“Breaking news is that Lincoln MacGregor has a girlfriend, or a daughter no one knew about. Weirdest fucking thing, she looks like you.”
“Ah fucking hell,” I mutter, flicking through to the trashy E-news channel, and I have to wait less than a minute before I see the grainy images for myself. I mean, they’re pretty cute the way he’s kissing me, but not exactly promotional material.
“And they’ve named me?” I say, turning the volume up.
“Yeah.” Bailey waits quietly while we both watch the same channel, the reporter using a hyper dramatic voice over, including lots of inappropriate innuendo as well as a couple of pointed jokes about age-gap and cradle snatching.
I flick the television over to mute, and pull up the internet on my Smart TV, running a search on Lincoln MacGregor. Clicking on the most active story, I get distracted, nearly forgetting Bailey is on the line still.
“Tell me you’re not reading the comments.”
“Okay, I’m not reading the comments,” I mumble back, my eyes running over every word posted.
“Lennon, is it an issue, really, what people think?”
“For me? Not at all. I’m worried about people in the industry, Bailey. The world only knew me as a name—Lennon Vale, agent and owner of A Ra Wn. Now, I’m an omega and I’m packed with Lincoln, and people are already forgetting everything I’ve achieved. They’re going to…”
“Fuck ’em,” Bailey interrupts. “Honestly, fuck the world, Lennon.”
I roll my eyes. “How can you say that?”
“Easy,” she growls. “Look at the photos differently and focus on the face ofyouralpha. He’s got a look on his face that every woman around the world wants to see on their partners! He adores you!”
“I know that, Bailey. I just didn’t want to be a noose around his neck.”
She snorts again, and I have to pull the phone from my ear. “Seriously, how could you be a noose around his neck? Look at him! He’s never been happier. He positively glows. Stop worrying about the inconsequential stuff.”
“What if this ruins his career?”
“Impossible. Let me tell you a secret, Lennon, no one fails if you’re their agent. You’re not exactly the type to walk away from a challenge. Really, Lennon, stop worrying and go spoil your Fox.”
“Oh my god, Bailey, shut your fucking trap. I told you that in confidence,” I whisper furiously, looking around everywhere for some reason.
“No one’s here, babe, your Foxy secrets are safe with me!” She giggles, and I can hear the squeak of her office chair as she leans back.
“Bizarre, no one’s here either.”
And I guess because of everything I’ve been through, and being back here nearly packed, it is more of a surprise I’m alone than she is. “Why are you alone?” Bailey asks slowly.
I chuckle, pretty evilly too. “You would not believe who showed up here.”
“Who?” she asks in an instant.
“Fez!”
Bailey scoffs. “I hope you had him arrested.”
“I did call the cops a few days ago, but apparently he’s been on the run or some shit, he showed up here. And my pack has taken him now. He had his chance, Bailey, I feel no guilt for what they do to him.”
“You shouldn’t either.”
“I’m thinking I’m going to take RMI and Frank to court. But we’ll see how I go with my current case before I do that.”
“See, there’s the raving hard-faced bitch I know and love. You’ll win, Frank’s a fucking idiot who deserves getting stripped of every bit of money he’s effectively done jack shit for.”
“There is that,” I muse. I seriously love plotting with her. We used to do it all the time.
“All the polls that I took on Tuesday’s show of Late Night were unanimously in your favour.” She jumps over to the tail end of my earlier comment, right into me taking omega rights to court. “But the public has always been supportive of omega rights and the government being restructured. It’s the government who are having issues with it. And taking a more humanitarian approach is attracting a different audience. I read an article in Business Daily about a lot of lobby groups and academics being drawn into the discussion about your case, but also the role the international court needs to play.”
