“I’m making chicken noodle soup.” He glanced at me over his shoulder before returning to looking for whatever he was after.
I leaned my elbows on a countertop close by, hands rubbing down my face. I was tired. It was a bone deep type of tiredness that wouldn’t be leaving any time soon.
“Where’s the boys?”
“Both asleep.”
“You need sleep, too, Vincent.”
I brushed his worry off. I’d survive. My cat naps were working for the most part.
“I wanna say Charlie’s on his way to healing, He seemed more aware of his surroundings.”
That was saying a lot, too.
“Why do you call him that?” I had to elaborate when he shot me a questioning look. “Charlie?”
“That’s what Aid calls him.”
I noticed, but…
“Do you think that’s what he wants to be called?”
“You’ll have to ask him, Vincent. Some people don’t mind nicknames, you know.”
Time to change the subject, I thought. “How long till that’s done?”
“Half an hour or so. Why?”
“Just wondering.” I had work that needed my attention, but my lack of sleep wouldn’t mix well with that.
Wait…” Don’t you have that fundraiser thing to go to?”
“It was last night. No big deal. They survived without me. Or I assume so anyhow.”
“Sorry. You didn’t have to skip it.” Well, maybe he did. I may have gone crazy in worry about the nonresponsive Omega who followed commands just because he was trained to do so.
“It’s not a problem. The hospital is big on family, and my leave of absence is taken care of for a few more days. You know if Charlie wasn’t improving physically, I’d have him admitted. But he is getting better. Slowly, but he is.”
Moore paused, stirring a pot after adding whatever he found into it. “I’m not as good of a cook as Aid is, but this is something I’ve made a few times with my boy’s been under the weather.” Another pausebefore he put a lid over the top. “Silas called earlier, when you were upstairs. I told him you’d call him back.”
Geeze, couldn’t he have told me sooner?
My annoyance simmered away just as quickly as it appeared. I muttered a thanks before grabbing my cell off the counter and going to my office.
Earlier, Moore had taken my phone to contact some of the clients that had pressing matters that needed to be done this week. I had to postpone some work, due to the circumstances at the moment.
After making sure the door was closed, just in case Adrian ventured down for whatever reason, I took a seat in my chair while dialing Silas back.
He answered on the second ring.
“I have news.” No greetings, just straight to the point. “I got the price discounted more, and the refund for that should be in your account by now. According to the fine print, no Alpha, no matter if they are the owner of the compound or not, is allowed to leave a permanent mark on an Omega without first purchasing the rights to that Omega.”
“Did you find out who it was?” Did I want to know?
“Alpha Vale. Which makes sense on why he wasn’t pleased to learn about his prized possession off of his property. I’m going after him for careless manners and cruelty to an Omega without cause. If all goes well, he’ll be forced to step down as owner. He'll, of course, appoint a new owner, but he won’t be allowed to visit any Omegas there again.”
“Good. But what about the other Alphas that have harmed Omegas there?”
