“Come in,” he says, his voice loud.
My heart pounds as I open the door, finding him sitting at his desk, the phone to his ear.
“I don’t give a fuck.” He growls into the phone, looking up to see me. He waves me in and I close the door behind me. “Just find him. I want to know what the fuck happened in an hour and who the fuck got shot.”
He hangs up the phone and brings his attention back to me. “I’ve been trying to get a hold of you for days. Where have you been?” He growls in annoyance.
“Sorry. I’ve been, ah, kind of busy.” I rub the back of my neck nervously, careful not to touch my mate marks.
The movement draws his attention and he pauses. “Mate marks.” His eyes flick up to mine. “You had your heat.”
I nod, cheeks heating.
He lets out a sigh. “Sorry. I don’t mean to sound clipped. I’m just dealing with a lot. First, I leave to go deal with…” He closes his eyes and growls softly. “Well, to deal with my newfound omega,” he grumbles. “But we'll talk about that later.” He waves it off. “Only to find out there was a fucking shooting in my house. Magically the camera footage is missing, and Ralph is too. I haveno idea what the fuck is going on in my own house and I’m losing my mind.”
“Well, first, congratulations on finding your omega?” I laugh awkwardly. My mother died when I was young. She was the love of his life. And after she passed, he never found another person, making this family, his business, his whole life. It’s why I felt so guilty about leaving when I did, and staying gone for so long. I was the only family he had left after my sister died. “How are you feeling about that?”
“It’s a fucking shit show.” He growls. “The man is not all there.” He taps on his head. “Yet…”
“You find yourself drawn to him and have no idea why?” I ask as I take a seat in the chair in front of him.
“Yeah, pretty much.” He leans back in his seat. “I’m still not sure what’s going on there. And it can wait because I have too much to deal with right now.”
I try to ignore the sick feeling in my stomach. “I know where Ralph is. And I know who’s involved in the shooting.”
“You do?” His brows furrowed.
I nod. “I was going into heat and Ralph wasn’t going to let me go to my alphas.”
“What do you mean?” My fathers spine stiffens.
Here we go, Beckham.All the cards on the table. No beating around the bush.
“The reason I left home and moved to the other side of the country wasn’t because I didn’t want to be a part of the family business, or because I wanted to get away from you. I wanted to get away from Ralph.”
His lips part, brows furrowing. “But why?”
“When I turned eighteen and presented as an omega, Ralph started looking at me differently. But he didn’t do anything to me. At least not until I turned twenty-one.”
I squeeze my knee, trying to keep myself from bouncing my foot. I swallow a few times, nausea making me break into a sweat.
“What do you mean he didn’t do anything to you until you were twenty-one. Beckham. Are you saying Ralph touched you?” He growls, anger flashing in his eyes. I swallow again and nod.
“I–I. Fuck.” I rub at my eyes roughly, trying to keep the tears at bay. “When I went into heat for the first time, he found me just like the other day. Only back then, I wasn’t able to get away.” My voice is thick with emotions. “He forced me to let him help me with my heat. And again every heat after that. For years. Until I couldn’t take it anymore. After I graduated college, I needed to get out of here. Away from him. I felt like I was dying; every time he put his hands on me, I lost a piece of my soul. So I took the first teaching job I could find far away from here. That's why I’ve never been back.”
He’s vibrating with anger and I don’t know if it’s for me, or because of me.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” He asks, his voice a deep growl.
“Because he made me think you wouldn’t believe me. That you trusted him more than me, and that I was nothing. I was a scared young man, an omega who wanted to run far from an abusive alpha. I didn’t want you to hate me, to think I was trying to come between you and your business. I… I just don’t know.” I bury my face in my hands, letting out a harsh breath. “I was scared and weak, so I ran. And when I came back, I continued to run when I should have just come clean to you about everything.”
I keep my face in my hands, unable to look at him. He says nothing, and for a moment I start to worry that things are about to get bad when I feel his hand on my arm.
Looking up, I see his distraught face and it nearly breaks me.
He grabs me by the arms and pulls me to my feet then wraps his arms around me in one of the tightest hugs I’ve ever had.
“I’m so fucking sorry,” he rasps out. “He should never have touched you, Beckham. If I knew, I would have killed him on the spot. There's no one in this world more important to me than you. I’d give everything up if it meant keeping you safe. I love you. You are my world. Not any of this. I would have believed you. I would have taken your side.”
