Page 78 of Shades of Scars

“I can take a guess, but unless either of them confirms, then I’d rather keep my opinion to myself.”

He arches a brow at that. “He’s acting just like you do around our omega. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure it out.”

I shrug. “If the situation was as we both might suspect, there is no way Warrick and the rest of his crew wouldn’t be down here whisking her away.”

“Perhaps. You do know them well enough.” Wren murmurs, tapping the tip of the pen against his palm. I don’t get a chance to respond before his phone is chiming on the desk in front of him. He picks it up, reads whatever message he’s just received, then he’s rising to his feet. “New security rep is here. Let’s get this taken care of so we can get home to our omega.”

I rise to my feet and stretch out my muscles. Following after Wren as we exit the office, I say, “I told Apollo to have the construction team sent out early since Kate is over keeping Scarlett company.”

Wren snorts. “Why? You know you’re going to send her packing as soon as we get home, anyway.”

I grit my teeth, even though a part of me knows he’s just jerking my chain. “I haven’t seen my omega since this morning. I don’t have the patience to share her with someone who isn’t pack.”

We pass Gus in the hallway on the way to the elevator. Wren gives the burly beta a dip of his chin as we pass, but I don’t spare him a glance. I’m still not pleased with the way things were handled the night Scarlett was shot at. Gus, in my eyes, played a role in that. The moment he knew she was here, he should have told Apollo to bring her back home.

I still haven’t spoken much to Apollo, either. I sure as hell haven’t forgiven him.

The new security rep is waiting for us by the main bar when we reach ground level. His back is to us, but when he turns to face us, my brows arch in surprise at the familiar face I’ve never forgotten. As soon as he spots me beside Wren, his own brows shoot up to his hairline. “Caito Archer. I’ll be damned. Long time no see.”

Wren stops a few feet away from the man, and I do the same. I cross my arms over my chest and snort. “Pretty sure the last time I saw you, I told you I’d bury you in the bottom of the ocean the next time we came face to face.”

The alpha tips his head back and laughs. I exchange a look with Wren. “I should have known you’d contract Malakei for security.”

“You two are familiar with each other.” Not much surprises Wren. He knows me better than anyone else in my entire life.Yet, there is surprise etched on the pack lead’s face as his eyes bounce between me and his new security rep.

“Sutton Malakei. Owner of Malakei Security. We ran a lot of missions together back when I was tangled with the Infinity Ring. Warrick is a big donor of Sutton’s.” My eyes don’t stray from Wren’s face, but I can feel Sutton’s eyes boring into me.

I’m not to speak of dealings with the Infinity Ring now that I am no longer an official member. I know that. He knows that. I also know that he won’t say shit to Warrick about anything said during this interaction, because then he’d be forced to come clean about a multitude of other secrets he’s been keeping from the organization’s fearless leader.

The last thing he wants to do is cross the Infinity Ring.

Wren shakes his head, clearing away his surprise in the process. “I should have known. Your reach is quite wide.” I hint the double meaning behind his statement, but I keep any response I might’ve made to myself. Now will not be the time we discuss this. Wren trusts me with his life, but that doesn’t mean he trusts the background I came from.

Or the secrets I still keep to this day.

Sutton steps forward then, extending his hand out to his new boss. “Pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Madden. I have one of my most trusted teams already outside setting up the perimeter system you ordered. Once they are through with that, they will start inside. I also have a file full of guys for you to go through for the private guard you asked for.” The two alphas clasp hands and shake before Sutton pulls out a flash drive and hands it over.

“Private guard?” I ask, stuffing my hands into my pockets when I catch Wren’s eye.

“Scar-our omega will have a private guard for if she wants to leave the penthouse. I will also be hiring some hands around here as well.” I don’t miss the way he stops saying Scarlett’sname. Pretty sure if Sutton wanted to know about our omega, he would. I don’t think Wren realizes who exactly he’s inviting into our lives.

But, alas, I keep that to myself.

Sutton Malakei knows not to cross me, too.

I might not be Warrick Arson’s puppet anymore, but that doesn’t mean I’m harmless.

Thirty minutes later, Sutton has walked us both through the new security system inside and outside of the club, as well as gone over the terms of the contract in full. I’m just drumming my fingers against the top of the bar while Sutton and Wren open up a bottle of whiskey when my phone chimes.

I dig it out of my pocket to look over the security notification flashing across the screen. My brows pull down as I pull up the camera feeds in the lobby, and rewind two minutes to watch Fraser straighten up from where he’d been leaning against the vacant security desk, and look towards the front doors with interest.

My frown only deepens when, just a minute later, he stalks out of the lobby, pulling a gun from his holster. I switch to the outside cameras that surround the front entrance, but when I do, I lose sight of Fraser. “Caito, what is it?” Wren sets his glass of untouched whiskey down on the bar top, but I don’t look up at him. I’m too busy shifting through the various cameras that surround the building, trying to find Fraser.

When I don’t find him, I growl, “I’ve lost sight of Fraser. Camera picked him up leaving our lobby and pulling his gun.”

Sutton straightens from where he’d been leaning against the back of a stool two down from me. “Problem I can help with?” He says this to me, and I know all too well what he means. He also knows Fraser just as well as I do.

“No, we-” I go to stand, but I’m abruptly cut off and sent stumbling when a shudder rumbles through the very ground beneath my feet. “What the fuck?”

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