I brush it off as my face heats while I grab a change of panties from my bag and rush toward the bathroom. I discard the dirtied ones, refusing to bring those back to my desk and spend the rest of the afternoon pretending to work while my body hums with a slight growing need.
A text from Amos arrives at four fifteen.Same time tomorrow?
I type back:You're going to get us fired.
His response:That's not a no.
He's right. It's not, but I’m still not doing it.
Dominic
Fathercallsthemeetingfor eleven o'clock and doesn't bother framing it as a request. His assistant sends the calendar invite at ten forty-five, fifteen minutes of lead time that's designed to prevent me from preparing a counter-argument. I read the subject line twice: Personnel Reallocation, Executive Assistant, and my hand tightens around my phone hard enough that the case creaks.
I text Amos:Father is moving on Mattaniah. My office. Now.
Amos arrives in four minutes with his laptop under his arm and his glasses already pushed up into his hair, which means he was expecting this. He drops into the chair across from my desk and opens the laptop.
"Personnel reallocation," I tell him. "Executive assistant. He wants to reassign Mattaniah."
"To what?"
"I'll find out in fifteen minutes. What do we have that keeps the Omega under our authority?"
Amos' nose scrunches up at my use of ‘the Omega’ before his fingers start moving across his keyboard. "The Southeast division audit. I flagged inconsistencies in the travel reimbursement accounts three weeks ago and we never formally assigned anyone to assist. Mattaniah already has the financial literacy to support the review. I can generate the assignment paperwork in ten minutes."
"Do it."
He does it in eight.
Father's office smells like old leather and single malt. He's standing behind his desk when I arrive because he always stands when he wants to look down at whoever walks through his door.
"Sit." He gestures to the chair across from his desk.
I stay on my feet. "You want to reassign Mattaniah."
"I want to optimize our personnel." He straightens a stack of papers that doesn't need straightening. "The Omega has been underutilized as a general assistant. His skill set would be better served in a more focused capacity."
"Focused how?"
"He'll work directly under me." Father looks up and holds my gaze. "Personal assistant to the CEO. It's a promotion. Better title, better access, more responsibility."
The words land exactly the way he intends them to. Under me. Better access. The Omega who's been sleeping in my bed would spend every working hour within arm's reach of the man who's been testing how far his hands can travel for two weeks.
"He reports to me now." I set the assignment paperwork on Father's desk. "Southeast division audit. Amos flagged financial inconsistencies that require a dedicated review, and Mattaniah has the analytical skills to support it. The paperwork was filed this morning."
Father picks up the paperwork and reads it without hurrying, his face giving away nothing even as the move in front of him gets blocked.
"This morning," he repeats. "How convenient."
"Amos is thorough."
Father sets the paperwork down and leans back in his chair. The silence stretches between us while he studies my face, and I let him study it because my face gives away nothing I don't want it to.
"You've shown your hand, Dominic." His voice is conversational. "Every time you step between me and something I want, you give me another lever to pull."
"I'm protecting a company asset. The audit needs completion and Mattaniah is qualified."
"You're protecting an Omega you've been scent-marking for two weeks." He says it without inflection. "Don't insult my intelligence by pretending otherwise."
