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“Why do you care if I eat?” I pressed, unable to just let it drop. He opened his mouth to answer, but I kept going. “What does it matter to you if I haven’t taken a sip of water or coffee or anything in hours? I’m not going to die.”
“Of course you won’t die,” he argued, “but it will leave you vulnerable, and you’ve had enough of that. Again, basic needs, Bailey.” He enunciated each word like I was too slow to understand what he was trying to say.
“Fine,” I said, giving in partially because I was, in fact, hungry now that I’d stopped hyper focusing on work. I was also very motivated to get the fuck out of this tight room with him. Tension was rising swiftly, and I wasn’t going to fuck Sterling in the closet. The last thing I needed wasthatgetting back to the senator. Not to mention I had no intentions of going there with Sterling again no matter where we were.
“Let me file this, then I’ll eat. I’ll even drink some water like a good little omega,” I joked. The corner of his lip twitched, and he backed further away to lean against the wall, his arms crossed.
“Good,” he said. I rolled my eyes and had started to file the papers when the door was slammed open loudly enough that the wood creaked in protest. On instinct, I cowered, expecting another attack, but when I saw it was Veronica, I stood up.
Her shrewd eyes were ready, and she held out her phone as if she were about to record me doing something I shouldn’t. She’d probably expected to find some scandalous affair going on in here, nevermind the fact that I was a single omega who could legally do anything she wanted. Sure, it wouldn’t make the senator happy, but I wouldn’ttechnicallybe doing anything morally wrong.
I widened my eyes as I looked up at her, clutching my chest. My breaths were only slightly exaggerated. She really had startled me, which I did not appreciate.
“Is everything okay? Did somebody try to hurt someone again?”
“Well, I, uh,” she stuttered, completely at a loss for words. The dumb omega didn’t know what to do now that I’d just proved her wrong.
“Are you okay?” I asked like I was genuinely worried about this vile woman’s safety.
She brushed a stray hair from her face and shook her head. “No, everything’s fine,” she said quickly. “I just thought I heard something.” She tucked her phone away and left without another word.
The door closed with a thud, and I exhaled, giving Sterling a silent warning not to say a word.
“That’s why I stepped away,” he told me. “She watched me follow you in here.”
Strange… I hadn’t noticed anyone else in the room when we walked across. All I’d felt was his presence behind me. Maybe I didn’t give them enough credit for watching out for me. Even though he was mad at me, he was constantly aware of what might be threats to me, physically or otherwise.
I finished filing the folders before hurrying out of the room. I didn’t want to be here longer than necessary, not with this many eyes on us. They followed me from the file room and back to the office. There was so much anger and jealousy that made no sense to me. Did they all truly believe in this cause or did they want him? Either way, they were insane.
Henry Burke was a monster. I’d known it from the moment I laid eyes on him, yet these women would worship at his feet if he asked them to. Of course, he’d set his sights on me, the one woman who saw right through him and knew exactly how vile he was under the surface.
Cyrus was waiting outside of the office, so he opened the door for us. As the door closed behind us, he pulled me in until his face was inches from mine. My heart fluttered at the contact, and I breathed in the mint and tobacco for a second.
“What happened?”
“If you don’t count the fact that Veronica thought she was going to catch us fucking in the file room or that every single person here hates my guts, I’m fine,” I offered.
The cheery sarcasm in my voice had him shaking his head, and I appreciated that I could make the grumpy man smile once in a while.
“Will you just go eat now?” he asked with exasperation, so I sat down and opened the to-go box. They’d gotten my favorite taco order, down to the salsa and large mango lemonade.
My eyes flickered to Weston. “Thanks,” I said, knowing he was the only one observant enough to know my exact order. He was kind of a stalker, but weirdly enough, it was endearing.
I was a mess.
“So, what were you guys talking about while I was working?” I took a bite of my taco and waited.
“Just a few work things and wondering if we should take a look around. We already did a bug sweep, and there are no cameras in here. That’s the thing about men like him, they don’t want anyone looking too closely into their private offices and homes,” Sterling explained. His voice held no frustration for once. Now, it was rich, soothing even. It was nice to see him not be a jerk. I loved our mutual teasing, but I hated the fights that seemed to erupt when the two of us were together. I wanted more ofthisalpha instead.
“I fully intended to peek around,” I said. “I finished my work, but I’m going to hang out for a little bit. Everyone should be leaving...” I glanced down at my watch. “Probably in the next thirty minutes. If they’re not heading out the door already. Senator isn’t here to keep them on their best behavior.”
“That’s for damn sure. That Veronica woman’s a snake. You better make sure she actually leaves,” Sterling said. I nodded at him in agreement, and that was all it took for Hayes to walk out, likely doing exactly what his brother had suggested.
“So, what do you do?” Weston asked, gesturing to the pile of paperwork left on my desk. Even though I’d filed half of it, the stack never seemed to shrink.
“The boring stuff. Paperwork, invoicing, details, bookings. I’m really more of a glorified personal assistant at the moment. I also research upcoming events in the city and state to see if he should attend.”
Weston nodded thoughtfully. “Does it bother you to help him?”
