“What he did to you was shitty,” Steven went on. “If I thought I could get away from it and keep my job, I’d cut his mic in the middle of his presentation or show his slides upside down or something. Hell, I’d electrocute the stage. The man is a first-class asshole.”
“Yeah, he is,” I said, my voice hoarse.
“But he’s friends with a senator.” Steven said less with those words than he did with his eyes as he stared at me.
I understood the meaning of that look. Steven knew as much as I did that we were in a dangerous situation, dealing with powerful people.
“Just make sure someone, a reporter, maybe, can ask questions at the end of Chester’s presentation,” I said. “Maybe in the middle of it.”
Steven took a breath like he knew I was planning something big and risky, but he nodded and went back to work.
I walked away, glancing around the room as it continued to fill with people. Ideally, I wanted to find a quiet corner or blend into the crowd to watch how things unfolded as Jack’s reporter friend challenged both Chester and Salisbury. It was nearly impossible to blend in with pink and purple hair, though, even though I was short.
Since I couldn’t blend, I said a quick prayer that Jack would arrive on the scene soon so I could stand by him. The next best thing to being invisible as a plan unfolded was to stand by the side of someone who knew what was happening and could protect me from any fallout.
But Jack wasn’t there yet. Neither was Chester, for that matter, and the presentation was supposed to start soon. The room quickly went from crowded to packed, and the sound of that many people chattering excitedly about what they were about to learn was deafening. Or maybe that was just my nerves.
Those nerves got another jolt when I spotted Mr. German and Mr. Schubert walking into the room from one of the doors that led to a service corridor.
Walking in with Senator Salisbury.
“Shit,” I hissed, pressing a hand over my roiling stomach.
I watched them intently, trying to make out what German and Salisbury were saying as they walked casually to the side of the stage. Maybe it was nothing. Maybe German was getting an early jump on the story by talking to Salisbury beforehand. Schubert seemed particularly interested in their conversation, and by the way he held up his phone as he walked a step behind the alphas, he was recording things.
Any hope I had that things would work out easily withered as Salisbury broke into a smile and shook German’s hand before stepping away from him.
“No, you are not going to?—”
The desperate thought didn’t make it past my lips. Salisbury glanced my way, and even though I was relatively certain he was looking for something or someone else, he spotted me. His expression darkened, and he changed directions to stride toward me.
“Shit, shit, shit,” I whispered. I glanced around, desperate for Jack to show up and save me, but I was completely on my own.
There was nothing to do but stand straight and face Salisbury boldly as he reached me.
“I would advise you to leave before things become untenable for you,” Salisbury said as soon as we were face to face.
His comment was haughty, cold, and probably meant about fifty different things.
“I work here,” I said, immediately feeling stupid. I hated the feeling that I was outmatched by the nasty alpha deliberately towering over me.
Salisbury huffed a small laugh and smiled tightly. “Do you?”
I swallowed. That was definitely a threat.
“You can’t intimidate me out of protecting what’s mine,” I said instead, proud of how ferocious I sounded without tipping over into feral.
Salisbury just kept smiling. “Omegas are so soft in the head.” He leaned closer to me and said, “You are outmatched and outclassed. The best thing you can do right now is walk away and forget you ever knew my son.”
Yep. The man definitely knew what was going on behind the scenes.
“I don’t think that’s up to you to decide,” I said.
“It most definitely is,” Salisbury countered.
I wanted to say more, to keep fighting, but Salisbury straightened and glanced past my shoulder. I turned as well, and nearly swore out loud when I saw Jack marching into the room.
The fact that he marched in about ten feet behind Chester, with both of them looking like they’d just come from a fight, didn’t settle my nerves at all, though. Especially since they both saw us and were heading right toward us.
