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ChapterNineteen
Ellis
The closer it got to mid-December, the more I dreaded what we had to do. Graham’s lawyers had a strong case building. They’d reached out to anyone who might speak out against Mayor Townsen, which was far fewer people than we’d hoped. The biggest thing they were fighting for was the security feed. That had been the biggest hurdle so far. But if we wanted that foolproof nail in the coffin, we needed a confession. Briar was already thirty-two weeks along, and I didn’t want to take any chances. As it was, by the time the ball happened, she’d be thirty-six weeks.
My phone vibrated on my desk, and I picked it up, sighing at the sight of my mother’s name.
Mother:Your tickets are being delivered by courier this afternoon.
Ellis: Ensure that you include seven. We have a female omega now
Mother:We? You’re still insisting on being in your uncle’s shadow?
A moment later my phone rang, and I bit back a groan. I knew that I didn’t really have a choice unless I wanted to be harassed all day. I answered, knowing it was the best course of action. For now, I needed to pretend I was the dutiful son—or as dutiful as I ever was, anyway.
“Hello, Mother.”
“Don’t ‘Hello, Mother’ me,” she bit out. Her tone had always been grating, but now even more so. “You got an omega and didn’t think to call us?”
“No, because I knew you’d meet her at the charity ball,” I countered. “And yes, I’m still in a pack with Graham. It never made sense to me why you hate him so much.”
“He’s always been so pompous,” she huffed. “Thinks he’s better than everyone.”
“For someone in politics, you’d think you would be able to handle that.” She let out a laugh.
“Oh, I know how to handle them, but he’s always been catered to, and you know I hate that. It’s why I pushed you so hard,” she said. It was rich that she thought she had anything to do with my behavior and accomplishments now.
“He’s a good man, and our omega seems to love him.” I sighed. “Can you send an extra ticket?”
“Yes, yes, adding it now,” she said flippantly as her fingers clicked along her keyboard. “And sent.”
“Thank you.”
“So, tell me about her.” The question took me by surprise. She was never interested in the details. The one thing I couldn’t do was tell her Briar’s name because it would raise suspicion. Instead, I did the only logical thing by texting Graham for help.
“She’s great. Super sweet and caring. She’s already got all of us opening up, and it’s only been a few months,” I started. I didn’t get far before the door slammed open.
“Ellis, I need you on this call. Now. The client is losing his mind,” Graham’s voice boomed in the room. I heard Mother give an exasperated huff.
“Coming!” I called back. “Sorry, Mom, duty calls. Talk to you soon.” I hung up before she had a chance to argue. “Thanks for the rescue.”
“She’s insufferable,” he said with a chuckle. “I’m sure she had only pleasant things to say about me.” She’d spent her entire life hating her brother. He was an alpha, meaning he was important to society. She was a lowly beta. Even though he never saw her that way, she did, which had forever tainted the relationship between them. Approaching the world with so much hate had to be exhausting, but that was my mother.
“Did you tell her about Briar?”
I nodded. “I kept her name out of it, but yes. She was sending tickets over, and I needed an extra for her.”
“Did you get the usual lecture?” he asked. He perched on the arm of the chair across from my desk. “How could you be in Graham’s pack? He’s deplorable, always catered to.” His impression of her was spot on, minus the bitterness that was practically my mother’s signature.
“Yup, practically word for word. She tried to ask for details on Briar, which was strange. She also pretended to be hurt that she didn’t know about her,” I admitted.
“That is weird. If it doesn’t benefit her, she doesn’t generally care,” he agreed. “On an unrelated and happier note, should we do a baby shower for Briar and Oliver?”
I perked up at that. “If you put Beckham on it, it’ll be over.”
“I figured it might be a good way to meet the family. I can rent out a restaurant and have them serve lunch. She’d never forgive us if we did a gaudy, over-the-top baby shower. It’s already going to be a stressful time.”
“That’s a good point. She’s been craving Mexican lately. We could just rent the cantina side of Alejandro’s place out,” I said, brushing my fingers over my stubble as I thought about it. “I hadn’t even considered telling our families.”
“We don’t all come from the best, but I know she’d feel like a dirty fucking secret if we didn’t do this. Close friends. Family. She deserves to be shown off,” he said, and I couldn’t agree more.
“I’ll send out a text and start a list,” I said as I pulled up my contacts. “Do you have a date in mind?”
“Next Friday. We have dress shopping Saturday since we need to purchase it as close to the ball as possible. After her last appointment, she mentioned that she’d be growing a lot faster now,” he said with a small smile on his lips. We’d all thought she looked gorgeous with her baby bump, but Graham was definitely the most taken by it. Every chance he got, he was brushing his hand over it or bending down to talk to Oliver. I never thought I’d see the day Graham acted like that, but it looked good on him.
“She looks amazing,” I said in answer to his silent appreciation of our omega. Even if she still held on to a bit of fear that we would change our minds, we all knew Oliver was meant to be ours. He was a part of our omega, and that was more than enough for us. We’d have to face the reality that he might ask about his biological father someday, but when the time arrived, we’d have an answer ready. No matter what, we were his fathers and always would be. Biology didn’t mean shit if you were incapable of being a decent parent.
“She does,” he agreed, oblivious to what was running through my mind. “Alright, now that the rescue mission is complete, I have to run. I have a meeting, so make sure to remind Beckham not to get too crazy.”
“On it,” I said as I started typing out the long text.
As I hit send, the elevator call button started going off, and I rushed out to grab our tickets. The next few weeks would be full of crazy, but I was ready for the ball. It was the one obstacle that was standing in the way of our future together.
“Mother dearest dropped off tickets,” Miles said when the elevator slid open again. He handed over the envelope.
“You doing okay?” I asked. The hospital trip was rough for him, so we’d spent just as many nights together as I had with Briar. He didn’t want her to know about it just yet, wanting to share his past when he was ready, but we’d all checked in on him.
“I am,” he said, exasperated. “I told you guys that after talking to the doctor. I never would have expected it, but that really helped. It’s fine. Well, it’s not fine, but I’m okay.”
“Good. I need your help,” I said to distract him. He’d get the text, but I filled him in on the details anyway.
“I’ll ask Christopher,” Miles said. His cousin was the only family he had left. He was an hour away, but he’d come in a heartbeat.
“I was thinking the same thing. I’m not inviting my family for obvious reasons, but I figured we’d get Liam to come. Wells is the only one of us with a real family, so he can bring his, and I’m sure Tallon and Beck will invite their parents.”
“Oh god,” he chuckled. “Imagine Briar’s reaction if Tallon’s shitty parents say stuff about him.”
“She’d shut that down so fast. They just always laugh it off when we try,” I said with a hint of a growl in my voice. Graham was always the one who handled it since I’d likely reach across the table and punch them both. Usually, a pack had a leading alpha, but ours was split. Graham was the responsible alpha, while I was the one who focused on the pack as a whole, and Wells was our protector. It worked for us, especially since Graham had kept us out of jail on many occasions.
“Does she know about it?” Miles asked.
