Chapter 7 #2
“Sweet girl,” Lucas rasps, his fingers dropping to smooth her hair. “There are a lot of layers to Isolde. I’ve seen it just while being her very captive companion, even the things that hide underneath the surface. We’re going to have to be really careful about how we proceed.”
“How so?” I ask, wanting a clear picture.
“Don’t lose your patience,” he says. “She will push all of your buttons, so watch how you react to things. I have a feeling Isolde doesn’t trust anyone easily.”
“Why are you in my apartment?” she asks, turning toward us.
I almost swallow my tongue, unsure of how much she’s heard. I don’t want her to think that we’re trying to manipulate her. We just want to ensure that we aren’t unduly upsetting her.
We can be patient. Oliver has to be while he’s playing the long game, coding and hacking his way into places he shouldn’t be.
I need to be as I move money to places that won’t get flagged.
Sometimes, that means a few dollars here and there in the grand scheme of things.
Lucas’ research, work with hospitals and the medical field, as well as government agencies to ensure that the medications are compliant for patient care all needs a level of finesse also.
“You needed a place to lay down,” I say simply. “It was smart of you to stay close to your prisoner.”
Isolde almost looks chagrined as she pushes herself up to a sitting position. Oliver, Lucas, and I stand in front of her, waiting to see what she’ll do.
“You took a long time to find me,” she grumbles. “I wasn’t hiding from the warehouse cameras on purpose.”
Oliver smirks, raising his brow. “No you really weren’t, Isolde. I’m glad to see that you’re aware of my prowess.”
Her eyes drop to his pants before flying back up to his eyes, and that seems to make Oliver even more pleased.
“You know Lucas is a good alpha, right?” he asks.
“I do,” she admits, blushing. “He’s one of the best. I was testing other things today…”
“Like?” I ask, very much wanting to know. Was she testing his kinks, or if she could get him to come just by edging him? “We came in while you were doing very interesting things to Lucas.”
“Please don’t remind me of my very blue knot,” Lucas says, trying not to pout.
“I was testing myself too,” she says. There’s a cloud that runs over her dark brown eyes before she tries to shake herself out of it.
“I hope you’ll tell us about that at one point,” I rasp.
Isolde is gorgeous. From her beautiful hair that I’d love to wrap around my fist to the pouty lips that I want to kiss, she’s a walking, breathing embodiment of everything I didn’t know I wanted in an omega.
Keep it in your pants and don’t fuck this up.
“Possibly,” Isolde murmurs, standing as she watches us carefully. “I should get out of here before you call the cops on me or something.”
Fuck, she’s going to run. We can’t let that happen.
“Why would we do that?” Oliver asks. “Alesso and I aren’t fans of the police. They’re currently chasing their tails, baby. We have no interest in them.”
“I also understand that you were fed bad intel about the three of us,” I add. “Now that you know that Nico was lying, where do we stand? You’re our scent match, topolina. You’re going to grant Oliver’s dream.”
At Isolde’s curious glance, Oliver sighs.
“Lucas, Alesso, and I are not a pack, but I’ve been awkwardly courting them,” he says. “You may be a key player in helping me.”
“I doubt that,” she says, lips twitching.
I can tell that she’s intrigued, but unsure of where this is going. I’d love to clue her in, but Oliver is holding his cards close to his chest. I don’t have any idea what he’s up to, unless he’s to leverage her as our scent match.
Fuck, would he push that angle? She already passed out from the realization.
“A scent match is that hidden gem that all alphas hope for,” Oliver begins, freezing the air in my lungs.
“You know that the three of us are your scent matches, but none of us have any expectations in regards to that. The ball is in your court, Isolde. I do have a question, though. All of my information about you says that you’re a beta, which obviously isn’t true. Why are you hiding?”
“It’s easier,” she whispers. “No one wants an omega assassin. They’re too chaotic, needy, and unpredictable.”
“From your track record on the dark web, you’re at least two of those things,” he teases gently.
“Your hits are brutal and always make a statement to the underbelly of our society. Didn’t you string up the O’Donald brothers with their dicks removed and stuffed in their mouths in the mayor’s front yard? ”
“He knew that they were crooked fuckers and did nothing about it,” Isolde says.
“Granted, I don’t much care about how people break the law, but they were buying omegas at auction and forcing them to service high powered men at parties.
These were parties where the mayor happily had his knot buried in these trafficked omegas. ”
“I didn’t say it wasn’t deserved,” Oliver shrugs. “Did I?”
“No. I suppose you didn’t,” she sighs. “You’re…very confusing.”
“Oliver likes games,” Lucas says, rolling his eyes. “I do need to return to my life, as much as I’ve enjoyed our time together, Isolde. Will you come with me?”
Isolde’s eyes grow really large and my nostrils flare as I smell her delicious scent.
“Can I play house too?” I ask. “I promise I’m house trained. Topolina, we just met, but I want to get to know you. Oliver does like to play games, but the ones that matter aren’t ones that would hurt you.”
“Never,” Oliver says, glaring at me. “It’s true, I do take great pleasure in being extra annoying as I parcel out information on the dark web.
However, I make sure I’m standing on the right side of my morals at the end of the day.
Every day, there are people searching for loved ones on the dark web, or trying to gain access to an auction.
The time I use to annoy the person asking for information is done so that I can find out why they’re trying to find it.
Other days, I simply want to watch the world burn so I fuck over people like Nico. ”
“God, he’s such a shithead,” Isolde seethes. “I’m trying to talk myself out of killing him. He’s paying me out the nose for both wasting my time and kidnapping Lucas. Not that I haven’t had fun with you…”
Lucas’ grin is so wide I want to hit him. I think he actually enjoyed Isolde’s version of torture. He looks smug as fuck.
“I enjoyed it myself, darlin’,” he croons. “Do you have any other jobs that are pressing?”
“No…Why?” she asks.
“Oliver is about to get his wish,” Lucas says with a nod. “Let’s get the fuck out of Indianapolis. I’ll call Grant on the drive and tell him that I fell off the face of the earth because I found my scent match and that you and I needed time to get to know each other.”
“At the point of a knife?” I ask, rolling my eyes.
“And mark up all this pretty skin?” Isolde asks, scandalized. “Absolutely not. Electricity is more fun anyway.”
“You’re perfect,” I say, the words coming out before I can pull them back.
“I’m mildly insane on a good day,” she corrects. “The three of you are bigger than life together.”
“Don’t you think you deserve three alphas who can not only keep up with you, but won’t blink at the knowledge that you enjoy fucking up the status quo?” Oliver asks, determined to get her to see what he does.
“I don’t think I deserve anything,” she says, turning away to begin packing her things. “The world doesn’t work like that.”
“Maybe not,” I say, looking to find a way to get her to take us seriously.
“Let’s start at a more reasonable place.
You seem to be really good at your job. Killing easily doesn’t just happen, so it makes sense that you’d see the world differently than the average omega.
Meaning, you might wonder what our reasons are for wanting to court you. ”
“Who said anything about courting?” she asks, putting away her laptop. Oliver’s gaze follows her, and he looks very interested at the things she’s putting away.
“If I’m willing to court the alphas in this room for months after only meeting them once, you bet your sweet ass that I’m going to want to give you the world,” he growls.
“Biology may say that you’re mine, but I know it’s not that easy.
The only way you’ll ever know if the three of us are compatible in other ways is to see for yourself. ”
“What about dates?” Lucas asks. “You can have your own space, and we can figure out proper dates…like gentlemen. Isolde, I know that you had to stop taking your blockers for me to be able to know you’re my scent match.
You wanted me to figure it out today, while you were making me hope that you’d stroke my cock with that sweet electricity running through your nails. ”
My hands fist at the imagery, my cock straining against my pants. Damn, that’s a pretty fucking picture.
“I wanted you to know,” Isolde says, her arms crossing over her chest. The blanket fell when she stood, but I keep my gaze on her eyes.
It’s difficult, but I manage.
“Then why is it different when you have three alphas instead of one?” I ask. This is a dance we’ll continue to do until she makes it clear.
“I know who Lucas is, I don’t know who you are,” she says, her voice rising with anxiety.
“Fair enough. Lucas, Alesso and I are moving in,” Oliver says. “I have time to give you, Isolde. Alesso and I can work from anywhere in the world.”
I’m not going to say anything about the way he just spoke on my behalf, because he’s right.
“I guess I have house guests now,” Lucas says, amused. “Where are you staying if not with us, darlin’?”
“I’ll figure it out,” Isolde says.
“You know I can find you, baby. That’s not a threat, it’s a promise. There’s nowhere you can go now that I won’t follow. Don’t ditch us,” Oliver warns.
Swallowing hard, Isolde nods, and perfumes again. Fuck yeah, baby. Please show us that you want to be pursued. I enjoy a good hunt.
My face remains as stoic as possible, but I can’t control the way I’m drinking her in.
Isolde’s eyes flit over our faces, almost as if she’s trying to memorize them. We can’t keep her from running, that’s her choice.
“Out we go, boys,” Lucas says, turning us around.
“Your shoes,” Isolde says, taking a small step forward in worry.
“My car is just downstairs,” Oliver says. “He’ll be fine.”
Now that we’ve laid out what we want, there’s nothing else to do but make our exit. My chest begins to hurt once I’m downstairs, and I rub my hand over it.
“I don’t like this,” I rasp. “Why does this seem wrong?”
“Because it is,” Lucas growls, his jaw tight as he follows alongside us. “She should be coming with us. I need whoever tried to break her dead.”
“That’s a given,” Oliver grunts, his head down as he gets into the front seat of the sedan. It was the only thing available at the rental place.
I told him only grandpas drive these, and he seemed very pleased with that. Now, knowing how much he dislikes being out in the public eye, I can understand why he liked the car.
It’s impossible to get comfortable in the back seat next to Lucas as Oliver pulls away from the warehouse, and I have a really bad feeling about all of this.
“Here,” Oliver says, handing me a device. “You can watch her from here until she leaves the apartment and warehouse. I placed tiny cameras at both places.”
My eyes remain glued to the screen as I watch her take a deep breath and then begin to search the apartment. My lips split into a grin as she finds the first two cameras, and I’m laughing as she misses the last.
“So smart,” I purr. “She’s finding the cameras, Oliver.”
“Fuck, I had a feeling she might,” he says, shaking his head.
“She just found the last one and flicked it off,” I report. “I wish Isolde was coming with us.”
“She knows where I live, she’ll find her way,” Lucas says with more confidence than I have. “Now, I have to return to the land of the living.”
“You look pretty good for someone who was kidnapped,” I tease him as Oliver hands him a phone. I have no doubts that it can’t be traced.
“Which is why I know she’ll come around,” Lucas says with a nod. “Isolde likes me, is attracted to you two assholes, and her curiosity is going to pull her back to us. I just hope that it’s sooner rather than later.”
Fuck. Please don’t disappear, topolina.