“So, you thought you’d just force someone instead?”
“What? No! We’re not going to do anything without his permission. We just… needed a chance to show that we’re not bad people.”
“But you are bad people, Carver. Youboughtan omega. That’s a thing only bad people do.”
Carver didn’t really have a defense to that.
“I… what do you want me to do?”
His mother wouldn’t be here if she didn’t have a plan.
“Officially, Peter Jennings was pardoned a month ago, after which he entered thevoluntarymatching program where he chose you and Tex as his mates. The paperwork has all been taken care of and all the relevant records have been altered.”
Carver reeled. He couldn’t imagine the kind of political capital his mother would have had to expend to make this happen.
“How?” Carver asked.
“I had to call in favors, Carver. Favors I had no intention of calling in at this point in my career, do you understand?”
“I’m sorry.”
“I don’t care if you’re sorry. You’re going to make this up to me.”
Of course he would.
“What do you need me to do?”
His mother took a deep breath, smiling at the waiter when he brought her drink and telling him they needed some more time before they ordered.
“Congressman Grossmann. He’s a client of yours, correct?”
Carver nodded. Grossmann had been a client of Carver’s firm since long before he started working there, and Carver had taken over his account after his old lawyer retired.
“He’s a member of a club here in town.The Bank. Have you heard of it?”
Carver shook his head.
“It’s a private club for alphas with an interest in BDSM. It’s very exclusive—you have to be sponsored by a current member to even apply for membership—and very secretive. I need you to join.”
“You what?” Carver couldn’t believe he’d just heard his mother say the wordBDSM.
“I need you to record Congressman Grossmann in the act of abusing his omega. I’ve heard rumors about his activities behind the club’s doors, but rumors are useless to me. I need evidence. A tape.”
Carver couldn’t believe the words that were coming out of his mother’s mouth.
“Why?”
“Because he’s standing in my way, and I need something I can use to sway him to my side.”
Carver nearly choked on his own spit. “You’re going to blackmail him?”
“That’s an ugly way of putting it.”
“What does this have to do with Peter?” Carver asked, suddenly suspicious.
“You need an omega to join.”
Carver didn’t like that one bit. If the club was the kind of place he thought it was, he didn’t want Peter anywhere near it.
