“Actually, no.”
“What does he want?” Assa asked, pressing into Wes’s side.
The man’s lips twitched. “I’m not sure. Probably just to get your opinion on the deejay.”
Wes inhaled sharply.
“So, are you coming up?” the guard asked.
Wes stepped forward, clearly about to tell him off for acting like this whole situation wasn’t super weird. Assa placed a hand on his arm.
“Is your boss… He isn’t known to beforceful, is he?” Assa asked.
“What do you—oh.No. Definitely not.” The guard looked shocked. “He’s a good guy.”
Assa nodded. “And if we don’t follow, do you think he’ll send a note to some other person, or couple?”
“Doubtful. Like I said, this is unusual.”
Wes put his hand on Assa’s lower back, letting him know this was his call.
Assa took a deep breath. “Wes—”
“Yes?”
“I want…”
Wes leaned down next to Assa’s ear so the guard couldn’t hear. “You want to go upstairs?”
“He chose us. All these people here, and he chose us. We can at least meet him. See what he wants.”
Wes’s hot breath tickled Assa’s neck. “You like that, sweetheart? You like how he saw all these men on the dance floor, but sensed something special about you? Do you think it’s because of how beautiful you are? How sexy? Do you think he was imagining touching you and making you feel good?”
Assa squeezed his eyes shut. “Not just me. Us.”
Wes nodded into his shoulder before pulling away. “We’d like to meet your boss,” he said to the guard. “Please lead the way.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Valentin
Valentin shoved his hands into the pockets of his tailored slacks and paced the carpet in front of his desk. His black, bespoke suit put his muscular frame on display, but as usual, he wondered if it was enough armor.
Marshaling his face into a neutral expression, he presented the picture of a confident, aloof alpha. It helped when he did that. People never dug too deep.
It had been a gamble asking his chief security guard to deliver the note. As a rule, he didn’t involve others in his affairs, but he hadn’t wanted to disturb the sanctity of Beta Night by approaching the couple on the floor.
Xan had arched an eyebrow, surely wondering why Valentin, a good-looking alpha who could easily attract a boyfriend or husband, settled for such a stilted romantic life.
Valentin had no intention of enlightening him, answering the man’s raised brow with a glare.
When he got the urge, Valentin found men to fuck, mostly betas who frequented The Cracked Heart, although he’d exchanged the occasional blow job with a fellow alpha—under the radar, of course, as alpha/alpha pairs were still taboo. He hadn’t fucked an omega since he was nineteen, and he didn’t see that changing. Ever.
Sex was occasionally pleasurable, but always inconsequential. Valentin got off, and that was it. It was a function his body required to stay healthy. He had the same high sex drive as other alphas, the same desire to fuck, but it was tempered by the bitterness he’d carried for nearly a decade. Most nights, his right hand worked just fine.
Xan could arch his eyebrow all he wanted, but Valentin wasn’t fit for a future with anyone. Not after everything that had been taken from him.
He would never forget how easily it could all disappear.
