Page 52 of Two For the Show (Trapped On The Tightrope Duet #2)

“You’ll have to come visit next month,” I tell Sylvia, resting my chin on my hand and smiling at her image on my phone screen. “We’ve made a few changes to the lineup since the last time you were here.”

She laughs and runs her fingers through her gray-streaked hair. “Don’t tell me you got rid of that handsome masked man. I’ll never forgive you.”

I roll my eyes. “Guy isn’t going anywhere, you know that. He even expanded his act. Now there are five of them that stalk through the audience. They even bring people up on stage.”

“What’s a girl gotta do to get that treatment?” she sighs dramatically. “An old woman could use a little excitement in her life.”

“If you come out, I will make sure you’re selected. It’s not one of those sexy man dancer shows, you know that, right? Like, they tie up the audience members and drag them around.”

I still don’t understand the point of the act if the men aren’t doing sexy dances, but hey. Not my circus, not my masked men.

Sylvia seems to be enjoying retirement. She moved to a small town with a classic main street where everyone seems to know everyone.

I’ve visited her there a few times, and though it’s a little boring for my taste, with only a bookstore, coffee shop, and a general store on the main strip, she’s happy.

She’s taken over managing the coffee shop, because, of course, she has.

But she swears it’s much less stress than the coffee truck, so I don’t give her too much grief.

We talk about everything and nothing for the next hour.

These weekly chats with her are so good for my soul.

After things settled, I reached out to her and apologized for going radio silent after she dropped me off with the guys.

She wasn’t upset because she’s Sylvia and too good for me, but she did demand all the dirty details.

“When is the sentencing?” she asks gently. “Soon, right?”

Rich, Tripp, and Greg were all found guilty of attempted human trafficking.

They’re expected to get at least seven years in prison each, with mandatory sex offender registrations after.

Rich has lost his license to practice medicine, and Tripp and Greg won’t have any luck getting employment, either.

Governor Evans completely distanced himself from his son, urging federal charges to be filed in addition to the state ones.

Then he went on to win a Senate seat with his “tough on crime” image.

Do I think he knew what his son was up to? Not really, no.

However, he raised someone who thought what he was doing was okay, which makes his motivations suspect to me.

I keep an eye on what he’s doing, but so does the media.

My accusations and his son’s crimes have always hung over his head, and for the most part, he seems to be on his best behavior, even if I don’t particularly agree with most of his policies.

“Tomorrow,” I tell her. “It’ll be over. I’m sure I’ll get a few requests for interviews in the aftermath of it, so I think I’m going to put out a single statement and then tell everyone to fuck off.”

“Ah, that’ll be a great sound bite to show on the evening news.”

I can’t hold my laughter. “Well, I never said I was perfect.”

“No, that was your pack that said that. Several times. In many, many interviews.”

They sure did. With the Vegas residency, all of them, but mostly Jude, have done a few rounds with the press. Our names and faces were already recognizable, and my performance is still making the rounds on social media, so it was a bit of a spectacle when we first started our residency here.

“I love you, Sylvia,” I tell her, getting a little choked up. “Thanks for saving me.”

“I love you, too, Lexi, but I didn’t save you. I just reminded you that sometimes it’s okay to need a little help.”

“Edmund, seriously, you need to slow down,” I tell the Beta, pulling off my gloves. “You’re going to be all scars in a year if you keep this up.”

He cut himself while preparing dinner for a guy he’s trying to impress.

“I know, Doc, but I’m so nervous.” He looks down at his wrapped hand and sighs. “And now I’m going to be behind, and dinner won’t be ready, and he’ll walk out the door and never want to be with me.”

“Breathe. He won’t walk out the door. He won’t. But if you need an extra set of hands, you could ask one of the guys to help. I’m sure Trevor won’t mind.”

He nods, eyes far away as he chews his lip. “Yeah, good idea. Thanks, Doc.”

I wipe down my clinic before turning off the lights and closing the door behind me. I pull my phone out of my pocket and check the time. I’m running slightly behind because of the Edmund of it all, but that’s okay.

It’s not like the guys won’t wait for me.

At the thought of them, our bond lights up with excitement. They know I’m on my way.

Over the past few years, Quinton’s Rot has stayed in remission, and he’s stopped having to self-medicate.

I mean, he still gets high, but that’s because he wants to.

Matteo is cooking more than ever, and he’s even had his dad over a few times. Their relationship is good, but it’s still very surface-level. But he is learning his grandmother’s recipes from his father, which has been incredible for my taste buds.

Quinton was right about the pupusas. I would absolutely use one for a pillow if I could.

Dario and Dexter are playing music together again. They’ve even started doing it for some of the acts in the show. Calvin, in particular, likes when they accompany him.

And Jude has come into his own here. He’s the most incredible showrunner, even if he is starting to take a step back from the public side of his duties.

He has begun training Edmund as Carl trained him, and it’s going well.

I don’t know how much longer Jude will step onto the stage before he pulls back and moves entirely behind the scenes, but for now, he’s happy with how things are going.

Lost in thought, I turn the corner and smack into a soft body.

“Shit!” Elizabeth, my best friend, says, scrambling to her feet. “Sorry, Alex, I didn’t see you.” When we hired her two years ago, I had no idea we’d end up so close. Now, I can’t imagine not having her in my life.

It’d been a long time since I had a female friend other than Sylvia, much less an Omega one, and it’s been so much fun. Having someone to vent to about our packs is invaluable. And the fact that we work together doesn’t hurt.

I laugh and smooth out my jeans and maroon blouse. “Nope, that was on me. I’m in my head.”

“Ooh, I forgot. It’s your anniversary, right?” Her pretty blue eyes sparkle. “I’m going to need all the details tomorrow. The dirty ones.”

Her unique orange ginger tea scent is almost as familiar as my own now that we spend so much time together.

“I will tell you an appropriate amount of details,” I chuckle, pushing my hair behind my ears. I’m so glad my bangs grew out. “But I’m late, so I gotta run.”

“If you’re already late, do you want me to touch up your makeup or anything before you go?” Liz loves to play around with my hair and do my makeup. It’s not that I don’t know how to do my own, but it’s indulgent and fun to let someone else do it for you.

I shake my head. “No thanks. I did it before I had to run in to stitch up Edmund, again.”

“Oh my God, that kid is always getting hurt. Okay, have fun!” She continues down the hallway to her office, which is only a few doors down from my clinic.

“Quit working!” I shout over my shoulder. “It’s past five!” I don’t stick around to hear her rebuttal.

I still can’t believe we’ve got almost this entire floor of the Pack Palms Hotel and Casino to ourselves. It’s not that we need much, but they put me and the guys up in a suite and have all of the offices our team needs right down the hall.

It’s a very short commute.

My phone pings, and I look down at it and smile.

Amiria, Jude’s sister, sent me a photo of our nephew, who his now missing his two front teeth, holding a soccer trophy.

As I type out a message and add some emojis, I can’t believe how much everything has changed from my one decision to run away and join the circus.

It turns out, all those years ago, Amiria watched my press conference, completely shocked to see her brother standing behind me.

The fact that I could get up there and speak out against my scent match and pack shocked her, and she immediately reached out to Jude to start making her own plan to leave.

She’s been living in Utah, near their parents, for two years now, and though the custody battle was long and drawn out, she managed to get her old pack to sign away their parental rights.

I won’t tell Jude, because he would freak out, but she’s starting to date again. He’d probably be on the first flight out to make some threats in person.

Before I have the chance to open the door to our suite, it flies open, and Quinton fills the frame.

“Oh, thank God you’re here,” he says, clutching his chest dramatically. “Matteo is fretting over the cheesecake, Dexter and Dario are arguing over who gets to sit next to you at dinner, and Jude may carve a path in the floor for how he’s pacing.”

I kiss my rotten Alpha, only now he’s rotten because he keeps using the Rot as an excuse to get out of chores.

Still.

After three years in remission.

I give him a soft kiss on the lips and follow him into the living area, where it is just as he described. Jude ceases his pacing and whips his head up to stare me down.

“Omega.” Every time he calls me by my designation, I know his Alpha instincts are riding him hard, so I head to him first, wrapping my arms around his large belly.

“What’s wrong, Alpha?” He buries his face in my dark hair, and whatever he says is so muffled I cannot make out any of it. “Try again,” I chuckle.

“You’re not going to like your present,” he repeats, sounding surly.

I take a step back and glare at him. “I thought we weren’t doing presents!”

“You believed that?” Dario says, hopping over to us. “How do you keep falling for that?”