Page 34

Gwen

M y heart thundered in my ears, as Damien danced the Bear King’s big solo at the end of the act. Clark had just gone down on me. In a theater.

Which had been exquisite–and incredibly difficult to not make a sound.

Snuggling Clark, I held my breath as Damien started the sequence of thirty fouettés, doing them almost perfectly, with only a hint of travel. He ended on his knees, presenting the sword in both hands, as the act ended and the theater erupted into applause.

I shot to my feet and clapped.

The lights turned on and people left their seats. I went to the rail and looked out at everyone below. But I couldn’t bring myself to look across or next to me. Had anyone seen? While they probably wouldn’t have noticed him under my dress, they might have glimpsed him scooting down to the floor.

Still, that was something I wouldn’t soon forget. Would recommend.

His arms wrapped around my waist. “I’ll get us something to drink.”

“Okay, I’m going to use the restroom.” I tipped up my head for a kiss. “Can I have my panties back?”

“Ummm, no.” He grinned.

I rolled my eyes. It was a long dress, so I supposed it didn’t matter.

We left our box, and I went to find the restroom. A woman walked past me, in a smart suit. No, it couldn’t be. My heart roared in my ears and for a moment I was being called a tease again like when Lucius’ family pushed to have me tried for murder.

They claimed teenage me encouraged Lucius by being kind when we used to message each other. Back when I was stuck in bed with a broken hip and he’d been plunged into a new situation, when his parents became Prime Ministers.

Apparently a beta being nice to an alpha was flirting. Ugh, I wasn’t flirting. I was bored.

Of course, I just made it worse by hiding from him and going to live with Nonna after he decided he wanted me. That was inviting the chase. Because alphas will be alphas and all that toxic bullshit.

According to them, I’d wanted him the whole time. Me changing my name and moving was just part of an elaborate long-con, so a pitiful little beta like me could snag an alpha from a powerful family.

That if I truly hated being imprisoned, after he kidnapped me, I would’ve escaped.

It didn’t matter that part of the reason Lucius wanted me was because I was supposed to have been a part of the compensation for his parents helping my uncle with his coup. When that coup failed, Lucius had decided he still wanted me, because I was meant for him.

Lucius’ family might own the police, but they didn’t own them enough to arrest a nineteen-year-old beta for killing her alpha kidnapper in self-defense, after he’d held her for weeks, then shot the police officer trying to rescue her.

It had left its mark on me and given me another reason to flee Vancouver.

For a moment it got hard to breathe, and I felt faint, all the good feelings from earlier disappearing.

“Are you okay, dear?” A well-dressed, older omega woman came up to me.

Gulping, I tried to breathe. Because it wasn’t her. She was back in Canada, being a smug bitch.

I nodded slowly. “I just need a drink of water and the restroom.”

“Do you need me to help you find your alpha?” Her look was kind.

“I’m okay, thanks.” Giving her a weak smile, I got in the restroom line, then checked my phone.

Isa

I saw your ex’s omega being mean to you online. Do you want me to ruin her life?

While the thought warmed me, I wasn’t sure how Isa would ruin her, other than to get her favorite shoes discontinued. It was also late in Paris.

Me

How? BTW, I’m at the ballet being a fashion disaster.

I actually wasn’t. This was a dress that Valya had bought for me. While the purse wasn’t from Faun, it was from an upscale designer, and Isa had sent me the black leather, green-soled pumps.

After I used the bathroom, I washed my hands and put my gloves back on, then sent Isa a mirror pic. Clark bought me beautiful chandelier earrings, and I wore the necklace Matty had sent for my birthday.

The necklace from Cooter didn’t work with this dress. I wore the beacon bracelet, because it was pretty and, given the day I’d had, clearly every day was a good day to record assholes.

Giving my hair a fluff, I reapplied my lipstick. So far, the night had been fantastic. My pretty earrings, a nice dinner, and box seats to see my favorite ballet. It didn’t matter that Dimitri had suggested it. If anything, I applauded Dimitri for his observation skills. Yeah, when he found his omega he was going to make her so happy.

What mattered was that Clark tried to do something that made me happy, even if he was clearly not a ballet person.

Tens hadn’t texted me back, but he might not be there yet. Though he’d liked the photo of me getting ready. I’d also gotten a picture of his giant frame scrunched into the middle seat in coach. Poor Tens.

Isa

You look lovely. Enjoy. She’s getting a custom Vecci mating gown designed. I’m not doing it, but I can get her dropped and banned.

I’ll give word so that no one, at any fashion house worth having, will design, or even sell her a couture gown.

Hmm. I shot a text off to Verity and Valya to clarify exactly what level of petty this was. While sure, it must be wonderful and special to have a custom or designer gown, there were lots of nice dresses out there.

Leaving the bathroom, I went in search of Clark in the box lounge area. People milled about with drinks; a few people had snacks.

“There you are.” Clark joined me, holding two glasses of champagne, each one with a strawberry in it. He handed me one.

“Thank you. I feel so fancy.” I tapped my glass to his. Yet another sweet touch, though I’d love some water. I took a drink as the bubbles exploded across my tongue.

Clark took a sip. “I feel fancy, too. I ordered some waters and stuff for our box. But I thought you’d like something special.”

I leaned into him, and his arms wrapped around me. “It’s perfect. Tonight is perfect. Our seats are perfect.”

“Our interlude.” His warm breath tickled my neck as he whispered into my ear.

My thighs squeezed together in remembrance. “Perfect. You're perfect and I love you.”

My phone buzzed.

Verity

It is deliciously petty. It’s quite sweet of your sister.

Valya

Do it. She won’t be able to get anything worth having.

Clark leaned over my shoulder. “Plotting?”

“My sister offered to cancel Austin’s omega’s custom dress?” I finished my champagne and set it on a tray. Since it was nice of Isa to defend me like that, I told her to go ahead, even though I didn’t understand why it was a big deal.

“Gwen!” Lauren bounded over to me, looking lovely in a blue, sparkly dress.

“Lauren. Are you here with your pack? I’d love to meet them.” I’d only met her alpha who was her pair skating partner.

Clark blinked and gave her a wave. “Hi, I’m Clark.”

“Clark, this is Lauren. We ice skated together a very long time ago. Lauren, this is my boyfriend, Clark.” Who she’d heard all about, since she sometimes stopped by to gossip when I was working at the rink.

Lauren’s hair was up in curls with a hint of glitter, and she looked the epitome of the dainty, ethereal omega. “I’m here with my sister. She and her friends are in town for a girls’ trip and they had an extra ticket. I told her to ask you, because it’s your favorite. But your sister said you had a game tonight. Was it canceled?”

“It’s tomorrow. She must have been mistaken?” I blinked, having not talked to any of my sisters about my schedule. “You know my sister?”

I couldn’t fathom which one.

“Chiara went to Posey with my sister, remember?” Lauren prodded. “Their girls’ trip is because of an alumni thing.”

“Chiara’s a little old to have gone to the academy with your sister.” Because Chiara was nearly fifteen years older than me, and the sister I remembered was younger than Isa.

“My other older sister. They’re super good friends.” Lauren gave me an expectant look.

What was even happening here? I hadn’t spoken to Chiara since I’d gone out the window and I’d consider that being yelled at as not talking .

“Oh, now I remember. Silly me.” Nope, I didn’t remember that she had a sister that old. Just like I had no idea this sister had gone to Posey and was friends with Chiara.

My blood ran cold. Lauren had told her sister about seeing me at the club. I thought it was the one I remembered.

Oh fuck.

Clark’s hands tightened around me, and I could see the questions in his eyes.

Lauren waved at someone. Several other women, including Chiara, all in their mid-to-late thirties, came over. The omegas wore fancy gowns, too much jewelry, and held glasses of wine. One looked a lot like Lauren. They all had silvery mate bites.

“Look, Gwen’s here. We used to skate together when we were tiny.” Lauren beamed.

Chiara's big, doe eyes blinked. “What are you doing here?”

“Hockey game’s tomorrow, Chiara. Not that you’ve ever cared enough about me to know my game schedule. I’m on a date with my boyfriend.” I wished I could just melt into him and be away from my older sister.

She wore a hot pink, halter mermaid dress. It was the dress I’d tried to ask to borrow and described wrong. Chiara looked like a sea cucumber.

“Oh, silly me.” She put a small, manicured hand to her lips in mock-embarrassment.

I felt nauseous. Had Lauren’s sister told Chiara about me? Chiara could have run into Lucius at some event. Her mates were political.

“Hi. I’m Lauren’s sister, Lacy,” the older omega, who looked like a curvy version of Lauren, said. “You probably don’t remember me. It’s so nice to see you.”

Chiara looked me up and down, a little baffled. “What are you dressed as?”

“Isa said I was beautiful.” I flinched.

“Ugh. I can’t believe they let you wear Mom’s Dubois to some sort of school hockey dance. It was downright disrespectful both to Mom and the dress,” she fired back. She turned to her friends. “She had the audacity to wear my mom’s omega ball dress. The one in her honor wall photo.”

Lauren frowned. “The pink one from the Knights’ championship cup dinner? I thought you looked so pretty. I loved how Have No Mercy turned it into a clever fake ad.”

Chiara rolled her eyes. “It’s the principle. A beta like her shouldn’t wear that dress.”

“At least I didn’t rip it and not tell anyone,” I shot back.

“Ceci, there you are.” Arms wrapped around Chiara.

Bile rose in my throat as I realized who those arms belonged to. I hadn’t been imagining things.

But why was she hugging my sister?

“Franny, you remember Gabby. I mean, oops, Gwen. ” Chiara looked up and gave Francesca a lovely-dovey look. “I don’t understand why you changed your name. Gabby’s so cute and Gwen’s sort of boring. Like your dress.”

“Her dress is fine, Ceci,” Lacy said. “I have one similar in blue. Did you get it at that cute boutique on 5th?”

All the oxygen left my body as Lucius’ older sister glared at me. She looked so much like him that it made me flinch. Her features were sharp, almost pinched, her light-brown hair short, brown eyes made up.

“I’m pretty sure you know why she changed her name.” Clark’s voice went low. “Also, her dress is beautiful.”

“When did this happen?” I tried to keep my voice from shaking. Was my sister involved with Franny? Her of all people. Yeah, Chiara could be bitchy, but this…

This was diabolical.

I fumbled for the button on my bracelet–the button that recorded, not the one that texted my location. No one ever believed how mean Chiara and Maricella were to me. I needed some proof.

Of course they were omegas, so New York’s one-party consent rule didn’t apply, but I wasn’t using it in court, just with my family.

“A few years. She’s a great addition to our pack.” Her tone grew flippant.

Well, that explained the snarky comments about me shooting Lucius making things awkward for her socially. Those would be some interesting dinners with Franny’s parents.

“What the fuck are you doing in New York?” Franny blurted.

I turned to her. “I live here. Which I’m sure you know. So which one of you told Lucius where to find me? Or was it all Maricella’s idea?”

Chiara’s meanness was usually at Maricella’s behest.

“Fuck,” Clark whispered, keeping close to me.

Lauren looked pale. “What?”

“It is not your fault, Lauren,” I soothed. “You had no idea I changed my name and moved because I was hiding from an entitled obsessive alpha.”

I wanted to shake my sister senseless. Did she even realize the harm she caused?

“Oh, stop being dramatic.” Chiara’s eyes rolled. “He was a perfectly nice alpha who wanted to be with you . I did you a favor. The dads took you away from him and I gave you back. You’re soulmates. It was mean to keep you apart.”

“For fuck’s sake. I was a teenager and not interested. Whatever it was, it wasn’t love. Certainly he wasn’t my soulmate. I’m supposed to give in to unwanted advances just because he’s a rich alpha?” Anger raged inside me.

Chiara frowned deeply. “You brought all this on yourself, you know. Really, you’d never do better than him. You should have relented, or the dads should have given you to him instead of sending you to live with Nonna. As if leaving Canada would help.”

“You murdered my brother. He was a good man.” Franny looked like she would pounce on me.

Clark growled. “It was self-defense. He kidnapped her. Good men don’t do that.”

I didn’t want to talk about this, but all my anger, all my frustration, both with this and my overall shitty day, bubbled to the surface.

“The officer who died in my arms was a good man. Lucius harassed me, kidnapped me, and hurt me. He shot a police officer. And you both think I deserved it. Why should I allow an alpha I can’t stand to force-bond me just because he’s rich and powerful?” My free hand balled into a fist.

It took every bit of willpower to not jump on my sister and pound her smug over-made-up face.

“If you would’ve accepted him, he never would have done those things.” Chiara waved her dainty, manicured hand dismissively. “We all have to do things we don’t like for the greater good, Gabby. You embarrassed everyone by not giving in from the beginning. Thank goodness Mom wasn’t there to see all this.”

“Chiara, honey, are you hearing yourself? It sounds like you’re blaming your little sister for being kidnapped,” one of her friends said, looking horrified.

“Don’t you dare bring Mom into this.” Tears pricked my eyes.

“We are blaming her. You should be behind bars for what you did,” Francesca snapped. “He was only twenty-two.”

“No, you should be behind bars for what you did. I was separated from everyone and everything and forced into police protection at sixteen because of him . He killed our grandparents. Terrorized me. He got to live his life free. I had to hide and go no-contact with my family for years. And you told him where to find me–then have the audacity to tell me I deserve to be kidnapped? I can’t believe you. How dare you?”

Part of me wanted to throw my champagne on her designer dress. Though I didn’t, purely because it had been Mom’s.

My face contorted into a snarl. “Also, you’re with Francesca ? Not only is she my kidnapper’s sister, but she wanted me tried for murder. Because apparently being held against my will for two weeks, by a man who injected me with mega-push, and broke my leg, isn’t a good enough reason to shoot someone. For all we know, she helped him like our uncle did.”

“She’s a better person than you. You’re such an embarrassment.” Chiara turned up her nose, like a duchess in a costume drama.

“Gwen’s not an embarrassment,” Clark growled. “She’s one of the best people I know. She has a kind heart. Also, she’s smart, and goes to a good university, and will become one of the greatest goalies ever.”

Shock crossed Lacy’s face. “Your sister went into hiding because of a stalker? This stalker is Franny’s brother? He found out where you were and kidnapped you.”

I nodded. “Yep. I was nineteen. ”

“It doesn’t matter. That was in the past.” Chiara waved it off.

“He’s not a stalker, he’s the victim,” Franny hissed. “It’s all her fault my brother is gone.”

“Are you shitting my dick right now?” Clark snapped. “Both of you disgust me. She was a literal child when this started. Do you have any idea what he put her through? She’ll have to live with what happened at that lake house for the rest of her life. Because you gave her stalker the information he needed to find her. I hope you don’t have children. I’d hate to think about how you’re raising them.”

They had lots of kids.

“Stay out of it, asshole,” Franny snapped. “He needed to know where she was. She was his scent match. Or well, would have been if she were an omega. She’s too damaged for mega-push to even work on her.”

“No, I wasn’t his scent match,” I snapped. “My scent match, who is not Lucius, is dead, because of your brother. So shut the fuck up before I have to brick you down with shit dicks. Wow, Chiara, you’ve been pretty shitty to me, but this… this is the worst. You’re not my sister and if you’re at Christmas, I’m not coming. I don’t care how old the dads are,” I shot back, not wanting to be in the same room as her.

“Your soulmate died?” Lauren’s eyes filled with tears. Lacy bit her lower lip.

I looked away. “In my arms, after Franny’s brother shot him for trying to save me.”

Some omegas looked stricken and whispered to each other.

The chimes which indicated intermission would end soon and we should all return to our seats rang through the lounge. Thank fuck.

“Stay home then. I don’t care. No one cares. Maricella said we were doing you a favor, because you’d no longer be a burden to us. Honestly, the family is better off without you. We don’t even miss you. I mean, you’re not really one of us, anyway.” She turned her back to me. “Come on, Franny. We don’t want to miss the second act.”

The two of them sauntered off as if nothing had happened.

Rage coursed through me. How dare they? Clark’s arms tightened around me, probably to keep me from chasing them. I could take my sister. But Franny was an alpha. Also, my image didn’t need me beating up an omega. Even if she was a bitch.

Now I knew who had told Lucius. Shitballs, I hadn’t seen that coming.

“She always made it seem like you sort of just struck off after your mom died and changed your name out of spite. She seemed genuinely excited to hear about you back then,” Lacy said softly.

“Yeah, you running off to play hockey made so much sense, I know how you love it,” Lauren added.

“I’ve got you. You’re wonderful and amazing. You didn’t deserve anything from Lucius.” Clark bundled me into his arms. “None of it was your fault.”

Pressing my face to his chest, all I could do was shake. Chiara told. Also, she was with Franny and no one told me? I mean, the siblings I was now in contact with weren’t really close to Chiara. But shouldn’t someone have alerted me to this?

“Aren’t Francesca’s parents the prime ministers? I thought her brother was in Europe?” one of the other omegas whispered.

Lucius’ death was never reported on the news. He just sort of disappeared from the spotlight, and occasionally a cousin that looked like him was shown on the news with them from a distance, like he was still alive. My uncle stood trial for my kidnapping, since it was his lake house, and he was a part of the plot.

Just like it was my uncle’s homeowner's insurance, not Lucius’ family or the police department that gave Officer Jones’ family a payout for his death.

“That’s how he got away with everything–and how it all got hidden. You’re not finding this in the news, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t happen,” I retorted.

Clark held me tight and planted a kiss on my head. “It’s okay, Sweetness.”

“We… we should go back to our seats. I… I’m so sorry,” Lauren whispered.

I appreciated how no one questioned any of this.

“It’s okay,” I sobbed into his jacket.

“Do you want to go home?” he asked.

“I want to stay. Just let me clean up my makeup?” The lights flickered, indicating we should return to our seats now . Since we had a box, it shouldn’t matter if we were a bit late.

I went into the bathroom and fixed my makeup, taking a moment to calm myself. I shut off the recording and made a mental note to download it later. Maybe I should set it up to text it to myself.

Also, I texted Joe, Isa, and Matty.

Me

No one thought to tell me Chiara is with Lucius' sister?

Isa

What? I don’t actually talk to her.

Joe

Are they together? I thought she was a hanger-on?

Matty

I think she’s a side piece? Didn’t mention it because the dads don’t let Franny in the house. Sorry.

Okay, that made me feel a little better. In the group chat, I angrily laid everything out that had happened as I leaned against the sink, trying not to cry.

All those horrible things that happened at the lake house were because of my sister. My own fucking sister.

Matty

I’ll make sure Chiara doesn’t come to Christmas. I’m sorry that happened and I can’t believe she was the one that told.

Isa

How dare she. No Vecci for her either. Come. I need to see you. I miss you. You can stay at my hotel if you need to.

Joe

This is why I don’t talk to her. Ugh, sorry, Buttons. You can always hide in the backhouse.

Right. Joe had mentioned that he’d moved out of the backhouse not long after I’d gone out the window, started working remotely, and sort of separated himself from the dads, well, as much as he could.

“Gwen, are you still in there? We can go home. Or go ice skating. Or go to the bar.” Clark’s voice came through the bathroom door.

Me

Thank you. I need to get back to the ballet.

I love and miss you all.

I came out and launched into his arms, comforting myself with his scent.

“Let’s go see the rest?” I wanted to see it.

“Okay. There’s some drinks and snacks in our box. I… I arranged for you to go backstage and pet the tutus. If you still want to do that?” Clark looked a little apprehensive and worried.

My head popped up. “You did? I can’t wait. That is the nicest thing. Honestly, Chiara and Franny aside, this has been an amazing evening. Let’s continue to enjoy our night.”

He squeezed me tight. “You're an amazing woman, Gwen Di Rossi.”

Amazing, no. But I loved this man. He’d planned a lovely night, and I wasn’t going to let her ruin it.