“Well, your father and I will be happy to see you,” his mother said, sounding reluctantly relived. “And watch your language. You know I don’t like hearing the F-word.”
“Sorry.” Chad’s heart stopped racing. He couldn’t believe his father had had a heart attack. It scared the shit out of him.
Chad had a sometimes-complicated relationship with his parents. He loved them very much, but they were betas, and sometimes there were parts of being an alpha that they just didn’t understand, instincts that they were aware of on a theoretical level, but that didn’t make sense to them.
Chad, tall for his age and cocky after popping his first knot, hadn’t exactly been an easy teenager to deal with.
He wondered now if the added stress of having an alpha was part of why his dad was sick.
Fuck no. Chad gave himself a mental shake. His dad would smack him over the head if he knew he was thinking like that.
“Well, I should let you sleep,” his mother said. “Call me in the morning when you have your itinerary and I’ll pick you up at the airport.”
“I can take a cab,” Chad said. “You stay with Dad.”
“All right,” his mother said. “I love you.”
“Love you too.” Chad hung up the phone and got out of bed to get his laptop. He booked the earliest flight he could find, which wasat noon the next day. There was no way he was making it home before the morning West Coast time, but there was nothing he could do about that. He sent his flight number and arrival time to his mother via a text message, and then went back to bed to try to go back to sleep.
It wasn’t easy. Chad’s mind wouldn’t stop racing, and when sleep finally claimed him, his dreams were uneasy and tense.
When he next opened his eyes and saw that it was six a.m., he was only too happy to wake up and get packed.
***
Chapter 13
Peter was disappointed when he didn’t see Chad in the gym the next morning. He went through his usual weightlifting routine, looking around to see if Chad was anywhere to be seen, and then spent forty minutes on the treadmill.
The gym was busy, but no one approached him or talked to him. That wasn’t unusual. Most of his employees—even his team leaders—found him intimidating and stayed away unless explicitly summoned. But that was how Peter liked it.
As he stepped off the treadmill, his body covered in a fine sheen of sweat, Merchant came strolling up to him.
“You’re looking extra mean today,” the man said with a grin. “Having a bad day, or are you just scaring the grunts?”
Peter would have rolled his eyes if it weren’t beneath him.
“Can I help you with something?” Peter asked, grabbing his towel and wiping his face and neck. Merchant shrugged.
“I don’t know. I tried calling you, but that prissy little beta of yours with the tight ass told me you were here.”
Peter started walking toward the locker room, wondering if he needed to warn Merchant off doing anything with his assistant. David was competent and unobtrusive, and Peter didn’t want to lose him just because Merchant thought he had a nice ass.
“And you called me because…?” Peter asked, stopping at the water cooler for a cup of water.
“Well, after you called me about that Brand kid I’ve been keeping my ears out, and this morning he used the company discount to book an airline ticket back home. I figured you might want to know…”
Peter felt regret well up inside him like a hungry parasite. He should have taken the time to talk to Chad before they went to sleep and made sure that he was okay. And even then, he should have stayed with Chad after. His thoughts must have shown on his face, because Merchant nodded.
“That’s what I thought,” he said, crossing his arms. “You want me to deal with him? I could get to him before he makes it to the airport and see if he’s already called a lawyer.”
Peter clenched his jaw. He didn’t think that Chad would sue. He wasn’t the type. But still, Peter didn’treallyknow him. If he did try to get back at Peter using legal means, he had an excellent case.
“Go talk to him,” Peter said, deciding that he couldn’t just put his head in the sand and hope that Chad didn’t hold that much of a grudge. “But just talk. See where his head is. Either way, don’t stop him from getting on the plane.”
Merchant looked a little surprised by the instruction. He lifted his left eyebrow and uncrossed his arms. “Any reason why he’s getting the kid glove treatment?”
Peter narrowed his eyes, annoyed at the implication that he owed Merchant an explanation. Merchant twitched, nervous in the face of Peter’s displeasure, but he held his ground and managed to keep his expression unbothered.
