She’d been staring out at the ocean waves and the sky which had started to turn purple and orange with the fast approaching sunset, “Hmm?”
I turned my body so that I was facing her “Do you think we could start over? Pretend like the last few months didn’t happen and I’m just an alpha courting and omega for the first time? I’ve never done it before but I’d like to try.”
Eloise seemed to think about it for a moment before responding: “...No.”
Ouch. I understood why she was saying no but still, ouch.
I began to turn away so that she couldn’t see my hurt expression, “Okay, I totally get it…” I wanted to crawl into a hole and never come out again, but a pair of small hands grabbed either side of my face and turned me back to face the omega on the rock.
“Stop jumping to conclusions, Leon Russo.” Eloise scolded, her face serious. “I said no because I don’t want to go back and forget everything in the past three months. Did we get along at first? No. But I also know that everything that we’ve gone through has been worth it. You became my protector when someone tried to hurt me and despite the fact that you can be a stubborn ass you’ve never hurt me. Instead of starting over, I’d like to start right here, right now.”
With that Eloise tugged on my face and I went willingly as she pulled me down into the gentlest kiss that I think I’ve ever experienced. I gathered her into my arms and pulled her close, my fingers finding her hair as we kissed. After a few minutes we broke apart and Eloise’s brown eyelashes fluttered as she looked at me with a glazed expression and a warm smile.
And so, we began.
30
“Welcome to Russo Enterprises, how can I help you?” The cheerful front desk assistant greeted me as I stepped up to the sleek glass desk.
“I have an appointment with Eric Zhao at three?” The assistant began tapping away at her computer and I took a moment to look around the lobby. It was similar to the lobby of Simmons & Whitlock, the law office I worked at up the street, but unlike my workplace this whole building was owned by Leon Russo, the alpha who I’d seen leading Eloise away two days ago. I’d researched as much as I could about the pack that Eloise seemed to belong to now.
Leon Russo was the head of Pack Russo and had ties to the Italian mafia—though that was all rumor according to the sources that we used at the office. Aria Simmons, my boss, had nothing but good things to say about Russo and I tended to trust her judgment on most things like this as she'd been a part of San Francisco’s upper class for much longer than I had.
Leon’s right hand man, Eric Zhao was the youngest son of an international conglomerate that focused primarily on shipping. He’d been with Russo Enterprises since his last year of college and had been a part of Leon’s pack for longer than that.
Dominic Dubois was a newer addition to the pack and everything I could read about the French-native was that he was a party-boy who spent most nights out on the streets of San Francisco. There were pictures of him out with different models and other social media influencers but other than that there wasn’t much personal information known about him.
There was even less information known about Gage Larson, the scary ass giant who’d gotten between Eloise and I at the party. All I could find about him was that he was the head of security at Russo Enterprises.
Finally there was Owen Samuels, their beta. By all accounts he looked like a friendly guy. He was also the only one with social media where he’d posted pictures of himself and Eloise fairly regularly over the past three months which is when I assumed they all met.
“Mr. Sawyer?” The assistant’s voice cut through my thoughts, “Here is your guest badge. Mr. Zhao is on the top floor. His assistant will be waiting at the top of the elevator to lead you to his office.
“Thanks.” I pinned the badge to my shirt and headed for the elevators, cramming myself in with the crowd that was heading up. As the elevator climbed thirty floors my thoughts returned to Eloise.
I’d spent so long telling myself that I had to let Eloise move on for her own health because she couldn’t live with just a beta. That I’d rather her live an entire long life without me than a short one with just me. But seeing her walk away from me after not seeing her for so long had torn my heart out of my chest and shredded it.
She’d grown up in the years since I’d seen her last. She hadn’t grown much taller but her hair was longer and she’d lost the childish roundness in her cheeks. She was still just as beautiful as the day I watched her drive away in the black SUV. I’d been an idiot to think I could just move on.
I think Celeste and her pack knew that just by the look on my face when I made my way back over to them after Gage Larson and Eric Zhao had left. They were a great pack but we had all agreed that it wasn’t the same.
“You looked at her like she was taking a piece of you with her when she left.” Celeste had said softly, giving me an understanding smile, “You never looked at any of us like that.”
I’d left the party hoping to find Eloise and her pack still outside, but they’d already left. Aria had taken one look at me when I showed up for work the next morning and had pulled me into her office, where I spilled the entire story.
“Link, for such a smart guy you sure are a damn idiot.” Aria groaned after I finished telling her everything. She’d taken over after that, giving me the names of Pack Russo and connected me with Eric Zhao for a meeting.
A meeting that I was fast approaching as the elevator dinged and everyone left in the elevator stepped out and I followed. A young woman was standing just off to the side of the elevator dressed expertly in a pair of pastel pink slacks and a white blouse.
“Mr. Sawyer?” I nodded. “I’m Alexa, Mr. Zhao’s assistant. His office is just this way.” I was led past a bullpen of sorts, short cubicles filled the center of the space and people were sitting at their desks typing away on computers or talking on the phone. The outer ring of the space were glass walled offices and conference rooms. Most of the doors were shut and the blinds were pulled. A group of people sat in one of the conference rooms clearly having some kind of meeting.
Alexa led me to a corner office with a desk placed in front of the door. The door was open and Alexa poked her head inside, “Mr. Zhao, your three o’clock appointment—Lincoln Sawyer—is here.”
“Thank you Alexa, you can close the door behind you.” Eric Zhao’s voice came from inside and Alexa gestured for me to step inside the office, shutting the door behind me.
Eric Zhao was dressed impeccably in a gray suit that probably cost more than I made in a month as an associate lawyer. He was sitting at his desk reading over something that was in a leather padfolio. Gage Larson was leaning against the corner window with his arms crossed, dressed in a black suit. His long golden brown hair was scraped away from his face in a tight ponytail and his expression told me he wasn’t very happy to see me.
“Mr. Sawyer, sit.” Zhao said without looking up from whatever he was reading, gesturing to one of the plush chairs that were sitting at an angle in front of his desk. I sat down and waited as he finished reading, drumming my fingers on the arm of the chair.
