“I raised you to be a better alpha than this,” Dad hissed.
“What better sort of alpha could I be than one who helps the less fortunate and champions the man I love?” I demanded.
Dad snorted. “You don’t love him. You’re hot for him. There’s a difference.”
“I love him,” I insisted.
Dad brushed my heartfelt words away. “He’s the sort you keep in an apartment somewhere for occasional use. But no,” he countered himself at once, “he’s not even worthy of that. He’s a contaminate, and he’s infected you.”
“The only thing Quincy has infected me with is hope in a better world and the inspiration to reach for a better future, for myself and him,” I said, clenching my hands into fists. “Quincy is the best man I’ve ever known, and I will do whatever it takes to be with him.”
“What, like hiring a reporter to threaten us with some sort of scandalous story about our partnership?” Monk interjected.
I hated the man and thought he was miles beneath Quincy and me, but his question had my stomach turning.
“You thought bringing German into this little drama would work to your advantage?” Dad said with a wry look. “Men like German are easy to pay off. The second I saw him loitering in the hall, I knew why he was here. I had a lot of zeroes in his bank account before he could introduce himself.”
My heart started to wither as panic rushed in to take the place of all the righteous confidence I’d thought I had.
“I just want you to let me go,” I said, hating how feeble my voice sounded. “I don’t want to be a part of your world anymore. I want out, out of it all.”
“Out of the job you love?” my dad asked, finding a weak spot and driving a knife into it. “What do you think will happen to that youth shelter you’re representing if I remove you from the case? It would be terrible if they ended up shut down and all those at-risk young people were turned out on the streets. It would be terrible if the small business you championed last month lost their license and all their profits. In fact, it would be a horrific thing if your entire client list for the last two years suddenly met with tragedy.”
I thought I was going to puke.
“You wouldn’t do that,” I whispered.
“To preserve my family image? I’d do anything,” Dad said, eyes narrowed.
I couldn’t draw a full breath. My palms started to go sweaty and my head spun. He would do it. My dad was cruel and ambitious enough to harm dozens of people he didn’t know just to keep me in line.
How could I sleep at night, even if I had Quincy in my arms, knowing that I’d been the ruination of everyone I’d thought I’d helped?
“He’s got you there,” Monk said, smearing salt in my wounds. “You’re not so self-righteous now, are you.” He laughed.
I glanced between him and my dad, having a hard time deciding which of them was the more disgusting of the two.
“This is what’s going to happen,” Dad said, squaring his shoulders and looking down his nose at me. “You will never see that omega again. You’ll go home, take a shower, eat something healthy, and spend the rest of the weekend thinking about what you’ve done. Sure, you can take that new bank account I know you have and run away with your omega.”
I flushed, filled with dread that he knew about my new bank account. Even if he was just guessing and bluffing, he knew me well enough to know what I’d had planned.
“But if you run, I will personally see to it that every client you’ve ever worked with is decimated. I will ensure that your omega’s family loses everything and ends up on the street, too.”
Monk looked warily at my dad. I doubted he actually had a shred of decency in him, but he had known Quincy’s family since he was a child.
“If you show up at the office on Monday, bright and early, suit pressed and smile in place, and never mention any of this or that vile omega again,” Dad went on, “then we’ll pretend the whole thing didn’t happen. Your clients will be safe and happy, your bank accounts will all be restored, and nothing at all will change.”
It was that last sentence that killed me. Nothing would change. I would still be a prisoner in my own life. My father would continue to be the bastard he’d always been. My mom would remain aloof and uncaring. And Quincy would still be broken and alone.
But what choice did I have? I was being given a choice between bad and worse.
It all boiled down to one thing. I couldn’t let my former clients suffer for my own tentative chance to maybe be happy.
Without a word, I turned to march back through the conference room, which was already filling for the next presentation. I needed to find Quincy and tell him…everything.
“If you see Quincy,” Monk called after me. “Tell him to give me a call. I’m sure he’ll want to know all about Bangers & Mash Lab’s ReBond procedure.”
That was it. That was the crushing blow that ended me. If I gave him up, Monk would make sure that Quincy got to be part of the trial for ReBond. He could be healed after all.
