10. Juliette
CHAPTER TEN
juliette
There’s luxury, and then there’s over-the-top opulence. Every glittery bauble, every shiny medallion behind glass, every priceless antique… It makes me feel like I’m in a museum, not a place where life is supposed to be lived and shared.
Where are the pack photos? The trinkets collected on vacations? The warmth that makes a house feel like home?
They’re as absent as the depth of feeling in this courtship.
Or is that Wyatt’s voice talking? Did I let him get inside my head, skewing my thoughts on this pack of good, solid men that has the potential to be a decent pack to Charlotte and me?
You can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear, Juliette.
When I hear that in Elliott’s voice with a fake Southern accent, I nearly snort out loud but manage to wrangle it just in time.
Our brief call as I got ready for tonight’s dinner probably didn’t help my current predicament.
Once she got over her initial shock of our unexpected reunion, she totally jumped on Team Alpha Daddy and Pretty Boy.
“Did I tell you how beautiful you look tonight, darling?” Alex murmurs in my ear, drawing me back to the present.
The smell of wine is mixed with his heavy oak scent, making my nose twitch.
“Only a dozen times,” I murmur under my breath.
As he pulls back, his gaze drops to my breasts.
Shifting on the uncomfy dining chair, I fluff the navy skirt of my tea-length strapless gown to hide my unease.
I'm now regretting my choice of dress for the evening—there’s way too much cleavage on display—but when I slipped it on after my earlier encounter with Wyatt, it made me feel powerful.
Maybe even beautiful, as Alex has repeatedly pointed out.
But now I feel exposed, and I’m not liking that one damn bit.
Dabbing his cloth napkin across his mouth, Mark sets it beside his plate and leans forward. With his forearms braced against the teakwood table, he reminds me more of a businessman brokering a deal than an Alpha trying to charm his potential mate.
I’ve gotta get that Beta’s voice out of my head, for fuck’s sake.
“So, Juliette, I’m sure you’ve already figured out why we wanted to have you over tonight.”
There are three sets of expectant eyes, all scalding me with their intensity.
“Um… Well… I assumed this was part of the courting process. Sort of a…” I wave my hand through the air as my nerves skyrocket, “Next step, if you will.”
The men share a look, and Liam clears his throat.
“It is, yes, but…” He glances over to Alex who has straightened in his seat, before turning his gaze back to me. “We’re actually hoping that maybe this is the final step. You see, we want you to be our Omega, Juliette, and we would like to know if you are ready to make this official?”
It’s like all of the oxygen is sucked out of the room. Every logical, rational thought I have evaporates under the pressure I now find myself experiencing.
“Juliette,” Mark coaxes. “Say something.”
I’d love to do that, Mark , but my vocal cords seem to be out of order.
Alex grabs my hand, which I suppose is an attempt to calm me down.
It doesn’t work.
“Hey, we aren’t trying to push you into anything?—”
“Actually, we kind of are,” Mark interrupts, his bushy brows furrowing. “It’s been six months, and we’re no closer than we were at the start. We’d like to get an idea if you will ever be ready for that next step.”
Liam and Alex shoot glares at Mark, but he isn’t done.
“Your father is aware that Kash Ford is in town. He told me that he’s cutting his important business trip short. He and your mama are coming home as soon as possible.”
Well, that does it. The air floods back into the room right along with my anger.
“You went to my father and tattled ?”
A slight flush tints his cheeks as he nervously tweaks his tie.
“I did not tattle . It came up in regular conversation when he asked for an update on the courtship. Seeing you with Ford’s pack last night, and with some of what was said…
It just seemed like a legitimate concern to bring up, especially considering the relationship we’re trying to forge here. ”
Slamming my napkin down onto the table, I stand abruptly. “So what you’re saying is, you’ve been giving my father regular updates on the progress of this merger , and with the potential for competition, you wanted to even the playing field . ”
“Juliette, it’s not like that,” Alex interjects softly. “We’ve known your father for years, so we understand how concerned he’d be if he knew his daughter was being hassled by Jack’s son. When Mason originally approached us about a possible match?—”
My heart sinks all the way to my toes. Even though I should’ve known better, I had assumed they approached me of their own freewill. That my dad’s recommendation and approval was based solely on his prior relationship with them. I didn’t know he was the one puppeteering it.
Wyatt’s words ring through my head. That experience comes at a price—namely close ties with your father and maybe even Jack. Then think about their true motives.
Fuck. How could I be so na?ve?
“What did he offer you?”
The room is silent, which is telling in and of itself.
“He didn’t—” Liam begins.
“Don’t you dare lie to me right now.”
He swallows harshly, and his eyes dart to Mark who meets my stare head on.
“A percentage of Callahan International.”
I blow out a hefty breath. “Let me see if I’ve got this right.
You were never truly interested in me or my daughter.
You probably weren’t even all that interested in bringing an Omega into your pack.
But then Mason Callahan dangled a lucrative business proposition in front of you, and you jumped at the chance, regardless of the very real lives caught in the crossfire. Does that about sum it up?”
“Juliette, it became so much more than that. The second we spent time with you and Charlotte, we became fond of you both and?—”
I hold out my hand to stop whatever Alex was about to say next. Oddly enough, he seems to be truly upset about this sudden turn of events.
“That’s why you wanted me to throw away my career? Give away control of my business? Put my daughter in the care of a round-the-clock nanny? All because you are just so fond of us?” My voice breaks toward the end, but I lock that shit up tight.
I won’t let them see me cry. I’ll save that for my special place and a tub of gelato.
“Look, we weren’t exactly forthcoming with how this all came about, but getting to know you and learning what life could be like after adding an Omega into our pack…
” Mark shrugs. “It’s given us a lot to think about.
More than we could have anticipated. I truly believe we could both benefit from this match.
You wouldn’t have to worry about the future because we’d provide for you and your daughter in whatever pursuits your hearts desire, and we would gain a profitable business partner and ally. It’s a win-win for us both.”
“Let’s not forget to mention my dearest Daddy Mason who would finally ensure that his daughter wasn’t caught in the evil clutches of the Fords. Isn’t that right?”
Alex’s pleading eyes meet mine. “You know there is no love lost between the Callahans and Fords. This would give your father a little peace of mind while ensuring his daughter and granddaughter are set up for life.” He attempts to grab my hand again, but I wrench it away.
“Please, Juliette. Just think about it. We promise to protect and provide for you. To make sure you’re always happy. Isn’t that what you want?”
I don’t even attempt to stop the very frustrated, very unladylike snort that escapes. “It turns out you’ve learned nothin’ at all about me in the six months you’ve attempted to do so. Yet you sit here trying to convince me that your main concern is and always will be me ?”
My entire body is a mass of tension, fury, and hurt. I’m trembling, but I’m trying my hardest to hide even the smallest sign of weakness despite the voices in my head telling me that I’ll never be good enough. That no one else will ever want me. That I’ll always be alone.
Straightening my shoulders against the pain radiating through my heart, I take a deep breath in and exhale, then I repeat my mantra.
I am worthy of love. I am deserving of everything life has to offer me. I will not let fear or the toxic voices win.
With one last disapproving look at each of the Alphas, I hold my head up high and try to bring forth that image of the perfect Omega my father so desperately tried to cultivate. I’m damned proud of myself when the mask is only slightly askew.
“I suppose you’re right, Mark. Looks like this is the final step after all.
You can tell my father the deal is off…” Ahhh, screw it.
Perfect never suited me anyways. My accent deepens, dripping with Southern sass and more than a smidge of kiss my ass .
“In fact, I wouldn’t let a single one of you sink your teeth into me even if pigs grew wings.
This ain’t my first rodeo, boys, and it won’t be my last. Think about that when you hear the town gossips chattering about whose knot is warmin’ my bed next.
Oh, right. You never even got that far.”
With a careless shrug and deep satisfaction born of the shocked expressions plastered on their ancient—thank you, Wyatt—faces, I stomp toward the door, down the steps, and to my car.
I don’t really remember starting the engine or maneuvering down the drive.
I barely remember stopping for the large container of spumoni gelato at the closest convenience store or the way the clerk looked about two seconds away from getting a jump start on the town’s gossip line—otherwise known as the emergency phone tree.
My body goes on autopilot, getting me to safety before it can have the breakdown it so rightly deserves.
It isn’t until I park behind the building and have to pull my white-knuckled grip from my SUV’s steering wheel so I can slip off the posh leather seat in my ridiculous dress that I feel the first tremor in my lip.
The massive stables on the Ford estate are dark, but it doesn’t matter.
Hudson and I have an arrangement. I’m allowed here any time I need to get away from it all.
If he drummed his fingers with delight, knowing what this place used to mean to me, I pretended not to notice.
The hide-a-key is exactly where it always is, and the click of the lock is loud in the silence of the night.
I slip in, shut the door, and make my way across the aisle where the stalls form a long line down the length of the space.
The moon is just high enough in the sky to light the way I know by heart.
The scents of hay, manure, and earth assault me, bringing with them a sense of comfort that I so desperately need right now.
Horses nicker and grunt at my intrusion, but I pay them no mind.
The first tears are already falling when my hand hits the rung of the wooden ladder.
With the cheap plastic grocery bag slung over my shoulder, I kick off my heels and climb up to the loft that once held the secret hopes and dreams of a little girl and her best friend.
It was our hideout—a place where Kash and I could get away when the adults were adulting too hard.
With a couple of bean bags and a simple coffee table, a large rug that has definitely seen better days, and a sign that clearly announces Adults Keep Out!
, it shouldn’t elicit the utter sense of calm it does.
But the second my bare feet hit the wooden floor, I hardly get three steps in before what feels like a lifetime’s worth of heartache explodes out of me.
I collapse onto the nearest bean bag, the gelato clutched in my arms like a baby.
A gut-wrenching sob echoes through the silent interior, and I just let it all go.
Every failure.
Every negative opinion.
Every bit of anguish I’m harboring in my soul.
I let it go.
Elsa ain’t got nothing on me.