Bianca snorted and punched him on the chest playfully. Callum winced, catching her sharp little fist in his free hand and pressing it to his heart, before using their joined hands to lift her chin and meet her gaze once more. He made sure she could see the sincerity in his expression before he spoke again.
“But only on two conditions,” he said seriously. “Number one, you have to do something for yourself first. Not for your future or for your family, but foryouright now. You are beautiful and desirable and deserve to feel like it for once. Make a selfish choice and make that shit count. You plan to mate soon, and this is supposed to be your last hurrah, so let’s fucking hurrah! Let your hot bodyguards blow your back out and tell them exactly how you like it. Before you condemn yourself to saggy balls and vitality supplements, you deserve to get absolutely railed.”
Bianca covered her mouth, looking both scandalized and amused. “Callum! You’re incorrigible!”
“You have no idea, sweetness,” he replied, grinning wickedly. “My second condition is that you have to tell me everything so I can be suuuuper jealous and also stock my spank bank.”
Chapter ten
Quentin
Quentin noticed a change in Bianca over the weeks after her movie date with her friend.
First of all, she laughed more, which was probably because most days included texts, calls, or visits with Callum, who seemed uniquely skilled at getting past her inhibitions and finding ways to amuse her. Quentin still thought of the sexy little twink as trouble, but he was good trouble. It was nice that the two omegas had found each other, and at exactly the right time.
Van had filled the rest of the pack in on Bianca’s encounter with Robert Ferris at the shopping village, and Quentin was impressed with how Callum had handled the whole thing. The situation turned out much better than if Van had intervened, especially if he’d had any inkling who the guy really was. That would’ve ended in bloodshed and Quentin wouldn’t have been able to blame him.
Robert Ferris had an ass beating coming. One that was long overdue.
Van had also told his packmates about the claim mark and shared his suspicions about why Bianca had been so uncharacteristically upset when she saw Ferris. From there, Dante had uncovered enough about the dickhead for the pack to piece together what’d happened between Ferrisand Bianca (even without Van’s skillful eavesdropping on her conversation with Callum to help flesh out the details). Since that cheese dick motherfucker had left Bianca behind, he and his packmate had launched a failed tech startup, followed by an ill-fated foray into cryptocurrency, and were now doing private IT work with limited paper trails. It seemed pretty sus to Quentin, but rich people always got away with that kind of shit. Anyway, Ferris seemed to have a legitimate business reason to be in Smyrna City, but if he came near Bianca again, Quentin was going teach that rat fuck the meaning of a no-contact order. The hard way.
Just thinking about what Bianca must’ve gone through after Ferris and Hill abandoned her was enough to make Quentin’s jaw tic and his fists itch for something to break. He’d had to fight the urge to have Dante find out where the prick was staying so they could pay him a little visit. That wouldn’t have ended well at all.
Quentin had never taken kindly to people fucking with him and his. Robert Ferris and Frank Hill might not have known it when they’d made their fateful mistake, but they’d fucked over someone who was important to him, and that meant they’d be on his shit list for life. Eventually, they’d pay the price. They had hurt Bianca. Quentin would make them hurt.
Quentin King had always been honest with himself. He knew who he was, and what he wasn’t. He wasn’t perfect, but he was real and he didn’t fuck around when his pack’s happiness was at stake. So, when Quentin realized that Bianca Bonnycastle was their omega, he didn’t waste energy trying to fight it or hide it.
He understood the battle ahead. Bianca was out of their league. Her family wouldn’t like it. Hell, she wouldn’t like it. She’d been fighting the pull between them since the day they met.
None of that mattered. Bianca was theirs. And they were going to have her.
Quentin watched Van chip away at her defenses, showing her how they would hold space for her, respect her brilliance, and build her up. He watched Dante intrigue and seduce her, with that same suave allure that had always captivated Quentin himself, showing her how it felt to desire and be desired. And though he had maintained his professional distance, Quentin watched the way she responded to his commands, how she was learning to submit and let him protect her. As he would for the rest of her life.
He knew it was only a matter of time before she’d have to admit to the connection between them, only so long before they all had to acknowledge the absolute perfection of the mixture of their scents in her penthouse. This thing between them was only growing, and Quentin was fully prepared for the fallout. He didn’t give a fuck what her family or anyone else had to say about it. Once she said yes, nothing else would matter.
And Quentin knew shewouldsay yes.
What he didn’t expect, however, was what Bianca said to them a few hours before the masquerade ball. It actually took him so long to process her words that he couldn’t immediately formulate a response. Apparently, Dante was just as thunderstruck, because it was Van who replied first.
“You might have to speak a little slower for the jarheads, BB,” he said cheerfully, his typical carefree grin belied by the excitement Quentin could feel humming through their bond. “My boys are simple folk.”
Though it looked like it pained her to do so, Bianca met Quentin’s gaze before fixing her gorgeous grays on a spot above his head. “I said, I would like to propose an extension to the services you provide, ifyou’re amenable to the idea. Heat tending, ultimately, but with a trial of physical compatibility in advance. As soon as possible, in fact. I could pay you, of course.”
“Stow that shit,” Quentin barked, before he could think better of it. Bianca’s eyes snapped back to his and a flash of…somethingcrossed her face before she covered it with her usual haughty scowl. He glared right back, his pride clearing away his temporary confusion. “We don’t want your money. Not for this. If you want us to take care of you, you ask, but don’t insult us or yourself like that. Any alpha who expects more than the pleasure of having you on his knot is a dishonorable piece of shit.”
Bianca’s expression shifted again, a hint of sadness crossing her face before she smiled tightly. “I apologize. I meant no offense. It has been my experience that everything is transactional.”
“Not with us,” Dante replied, so quietly that Quentin wasn’t sure if he meant for the omega to hear it.
She glanced at him, then quickly away, her cheeks glowing pink. “I know that you’ve been hired to guard me until I mate. Given that I am working toward that goal as best I can, I may have very few heat cycles left before then, but I have had trouble finding consistent alphas to tend me and you’re already here and have proven yourselves tolerable—”
Van’s loud guffaw interrupted her words and Bianca glared at him, only succeeding in making him laugh harder. He actually slapped his knee, doubling over for a few seconds, before regaining enough of his composure to manage a few words.
“You sure know how to woo a guy, BB!” he exclaimed, wiping away a tear. “Tell me more about how tolerable we are, please. And conveniently located!”
Bianca flushed again and Quentin took pity on her, even though he liked seeing her flustered. She looked real and warm, not like the hardcase she showed the world. She smelled good when she was riled, too. Warm and tangy, like spiced apple cider.
“It makes sense that we take care of you, since we’ll be around, and our presence could make it challenging for another pack to tend you anyway.” Quentin gave his still chuckling packmate a warning look. “Van isn’t as hilarious as he thinks he is, but he does make a good point.”
