Hopefully, they’ll think that it is only because of the Christmas Matching Ball.
Why did Dad’s letter have to sound like a fuckinggoodbye?
How could he think that I would allow him to take the fall for me?
But then, I imagine Zoe’s mischievous aquamarine eyes and the way that her tiny, sweet fingers instinctively curl around my hand as she sleeps, and I know that I would do the same for her.
I would die, kill,overturn the worldfor my daughter.
Doesn’t Dad deserve the right to do the same?
I bite my lip, and my eyes mist with tears.
Cooper is the best dad. He lost his scent match but fought to survive for his baby’s sake, despite being manipulated into another bond by an abusive Alpha when he was at his most vulnerable.
And he has never stopped fighting: for me, Papa, Bird, Hatton, Zoe, and for every Omega and Beta in the hotel.
So, tonight will be the time to prove that I am his true daughter.
To make him proud.
This won’t be a goodbye. It will be a new beginning.
I tilt up my chin as a new wave of determination hits me. I clutch harder onto Piper’s hand, as he swaggers next to me.
Piper is dressed in a punky metallic top, which is ripped off to reveal his muscled stomach. A thick belt with a large wolf buckle is wrapped around his bondage trousers that rest indecently low on his hips.
I have never seen another Omega dressed like Piper in the hotel. He’s a walking subversive work of art.
Sometimes, you only need to stand up and be different in order to rebel.
I glance over my shoulder at my two Alphas in suits behind me who are flanking Zero like his bodyguards.
Zero looks glamorous in a slinky white catsuit. His long hair is piled on top of his head with star clips, and his lavender eyes are rimmed with Kohl.
He is every inch the rock star.
It’s strange, when I think of how Zero was spread out and naked for me in bed this morning with tangled hair.
He smiles at me. “Okay, love?”
I stiffen. “I’d be more okay if you demanding celebrity types didn’t insist that your tour also include the Frost’s private floors.”
“You know what we’re like. We expect all types of special treatment like a hundred scented candles that smell like our Omega or a helicopter on standby. You showed us the bloody boring shit like the gym and the spa. Do I look like the type of Beta who spends all the day getting pedicures? Wait, don’t answer that.”
“Keep it down.” I hush Zero; fear spikes through me. “I warned you that it is breaking the rules to bring you here.”
“Rules were made to be broken,” Piper singsongs.
It really is lucky that he isn’t a new Hotel Omega.
“Don’t ever play Piper at cards,” Lionzio comments. “He knows more ways to cheat than I do. And I’ve played against mobsters. Well, Iwasthe mob.”
Piper drops my hand to twirl around, puffing out his chest with pride. “My brother, Chase, taught me. Sometimes, when the landlords had thrown us onto the streets, he’d earn the money for our food by breaking the rules against serious players who would be likely to break your fingers if they caught you. He didn’t think that my sister and I knew or had worked out by his bruises that he was involved in illegal cage fighting to stop us from starving too. But we did. So, he’s the best brother and the best cheat at poker. I’m thesecondbest.”
My chest tightens.
I stop walking to look at Piper.
