by Jayce Carter
“She doesn’t usually forget like that.”
Joshua set the pan of spaghetti sauce on the back burner to let it cool, then grabbed a napkin to wipe up the splatters across the front of the stove.
No, she didn’t. Claire paid attention to details better than the rest, pointing out steps they’d missed in recipes.
Joshua frowned, his gaze moving past Kaidan and down the hall. “I haven’t seen her in a bit, actually.”
“Me neither.” Kaidan twisted, holding still.
No sound came from her room, nothing from the television in the living room, nothing from the office.
She couldn’t have run again, could she? She’d done it enough times, but they’d settled into a good routine, hadn’t they?
“Let me go make sure she’s fine.”
Joshua nodded, pulling the cleaning spray from the beneath the sink. “I’ll clean up here, then ask Bryce to pick pizza up on his way home. Italian is Italian, right?”
It only took a few minutes for Joshua to pull the kitchen back together, the ruined food disposed of, the counters and floors wiped clean. Only the lingering scent of char proved anything had happened at all.
He’d mock her, of course. They played with one another too much for him to let it pass without a joke or two. And Claire? She’d give him a half-hearted glare, a blush on her cheeks, and maybe even pinch his side. When she’d tried that the last time, Joshua had grabbed that hand, twisted it behind her to pull her close and kissed her until she’d given into him.
He wouldn’t mind a repeat of that.
The floor creaked, the weight heavy enough it had to be Kaidan.
“How is our forgetful little omega?” Joshua turned, expecting to find Kaidan chuckling. Instead, the look on his face made Joshua freeze. “What’s wrong?”
Kaidan shifted, an unusual hesitation from the level-headed man. “She’s bleeding.”
Joshua was two feet toward Claire’s room before Kaidan caught his arm.
“No, not like that. She’s not pregnant.”
A shaky breath filled Joshua, relief first, then a surprising disappointment. What the hell? He hadn’t thought he wanted kids, had figured he’d be thrilled when he found out she hadn’t conceived. One less thing to worry about, right?
Except, that wasn’t how Joshua felt. It wasn’t the loss like when his mate had died, not so deep or crushing, but still a loss, like a future he hadn’t realized he wanted had slipped away.
“She’s taking it hard,” Kaidan said.
“What do you mean?”
“Maybe you should go talk to her.”
“You’re the one who’s good with things like this, not me. Consoling sad omegas is your thing.”
Kaidan released Joshua’s arm, turning to lean in so he spoke low. “I think she could use talking to you right now. You’ve got a view that might help.”
Joshua let his voice drop, now wanting it to carry. “This isn’t the subject I really want to talk about. Kids and pregnancy and loss—that isn’t something I’m a great conversationalist with.”
“Not everything is about you and what you want. Sometimes it’s about what she needs, unless you don’t plan on taking care of her.”
Joshua huffed a soft grunt, knowing he’d lost. They both knew damned well he wasn’t about to leave Claire upset on her own, and as much as he hated Kaidan at times, the man was usually right about these things. If he thought Joshua was the one she needed, hell, maybe he was. “Fine.”
Kaidan stepped back to let him pass, the next words reaching Joshua as he passed. “Besides, maybe it’s exactly what you need, too.”
Inside the room, Claire rested on the bed on her side, curled around a pillow. She didn’t turn toward him, didn’t acknowledge him at all.
“Hey.” The bed dipped as Joshua sat on it behind her.
She still didn’t speak, arms wrapping tighter around the pillow, clutching it to her stomach. Tension lined her arms, fingers digging into the pillow.
He set a hand on her shoulder, hoping for some reaction. “You hurting, sweetheart?”
The shake of her head was countered by a soft whine that left her lips and her eyes squeezing tighter.
Damn. Between heats and the general shit omegas had to suffer, periods seemed an unfair add-on. They didn’t have as many as betas, only occurring a few weeks after a failed heat, but they tended to be worse. He recalled his mate during hers, those same pain-filled whimpers as she curled against him. He’d pick up one of her silly women’s magazines and read the articles out loud, the odd sex advice, the makeup tips, the come-ons that no woman would need. Between the waves of pain when she’d dig her fingers into his sides, they’d laugh at the absurdity of the articles, especially in his voice.
It had been a strange time, something sweet in the midst of the future they didn’t have, in the middle of the disappointment as another cycle passed without her conceiving.
That had been before, though. That wasn’t now, wasn’t his life with Claire.
But, could it be?
Joshua sighed and scooted closer, shifting her around until he stretched out and had her snuggled up to his side, his hand on her lower stomach, his warmth and scent coaxing her body to ease. “Kaidan will get a heating pad, and I sent a text to Bryce. He’ll bring home some hot tea, and it should help.”
“Then you’ll kick me out?”
Joshua’s lips tipped down. “Why would we do that? I mean, if you bled on the sheets, we’ll just wash them. It’s not that big a deal.” The joke didn’t land, falling flat even to his own ears.
Not even a smile. She buried her face tighter against his chest, her breath heating his skin through his shirt.
“I don’t think so, sweetheart.” He caught her chin and lifted her gaze to his. “Why would we kick you out?”
“You said from the start that you couldn’t leave me alone until you were sure I hadn’t conceived. Well, I didn’t. None of you have to worry about me being pregnant with your kid.”
That had his eyebrows inching toward each other. She really thought that? Really thought that was all they’d wanted from her?
He kept his grip on her chin, because if he let it go, she’d look away, hide. “So you think that because you’re not pregnant, we’ll toss you out?”
“It’s what you said.”
“When we didn’t know you, sure. Plus, it gave us a good reason to stick around you couldn’t argue with.” He leaned in to press a kiss to her forehead. “Well, I mean, you still argued, but I happen to find that charming.”
No glare. No response. Nothing.
“Ouch, sweetheart. I know I’m in trouble when you don’t even glare at me. Come on, spill. What’s going on in that head of yours? You can’t tell me you were wanting to be pregnant.”
“Maybe.” She paused, lips pressed together, then shook her head. “No. I guess not. It’s just, it was this connection. You all knew I was staying because I had to, because we hadn’t dealt with that. Now? Now I don’t know how I fit.”
Joshua dragged his fingers through her hair, ruffling it to annoy her and gained a half-hearted glare in response. “You fit, sweetheart, no matter if you’re pregnant or not. Trust me, I don’t plan on letting you go for a long time, and if we want kids? Well, there’s time to try again.” He slipped his fingers down from her scalp and trail over her chest, sliding across a nipple through her shirt, rewarded with it hardening and a moan slipping free. “Oh, I can’t wait to try again.”
She brought her elbow back into his side, but the sadness didn’t creep back into her eyes. She settled against him, wrapping her arm tighter around him, and for the first time?
Joshua actually did want to try again.
Chapter Sixteen
Claire sat at the house alone, the men having left to respond to some problem at one of the properties they handled.
It left her on her own, but she didn’t mind. It gave her time to move through the space, to decide if she thought she could
make it into a home.
Which was a joke, because it already felt like one. Her coffee cup had joined the men’s, her space carved into the home beside theirs. There was always a place set for her, and they always made her feel welcome. Each day that passed, she got more comfortable.
She spent time with each of the men, them staggering their days off, trading off lunch breaks. Each relationship developed with time, each different, each exactly what it needed to be.
She smiled as she thought about them. Kaidan, always worrying and checking on her. Joshua was the playful one, forever trying to pull her into fun, into shenanigans. He was there to make her laugh. And Bryce? He was the serious one on the fringes, watching over them all and steady for her. She’d curl up with him when he got home, usually later than anyone else, and the tension would slip from him as if she eased him.
The place already was home, and more of one than she’d ever had before. She couldn’t remember being happy like that, feeling safe. They’d created a space where she could let her guard down, where she walked around barefoot, where she didn’t jump and cringe at every sound. It was a life she never thought she could have, one she’d never expected.
The work on Jackie’s killer was moving slowly, but Claire didn’t mind. As guilty as she felt at times, she found herself reluctant to go further. Things fell into place so right, so easy, and it terrified her they might end up with a problem between them.
What if the men turned the killer over to the police? What if the police let him go? Claire couldn’t let it go, could she? She’d sworn to take care of Jackie, and she’d already failed her once.
She couldn’t fail her again.
The ringing of a phone had her lips pulling into a smile. She jogged through the house, ready to hear Bryce’s voice telling her to be careful and answer her phone, as she often missed his calls, much to his annoyance.
Claire picked up the phone on the counter. “Hello?”
The voice that responded wasn’t Bryce. It wasn’t anyone she recognized. “Oh, hello. Is this Claire?”
Her back straightened, and she took a step backward as if the voice stood in the room with her. “Who is this?”
A soft laugh. “Relax. My name is Detective Samuel Franklin. I’m a friend of Bryce’s. He’s been working with me on the case of your friend, Jackie. I’m sorry for your loss, of course.”
Claire tightened her fingers on the phone, her gaze down. Bryce hadn’t mentioned talking to a detective. He’d said they still waited on the security files. Why wouldn’t he have told her that? “Right, of course. I’m sorry, I was just surprised you knew my name.”
“It’s fine. I didn’t mean to startle you. Is Bryce there?”
“No. He stepped out for work. Have you found something?”
He hesitated, the pause saying he wasn’t sure about telling her.
However, a tightness in Claire’s stomach had her pushing. Bryce had talked to the detective and hadn’t told Claire. Was he lying? Was there just a misunderstanding? The thought of Bryce keeping things from her ate at her, at their bond, but she refused to believe it. He wouldn’t do that.
“Please? I haven’t been able to sleep thinking of Jackie. I just need to know that her killer was brought to justice. I’ll take the message down for Bryce and have him call you back as soon as he gets in.”
His sigh said she’d won. “I reviewed the lab information that made the pheromones. They had a break-in when someone stole twenty vials of the pheromone. We had our computer tech go through it here and found something. The break in occurred when the entire security system went down, and they’d assumed a specialist had broken it. Since we know what we’re looking for this time, we checked again. They used access through the network company that handled the lab. It means someone at Graystone Enterprises stole it. I’m sorry, but it looks like Bryce was right. None of us wanted to think he was capable of this, not when we know him so well. Damn it, I know he’s Bryce’s friend, but it looks like Kieran did this.”
Claire couldn’t speak. Her chest hurt as the truth hit her.
Bryce knew Kieran. He’d been friends with the killer, and he’d lied to Claire. They’d all lied to her, kept her in the dark even as they knew their friend had done it.
She’d told him the truth, told him what she’d found, and he had lied to her face.
How could they? How could they do that to her? After trusting them, after giving in even when she’d feared it, after believing when they’d told her she was wrong, that she could trust them, they’d betrayed her?
Her chest hollowed, as though everything inside her ribs had disintegrated. The house that had been her safety net drifted away, became thick walls and cold air. All the warmth of it leaked away.
“Hello? Claire?” The detective’s voice came through the line, but she dropped the phone to the ground.
They’d betrayed her. The men she’d trusted, the ones she admitted she loved, had betrayed her.
So Claire had one thing to do. She had a promise to keep, and she wouldn’t let anything stop her anymore.
Claire took the keys to Kaidan’s car, knowing the gun in the glove compartment would get used this time.
Kieran wouldn’t live out the night, and Claire no longer cared what happened afterward.
* * * *
“Pick up, damn it!” Bryce snapped into the phone when Claire sent him to voice mail for the third time.
Sam had called him, explaining the conversation with Claire. The longer he explained, the more it became clear he’d said something he shouldn’t have. Claire knew it all, knew they’d kept the truth from her.
The cameras on the outside of the house showed she’d taken Kaidan’s car, and the GPS on it told him where she headed, though he could have guessed it. She sped right for Graystone Enterprises.
He considered calling Kieran, but after everything he knew, he couldn’t do that. He might grab Claire and run, or perhaps he’d kill her before they could get there.
No, he needed Claire to pick up the fucking phone so he could explain. If she would just pick up, he could get her to listen, to turn around and come back.
Finally, the call connected. “What?”
“Come back, Claire.”
Silence met him, and when she spoke, her voice came out so flat, so dead, it sliced him. “Why would I ever do that? I trusted you. I trusted you all.”
“You can trust us. Come on, let me explain. Come back to the house, and we’ll all sit down.”
“I trusted you, and I should have known better. I tell all my omegas that you can’t trust alphas, that you need to protect yourself, that alphas will say whatever they have to to get what they want. You did that, told me what you had to to get what you needed. You sold me a pretty story so I’d spread my legs and bond to you. How could I have fallen for it?” Were those tears in her voice?
“You didn’t fall for anything. Please, just listen. This is a misunderstanding.”
“You lied to me!” Her anger, bathed in pain, had him snapping his mouth shut.
Still, Bryce pushed forward, foot stomping down on the gas. “I know. Yes, we know Kieran, but we wanted to gather all the information before we told you. You’d think we were just like him if we told you, so I wanted to be sure. I wanted to know if he’d done it first. If he didn’t, I could show you, and if he did? Well, then we’d deal with it.”
“You are just like him. You chose him over me. When it came down to it, when you had to pick a side, you picked him and lied to me. You ask me to trust you, but you didn’t trust me.”
“So come back. Yell at me, whatever you have to do, but just pull the fucking car over now.”
“No. I made a promise to Jackie that I’d deal with the man who killed her. I was willing to let you help me, but you proved I can’t trust you. I can’t wait on you anymore, I’m not going to wait anymore, so I’m going to deal with this on my own.”
That froze his blood, and in his mind, all he saw was her in that hospit
al bed. He pictured her after Kieran finished with her, when she was just another file in Sam’s hands. “If it’s him, he’s dangerous. He could kill you.”
“I’ve dealt with alphas my whole life, been lied to by them, hurt by them, fucked over by them. I don’t care what happens, I’m ready.”
“Turn the goddamned car around, Claire! You will not go in there alone.”
“I’m not alone. I have the gun Kaidan keeps in the car.”
He turned a glare on Kaidan, who stared forward while his lips pressed together as he listened to the conversation over the hands-free of the SUV. “You promised me you’d never do this again. You said you’d never run away again, never put yourself in danger again without me.”
“That was before I found out you betrayed me. You weren’t held to any promises. Why should I be?”
Bryce’s temper slipped. He’d rather she fear him as long as she just stopped. If she waited so they could talk this out, he could make it up to her, could get her to see reason, to understand. Hell, he’d rather she be furious and afraid but alive. He could fix angry, but he couldn’t fix dead. “I swear, if you step foot in that building, I will make you regret it, omega. You’ve never really seen me angry, but you do this? I will make you so sorry.” The words coated his tongue in filth. Throwing threats at her made him ill, but he did it anyway. Anything to save her, anything to get her to listen, even if it killed him.
Her voice came back hollow, the sound almost as frightening as anything else. “You’ve already made me sorry, Bryce. After everything I went through with James, I didn’t think there was anything I couldn’t handle, but good job. You proved me wrong. I’m already really fucking sorry I ever met any of you. The only good thing? After tonight, it won’t be a problem anymore.” The line went dead.
Bryce pushed the SUV faster, but would he make it in time?
* * * *
The surprise on Kieran’s face helped Claire not pull the trigger. At least she could shock the smug bastard. At least she could wipe off that arrogant look, be something he hadn’t expected.
