Chapter Twenty-Two

She knocked on Grigory’s office door, and when he said, “Come in,” she entered with her phone ready with music.

Lexa looked around the desk for props, and she smiled. She could work with it.

Grigory looked at her and cocked his head. “You are here for the position?”

She could embrace a bit of roleplay. “Yes, Sir. Mr. Petrov.”

“Do you have much experience?”

“No, Sir, but I practice a lot.”

He sighed and leaned back in his chair. “Right. Proceed.”

She bit her lip and started the song.

The red suit was unbuttoned, she bent, and as she straightened, the first shoulder slipped down, and then the other, and then, she whisked it off and tossed it to one side on a chair. Grigory watched her with an impassive look. She rocked and swivelled her hips as she unzipped the skirt. She shimmied out of it, flicked it aside and continued twisting, rocking and prancing as she slid the glittery bra straps off each shoulder before she flicked it loose and dragged it down and off.

He burst out laughing but gestured for her to keep going as she slid out of her tiny matching panties.

The song ended, and she started to collect her clothing. Grigory came around and grabbed her, tapping her chest. “What is this?”

“This is a tiny sun bear, and this is a Kodiak, and this is a polar bear. Since I knew you were going to video it, I thought they should know that I knew. It makes it less creepy.” She had drawn them on with different shades of eyeliner. The polar bear was coloured in white, and the other two were in shades of brown, and the gold crescent was on the tiny sun bear.

He sat her on his desk. “That was a very good dance. I think I would like it better if you just danced for me.”

She lifted her head to rub alongside his. “I will. One of those gowns that I got with the robes should make for a fun dance. Lots of slipping and sliding at close range, and you get to touch.”

A voice growled. “Not without us.”

She looked down, and Arthur was scowling from the phone. “Oh, you had a break?”

He nodded his head with a jerk. “We did. Now, I get to spend the rest of the day with a boner.”

She dismissed his discomfort and said, “Delun is fine. Use him as an example.”

Another growl in a different tone from near Arthur said, “Delun is not fine.”

Her cheeks got pink. “Well, I guess that means my dancing doesn’t suck.”

“Treasure, whoever told you that was lying to try and keep part of your pay.” Grigory stroked her cheek.

“What?”

“By downgrading your rating, he could keep your pay lower, no matter what you brought in.”

She put her head to his. “Well, that sucks. I might have been able to tell Arthur to get bent when he came to my door.”

Grigory murmured, “We would have had to come to you, and that might not have gone so smoothly.”

She looked at the serious expression on his face, and she frowned. “What do you mean?”

“The Omega Centre had contacted both Delun and myself to notify us that an omega with affinity to our type was without a pack, and the only holdback was that she had a daughter of unknown origin. If we would like, they would remove the child as a concern.”

She looked at him in horror. He moved quickly. “Treasure. We said no. Then, Arthur came to us, and he explained the situation in detail, and we agreed. Two weeks of preparation later, and we had your home ready, and Hailey is with you.”

She exhaled slowly. “Right. I need to get dressed now.”

She shimmied back into her underwear and zipped into her skirt. The blazer was buttoned, and she sighed, rubbing her forehead.

Grigory frowned. “Have you had lunch?”

“Erm, no.”

“Come on, treasure. Lunch first, and then, we go and have a chat with Richards.”

She nodded. “I am going to put a blouse on quick. I will meet you in the kitchen.”

He chuckled. “I like the way you look now.”

“Yes, but the sparkly undies are scratchy, and the only one of us who likes red welts is Delun.”

Grigory shook his head and raised his hand. Arthur stated, “Me, too, sweetie.”

Delun chuckled. “Thick hides. You have to scratch us so we can feel it.”

She snorted and said, “Great. Now, I have to work manicures into my schedule.”

She checked her nails. They were still in great condition considering the damage she had done to Delun. He had asked for more, so she had given him more, and there was still a gleam in his eyes, so it must not have hurt too badly.

The guys disconnected when the negotiations were about to start.

Lexa headed for her room and put on some of the shockingly comfortable lace that Natasha had sent over, a silk shell from Delun’s family, and the red suit. The black heels matched the shell, and she had plenty of time to put on a necklace and two bracelets.

She turned back and put in some delicate earrings that swung against her neck when she turned her head, and she got goose bumps.

Yorgi greeted her with a smile. “I give up. I looked everywhere and can’t find anything out of place. What did you have for breakfast?”

She winced. “Uh, coffee?”

He froze. “You didn’t eat?”

“No. I couldn’t find anything, and I didn’t want to make a mess.” She shrugged and grabbed a bottle of juice. “What are my options for lunch?”

“Uh, what do you want?”

“Chicken sandwich?”

Yorgi nodded. “If you just want to make yourself something, go ahead. I am realizing that this is more of a shock to your system than I first imagined.”

“I... have issues with taking things that don’t belong to me.” She shrugged and sat at the counter as he flattened a chicken breast and dredged it in flour then egg and breadcrumbs.

He buttered a large soft roll and put it on the grill as her chicken cooked.

He chopped some lettuce and sliced some tomatoes. In eight minutes, she had a lovely lunch and Grigory was suited up, and he joined her.

He looked at Yorgi, and Yorgi shrugged. “It is what she asked for.”

Grigory sighed. “Something similar, but make it twice.”

She was halfway through her sandwich and glanced at him. “My taste too juvenile for you?”

“No. You just have a penchant for things that resemble fast food.”

She shrugged. “It is more familiar than anything else. We are leaving shortly, and it is fast.”

He chuckled, and Yorgi got the second serving underway.

They were out the door twenty minutes later.

The parking lot of the strip club looked different in daylight. Grigory held her hand as she exited the car, and then, he murmured, “Like we discussed.”

She nodded, and another car met them. She narrowed her eyes. “Alexi.”

The photographer grinned and nodded to the man next to him. “This is my alpha, Nikolai.”

Grigory and Nikolai hugged. “Niko is my little brother.”

She blinked and looked between the two of them. “Oh. Right.”

“Niko takes after my father’s family.”

Lexa looked at him, and she nodded. “Pleased to meet you, Nikolai.”

He grinned a cold smile. “Little sister. I am very happy to meet you. Your photos do not do you justice.”

She snapped her head toward Alexi. “You showed him?”

“Who do you think sent them to Grigory?”

She walked in close to Nikolai and kicked him in the shin. “Do you know how hard it is to think of a present for these guys? Asshole.”

She looked at the astonished Grigory and stalked toward the side door where the dancers came and went. She knocked twice, and the door opened. The man beamed at her. “Rose! Come in. Come in. Richards said that if you ever came back, I was to get you inside right away.”

She stepped inside. “I got a message that he wanted to see me a few weeks ago, but my life has been insane, so I thought I would come in now. Is he in?”

“Yeah, he is auditioning some newbies.”

She nodded and walked into the strangely bright interior of the Shattered Diamond. The walls were lined with panels that caused the faceting that gave the place its name. It was clean, well-maintained, and those two factors were part of the reason she had chosen to audition years ago.

Music was blaring, and a woman was nervously walking around the downstage pole while Richards critiqued her.

“Richards! Rose is back!”

Richards got up and walked over to Lexa with an eagerness that she found icky. She stepped behind Jeff, and Richards paused. “Rose, when can you start?”

“Um, about that. I have just gotten a message that you wanted to see me. I was pretty sure that you understood why I was going. If you need clarification, you were trying to pimp me out to that oligarch. The one with the clammy hands.”

“He really liked you. He still likes you. He has offered you a quarter of a million to be his mistress.”

“What do you get?”

“Twenty percent.” Richards raised his brows encouragingly. “Jeff. Did you call him?”

“The moment she crossed the threshold, sir.”

Lexa blinked, and when Richards grabbed her arm and hauled her to her office, she felt a little pang of disappointment. “Fuck off and die, Jeff.”

She was pulled, stumbling into the back office, and Richards closed the door, locking it. “This is kidnapping.”

“Yeah, I don’t really care. That fat fuck can rut in your pussy all he likes as long as he pays me for it.”

“Wait, so you are keeping rights to me while you whore me out?”

He chuckled. “You are a striking piece. Of course, I am. Who is going to stop me?”

“Uh, how about my mates?”

He snorted then looked at her and frowned. “A beta like you can’t get a mate.”

“You are absolutely right. I didn’t get one.”

His shoulders slumped in relief.

“I got three.”

There was a thump outside, and the door opened soundlessly. Grigory was rubbing his knuckles, and he said, “Treasure, what is keeping you?”

She snorted. “A locked door, Grigory. Sorry, but apparently, my new owner is on the way.”

Richards was pale, going to grey. “Boss! You never come by.”

“Well, you had sent my treasure so many colourful messages that I thought I would come with her before we go to pick up our other members.”

“O-others?”

“Certainly. A judge, a businessman, and myself have the honour of guarding our treasure and her precious cargo.” Grigory pulled her to him, and he peeked at her neck before sighing theatrically. “Nothing like a sweet omega wearing your markings.”

Richards swallowed. “Uh, she’s a beta. She’s never taken a day off for a heat. Over years.”

Grigory smiled slowly. “Ah, suppressors to keep her heat at bay so she would not lose her jobs. She has a daughter to support, after all. What was your plan for her child?”

“CPS is on the way now to take custody.”

Grigory raised his brows. “On the way where?”

“To her child’s school.”

“Oh, that will be interesting.” Grigory laughed.

“So you were going to sell me to the highest bidder and dump my child in the system. You asshole. Oh, dear, did you trip?” She lunged at him, drove her knee into his groin, and she punched him three times before he was on the floor.

Nikolai was standing in the doorway with his dark brows raised. He nodded and smiled. “That was a nasty fall.”

She rubbed her knuckles and knew that she would probably lose the use of her hand for a few hours. She kicked him in the ribs, and Grigory pulled her away, his eyes alight with amusement. She turned off the recording on her phone.

“Richards, you are fired. Nikolai, hire a more respectable manager. Maybe Ystine. She likes to protect young ladies.”

Nikolai chuckled. “She will like that. She is good with numbers, too. What are you doing with Richards?”

“Well, the oligarch needs someone to fuck. I hope that it is Vassily.”

Lexa blinked. “You know him?”

Grigory started laughing. “Yes. He and Richards will have a nice discussion. Very businesslike.”

They waited for Vassily, and while they waited, Lexa gave the new girl some tips and helped her make a few moves more fluid. When the man and his bodyguards came in, his gaze went to Lexa leaning against the pole, and he licked his lips. “Ah, little Rose, you have come back to me.”

She slowly straightened. “I have not. I am just waiting for my mate to finish some business here.”

He frowned. “Mate?”

Grigory exited the office and smiled. “Vassily, what brings you here?”

Lexa took Alexi’s hand and stepped off the stage, walking over to Grigory. He kissed her, and her scent spiralled out heavily. “Ready to go, fuzzball?”

Nikolai’s head whipped around, and Lexa smiled. The shared knowledge made his brows rise higher, and then, he grinned.

Grigory smiled. “So, Vassily, why are you here?”

“Is that an omega scent?” Vassily’s eyes were shocked.

“It is. My little treasure has a remarkably powerful scent when she feels safe. It is a good thing that she feels safe with me.” He booped her nose with his finger.

She smiled up at him like he was the sun and the moon. He inhaled sharply and kissed her again. She was held against him, one knee on his hip and her hands holding his jaw. Their tongues duelled, and when she pulled her head from his, she looked over her shoulder at Vassily. He staggered back at whatever he saw on her face. He groaned and shook in place. His guards were concerned, but he waved them off. There was a wet stain on the front of his trousers. Lexa chuckled and returned to the pleasurable occupation of kissing Grigory.

She finally came up for air, and he grinned.

When she looked around, they were alone except for Alexi and Nikolai. The air around her was thick with roses.

Nikolai growled. “I don’t suppose you know any unattached omegas?”

She was about to answer, and then, she snapped her mouth shut.

His eyes lit up. “You do. Are they registered?”

“Registered, yes. On active availability... no.”

He narrowed his eyes. “What does that mean?”

“An omega on inactive status can have a family situation like mine or is in physical recovery from an accident or something.”

“Name one.”

She felt pressure on her mind and then snapped her head up. “Fuck off, Nikolai. Fen couldn’t keep me under, and neither can you.”

Alexi laughed, and he patted his alpha on the back. “She is your sister now. Let her know you can be trusted with someone that precious, and she might point you in the right direction.”

Nikolai huffed. “Dearest sister, is there anything I can get for you?”

She laughed brightly. “Talk to me after the party this weekend. The woman in question might be at the second-month party after that.”

“Why then and not now?”

She smiled slowly. “Because she hasn’t been hired with her family as entertainment.”

“Where did you meet her?”

“On a shoot for a video. Lots of interesting folks there.” She smiled.

Nikolai nodded and turned to Grigory. “Can you get the information out of her?”

Grigory looked at her. “I don’t think so. I like my mate sweet, and I am not trying to coerce information out of her.”

He leaned in and asked her quietly. She nodded. “Well, if the horses come, he will be able to figure it out.”

Grigory blinked. “So, make Hailey happy and get my brother off my back?”

“Correct.”

He pulled out his phone and contacted Ford, asking him to book the riders for the party.

He looked at his younger brother. “There. Happy?”

“She will be there?”

Lexa sighed. “Probably. She is the only female trick rider in the group.”

Nikolai raised his brows. “A trick rider?”

“And that is enough out of me. Can we go pick the guys up?” She looked at Grigory.

“We can. Ford is contacting them for Saturday or starting Friday if they need to stage anything.”

Lexa smiled at the excited look in Nikolai’s expression. Alexi had a similar tension.

“Alexi, why are you excited?”

“If an omega can get Nikolai into a better mood, I will carry her around whenever she likes. Or he likes. Not fussy.” Alexi chuckled.

Grigory snorted and slid Lexa to her feet. “Not fussy is not what I would consider Niko. It was months before he settled on you, and it was not just because you are pretty, Alexi.”

They walked out of the club, and she blinked into the sun. “I never get used to that.”

He handed her a stack of cash. “This was what Richards had skimmed from your work.”

She started counting and swayed. “What the actual fuck?”

“It is about forty thousand dollars.”

She squeaked and tried to push it back into his hand. “What?”

He chuckled and put it into his pocket. “We will stop by the bank.”

She nodded. “Good idea.”

“Oh, our photo has begun running in the paper.” He held the door for her, and she slid in with the heads of the bodyguards sitting in the front seat. With Nikolai and Alexi, they hadn’t been needed.

The other two were remaining at the building, and Jeff was mysteriously missing, along with Richards.

Grigory showed her the family photo in the society pages. They were not the only pack photo, but they were the only one with a child already in the picture. They were the only sloth with the mention of the coalition of ursa alphas finding their ideal omega.

She smiled. “Hailey takes a good picture. She looks just like her mother.”

“Yes, she does. You and Maia must have looked like twins.”

She chuckled. “We were twins. Fraternal twins. Just born two years apart. It is the miracle of modern fertility treatments. I just sat frozen in a test tube for a year and a bit until they were ready to let me happen.” She smiled. “I have all the records from the fertility clinic.”

“I thought your family didn’t have trouble getting pregnant.”

“Oh, we don’t, but our mom was older and had frozen her eggs before some breast cancer treatment so that we wouldn’t get all messed up. So, after that, they got us started and then froze us.”

Grigory nodded. “So, you are a little experimental.”

“You could say that. It was quite a while ago. I am just glad that they did it at all, or I wouldn’t be here, neither would Hailey.”

He smiled. “It is funny how decisions of our parents mark our lives. If my father hadn’t stolen my mother from her mates and kept her long enough to get her pregnant—”

“So, what, like five minutes?”

He snorted. “He hid them for two weeks and took one of her heats for his own.”

“Wow, brave and stealthy.”

He grinned. “Once you meet Olyna, you will understand how getting her to shut up was a feat in itself.”

“That’s your mom?”

“That is my mom.” He nodded. “Vrenko is my father. He is the youngest of my mother’s mates, but he fathered four children on her. Three survived.”

She nodded. “So, you, Nikolai and...”

“Venka. You will meet her Friday.”

“All alphas?”

“Us? Yes. Olyna’s first mates had a mix of alphas and betas of their own, but our father had three children with her, strong and powerful. They are a good match. Venka was her last daughter.”

“I thought female alphas were rare.”

“They are but not out of Olyna. I am interested in the kind of daughter you breed. Hailey is giving signs of being an omega, isn’t she?”

“Yes, but she has years left before it manifests. I want her to have as much time being as normal as she can. Her life has already been a little weird.”

“We are stabilizing things as quickly as we can for her. It will be fine, Lexa.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “You were very generous with your teaching. Have you considered doing it professionally?”

“Teaching str—clothing reduction as the music proceeds?” She wrinkled her nose. “Not really. I would need staff, a studio, a lot of poles and a huge insurance rider because this is not for the faint of heart. Oh, and a wall of mirrors.”

He chuckled. “It seems like you have thought about it.”

“Now and then when I was helping a new dancer get on her feet, so to speak.”

“Well, you were very good with that young woman. She was honoured to have been tutored by The Rose. I had no idea you were so well known, treasure.”

She laughed and leaned against him. “Neither did I.”

He made a humming noise in his throat and squeezed her slightly. “I have not listened to the rumours around this area of my investments, but I believe I will take it in and do some investigating.”

“Why? I don’t do that anymore.”

“I am curious as to your life before us.”

“It was tiring.”

He chuckled. “I do not think that dealing with three adult men in close quarters is any better.”

She shrugged. “At least I get to bed on time.”

He laughed and hugged her. Next stop was the bank. Hailey’s college fund was about to get a bump.