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Think of the money?For some inexplicable reason, I couldn’t breathe. Like she’d punched me in the gut.
She couldn’t be my true mate. She was a fortune hunter.
I’d already dialed security when she thrust her phone at me, and I saw a familiar document. My PA made every employee sign one. I scanned it quickly. Her name, Soleil Fairweather, suited her. The golden hair, the sun-kissed skin. The smile that kept peeking out, even now when she was so obviously nervous. I stepped closer to her, liking the way she shivered and dropped her gaze when I did so.
Think of the money.The little gold digger.
If I had time, I’d teach her to try and play those sorts of games with me. She would look gorgeous on her knees, wearing nothing but a diamond collar, tears on her pink cheeks, my cum dripping from one corner of those soft, pretty lips…Fuck.I tore my gaze away and adjusted myself discreetly.
Even if she hadn’t revealed herself inadvertently, she was still a temporary employee of Duchess Cruises, so I wasn’t allowed to touch. And I couldn’t fire her now. Damnit, Ineededsomeone to keep an eye on my niece.
But this fresh, young omega, who looked like a literal ray of sunshine…abetasitter? I almost choked. This woman was no more a beta than I was, though the strong perfume she wore may have been her attempt to disguise her status.
I knew omegas. My sister Lorelei—who was getting married on my private island in a week unless I could stop her—was one. When she went out, she also wore a heavy scent.
Omegas were supposedly soft-tempered and emotionally fragile, but the ones I’d known had been territorial and protective. Would Lore even allow this stunningly beautiful woman to be in such close quarters with her alpha fiancé? I doubted it.
My teeth ground together as I thought about Alphonse Dubois, my sister’s latest poor choice, but possibly her most dangerous one. He set off every alarm bell I had, though I’d called Storm Halder, who owned almost every private investigative firm in the Western Hemisphere, and he hadn’t been able to dig up any real dirt on the alpha. Yet.
I’d confided my misgivings to my sister, but she’d brushed them aside. Lore was an adult, a mother, and ten years older than me. If she wanted to ignore her younger brother, that was fine. But I’d insisted on hiring a sitter for the cruise, thinking it might give me a chance to speak to Lore again, before the damned ceremony. Get her to listen.
Time was running out for me to discover what set my instincts blazing around Alphonse. Something about the brutish alpha made me think he might take pleasure in hurting others.
For a moment, my vision blacked out as the image of Alphonse manhandling Soleil, injuring her, flashed before my mind’s eye. I bit back a growl, and noticed Soleil edging away carefully.
I wouldn’t let that happen. He would never so much as touch her, or I would flay every inch of skin that…
Fuck.I was growling louder now.
I cleared my throat. “I hope you’re a more accomplishedbetasitterthan you are a liar, Miss Fairweather.”
When I accused her of trespassing on my private pier, she acted innocent, then claimed not to know who I was. She seemed to be telling the truth—though she couldn’t be, not with that whispered remark about money—but then she froze when I told her who I was.
“Grumpy Grantham?”
That fucking nickname again? Suddenly, I wanted to turn her over my knee and spank the brat out of her. But what else had she…?
“So, you’re a liaranda fortune hunter. What else are you, little omega?” I crossed my arms over my chest, alarmed at the growing urge I had to hold her. Or shake the truth out of her. “How the hell did you end up here?”
Those blue-green eyes flew wide. “I was hired. And I’m not any of those things—except an omega. I know it’s unusual for one to take a position as a betasitter. But your PA was extremely persistent—” The yacht’s horn sounded, and over the omega’s shoulder, the Little Duchess’s co-captain tilted his head toward the waiting tender in a silent question. “...and I was the only one left at the agency who could cover this job. I can go now, if you think I’m not suitable.”
For some reason, the thought of sending this young, deceptive thing back out into the late afternoon where I couldn’t see her, know what she was doing and with whom, caused something in my gut to twist. I leaned down, grabbing her suitcase, which was surprisingly light. “Do you at least have experience with children?”
“Before I became… this”—she waved a hand at her body as if it were not a sumptuously delectable package—“I was a summer camp counselor every year. I love children. Well, loved. After I turned eighteen, I wasn’t given the opportunity to be around them much.” My heart ached slightly at the way her lip wobbled. But then she forced that cheerful smile back on her lips. A smile I was starting to hate, since it wasn’t real.
Her eyes met mine, and I longed to force a genuine reaction. A frown. A shout. Something. I sneered at her obviously designer shoes, yellow lace dress, and the soft leather purse in her manicured right hand. “Poor omega. What a difficult life you’ve had. Such a lack of opportunities. You have my deepest sympathy.”
Her smile dimmed slightly, then brightened. “No. But I find that how you see life has a lot to do with how you decide to look at it. Like my dad always says: chin up, heart open, smile on. That’s all anyone needs to make it through a storm.”
“What the fu— What aridiculousaphorism. Like a failed fortune cookie. Daddy’s girl, you’ve got a lot to learn.” Shaking my head, I walked toward the wide, carpeted gangplank. Someone had tied ridiculous silk banners all over the railings. “Get on the boat, Sunshine.”
“Sir, yes, sir,” she replied, with a mock salute.
A salute that drew my attention to the diamond ring that twinkled on the fourth finger of her left hand.
Fuck.
Chapter4
