Chapter 16
Valentin
Luc: You lucky bastard.
Luc: Tell me what she’s wearing.
Sylvan didn’t meet us in the gym this morning.
Sylvan, who has followed the same routine every single day since we’ve lived together.
Sylvan, who doesn’t miss sessions, doesn’t run late, doesn’t deviate. Not once. Not ever.
Didn’t go to the gym.
Because of Revea.
When Luc, Kai, and I reached the garage, his car was already gone, and Luc’s salon card was missing.
Of course it is.
Sylvan and I think similarly in some ways. Quiet suits us. Facts over feelings. The big difference is, I know when to soften what I’m about to say.
Sylvan does not.
The plan was to speak with him as a pack this morning, just like we would during a mission debrief, and remind him Revea doesn’t know him the way we do.
But he never made it to the gym.
Which is why Kaiden directed me to the salon. I just hope I’ve got here before Revea.
I scan my card and step through the revolving doors, clocking a soft blue glow coming from her otherwise dark office. I jog up the stairs, reaching for the handle—
My phone buzzes, three times in a row. Strange.
I pull it out of my pocket and frown.
Sylvan: Do
Sylvan: Not
Sylvan: Come in
What the fuck?
I stare at the door, listening. I can’t hear a thing, but through the bond, I feel a slight tension in an otherwise calm void.
“Why?” I ask him, wondering why he didn’t speak to me like this.
My phone buzzes again, and this time, I almost drop it.
Slowly, I push open the office door, and there I find Sylvan. Not at the desk like yesterday, but sat on the sofa directly opposite the one Revea is on. She’s here. Not only that, but she’s surrounded by cushions, covered in a blanket, and fast asleep.
Sylvan glares at me. “You could have woken her.”
“Why didn’t you just tell me that through the bond?”
He frowns, eyes darting to the side before looking back at me. “I… I don’t know. I panicked.”
I can’t stop my brows shooting up. Syl panicking, rare, but over something like this? Waking up an omega he barely knows? Unheard of.
I carefully make my way around the sofa, sitting on the arm beside Sylvan, meaning I’ve got an unobstructed view of Revea, and damn, I get why he didn’t want to risk ruining this.
She looks so soft and warm, her rosy cheeks slightly squished beneath her hands in prayer, nudging thin, silver-rimmed glasses. Her hair’s a loose pile of soft waves upon her head, resting against a fluffy cushion of a similar shade of pink. Her lips are slightly open, breaths slow and deep.
The picture Syl sent had my alpha rushing into the room for a better look, but now he’s content to simply admire.
“You were right. I did upset her,” Syl says after a few minutes. “But I think I’ve fixed it.”
I nod, even though neither of us looks at each other—we’re both still focused on her.
“How?”
“I apologised, fixed all the issues, paid for a hundred-thousand-pound retina scan.”
Now I look at him. “Syl.” He turns to me. “Seriously?”
He frowns. “What, you told me to fix it? I’m fixing it.”
I shake my head, holding back my laugh simply because I don’t want to wake Revea. “You’re down that bad, huh?”
His gaze narrows. “What?”
I bite my tongue, remembering I need to speak plainly. “You like her that much, you decided to buy her a sign-in system we don’t even have.”
The furrow leaves his face then, and slowly, he turns back to her.
“I see. Well, she needed it, and…” He’s struggling, meaning he’s about to say something he either doesn’t really understand or doesn’t know how to word. “I want to keep her safe.”
I slowly place a hand on his shoulder, clasping it. “You’ve done good, Syl.”
“I also fixed the staffing issue.”
I frown. “What issue?”
“For the salon.” He pulls something up on his tablet, barely looking at the screen before passing it to me. “Gary and Max.”
“Pack Mercer?” I scan over their profiles. Two Navy Seals who met their omega during a security detail. “But they left after their omega got pregnant. Didn’t want to travel—”
“They won’t need to travel.”
I study him for a moment. “That’s… a really good idea.”
“I know.”
“We should run it past Kaiden first,” I murmur.
“Already did. He agreed. So did Gary and Max.” He finally looks at me. “They can come tomorrow—”
“Sylvan. Just wait. Give me time to speak with Revea first.” I glance back at her, still fast asleep under a blanket. “She was already nervous about alphas working here. You know how she feels about her staff.”
He nods, then pauses for a moment.
“How…” Syl starts, then stops, his gaze darting all over Revea. “How do I get someone to like me?”
Shit. Luc would have been the better choice for this. But Syl’s looking at me with a gaze so intense I know his brain is working overtime trying to figure it out.
“Sounds like you’re doing a pretty good job, considering she felt safe enough to fall asleep.”
“No, she was up all night because of me, researching.” He carefully reaches for the tablet set on the table, then passes it to me.
“She hasn’t slept because I upset her, and she cares so much about her business that she was trying to find a solution on her own.
So I don’t think she likes me very much right now. ”
I start swiping through. I don’t understand half this shit, but I can imagine how long it must have taken to put it all together.
I sigh, placing it back on the table. “I don’t have all the answers, Syl. But a good start would be talking to her. Let her get to know you, make it clear you’re interested.”
“How do I make that clear?”
I scrub a hand over my face. “I dunno, compliment her?”
“I told her she’s very beautiful.”
“When?”
“This morning. I told her she’s very interesting and beautiful.”
What a combination of compliments.
“And her reaction?”
“She went quiet, blushed a little, kept looking at me.” Then he shrugs. “But people do that when they’re scared of me.”
This time, I bite my knuckle to stop chuckling. “Syl, she fell asleep with you in the room. She wouldn’t do that if she was afraid of you. And anyway…” I start to stand, glancing at Revea one more time. “…this omega doesn’t scare easily.”