Page 82 of The Omega's Surprise Baby
Did he really not know why I was calling? “Remember the last time we talked?” I asked. “Because somehow that conversation ended up in the hands of gossip mag reporters.”
For a second or two, only silence greeted me from the other end of the line. It lasted too long for me to believe what he said next. “Oh, really? I'm so sorry. I have no idea how that happened. They must have their ears everywhere.”
“Cut it. You gave them that recording, didn't you?” All the while I thought we were friends. Anger boiled up in me. How could he do this to me? After our time onStar Voiceswas over, I'd done everything I could to help him gain traction in this industry. Was this how he wanted to repay me? By sullying my reputation? Why?
“C'mon, Kade, I would never—”
I wasn't listening to him anymore. “I thought we were friends, you know? I always felt safe confiding in you.” I’d felt like I could trust him. Two omegas against the rest of show biz. It had been naive of me to think that he was one of the good guys simply because we were both omegas. Recently, I’d been learning a lot about not judging people based on their genetic make-up. Alphas could be kind, and omegas could be the biggest douchebags. “You were the only one I ever told about my problems with my producer before the whole thing blew up.” As the words left my mouth, I felt all color drain from my face. He must have ratted me out back then too. Why had I not made the connection earlier? How stupid was I?
“That was a stupid thing to do,” he said, though I couldn't tell whether he was talking about the fact that I'd slept with my producer or that I'd told him.
“I can't believe you betrayed me like this,” I said.
“You have no evidence of that.” His voice was flat, driving me mad. I didn't care about evidence. I already knew what was going on. My eyes were finally open. There was only one thing left to ask.
“Just tell me why.”After everything I did for you.
“People only voted for you because you had the bigger sob story.Oooh, look at that omega, he was raised by Vinists, he's never been to the big city.Bullshit.” He spat the last word. “People thought it was adorable how fucking wide-eyed and naive you were. So what if I made use of your naivety to drive you out? It's the only quality that got youinin the first place.”
I closed my eyes. How had I never seen how deep his jealousy still ran? He was right. I was naive. But that was no excuse for what he'd done. “I won on my own merits,” I muttered. I still believed that. True, I'd never felt like Ideservedthe fame I achieved, but I'd always felt confident in my ability to make good music.
“If that's so, then why did you have to fuck your producer?”
“You know it wasn't like that.” My voice broke. I hated it, but there was nothing I could do about it.
“Admit it, Kade, you're nothing but a pretty face. I feel sorry for that alpha you got wrapped around your fingers now. He seems like a decent guy. Does he know about your husband?”
I hung up the phone, swallowing past the drought in my mouth. Shane knew about my husband and he didn't care. Or did he?
After the events of this morning, nothing felt certain anymore.
32
Shane
Kade didn't know this, but during the time he was in LA, I'd read up on Vinists. I'd read up on his douchebag husband too. Ex-husband. I was going to make sure that the ex would be firmly attached to that title inallstates soon.
As it turned out, there was some interesting information about Harvey Miller on the web. I'd gotten his name from an old fan biography someone had written on Kade, and I'd gone from there. I’d even asked a private investigator to dig up more dirt on the man—anything that could help my argument.
A plan formed in my head when I first saw Harvey’s credit report, and after this morning I knew I couldn't wait any longer to carry it out. Kade needed to be freed from this bastard. This couldn't keep sneaking up on him--I had to put an end to it. I couldn't stand to see him with fear in his eyes any longer. If Ron's death had taught me anything, it was that life was short. I wasn't going towaitfor Harvey Miller to come to his senses and set my partner free. My youngest child was not going to be born into a world where that douchebag had any hold over his daddy.
It was only too bad that I couldn't tell Kade what I was doing. He would have either asked me to stop, or to take him along. Obviously, neither of those options were any good. As I'd told him, he had to trust me on this—and I hoped I wasn't going to disappoint him.
Without wasting any time, I'd made my way to the airport and bought a ticket for the earliest flight to Indiana I could get. I had to wait a couple of hours, but I didn't mind. It gave me time to think about what I was going to say when I was finally face to face with Kade's ex.
* * *
Goldstone, Indiana looked almost exactly the way I'd pictured it. It seemed a little bit bigger than Oceanport—which was unexpected—but everything else lined up with my expectations. The streets were quiet, omegas kept their eyes down as they walked—a few steps behind their alphas—and in the center of the town, the church made of dark stone towered over all other buildings as if claiming complete authority.
So this was where Kade had grown up.
No wonder he had nothing nice to say about the place. I was getting bad vibes just passing through in the cheap Chevy I'd rented at the airport.
Finding Harvey was easy. The man had built up quite the reputation, and the first local I asked could point me to his house.
When I knocked, he didn't take long to answer the door. His eyes widened slightly when they fell on me, a glint of recognition lighting up his features. He knew who I was. That meant he had to know about the shitstorm Kade and I found ourselves in. Good. That was going to make things easier.
“Hello, Mr. Miller,” I said. “I'm Shane Hayes, and I was wondering if I could have a word with you.”
