***
A pair of detectives arrived about an hour later. Silkwood’s face went grey at the sight of them and Peter wondered if he was going to have a panic attack. The two detectives took his confession right there in the office and led him away in cuffs. As he was marched through the lobby, stumbling and disbelieving, it seemed like the entire company had come out to see the spectacle.
Silkwood looked like his whole world was crumbling down around his shoulders.
Peter hung back, avoiding the crowd, and departed the building through one of the rear exists. He circled back to his SUV and got behind the wheel, calling Dawn and asking her if she could handle the dinner meeting with the Rockshaw CSO by herself. He wasn’t in the mood to be schmoozing prospective clients.
“Of course, though it would be better if I had an alpha with me,” Dawn said, sounding unfazed. “Saul, for example.”
“That’s fine,” Peter said. “I appreciate it.”
Hanging up, Peter drove home and took a shower. He checked the time to see how long he had before Chad got back from his classes, and called down for an order of steaks for dinner.
About half an hour later he heard Chad and Aiden making their way into the penthouse.
“Anybody home?” Chad called, making Peter smile. He walked out into the outer hallway to greet his mate, and he was relieved to find him smiling and acting like he was in a good mood.
It seemed like Aiden had managed to behave for another day.
“Hey, you,” Peter said, walking up to Chad and wrapping him up in a hug. He leaned down and kissed him, licking into his mouth until Aiden cleared his throat and made him break away.
“Aiden. Did he behave himself today?” Peter asked, making Chad punch his arm. Aiden laughed, shrugging.
“He’s a good puppy,” he said, making Chad scowl. Peter was about to berate him but Aiden continued. “He’s made some progress with hand to hand combat since I had him in my class, but he could be a lot better. I don’t understand why you haven’t worked with him on it.”
Peter was abruptly taken aback by the rebuke—a little bit because he didn’t expect Aiden to care how good Chad was at hand to hand combat, but mostly because it had never occurred to him to give Chad any personalized training. Now that Aiden pointed it out however, he wondered why it hadn’t.
“You think I should be teaching him?” he asked. He looked at Chad, but his young mate didn’t seem to enthusiastic about the idea.
“Why not?” Aiden said, crossing his arms. “How would you feel if he ever needed to protect himself and he couldn’t—all because you didn’t think it was important enough to teach him?”
Peter felt his lip curl down in a snarl, but he held back any angry words because Aiden was right. If Chad were ever hurt because of an inability to defend himself, Peter would always wonder if he couldn’t have prepared him better.
“I’ll work with him,” he said, making up his mind.
“Peter, you don’t have to—" Chad started to object, but Peter cut him off.
“Aiden is right,” he said. “I love you very much, and I should be doing everything I can to keep you safe. That includes teaching you how to protect yourself.”
“See?” Aiden said, looking at Chad. “I told you he’d be willing to teach you.”
That made Peter frown. Had Chad thought that Peter would say no if he ever asked for help with his training? The idea sat poorly in his gut.
“I’m going to take a shower,” Chad said, kicking off his shoes. He left them lying on the middle of the floor and walked away, leaving Peter confused about what he had done wrong.
“How are things on your end?” Aiden asked when Chad rounded the corner. “Any progress on figuring out who tried to take him?”
Peter turned back to Aiden and nodded, telling him everything that had happened with Silkwood and his secretary.
“Do you think she’s dangerous?” Aiden asked, sounding skeptical.
Peter honestly didn’t know. A beta with a gun could be just as dangerous as an alpha, though he had no idea if the woman would go to those kinds of lengths. He didn’t even know why she had a grudge against him.
“I don’t know. Hopefully Merchant can track her down tonight and we can put this whole thing behind us.”
“So am I still on for tomorrow?” Aiden asked.
“Until we catch her, yes. I’d rather be safe than sorry.”
Aiden nodded at that, promising to come back with his team at the same time the next day. Peter walked him out to the elevator, one hand on his shoulder, saying goodbye and feeling grateful that he had someone he trusted looking out for Chad’s safety.
***
