Chapter 45
Forty-Five
DOMINIC
M y phone vibrates just as the car pulls up to the curb in front of a mansion that could seriously rival my parents’. It sprawls out in both directions, the traditional architecture nearly overbearing in the bright green landscape that’s typical to the Pacific Northwest. It strikes me as ironic, actually. Violet’s the opposite of this in every way I can imagine.
What’s odd to me is that I never once suspected that she came from this amount of wealth. She doesn’t flaunt it with large, gaudy purchases. And she doesn’t wear subtle designers, either. Nothing that would indicate the amount of cash she must have access to. Not to mention that she worked on campus at UCLA and maintained a second job as a waitress.
For some reason, I never thought to connect the dots between her last name and Fallon Capital. It seems obvious now that all the pieces have been laid out on a single map.
I take a deep breath and step out of the car, giving a single wave to let the driver know he’s welcome to leave. I take my time heading toward the mansion, observing as much of it as I can—the windows, the doors, the streamline security system tucked every thirty feet or so across the front fa?ade of the house. It feels like overkill considering they’re already in a gated community and the nearest house is over an acre away, but perhaps growing up in a pack is different than growing up as part of the Italian mafia.
The front door opens before I make it up the steps and onto the porch.
All three of her fathers stand in the entry, dressed in variations of dark jeans and simple polo shirts. Johnathan’s eyes are softer than the others, a concerned wariness about him rather than overt hostility like what bleeds from Kurt and Phillip.
It’s easy enough to figure out which one is Kurt. His expression is nearly a carbon copy of the one I saw Violet use on Friday. Her coloring must come from her mother, though, because his pale skin and blue eyes are nothing like Violet’s gorgeous tan and hazel.
“Dominic,” Johnathan says as I close the distance to the door. “You really didn’t need to discuss this in person. We are not strangers to the demands of an Omega’s heat.”
“It’s only one night,” I say as I shake his hand. “Rylan will manage well enough. He used to work at the Haven in LA until we registered last fall.”
Kurt’s eyebrow raises, but he doesn’t say anything. He holds out his hand, and I take it as easily as Johnathan’s, intent on making sure I don’t cross them until it’s necessary. I’m hoping it’s not necessary, that what Jasper had said last night about her fathers being devoted to Violet is the truth.
Phillip and I exchange a small greeting, and then Johnathan guides me inside the lavish home. We don’t go far, only a couple doors down the main hallway. The French doors open into a large sitting room, the sectional a clean blue velvet that coordinates with the other classic furnishings. Johnathan motions toward the sectional, and I settle into one corner of it, crossing my legs and messing with my watch while I wait for the others to choose spots and get comfortable.
Phillip stands near the door, his hands clasped behind his back, while Kurt sits on the opposite corner of the sectional. Johnathan opts for the chair across from me, leaning forward on his elbows and resting his chin on his folded hands.
I start in on the small talk before they can ask direct questions about yesterday.
“She’s applying to graduate programs,” I offer. “I’m not sure if she’s heard back from any of them yet. I know that the parameters for newly matched Omegas vary.”
Or at least I do now. I gave myself a crash course last night when I couldn’t sleep after Jasper came home.
Phillip lets his hands drop to his sides, the tension easing away from his shoulders.
“Good,” he says, his voice full of relief. “We were worried she’d shelve her dream of research once she matched. It’s part of why we never pushed her to do it.”
“Not that she needed much convincing to wait,” Kurt murmurs with a dry sort of humor. The exasperated look he gives is identical to the one Violet uses. “It’s not like she had an example that had her tripping over herself to set a date with the Council.”
Johnathan sighs and rubs his eyes. “We did our best to shield her from the worst of it.”
“Didn’t stop her, though,” Phillip says with a resigned sadness. “She was always the most curious.”
I clear my throat and lean forward. This was the information I came for.
“Your match has always been tense?” I ask.
Kurt nods. “The process was different thirty years ago. Not the galas themselves, but the follow up. There wasn’t really the trial run they give now. You got handed a match and were told to make the best of it. So we did. It was… fair.”
Phillip snorts in derision, and Kurt pins him a look. He shrugs before crossing the room, sitting next to Kurt and taking his hand. Kurt’s mouth opens, his gaze snapping back to me.
“By the time we realized we’d rather be just a trio,” Johnathan says, interrupting whatever Kurt was about to say, “Sienna was pregnant with Scarlett. It was an accident. We thought we’d taken precautions during her heat. In dissolutions, the Council almost always sides with the Omega when children are involved. If we left, we’d lose Scarlett.”
Pain flashes across all three of their faces. Phillip shakes his head.
“So we stayed,” he says. “We’re not oblivious to Sienna’s...”
He trails off, clearly trying to figure out what word to use.
“Bullshit,” Kurt supplies.
Phillip nods and laces his fingers with Kurt’s, his knuckles whitening from his grip.
“But we’ve tried to balance it out,” Johnathan says. “Tried to make sure all three of our children know that we love and adore them.”
The others murmur their agreement, and then the conversation lulls into silence. I adjust my cuff links. Johnathan crosses the room, pouring a single knuckle’s worth of amber liquor from a cart tucked in the corner. He glances at me and holds up the decanter. I shake my head.
I don’t want to be drinking during this.
Once Johnathan is resettled, tension grows between us, buzzing through the room so intensely I’m surprised I’m not electrocuted by it.
“Is Violet all right?” Kurt asks, his body tight, his gaze hard. “That son of a bitch didn’t touch her, right?”
“No permanent harm done,” I murmur. I’m not willing to outright lie to him, and I don’t want him to carry the weight of knowing just how close his daughter came to being hurt. “To be honest, I’m not sure how much of it all she’ll remember.”
Hopefully very little.
Phillip frowns. “It doesn’t matter if she remembers it. It’s inexcusable either way.”
I nod.
Their devotion for Violet eases some of my coiled anger. My voice is gruff as I say, “The problem is that she had a heat in March.”
Johnathan freezes, a low growl rumbling through his chest. I breathe slowly, reminding myself that he’s angry for Violet and not at her. He’s on my side of this entire clusterfuck.
Kurt frowns, but it’s Phillip that asks the question that’ll set us past the point of no return tonight.
“Then how could she have possibly dropped into heat while at the event?”
Kurt says it before I can, his voice ice cold. “She was drugged. And it would have had to be an incredibly high dosage if she was three months out from her heat.”
“She hardly interacted with anyone,” Johnathan says slowly, like he’s terrified of reaching the inevitable conclusion of this train of thought. I don’t blame him. “And the only drink she had was given to her by Sienna.”
Phillip pales. The reality washes through them in one swift wave, their expressions moving from horror to despair to anger in the span of a few seconds.
“I’m going to kill her,” Kurt says, pushing up from where he sits beside Phillip, dropping his hand in favor of clenching them both. He starts toward the door, his own growl loud enough to drown out Johnathan’s.
I relax at the display. Jasper had been right. They hadn’t been involved. Which makes this much easier… and potentially even more heartbreaking for them. Johnathan stops Kurt with a single hand on his chest.
“Hold on,” he says, his voice firm. “The last thing we need is to alert Sienna that one of Violet’s Alphas is here.”
Kurt shakes his head, his body trembling.
“She set Violet up,” Kurt snarls. “Her perfume would have been enough to set off an unsuspecting Alpha’s rut. She meant for Violet to end up bonded.”
That explains the sorry excuse of an Alpha we found all over her, then.
Johnathan’s eyes flash to mine, the hatred in them palpable.
“Does Violet know?” he asks.
“We aren’t sure.” I shake my head. “She isn’t lucid enough to talk about it.”
“And she won’t be for days,” Phillip says. “Probably not until the end of the week.”
Kurt’s growl slowly fades, the leashed aggression in his body bleeding away the longer Johnathan touches him. Johnathan guides him to the chair he’d been occupying, urging Kurt to sit and then taking his hand as he perches on the chair’s arm.
“We intend to discuss it with her once she surfaces,” I offer.
“And then what’s your plan?” Johnathan asks, tucking his open hand into the pocket of his jeans, his thumb tapping an unheard rhythm. “Do you intend to bring in your family?”
I don’t even worry about him knowing my family’s reputation. Jasper had mentioned Sienna knew. It’s not a stretch that she brought it to his attention as well.
“That’s entirely up to you,” I say. “Let’s discuss the options.”