Page 38 of His Master

“That was a long time ago,” he said tightly, his hand flinching slightly toward me.

I could only imagine what sort of debauchery Victor had gotten up to in the past. He’d told me clearly that he wasn’t proud of who he once was. And to be honest, the idea of a week-long yacht party as Victor’s slave tickled all those dark desires in me that I still wasn’t entirely comfortable with.

As if sensing that, Eddie turned his smarmy look on me. “I see you’ve found yourself another sweet plaything. I didn’t think it was Bring Your Slave to Work Day, but then again, the playbook is out the window today.”

“Mr. Kipling is part of my legal counsel,” Victor said in steely tones.

I immediately wished he hadn’t. I absolutely didn’t mind being identified to these people as his slave, as bizarre and wrong as it would have seemed to the rest of the world. It was my name I wished he hadn’t used.

“Kipling?” another of the alphas asked. “As in Hayden Kipling?”

Victor tensed again, realizing the mistake he’d made.

“Let’s save the introductions for later,” he said, fighting to maintain a businesslike stance. “My uncle is trying to force me out of Victory Holdings with lies and slanders, and I want to know why.”

“I’m surprised you even care,” Eddie said, still studying me in a way that had my skin crawling. “Business has never mattered when you’ve had something to play with.” He glanced to Victor. “I’ve got an idea. Why don’t I call up the agency and have them send a sweet plaything over for me. We can have a little partytonight. I’ve got some Heat Lightning pills left over from last time. We can do swapsies again as they beg to be fucked.”

“No,” Victor said, cutting Eddie off before he could say more. “I don’t do that kind of party anymore.”

He glanced briefly at me, like I would be shocked that he’d done something as violating as forcing omegas into heat, then swapping partners in the middle. Omegas had an instinctive revulsion to being fucked by more than one alpha during their heats.

But at this point, especially considering a part of me would have loved and hated and loved for Victor to share me during my heat, nothing that my master had once done or wanted could be any sort of a deal breaker.

Victor clearly didn’t feel that way. “I’m here to see my uncle,” he said, shifting me slightly behind him as he marched forward, forcing the other alphas to back out of the way.

Artemis fell in behind me, protecting me from the others, who were definitely interested in knowing more about me, at least. I didn’t feel protected, though. I felt like I was in more danger than I’d ever been in before, with too many sets of hungry eyes staring at me as we walked to the end of the hall.

Worse still, when we reached the massive, luxurious office that took up one entire corner of the building, it was empty.

“He’s probably hiding somewhere,” Victor said, rubbing a hand over his face as he turned a circle in the corner office. “I bet he’s?—”

That was as far as he got before three bulky alphas in security uniforms dashed into the doorway and one of them barked, “Stop right there!”

CHAPTER TWELVE

Victor

Bringing Simon into the main offices of Victory Holdings was a terrible idea. I believed that for purely selfish reasons, though. I hadn’t counted on Eddie, my former best friend and co-conspirator in all the rotten things I’d done with omegas over the years, being right there. I definitely wasn't ready to have the alphahole I’d once been thrown back in my face, or in Simon’s.

But when my uncle’s personal security guards showed up, trapping us in his office, I knew things were about to go from bad to worse.

“Let me pass,” I told them, summoning every bit of alpha I had in an attempt to intimidate them.

The security guards were also alphas, though, so my ploy didn’t have much effect.

“We’ve been told to apprehend you if you trespassed on Victory Holdings property,” the largest of the guards said, taking a step toward me.

Instinctively, I extended an arm to block him from Simon, nudging Simon farther behind me as I did.

“He isn’t trespassing,” Artemis defended me. “Victor Woodbury is part owner of Victory Holdings.”

“Not if Mr. Woodbury has anything to say about it,” one of the smaller guards blurted.

The one who seemed to be in charge glanced at him with a scowl, then turned back to me. “You’re trespassing on Mr. Woodbury’s property,” he said.

It was possible he was telling the truth. I had a vague idea that my uncle owned the office building that housed Victory Holdings, and several other businesses, even if he didn’t own Victory Holdings itself. I’d done the same thing, buying real estate with my own money, like the building in Norwalk. I didn’t know for certain, one way or another, so I held my ground.

“Where is my uncle?” I demanded. “I want to talk to him to get to the bottom of this misunderstanding.”

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