Page 67 of Their Knotty Pack (Starbrook City Omegaverse #3)

Bethany

T he guys pass the incriminating photo around the table. Grayson raises a brow at me, playing it cool. "You want to make a deal so it doesn't get out that our new omega got arrested on a drunk and disorderly?"

New omega? Bullshit. But I won't let them know that I know that. Yet.

"Wow, it's like history repeating itself all over again." I smirk. "You've been through so many omegas at this point, someone might start to wonder if you're the problem ." The last two words are said in a sing-song tone, mocking them.

"I really hope you know what you're doing, bluebell… " Hunter sighs in my ear. I toy with the left earring, our sign for everything being okay.

Grayson lets out a nervous laugh. "That's not—"

"The truth?" I cut him off, raising a brow. "I know. You want to know how I know that Gina Sterling isn't your new omega?" The men around the table look at me like they've never seen me before.

I guess, in a way, they haven't.

"Because she's currently a client at Brody's law firm.

" I smirk. "Bet her old pack didn't tell you that when they sold you her information, did they?

" That's a bit of a reach on my part, just something I guessed on, and they don't deny it.

"They wanted her to disappear, since she started counter-suing them for damages and figured they'd recoup the money they lost on lawyers this way, huh? "

They don't say a fucking word, so I keep going revealing just how much I know. I pull out the second photo, tossing it on the table.

"What I can't quite figure out though, is how Emilia Lopez fits into all of this."

Well, that has them paling. They don't even have to look at the photo, but Preston grabs both photos, ripping them up and smiling triumphantly like he just did something.

"I have copies, dumbass." I roll my eyes, and his face reddens.

We're interrupted by Ethan swinging by, in full waitstaff uniform, taking our drink order. The guys all order water, and I ask for a red wine. If I didn't know any better, I'd almost say there's a wave of…approval coming from him.

He disappears to fill our order, and the guys turn back to me.

"What do you want, Bethany? Are you here to shake us down? Have us buy your silence?" Tucker's hand grasps my knee in an almost painful grip, and I glance down, Hunter's growl sounding in my ear before I slap it away, pure shock the only thing that makes him release me.

A low laugh leaves me. A real one. Of course, Tucker would act hurt that I didn't come back, crawling on my hands and knees.

"I want in."

The original plan included me simpering for them, praising their genius, and asking them to take me back because I'm so miserable without them. It was my idea.

It wouldn't have worked. They would have brushed me off as a "silly little omega" and that would have been it.

A low laugh leaves Chris. "You want in? You? What would make you turn on your fellow omegas? Especially considering your 'mate' ?" I want to snarl at the derision in his tone, and I feel Miles' comfort through the bond, telling me that whatever he's about to hear, he won't believe.

But they'll need to. "Miles ruined everything," I spit. "All the alphas do is pay attention to him. I want nothing to do with any of them anymore."

Their expressions change slightly, and I feel like…am I selling this?

"There it is…" Hunter's voice comes in my ear. "Pull that thread, bluebell."

I scramble for more words, trying to channel what an absolutely evil person would say.

"Why should other omegas get what I want?

The less of them on the street, the less there are to try to steal my pack from me.

First you guys, and then my scent matches…

" I shake my head. "No. I'm done fucking around.

I want to look out for myself for a change. "

Miles's reassurance brushes at me again through the bond, as well as Kieran's. Hopefully they can tell everyone else how sick this is making me feel.

"Interesting…" Preston crosses his arms. "But…how do we know we can trust you?"

I shrug, right as Ethan comes back with our drinks. I take a sip of my red wine. He disappears again.

"I could have taken these photos straight to the police. I could have shown my detective alpha—the one who has been working on this case for years—these photos that I hired a PI to take. I didn't. I lied, told them I was meeting friends, and came to see you."

Grayson purses his lips, regarding me. Preston bites his bottom lip, looking at me like I'm a new toy to play with. Chris and Tucker don't know what to make of me.

"What can you offer us, exactly?" Grayson asks carefully. "That we don't already have, I mean."

"Offer you ?" My brows shoot up in mock confusion. "I don't work with grunts. I want the higher ups."

"Did you just call us fucking grunts?" Chris growls. "We're not grunts, mouse, " he sneers the nickname.

"Oh, you're not?" I ask, still in that innocent voice. "I thought for sure you had someone with more resources, money, and brains running the whole thing."

"Careful Bethany…" Hunter warns, but his voice grounds me.

"You're just a bunch of lawyers though." My nose wrinkles. "It's not like you have any real power. It's why you have to work with Carlson and Lopez."

"Let's get one thing straight, mouse," Preston gives a terrifying smile.

"We don't have to work with them. Their purpose?

It's to make our lives easier. They are the grunts here.

Carlson brings us people, and Lopez tells us which omegas are most likely to cause trouble for the OMS. So tell me, what can you offer us? "

"It's not quite the confirmation we need," Hunter says lowly. "Keep pushing."

"Think of it this way. The omegas who call you directly?

They have money. They're more important, which means, more people are likely to miss them.

" My stomach turns at my own words. "The omegas coming to Omegas First?

They're coming because they have no choice.

It's free, they're poor, which means they have less connections and their disappearances will fly further under the radar. I have full. Access."

I swear, money signs pop up in Preston's and Grayson's eyes. Then…well, I think of something they'll love even more. "And think how suspicious it will look if all of Brody's Benson's clients mysteriously go missing?"

Surprise flits across their features and they exchange looks. I think I got them.

"But…before I commit to anything…" I lean forward, their eyes tracking me. "I want to know where they go."

"You mean you haven't figured it out yet, mouse? And here I thought you had gotten so smart." Preston smirks at me.

At my unimpressed look, he chuckles. "Who is the biggest crime family trafficking omegas on the west coast? After the fighting rings got shut down, they had to think of a new operation. We're Starbrook City's one way ticket to the Russian Mafia's bad side, if you know what I mean."

" Get them to spell it out, bluebell. Demand information on how you get paid."

"How are you gonna pay me then?" I ask, tapping my nails on the table. "I want to save up enough to get away from that pack as soon as possible. And since you four cost me my job at the OMS…" I shrug, crossing my arms.

Grayson lets out a low chuckle. "Yeah, sorry about that. If it makes you feel any better, Lopez already hated you, we just…gave her a push."

Oh yeah. I feel so much better.

I roll my eyes. "So? The payment?"

"Calm down, little rat." Chris grits out. "You'll get your pay when we get ours."

"Which is…?" I fix him with a "get on with it" look.

"Oh my gods." Tucker throws his hands up.

"It's the same as with Lopez and Carlson.

You get us our target, we find a way to acquire them.

It can take anywhere in between one and three days for the Vasiliev family to send someone to pick 'em up.

Then, we get our payment, deposited into our accounts.

Then we pay whoever helped acquire the target. "

"That's how it works every time?" I ask, while Hunter chuckles lowly in my ear. "All seventy-eight times?"

Chris laughs. "Huh. I didn't realize it had gotten that high, but six years, roughly 10-12 omegas a year…Yeah seventy-eight omegas seems about right—"

"Fuck ing bingo," Hunter says in my ear at the same time Georgia appears out of nowhere, slamming Preston's face down into the table and bringing his hands behind his back.

"You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.

You have the right to an attorney—" His Miranda Rights being read is drowned out by the sound of Titus pulling Chris out of his chair and putting him on the floor.

Other people, ones who I didn't even realize were undercover, burst into action, making sure each member of Pack Hansen is subdued before Georgia can get to handcuffing them.

The rest of the restaurant drops silent as they all gawk at the prestigious lawyers being put in handcuffs.

Arms wrap around me, pulling me backwards, but the lemon and ginger scent tell me it's just my alpha.

"Hunter," I breathe, and he turns me around to face him, looking me over like I might be hurt even though he saw every single thing through the cameras.

He looks…pissed.

That anger turns on Pack Hansen as they're led out of the restaurant, spewing vitriol at me. All I do is give them a little finger wave.

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