4. Lilac （Purple）
4
LILAC (PURPLE)
MEANING: FIRST EMOTIONS OF LOVE FIRST LOVE INFATUATION; OBSESSION
EVERETT
________
I took a single step after Ocean, and Micah’s hand met my chest. The growl cracked out of me so fast I startled myself, drawing looks from those nearby.
“Easy,” Micah said, voice lowered.
“ Easy ?” I said. “Please tell me you’re kidding. I can’t take it fucking easy. Because she’s?—”
“ I know .” He nodded his head toward the back of the room and the windows. Away from the direction she’d gone. I could still scent her in the air. Omega . Sweetly floral and laced with sugar I wanted to taste. To bite.
To feast on.
That woman was our scent match, and I felt like I’d been punched in the stomach. I’d been so angry when we came to the gala, not wanting to be here at all. Now I didn’t want to be here so I could follow the trail of her scent, pin her to the wall and show her absolutely everything.
More than everything. Bite her and let her feel just how deep and how far this went and how I never imagined finding someone so fucking beautiful and then realizing they were meant to be yours. I wanted to merge us together so there was never any room between us again.
She was still in the room, waylaid by Laura, Frank’s wife. It made sense if she was leaving.
Micah hauled me in the opposite direction, and it was only the thought of frightening her when she’d already had some asshole pawing at her without consent that I let myself be dragged away.
Ocean.
The name echoed in my head along with the rhythm of the waves along the coast.
“She’s still here,” I said. “We need to tell her.”
Cameron looked as devastated as I felt. “Because that would go over well. Hey, we know we just saved you from a colossal dick, but we’re actually three Alphas who want exactly the same thing and are using scent matching to excuse it.”
I snarled and checked myself. That’s not what he was saying, but how it would be perceived. “Fuck.” I ran a hand through my hair. “At least tell me you’re losing your mind too, because I feel like I’m having a heart attack.”
“It hit me in the middle of trying to get that guy off her,” Cam said quietly. “And it took everything in me not to pull her into a closet and mark her. So, yeah.”
I watched her disappear from the room, that silky blue dress and shining dark hair I wanted to run my fingers through. She’d been stunning from afar when we stood on the balcony. Up close, there was no comparison. I wanted to touch every part of her body until I had it memorized. Make her scream until she knew she was mine. And that was before her scent changed the very fabric of who I was.
It was a good thing we were in the corner where it wasn’t glaringly obvious I had an erection harder than a fucking diamond.
“She’s leaving.” My voice was strained. “We don’t even know her last name.”
Micah put his hand on my shoulder again. “Ocean’s not a common name. We’ll find her.”
“And then figure out how to explain that we’re not stalking her,” Cameron muttered.
Right. She wasn’t feeling this in the same way we were. It was clear there was interest. I saw the way she took us in, scenting us. She was attracted to us, but because Omegas couldn’t scent match outside of their heat cycle, this torture was ours alone.
Fuck.
It didn’t make sense.
One second the world had structure and order and the next second I was ready to tear everything apart at the seams simply to take another breath of that scent .
“Oh good, there you are. I’d hoped the three of you had made your way back to the party.”
Frank McCabe was the last person on the face of the earth I wanted to see right now. In comparison to the scent I craved, he was sickly. Like a fruit that was a few days past ripeness. I’d never noticed it before, but now I knew every scent would be compared to hers.
“Of course,” Micah said, ever the diplomat. “We might not stay much longer, but thank you for having us.”
“I’m glad you came. About that meeting. Can I have my secretary call yours and put it on the books for sometime next week?”
My eyes narrowed, brain snapping out of its Ocean-induced fog for a moment. That was the second time he’d asked, which meant he wanted something. Badly. The first rule of a business negotiation was never to show your hand too early. If you did, you lost all your power. Frank was on the verge of giving everything away.
“Sure,” Cameron said, clapping the man on the shoulder. “I’m sure we can find some time.”
I reached inside my tuxedo and retrieved my phone to see if the text I sent had yielded any results. The work we asked Aiden to do was just on this side of legal. Well, most of the time. We tried to use his out-of-bounds skills as a last resort. But the Firefly deal leaking to Frank was a situation that warranted the caution. Plus, he worked fast.
Sure enough, there was a text with a link. I clicked on it, the documents opening up to show me what he’d found. I managed to keep the shock off my face.
McCabe Fabrics was in trouble. They were almost bankrupt, and in the red in almost every sector. Why? They had enough clients for a thriving business. What would have made them tank so quickly? I could have sworn the last time we made a cursory check, they were fine.
No word on how the deal was leaked though. Aiden was curt.
Aiden
Nothing on how it got out. This level of cleanliness usually means it was in person and verbal.
“Frank, would you excuse us for just a moment?” I asked him with a smile. “Work never stops.”
“Sure.” His own smile wavered, and he took a step back, looking around the room. For being the host, he didn’t seem to be mingling. Instead, he looked like he stood apart. Odd.
I handed my phone to Micah, and Cameron looked over his shoulder as they looked at the text and the financials. They looked up at me and I nodded.
“Well, that explains why he wants a meeting,” Micah whispered.
Cameron nodded. “Yeah. And gives us an idea of how Firefly leaked. Maybe someone thought they were doing him a favor and wanted to help him?”
“I don’t really care why they did it. They shouldn’t have,” I said. “But you’re right. This should be interesting. I’ll have him dig more.”
Taking back the phone, I texted Aiden my thanks.
Everett
Thank you. I’ll take whatever you can find on McCabe Fabrics’ current financial status.
Aiden
Will do.
Everett
One more thing.
Aiden
You know I live to serve.
I rolled my eyes. We’d known Aiden since college, when he came over from Albion to study. I could practically hear the cheeky fucker and the accent that used to make women fall all over him.
Everett
Zenith’s Board is trying to force our hand and make us get married.
Aiden
Congratulations?
Everett
Fucker. It doesn’t make sense. They’re making up bullshit reasons, and they seem desperate. Can you check?
Aiden
It’ll cost you, but sure.
Everett
Doesn’t it always?
The Board could make up their bullshit reasons, but they weren’t the truth. Until we knew what the truth really was, my mind wouldn’t fully settle.
Not that being married bothered me as much as it had an hour ago. As long as it was with the luscious Omega seared into my mind.
We needed to find her.
And I needed to hit the gym, the pool, or the shower with a bottle of body wash and my own hand if I were going to make it through the night without turning into a literal stalker. My hand curled into a fist, and I closed my eyes. I usually had more control than this.
“Feeling a little on edge, Rett?” Cam asked. He grinned, and I wanted to punch him in the throat.
“You’re not?”
“Oh, I am.” The look in his eyes, deadly serious, told me that. “I’m just reliving that dance in my head to dull that same edge.”
“Fucker,” I muttered, which only made him smile more.
Micah laughed, but I heard the strain. “Let’s get the hell out of here before one of us does something we regret.”
“Fine by me.”
“We’re heading out, Frank,” Micah said, holding out a hand. “Thank you again for having us. But I did have one question.”
“What’s that?” The hope and naked interest on the man’s face was nearly embarrassing.
“Who did your flowers? The design is lovely. I can’t stop looking at them.”
“Oh.” Frank stopped and tried to hide his disappointment. Now that we knew what was behind his request for a meeting, it made sense. The last thing he expected us to ask about was flowers. But he shouldn’t be that surprised. We were involved in every part of our business, and especially in the design side.
Micah was right. The flowers were lovely. But they didn’t smell half as lovely as our Omega.
“They were designed by my niece. I’m sure she’ll be happy to hear you liked them.”
“Your niece?” Cameron asked, frowning. I joined him. This was the first time we’d heard of her. Not that we kept track of the families of our business partners, but in the many events we’d been attended alongside Frank, it seemed strange she wouldn’t have come up if she made creations like this.
Frank nodded and looked around the room. “The daughter of my wife’s late sister. Felicity Caldwell.”
The others met my gaze in shock, and I made a mental note to add one more inquiry to Aiden’s list. The fact that we hadn’t known there was still a living Caldwell did surprise me. The Caldwells were one of the old families on the west coast. Everyone knew them or knew of them, at least until the last son and his wife had died.
I was still young when they passed, but we knew of them by reputation, and the legacy they left behind. Hence there being a gala in their honor, for one of their charities.
“What’s her name?” Cameron asked.
Frank still glanced through the crowd, frowning. “Ocean. I can find her and introduce you if you like.”
My body went so still it might have been electrocuted.
Ocean was his niece. Ocean Caldwell .
My Omega.
“That’s all right,” I said, not wanting him to track her down. Now we had enough information to do it ourselves. “Thank you for telling us.”
He smiled, but it was bland and uninterested. “No problem. I’ll call about that meeting.”
“Please do.” I was already moving across the ballroom and toward the exit by the time the others caught up with me.
Cameron huffed a laugh. “You’d think your shoes were on fire.”
Saying nothing, I grabbed the keys from the valet. My mind was moving now. It had a singular purpose, all revolving around a stunning Omega in blue.
Our enemies, business and otherwise, grumbled that the DuPont pack always won, no matter the cost. That wasn’t always true, but today it was. Because I knew how to get us everything we wanted.
I smiled and turned the keys in the ignition.