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“So how do we expose them?” I ask, tossing the papers on the coffee table.
This has lit a fire in me I haven’t felt since we started Ashe Investments. Whatever these alphas are doing in the city, it ends. It ends now.
“We find that alpha, blackmail him, and torture the truth from him,” Kylian says.
Everleigh’s mouth drops open. “You’re joking, right?”
Cian sighs. “Ky is not joking. The alpha I saw was Lawrence’s friend, or at least a close enough acquaintance, so it would be in our—and Everleigh’s—best interest to stay away from him. Lawrence does not need to find out that Everleigh is here.”
“So we kill him when we have the info we need,” Kylian says matter-of-factly.
We all stare at him.
“That’s still a joke, right?” Everleigh asks, frowning.
I open my mouth to tell her no, spot the wariness in Everleigh’s gaze, and smile instead. “Just a joke. We’ll spend the rest of the day hunting for more free clinics.”
“But don’t you have meetings for your business?” Everleigh asks.
We do. Or we did. Until we canceled them all. “Our priorities have shifted.”
“To?” she whispers.
“Something more important,” I tell her.
You.
“Lawrence believes nothing is more important than money,” she says, her voice still soft. “I think it’s because his dad controlled all his money. Whenever he wanted something expensive, he had to go ask for permission. Most of his friends were the same.”
“We’re not the same,” Kylian says.
She studies him for a beat and then nods as if she believes him.
Needing Everleigh to understand something important about us, I lean toward her, capturing her gaze. “Do you know why we started our business?”
She blinks like I just asked the most stupid question in the world. “To make money?”
“We like the hunt.” Cian smiles.
“And finding something valuable, the diamond in the rough.” Kylian takes over.
“We all do,” I conclude, my eyes still fixed on Everleigh. “We know a good thing when we spot one. Could be a startup, could be a new business that doesn’t know why it’s so special, but everyone loves it and wants a piece of it.That’swhat we’re looking for.”
“To own,” a hint of bitterness hardens her soft voice. “Because that’s what alphas do.”
I slowly shake my head as I quietly correct her, “To make it the best it can be. To make it shine.”
“Pack Ashe with the platinum touch,” Everleigh murmurs a rumor that’s been circulating around the city for years. Cian started it and never let it die down until everyone believed it. That’s another of his skills.
“People don’t know what they’re talking about.” Cian crosses his arms. “They think it’s a matter of gambling, of buying at the right time, not pulling out at the wrong time. That’s not it, little omega.”
“Then what is?” she asks.
What I’m about to say could make her run, but I need to say it. Everleigh needs to know how special she is, and she needs to know it now.
I wait until I have her gaze. “Some investments look pretty on the surface. They’ve been prettied up, polished until they shine, and everyone gathers around it to admire how perfect it is. But it’s not worth even a tenth of the price.”
She slowly blinks. “Why do I think you’re talking about me?”
