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His fingers clenched as he pulled me down for a tender kiss.

“You know, you can still be Tahlia whenever you want.” His eyes sparkled. “The pack wouldn’t know what to do with themselves.”

I hummed under my breath as I pulled out my phone and hit send on the message to Thorn.

Leaving for Astaly was no longer the path I wanted to go down. Not when I had Baylark Pack healing all my hurts.

23

Walden

“Thanks, I need about ten more of those.” I shared a grin with Pan as he poured me a cup of coffee. My sleep was even worse than usual. Between the final gala adjustments, organizing my campaign to run for mayor, and the whispers about HLA rebels persisting, sleep was the last thing on my list.

Lloyd fussed with the meeting room speakers and a scowl cut lines into his face. “It’s not working.”

“Technology, it never does what it’s supposed to. I tested this yesterday, and it was perfect,” Ajax said, as Pan poured him a drink as well. Lloyd threw his hands up in the air, slumping back into his chair.

Pan slid into his with a shrug. “Well, which of the gods oversaw technology? Give them my regards, because frankly, I’mthrilled not to have to stare at any of the Foundation board’s faces this early in the morning. We can still do audio, can’t we?”

I wet my lips and pulled up my spreadsheet, thumbing through the data. We invested a lot of money to build a conference room at home, and the technology failure frustrated me. The pack put it in to curb my long hours at the foundation. But if the technology failed, what was the point? My neck prickled.

“Yeah.” Lloyd blew out a breath. “We can still connect fine, but you know how much of a stickler Roger is.”

“Prepare yourselves for a deluge of passive aggressive comments.” Ajax rolled his eyes.

Pan pushed over a plate with cut fruit and I grabbed a few slices of orange. His eyebrows shot up, like he hadn’t expected me to take it. The orange was too tart to enjoy, but the sourness woke me up more than the caffeine did.

“He’ll remember his place. Being the vice president isn’t everything. One day he’ll be gone, and the Baylark name will remain.” I was in no mood to deal with the short-tempered man who made up part of the board.

“Maybe we’ll get a visit from Tahlia again.” Lloyd shot me a sly look.

“Fuck.” The expletive tore my throat up. “I won’t survive it if she does.”

Tully introduced us to Tahlia yesterday, during another boring meeting. The femme fatale alter ego she used for Only Omegas. Her skin, the red wig, the ribbons wrapped around her body. What followed afterward? I shook my head. I needed to focus on work, not Tully’s allure. My control snapped, and I didn’t feel like I’d gained it back yet.

Tully made me lose myself, like Pan, and it was heady and irresistible. I wanted to push back from the table and boundupstairs to find her. Would she be filling out her journal? I could splay her out and spell the words on her clit.

No. Stop. I needed to focus on this gala and my legacy. Tully was an important part of my future, but I couldn’t lose sight of the whole picture.

“I don’t think I can get through another meeting without her. What Tully did with those ribbons? It lives rent free.” Pan whistled and tapped his head.

“She’s perfect,” Ajax sighed.

“She doesn’t think so,” Lloyd added, and his expression turned serious. “Yesterday was a step in the right direction, but we have to make sure we reinforce how much we adore who she is right now.”

My brow furrowed. “What does that mean?”

“The Hartlockness of it all, daddy.” Pan rolled his eyes. “She doesn’t think she’s good enough.”

“Ridiculous,” I scoffed.

“I agree, but if someone tells you something enough times, you believe it.” Lloyd swallowed.

We fell into silence. Thoughts could be insidious, invisible shackles from someone else’s careless lips. I didn’t argue with Lloyd, because I knew every one of us had that little voice in the back of our head. Telling us we weren’t enough. I crushed mine under my ambition. I worked hard every day to prove myself and it paid off.

My name was my legacy, and I was worth it. I’d make sure Tully felt the same way.

“Roger is waiting, you ready?” Ajax hovered his hand over his mouse.