AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Rimbolt let out a low whistle. “I don’t see how. The pain must have become unbearable as time passed.” He rubbed his chin, lost in thought. “Unless he never actually had sexual relations with his omega. Since you did have unprotected sexual relations with Miss Soleil, even if you didn’t fully claim her with your bite—”
My heart skipped a beat. “How did you know that?”
“That you had sexual relations?
“No. That they were unprotected.”
His eyes shifted around the room, looking everywhere but at me. “Ah. Can we pretend I didn’t let that slip, Giovanni? I could lose my license.”
“What’s the ultrasound for, Rimbolt?” I demanded, sudden strength flowing into me as I stood, towering over the smaller man.
He didn’t answer, and I took a deep breath, ready to remind him I was his employer… and my lungs filled with a hint of coconut and hibiscus.
She was here.
Chapter21
Sunshine
“Come right in, Soleil,” the doctor said, meeting me outside the office on the private floor of the hospital, for some reason. She seemed slightly nervous today, which worried me. “You look fabulous. How have you been feeling?”
I’d dressed in my favorite sunshine yellow Jimmy Choo heels, with a puffy yellow skirt, a chunky, hand-tooled leather belt, and a bright orange silk shell with Swarovski crystals stitched along the neckline. It was “a lot,” according to Mom, but I’d sent my friend Candy a picture, and she’d told me she was calling the police since I’d start a riot downtown in this.
It was good having girlfriends who knew when to blow sunshine up your skirt.
I smiled at Marguerite. “You want the truth, or you want me to say I’m fine?”
She took both my hands in hers. “Always the truth, young one. How are you feeling? What’s been happening?”
“Physically, I’m fine. Well, I have to take the painkillers you prescribed most days. Mentally? I’m a wreck.”
The nurse opened the door behind her and nodded. Marguerite bustled us both in, and when we reached the examination room, she sat next to me in one of the green chairs. “Now, tell me what’s going on.”
“I don’t want to trash talk your nephew to you, Marguerite,” I said with a weak smile.
“Oh, there’s nothing you could say I haven't already thought. He hasn’t been in touch?”
“Well, in a roundabout way, I suppose he has. He sent attorneys to speak with my parents. He formed some kind of trust for me, with a hundred million dollars in an account I was only allowed to use if I was given their permission to have my own accounts, run a business, and even move out.” I giggled at the shock on her face. “Yeah, my dad’s expression was the same as yours when he heard it. I mean, who can turn down that kind of money?” I winked. “My dad always said I was one in a billion.”
Her jaw snapped shut. “You turned it down?”
“Well, yeah. It was a grand gesture, but not the kind that matters, right? I told that jerk I didn’t want his money. I wanted his… I wanted…”I breathed through the wave of sadness. I was getting used to doing that now. In a few seconds, I had control again. “It’s always been important that we make it on our own.”
“We?”
“Yes. Rain and me. I mean, we have another friend, Candy Paxson, who already said she’d buy us an entire block of offices.”
Her eyes flew wide. “Candy Paxson? Nicholas Paxson’s new bride?”
“Yeah. So money isn’t really the issue anymore. Honestly, I wouldn’t mind taking a slight hand-up from a friend. Rain, on the other hand, is super stubborn about accepting what she sees as charity. She’s never had much money, not since she was young. It matters to both of us that we omegas make this happen independently.”
“You’re trying to prove it can be done.”
I smiled. “Anyway, we scheduled enough bookings over the past few months to cover what we need to rent a small office. And Mom went around Dad and gave permission for me to have my own bank accounts, and be on the paperwork for the business—legally, that is. He didn’t want her to—he still thinks all I need is an alpha—but she’s turning out to be pretty badass, to be honest.”
Marguerite slapped a hand over her mouth, and I wasn’t sure if she was stifling laughter or a sob. After a few seconds, she said, “Can I adopt you?”
“I’ll let you know after the tests. Because what happens if I am pregnant? Then your great-nephew or niece would also be your grandchild, and I’d be sexually attracted to my own cousin… Knocked up by my cousin?” I fanned my face while she snorted. “Isn’t that a cable reality show with banjos in it? No can do. Let’s just stay friends.”
