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“I didn’t know if this had your blessing, Alpha. I couldn’t imagine anyone in Steelshire being stupid enough to do something like this without it.”
My chest tightened, but I didn’t answer. Obviously, I hadn’t given my blessing for any such advertisement, but had Maren? Would she use my likeness to promote her shows?
Furiously, I stormed out of the room, taking the stairs with my security team on my trail. I dialed Maren’s number, but the call went directly to voicemail, and I realized what time it was.
Her evening performance is about to start.
“Take me to Maximo’s,” I instructed the driver when I slid into the waiting vehicle. “Go around the front this time.”
“Yes, Alpha,” the chauffeur replied, sounding surprised. I rarely used the front entrance anywhere, but he did as he was instructed, and I jumped out of the backseat before he could fully stop, striding toward the entrance.
“I’m sorry, the show—Alpha!” The fae at the door choked on her words when she saw me, standing from behind the ticket booth. “Please, let me get Jergin for you.”
“Just lead me to my box and have him come see me,” I instructed her.
“Yes, Alpha. Of course. Right this way.” Uneasily, she left the ticket booth and headed toward the second floor of the theater, the jingling notes of the song already piping out into the lobby.
My pulse still flowed with lava, but I maintained my temper as I started up the stairs and allowed the hostess to unlock my private viewing room for me.
“I’ll send Jergin along right away, Alpha.”
“Thank you.”
The door closed, and I sat, leaning on the railing of the balcony to look for Maren. Just like the first night I’d seen her on stage, she stole the show, her beauty surpassing everyone.
I willed her to look up and see me there, but I noticed that she seemed more awkward tonight, her movements jerkier and unpracticed. Several times, I caught her distraught expression, and I realized that it had little to do with the time she had taken off.
She had been blindsided, too.
A knock on the door startled me, and I turned to call out. “Enter.”
Jergin shuffled in, his eyes darting everywhere as the song ended on stage and the audience cheered loudly.
“Alpha,” he said, his voice shaky. “I had no idea you were coming tonight, or I would have been there to greet you.”
The announcer spoke about a fifteen-minute intermission, but I barely heard him as I rose to face the bumbling manager.
I smiled mirthlessly at him. “I do have a standing reservation here.”
“Of—of course, Alpha. You’re always welcome here.”
“I know,” I said coldly.
“Did you come to see Maren?” he asked, his voice rising an octave.
“My mistress?” I asked coolly, advancing on him. He drew back. “That is what you plastered all over, isn’t it?”
“I-I didn’t realize it was a secret, Alpha! I’ll take everything down at once if the ads offend you!”
“Offend me? Why would I be offended? Maren is beautiful, talented, and sweet. Anyone would be lucky to have her in their arms.”
Jergin nodded so vehemently, his neck cricked. “I agree!”
“So she gave you permission to do what you did?” I went on conversationally. “To plaster our private life on low-end ads all over South Havenmire?”
The manager paled. “She knows about them.”
In my back pocket, my phone began to buzz, but I ignored it, closing the distance between me and Jergin until he was pressed fully up against the wall. He squeaked like a mouse and shook. “That’s not what I asked, Jergin,” I hissed. “I asked you if she gave you permission to use our relationship to advertise in the first place.”
