Page 15 of Give Me You
It sounds so simple when she says it like that, but trust has never been simple for me. Everyone wants something. Everyone has an angle. Zaden wants my club. The investors want control. Even the people I sleep with want something from me, whether it's access or bragging rights or a piece of what my parents built.
But then I think about Liam. The way he held me last night, the way he made sure I was okay. The way he's been therefor months, never asking for more than I was willing to give. And Akira, who brought me to his home instead of leaving me vulnerable in the club. Who got angry on my behalf about someone using his drugs to hurt me.
Maybe. Maybe I could trust them. Just a little.
I nod at Dr. Chen, not trusting my voice, and leave the examination room. The receptionist gives me a small smile as I pass, but I barely register it. My mind is too crowded with everything I need to do and everything that could go wrong.
"Everything okay?" Otto asks as I slide into the seat.
"Baby's healthy," I say, buckling my seatbelt. The words should bring more relief than they do, but everything Dr. Chen said about heat spikes and stress and needing help keeps circling in my mind.
Akira
I walk through the warehouse, make my way down the aisles of prepped boxes stacked high on metal shelves. The space smells like cardboard and concrete, the overhead lights casting harsh shadows across everything. Each box is labeled with codes only my crew understands, ready for distribution to the clubs and private clients who keep our operation running smoothly. I run my hand along one of the boxes, checking the seal, making sure everything is secure. Quality control is everything in thisbusiness. One mistake, one contaminated batch, and people die. Or worse, they talk.
Which is why it pisses me off even more that Emilio found himself drugged on my stock.
I move through the rows until I reach the open area at the back of the warehouse where a few of my guys are gathered. Liam is leaning against the far wall by the entrance, that hooded, dark look on his face that he usually carries. Except when Emilio is around. I never really noticed it before, never paid attention to the way my brother's entire demeanor shifts when that Omega walks into a room. But after last night, after watching the way Liam looked at Emilio while he was on his knot, after seeing the softness in my brother's eyes that I've never seen directed at anyone else, I can't stop noticing it.
Jealousy flares up in my chest that I've never had something like that. I've had plenty of hookups, plenty of people willing to warm my bed for a night or two. But nothing that makes me look the way Liam looked at Emilio. Nothing that makes me soft. And now, twelve hours later, I still can't get that Omega out of my head. The way he tasted, the way he sounded, the way he looked at me with those desperate eyes. It's fucking with me in ways I don't know how to handle.
I grumble about it under my breath, shoving the thoughts away as I approach the group. A few of my guys are standing in a loose circle, discussing something I can't quite hear. I recognize Dante and Ronan, both Alphas who've been with me for years. Reliable, steady, the kind of men you want at your back when shit goes sideways. Felix and Ash are there too, both Betas. Felix is older, experienced, always calm under pressure. Ash is newer, still learning the ropes, but he's shown promise. Despite how skittish the Beta is.
As I draw closer, I overhear that the discussion veer toward the profit from last night at Aurum Pulse and a neighboring club.The night was good for business, despite everything that went down. Or maybe because of it. People love a little chaos with their party drugs.
I clear my throat, and they all freeze, the conversation dying immediately, every head turning toward me. The tension in the air shifts, their casual demeanor replaced by wariness.
"As happy as I am that everyone else is delighted in our business," I say, my voice carrying across the open space, "I called you here specifically this morning for information on why the owner of the club was drugged with one of my products when I didn't explicitly give it to him and he didn't explicitly accept it."
Dante and Ronan exchange glances, their expressions carefully neutral. Dante speaks first, the Alpha giving me nothing new. "We didn’t see anything specifically out of the ordinary. The night ran smoothly from our end. Sales were up, no issues with security, no complaints from the VIP section."
Ronan nods in agreement. "Same from what I saw. Everything was by the book. The product went to the usual clients, all verified. No new faces in the VIP that I noticed."
I study them both, looking for any sign of deception. But they're telling the truth. I can see it in the way they meet my eyes without flinching. They didn't see anything because whoever did this was careful. Smart enough to avoid drawing attention from my most experienced guys.
My gaze shifts to Ash, who's standing slightly behind Felix. The Beta is jittery, his hands shoved in his pockets, his weight shifting from foot to foot. He won't meet my eyes, staring instead at a spot on the floor like it's the most interesting thing in the world.
"What did you see?" I ask, focusing all my attention on him.
Ash swallows hard, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down a few times before he speaks. "My brother, Viktor, mentioned something. He said he had to go get it."
I frown at that statement wondering what in the world Viktor could bring to me for answers. He’s one of the few reliable Alphas who works with me aside from Dante and Ronan, the Alpha then bringing in his brother. Solid worker, keeps his head down, doesn't cause problems. Or so I thought.
Before I can press Ash for more details, the door to the warehouse bangs open, the sound echoing through the space. Viktor storms in, dragging someone behind him by the collar. It takes me a few seconds to recognize the second Alpha but when I do, I’m just confused.
Jax has been with us for the better part of three years, even longer than Viktor, but right now he looks like shit, his face bruised and his lip split. Blood is dripping from his nose, staining the front of his shirt, though from the looks of it, Jax is probably even worse off than from what I can see.
Viktor's face is twisted with fury, his usual calm demeanor completely shattered. He drags Jax across the concrete floor, before dropping the Alpha to his knees in front of me.
"Go on," Viktor snarls, his voice shaking with rage. "Go on and tell Akira what the fuck you told me."
Amusement fills my expression despite the situation. Viktor is usually annoyingly docile, the kind of guy who avoids conflict whenever possible. Seeing him this worked up, this ready to tear someone apart, tells me whatever Jax did is serious. I stare down at the guy, crossing my arms over my chest.
Jax’s heavy breathing has him bending over, his hands pressed to the floor to keep himself upright. "It's nothing, okay? A few extra people were looking to put in an order. I marked them down, and we made a bit of extra cash."
I look to Dante, raising an eyebrow. "Is that true?"
Dante pulls out his phone, scrolling through the records from last night. His frown deepens as he searches. "I have no recordof Jax selling anything last night. We haven't gone through all of the inventory but…"
