Chapter 12
Cassius
Voices raised in anger. Klonis opened the door and we both looked in. Malin and the foreman were arguing.
“I want him. I want to see him now.”
“I’ve changed my mind. You may leave the premises now.”
Malin stood tall and commanding. Jonah stood behind his desk all puffed out.
I saw they were about to go at it. But still, all I could think was that Malin was here.
And he wanted to see me? He’d said as much and now it looked like he was going to fight for it.
Like in ancient times when alphas fought each other, often to the death, for prized omegas.
I didn’t feel much like a prize, but a rush of ecstasy went through me, warming me from my toes to the top of my head.
I was nothing. No one. But an alpha was willing to fight for me?
Even if I was fought over for the wrong reasons, not for freedom but a new ownership, it stirred something inside me.
In this moment, that made me someone again. Someone seen. A person.
I pulled away from Klonis’s grasp. “I’ll go with him.”
Jonah glared at me. “You don’t have a right to make that decision.”
“I want to go with him. I’ll make no trouble. I promise.”
Jonah laughed. “You have no power to negotiate.” He faced Malin. “You have the power only to rent. And it’s by the hour.”
“How much is that for a lifetime, say for fifty or sixty years?”
“W—what?” I sputtered.
Jonah laughed again. “More than you have.”
“Are you sure?”
The room went quiet. I heard my breaths coming faster. What was Malin doing? He didn’t know me, not really. How many hours were there in fifty years? I couldn’t do that kind of math.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Klonis typing on his phone. About ten seconds later he said, “438,300 hours in fifty years.”
Jonah’s smile turned positively evil. “A set omega for rent averages $100 an hour.”
Klonis’s eyebrows rose and he chuckled. “That’s 43.83 million dollars.”
My mouth dropped open.
Malin cursed, tossing his head. He looked immaculate again, wearing a white shirt with a brocade vest and dark purple trousers of soft wool. He had on gold rings and a gold watch surrounded by chain bracelets. He was rich. For sure. But not that rich.
It was a nice thought, though. To be fought for. To be liked enough to be seen in a way I never dreamed of from the moment I was sold to the ranch.
I waited for Malin to turn and leave. Instead, he took out his phone. He did something on it, then looked up.
“With fifty percent off for sterility. And fifty percent off that new amount for cash, that makes it 10,957,500. Your website offers a ten percent discount to repeat customers, of which I am one. That makes it 9,861,750.” He squinted closer at his phone.
“Looks like I can get a coupon off your website, as well.”
He had to be joking. The playboy bad boy was probably a master of jokes. But he didn’t smirk or laugh or stop what he was doing. He simply said, “That’s another fifteen percent off.” He poked at his phone some more. “That makes it $8,382,487. Plus, fifty cents.” He looked up at Jonah.
I saw Klonis nod in agreement with the figure.
Malin put his hand in his pants pocket. He pulled out something shiny and threw it onto Jonah’s desk. “I got the fifty cents right here. Down payment.”
The coin bounced, then landed with a loud clink. Jonah jumped up. “Are you kidding me, asshole?”
Malin stepped toward the desk until the edge pressed the tops of his thighs. “There should be a further discount for the fact that he’s used.”
My entire body heated. My eyes filled. That statement shouldn’t have hurt me. This was already a conversation of absurdity. But something sharp sliced through my midsection.
Jonah made a nasty face. “Klonis, show Mr. Summit out, please.”
I felt a hot tear drop and burn the top of my cheek.
Malin stayed where he was. “You are refusing the rental offer?”
“You’re ridiculous.”
“I’ll have the money transferred from my trust. It might take a few hours.”
Jonah opened and closed his mouth like a dying fish.
This couldn’t be happening. Eight million? I couldn’t conceive of it. Why would Malin throw away a sum like that? He wouldn’t. Not for me. He was just fighting another alpha. He simply wanted to win. I knew that much about him.
Maybe I was still locked in solitary and dreaming all this. I blinked back more tears.
After that, things were confusing. Malin showed something on his phone to Jonah. Then, “I’m sending you a phone number.”
Jonah got up and left the room. Klonis went with him and shut the door.
I stood staring at Malin’s back.
Finally, he turned. “You look scared.”
I sniffed back my response.
He walked toward me and his hand came up. Then he was cupping my cheek, his thumb sliding against the burn of my tears. “Are you?”
I shook my head, his palm warm against my chin. My head spun. “Of you? No.”
“Do you want to leave here?”
My brow crinkled. “How can you ask me that?” I whispered.
He gave me a single nod.
“But you can’t do this.” I inhaled harshly. “Can you?”
“Don’t ask.”
I stood up straighter. “Are you bluffing them? And me?”
“I’m taking you with me. It doesn’t matter how.”
“They,” I gulped. “They won’t let you.”
He turned away.
“You don’t really have the money, do you?”
His shoulders squared. “I do. But I’m not sure how much is liquid.”
“Oh. I see.” Everything inside me deflated. This was going to end badly, I told myself.
“We both know you can’t spend that much for me anyway.”
He faced me again, face of stone. “Why not?”
“I’m not worth it.”
“True.”
That hurt.
“The elemental body is really only worth about $160,” he added.
Was he joking with me? If it was supposed to be funny, it made me feel sick.
“I looked it up once. I was pretty drunk but I think it also said there was some argument in the scientific community that it’s refined complex biological compounds would be worth $6.8 million. I think that’s how it was stated. I had to memorize it to win a bet.”
I crossed my arms over my chest and moved away. There was a window overlooking a patio with flowers. That wasn’t our normal dormitory view, but it was for Jonah.
“None of this is funny, you know. And it’s not like winning a bet.” I heard footsteps approach.
“I know.”
I stared straight ahead as I spoke. “Why are you doing this?”
“I did some reading and I don’t like this place.”
“So?”
“So? It’s wrong. Why would you question that?” His voice dropped.
“I’m not. But if you think you’re hurting the corporation by giving them more money, I think maybe you’re deluded.”
He hissed. “I’ve been called deluded before. You think I care?”
“Well, if it’s got nothing to do with me, I guess I can go back to solitary.”
“Solitary? They had you there?”
Oops. That was a slip. I hadn’t wanted him to know.
“What did you do?” he asked.
“Nothing.”
“They put you in solitary for nothing?”
“I didn’t say that. I said I did nothing. Except nearly assault Klonis.”
“You’re making no sense. I was there. He was dragging you away from me when I still had rental time. It’s called self-defense.”
I whirled. “None of this makes sense. You didn’t leave a star rating so they figured I was a disappointment.”
His mouth dropped open. “Those fucking shit-faced assholes. Fuck them. Fuck!”
“You’re good at that.” I couldn’t think of anything else to say. “Using words like that. In a full sentence sometimes, too.”
He hissed again. “It’s an art.”
Softly, I said, “This isn’t the way to get at them.” The foreman always won. No matter our complaints. Our broken spirits. He won.
Just then, the office door opened. Jonah stomped in followed by Klonis. He held up his phone to Malin, who moved toward him. “Not enough. Not liquid, anyway. My lawyers and advisors can see numerous investments. You’ll have to get a loan against those and that could take a month.”
Malin lifted his chin. “He’s coming with me today.”
Jonah laughed. “Fifty cents is not enough of a down payment.”
Malin repeated. “He’ll come with me.”
“You’re in no position to command a thing and if you don’t leave, I’ll call the authorities to trespass you from here forever.”
I watched the two alphas argue like it was some distant play. None of this made sense. It wasn’t really me they were fighting over and I wanted to curl up in a ball and make it all go away.
I stomped my foot. “What if I say I don’t want to go?”
Everyone turned to look at me. And then I saw Jonah’s true colors. How he had his eye set on that money. One way or another. And then there was Malin, dangling it like a carrot with the threat of snatching it away if he didn’t get his way if he didn’t get to buy me today.
Klonis rushed toward me, hand out. He grasped my shoulder and spun me. “How dare you speak in that way to the foreman.”
Malin’s gaze grew entirely black. “Get your hands off him now. It’s not going to be an issue. I only need to make one call.”
Everyone stared at him.
“You lie,” Jonah said with a chuckle.
Malin held up his phone. “One call.”
“You have fifteen minutes before I call the cops.”
Malin glowered. “I need privacy.”
Jonah sneered. “Klonis, let him use the conference room.” Then he yelled after them as they left, “Fifteen minutes!”
When the door closed, Jonah came around the couch to face me. “What in the hell did you do to that guy?”
I couldn’t believe all of this had anything to do with me.
All I could do was shrug.