It’s pretty hard to deny it, actually, and since I’ve already been down that road, I won’t even try. The bonds are completely out of my control at this point and as long as I don’t have to deal with the only one I bear the bite from, I’m just going to roll with it.
“I take it I won’t be working the bar tonight?” I ask, avoiding the knowing look Tobias is giving me. “Unless you make it a habit of getting the product hammered before they take the stage.”
He laughs again as he shakes his head. “That’s another bighell no. Alexei would go postal if that happened.”
I watch Tobias step between the two totally jacked alphas on either side of the door then produce a key card from his pocket. He holds it up to the reader and waits for the light to turn from red to green before handing off the little piece of black plastic with the Knotted Obsessions logo on it over to me.
“You’ve been promoted,” he says when I arch a brow at him. “Styx thinks you’ll do better working the dorms.”
As we walk through the heavy metal door, I immediately know why.
I scan the empty room as the lock clicks into place behind us, my eyes taking in the gray, cinderblock walls, army cots with matching foot lockers, before landing on the toilet in the corner.
This looks like a fucking prison cell.
“Yeah, that’s exactly why he wants you on this.”
I peel my eyes from the cracking sink and curtainless shower to meet his sky blue ones. “Because this isn’t fit for a fucking dog let alone a group of omegas who are supposed to be healthy enough to bring in bids higher than the prices listed on the cocktail menu?”
Tobias points at me then touches his nose with a grin. “Right on the money, Mikhail.”
“Where are they?” I all but growl.
“Sold. We were bought out during the last auction. Alexei’s men are on their way to inspect a new shipment as we speak.”
“When are they supposed to be delivered?” I’ll be having a conversation with Styx before whenever that is because this shit won’t fly.
Dimitri and I made sure the auctions and transactions, the deliveries all went smoothly, whether we were running them or not, but the Bratva king had ulterior motives. He sent his son to vet the buyers, and sent me to make sure there wasn’t anything wrong with the products, including how they were treated. I had no problem voicing my concerns and calling out bastards who hurt their omegas, the ones who starved them or assaulted them before they were set to hit the auction block.
Quality controlis what he called it, and I was happy to do it.
I might be an asshole, betraying my designation and all that shit, but I still gave a shit about how they were treated before, during, and after we sold them, and that hasn’t changed.
“Depends on Alexei.” Tobias rubs the back of his neck. “He’s a picky fucker, but he likes to set a few aside for himself from time to time. Drags out the process.”
That shit is going to stop right now if I have any say.
He wants to buy them for himself, fine, but I have a feeling that asshole probably samples the product until he’s had enough, then sends the omegas to auction when he’s done.
Not a good way to conduct business. Especially if they use first heats and virginity as selling points the way Boris did.
“I can see the wheels fucking turning,” the beta says with a grin. “Styx is usually right about people but it still surprises me every damn time he nails it.”
“Is he here?” I ask as I slowly spin in a circle, taking in every inch of this room while I make a mental checklist to hit him with.
I know the Adders don’t run the auctions, I know it’s that Alexei guy’s thing, but I have a feeling they’d be pissed to know this is what’s happening right under their noses. The fuckingdormdoesn’t even come close in comparison to the rest of the auction house, not to mention the upstairs of this club. I can’t see them wanting their names attached to this kind of shit.
Tobias watches me as I stop and face him. “He is. Upstairs in his office.”
“Am I going to be able to talk to him?”
The blonde beta nods.
“Tonight?”
Another.
“Anytime soon?” I huff.
