Page 23 of Omega's Fever

“Good and don’t worry about the match,” She pulls up something on her computer. “When Hayes is convicted, the match will be voided. The Bureau won’t enforce matches with convicted felons. There’d be too much of a public outcry.”

“How convenient.”

If she hears the bitterness in my voice, she ignores it. “Keep taking the suppressants. Get through jury selection, offer a plea, and move on. I need you back and working with Kao on the merger asap.” She takes a deep breath and looks at me. “Any questions?”

Yeah. How do I stop thinking about him? How do I forget the feeling of his hands on me? How do I pretend I don’t care if he’s innocent?

“No questions.”

“Excellent. Oh, and Milo?” She stops me at the door. “Remember, we hired you because you’re smart enough to see the bigger picture. Don’t disappoint me.”

The walk back to my office feels endless.

“That bad?” Kao looks up as I stumble to my desk.

“She wants me to offer a plea and move on.” I pull up the witness list on my computer. My fingers hover over the keyboard.

“Will you?”

I think about Kellen’s face when he said he didn’t do it. The resignation in his voice. Like he’d already accepted that no one would believe him.

“Maybe.” I start typing. “But there are a couple of witnesses I’d like to add anyway.”

“Milo...”

“If he’s guilty, the prosecution will prove it. But I’m not going to railroad him just because it’s easier.”

My phone buzzes. Another Bureau notification. They’re nothing if not thorough.

Prime Match Person Notifications complete.

I shudder. Now everyone knows. Kellen will have had one, although I don’t know how he’ll have got it when the prison won’t allow a phone. All prime matches are published on the Bureau’s website. Anyone googling my name is going to find my name attached to Kellen Hayes.

My uncle will have received a notification too. I might be twenty-seven but I’m an omega and that means he’s still my legal guardian.

I delete the message, pushing the screen a bit harder than I should.

“I need a minute.” I push back from my desk, standing too fast. The room tilts slightly.

The break room is mercifully empty. I fill a paper cup from the water cooler. My hands shake as I pull out the pill bottle.

Two every six hours. That’s what the label says. That’s what Dr. Garrett said.

I tip two into my palm. Then a third. Maybe I’m not going tolet Kellen go to prison if he is innocent but I am also not fucking up my career for him.

They go down hard, catching in my throat.

I get back to my desk and get back to work, my head is swimming as I type up the motion. My phone buzzes yet again. The Bureau, of course.

Prime Match Designation Details: Genetic Compatibility: 97.3% Pheromone Response: Optimal Fertility Probability: 94%

This time I make the mistake of opening the notification and clicking the link. This notification gives me the full blood test results. Each of our biochemical markers is listed. Red for low match. Yellow for medium match. Blue for high match. Green for prime match. The results are a sea of green. There’s no red. No yellow.

I delete that too, then head over to the printer to get my new motion filing.

“You sure about this?” Kao watches me attach the amended witness list to it. I’ve added every person in the case file who might be relevant. “Anne’s going to be pissed.”

“Probably. But at least I’ll be able to sleep at night.”