can’t give you an exact number.”
“Guestimate.”
“A million would set them up for five years.”
“I want to do something very specific with this, so I need you to write this down, email it or get their board on the phone.”
She laughed. “They don’t have a board. But if I can put you on hold, I can call the woman who’s in charge.”
“Get it done please.”
She put me on hold for a moment, I put the phone on speaker and pulled up my banking app. My US bank had ten million. That wouldn’t do. I pulled up another app and checked the balance there. That one had what I wanted, transferring a billion out of it wouldn’t make me overdraft. She came back cheery. “Calliope, I have Daya on the line. Daya, this is Calliope.”
“Hello.” A sweet voice came over the line. “Marie said that you wanted to donate a large amount and hoped to talk about what you would like done with this money.”
I took a deep breath, but I was very serious in what I said. “I am prepared to donate a billion dollars. For that donation I am in charge of what happens there.”
There was shocked silence for a moment before Marie spoke. “That’s very generous of you. Perhaps you could tell Daya what you hope to accomplish with this.”
“With that money I want you to open a publishing house. One that doesn’t require restrictive contracts. I want it to have a focus on diversity.”
“That’s admirable,” Daya murmured.
“I don’t mean this token bullshit that so many people play. I mean true diversity. The ratio of signed white authors to minorities is particularly depressing. I hope to correct that. I expect that more than sixty percent of authors and employees be people of color. Thirty percent to be queer people.”
“We can’t legally do that.”
“Yes, you can. It’s really simple, interview everyone and pick the best person for the job. But keep the preferred ratio in mind. That’s the only thing I require. Besides, white people use discriminatory hiring practices every day and no one can prove it legally. Why not use their system against them?”
“That’s brilliant.” Daya seemed to be getting excited. “Any genres that you would like us to look for?”
“Anything and everything romance. I want full author catalogs. Buy them out if you have to. I don’t care what it costs.”
“I think that sounds like something we can provide. Where would we set up?”
“Marie, is my property in New York still open?”
“It is.”
“I live in Atlanta,” Daya protested.
“Are they done filming that movie in my office there?”
Marie supplied the answer like I knew she would. “They are. No bookings for the foreseeable future.”
“Take it off the rental market. Coordinate with Daya to get her everything she needs.”
“Will do.” I could hear the smile in her voice. “If you don’t have anything else for me at the moment, I’ll let you go.”
“Nothing pressing. Thank you for handling this.” I ended the call at that, she knew there were no more pleasantries required.
“So, you’re starting a publishing house?”
Ayden’s smirk made me punch him in the shoulder. “I don’t know anything about it, but I can’t do any worse than the people that own the big names.”
Our conversation was cut off by my phone dinging. Looking down, I saw a message from Cain sitting there.
Cain: This is Dax, you don’t have my number, here it is. Text me there.
I selected the number, adding it to a new message and then my contacts.
Calliope: How is our beta?
Dax: He was a brat the other day, so he’s being punished.
Calliope: LOL Does he know that?
Dax: He is acutely aware of what is going on.
The next message that popped up was from Cain.
Cain: I don’t like this.
Calliope: Like what?
Cain: He’s been all sweet to me, it’s weird. No spankings, no pain, nothing.
Calliope: What did you do?
Cain: Nothing.
I didn’t believe that for a second. Switching over to the text from Dax, I responded with a simple question.
Calliope: What did he do?
He sent me a picture. It seemed to be taken from a weird angle, but it clearly showed Cain with a man wrapped around him. Judging from the size of him in Cain’s arms, it appeared to be another omega. My hands shook with rage as I pulled up Cain’s contact and dialed. Putting it on speaker he answered after the second ring. “My Omega?”
“Am I though?” I snapped.
That made Ayden’s head snap to the side. Thankfully, we were just pulling into the driveway. He quickly threw it in park and grabbed the phone. There was a clear growl in his voice when he spoke. “Tell me why the fuck my omega is this pissed off.” I was good at controlling my emotions, there was no way he should know how angry I really was. Then it occurred to me we were bonded. It made sense he could feel my rage. He put the phone on speaker before saying “repeat that.”
“I don’t know, Dax told her he was punishing me.”
“Put me on speaker.” I was so angry; the power of his bark didn’t make me cower. When we could hear the echo of a car Ayden spoke again. “Dax, why exactly are you punishing our beta?”
“I didn’t do anything,” Cain protested.
“That’s bullshit, and you know it. Dax, tell me now!”
“Cain seems to think it’s appropriate to allow another omega to climb all over him.” Ayden’s growl echoed around the cab while Dax continued. “In fact, he carried that omega into the house we were at and did not put him down until I entered the room.”
Ayden released a string of expletives and threats aimed at the aforementioned omega and his whole pack. I was tempted to hunt the omega down myself. “Are you on your way?”
That distracted me enough that the anger faded until I could think past it. “We are,” Dax answered.
“Great. We will continue this when you get here.”
“We’re pulling in.” I looked up and watched as they did just that. Dax was behind the wheel of the Hummer.
I sat right where I was and waited for them to come to me. I wanted to get out and run to Dax, but I needed time to figure out what I was going to say to Cain. Ayden solved that problem for me, getting out and intercepting Cain before he could approach me. Dax approached my door, opening it slowly. He was clearly unsure of what reception he might get.
As soon as he stepped into the open space he created, his scent hit me. It made me squirm in the seat. “If I reach between your legs, I’m going to find you wet for me, aren’t I?”
“Yes, Alpha.”
“That’s ‘Yes, Sir,’” he corrected.
“Someone found their dominant side.”
I was teasing, “Don’t be a brat. I need you.”
I reached for him, twisting my body outward. My hands caught his neck as he leaned forward, he wasted no time lifting me. I wrapped my legs around his waist, and he tossed me into the air a little to adjust his grip. It felt so good to be carried by him, I didn’t want the moment to end, but the thought that he might hurt himself to do this for me was too much. “I’m not too heavy, am I?”