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CHAPTER 30
Adair’s hand smoothedup my bare back as he laughed at whatever the man, I think his name was Charles Renard, was saying. Renard was a big fish donorandour last goal for fundraising before the primaries. Looking at his face, I was pretty sure that the chances of us securing a donation were looking pretty good right now.
It was my time to slip away from Adair so that he could talk with the man one-on-one about donating to his campaign. Adair didn’t like it any better than I did, but I also knew that most of the richer donors would be more generous if they got to talk to him alone.
“Gentlemen, I see a friend that I need to catch up with, if you’ll excuse me?” I let Adair kiss my cheek, and I gave Renard one last Maddie-smile before turning and heading into the crowd of people. I didn’t have a friend to catch up with, but Renard didn’t need to know that.
Scanning the crowd I found Rio easily, especially since he stood a head taller than most of the other partygoers. He was currently in the middle of an animated conversation with Mortie. I was pretty sure that it had to do with coffee, if the way Rio was swinging his arms was any indication. I didn’t really want to interrupt their conversation, so I continued to look through the crowd until I found Marcus.
His back was to me as I approached. “Marcus?” I called out.
At the sound of my voice, he turned to look at me and revealed the pretty woman that he was in the middle of talking to.
“Madeline.” He looked surprised to see me, which hurt my ego just the tiniest bit. “Where's Adair?”
“Finishing up a deal,” I said, joining him. I looked the woman up and down, taking in her appearance. She was on the taller side, but by the way that she carried herself, and her cloyingly sweet scent, it was obvious that she was an omega.
“Who’s your friend?” I asked, feeling oddly territorial. It definitely wasn’t in my nature, but something about the woman made me want to wrap my arm around Marcus’s and stake my claim over him, but I had enforced that stupid boundary and put the ball in his court. So, instead, I stood close enough to him that it was obvious that he had come to the party with me.
“This is Charlotte, an old friend,” Marcus said. “Charlotte, this is Madeline, my pack’s beta.”
The woman’s blonde eyebrows rose. “Is she really?”
Her voice was on the higher end and, I realized with a jolt, that she had the same British accent that Marcus did. How long had these two known each other?
“Yes,” Marcus said, and did something that completely surprised me. He reached out and rested a hand on my hip. “She is.”
“I see, how very interesting indeed.” Charlotte’s blue eyes ricocheted between Marcus and me before she finally blinked and stood up straight. “Well, I must be getting back to my pack, we’ll have to catch up soon, Marcus.” She turned and disappeared into the crowd, leaving Marcus and I standing together. As soon as she was out of sight, he removed his hand from my hip, and my heart gave a little squeeze of longing as he took a step away from me.
“Thank you for that, Madeline.” He was still scanning the crowd like Charlotte would reappear any moment.
“So, she’s an old friend?” I asked, wanting to push him for more information. Who was she to him, and why did she look at him like she owned him?
Marcus just shrugged and frowned. “Something like that. Is Adair nearly done for the night? It’s nearly midnight and I’m afraid that I’m exhausted.” He said, changing the subject and effectively cutting me off from asking any more questions about Charlotte.
I kept telling myself that I wasn’t going to let Marcus hurt me anymore, and that my skin would be thicker until he figured himself out. Yet here I was with that same stinging feeling in my chest again.
“I don’t know...you should go find him and ask. I’m going to run to the restroom really quickly.” I turned and pushed into the crowd before he could respond, making a beeline for the bathroom.
The women’s restroom was blissfully empty when I entered, and I put my back against the cool tile wall in between the counter and the paper towel dispenser. I let the coldness on my skin center me as I tried to give myself a pep talk about valuing myself and not taking bullshit from anyone...even if they were handsome and had a sinfully delicious British accent.
The door to the bathroom opened and the last person in the world that I wanted to see entered. Charlotte’s sickly sweet omega scent filled the small bathroom and my stomach revolted. The same nausea that I had been feeling earlier came back full force and I forced myself to breathe through my mouth to try and quell my roiling stomach.
“Ooh, that bad huh?” Charlotte pulled a tube of lipstick out of her clutch and began to touch up her makeup. “You know, Madeline, I was absolutely floored when Marcus introduced you to me. I’ve known Marcus since I was sixteen years old...and he has always hated betas.”
I didn’t respond. Instead, I distracted myself by washing my hands, hoping that the cool water on my fingers would help to settle my churning stomach.
“His mum was a beta, you see, and she treated him like dirt. He always told me that he would never be in a relationship with a beta and that they were just a bunch of hanger-ons and gold diggers.” There was a gleeful sparkle in her blue eyes when she glanced over at me, which told me that she was enjoying every minute of our interaction.
“Butyoumust be special.” Charlotte came so close that I nearly choked on her sweet scent. “Tell me, Madeline, does he still do that thing with his tongue?”
I reeled back away from her like she’s hit me, and watched as her previously pleasant expression turned into something far meaner.
Skirting around her, I hurried out of the bathroom, my thoughts and stomach roiling as I kept my head down and headed back towards the ballroom. I just wanted to find Adair and Rio and go home.
But my luck for the night wasn’t going to get any better, in fact it was about to get much worse. “Madeline.” A voice I hadn’t heard in over a decade said and, when I glanced up I found that, there, at the end of the hallway, stood my parents.
They began to walk towards me and I was so torn between wanting to run and wanting to scream that my legs stayed glued to the spot where I was standing. Soon they were close enough to touch me and I got my first real look at my parents after over twelve years.
