CHAPTER FIVE
“So you’re sure he’ll keep our secret?” Caleb asked out of the blue, as though they’d been talking about Urho yet again, when, in fact, Xan had been trying to retire that subject once and for all since the mortifying examination two mornings prior.
“Like I’ve said, he’ll keep my secret. He still knows nothing about yours.” Xan gazed into the mirror over the ornate vanity in his bedroom, dabbing the stage makeup against his cheek. “Let’s forget it ever happened.”
Caleb made a noncommittal sound and opened the windows to the cold, foggy morning outside. The air smelled like wet pavement and the sounds of the morning commute drifted in. “Do you truly have to go?”
“You know I do.”
Xan would have preferred to stay home, but his father had summoned him to the office. “Flu or no flu,” Doxan Heelies had barked over the phone, and that, unfortunately, was that.
And it would definitely be unfortunate when he arrived obviously beaten and not at all sick. He hoped the bruises underneath the makeup would give him a pallor that might be mistaken for illness, and perhaps he could fake a convincing cough. Though just breathing hurt his bruised ribs.
In the mirror, Caleb watched him carefully, his eyes knowing in a way that Xan usually found calming. But this week, with so many humiliating incidents stacking on top of each other, that gaze crawled beneath his skin.
“What?” he demanded, patting more makeup over the lumpy bruise on his cheekbone. There was no way to hide the distortion even if he managed to cover up the livid colors.
“Dr. Chase has handled heats for widowed and uncontracted omegas, hasn’t he?”
“Yes. And he used to handle Vale’s before Jason.”
“Right, I recall you telling me about that.” Caleb pushed his soft, chin-length hair behind his ear. “But he handles others too, doesn’t he? Men he doesn’t know quite so well? I believe I’ve heard Vale and Jason talking to him about the intense heats of his gardener’s brother? The young man he helps regularly?”
Xan put the makeup down, his cheek half-covered, so that the still exposed purple-red glared even more brightly against the cover-up. He turned to face Caleb, watching him closely. Envy burned in him over the gardener’s brother who had the priviledge of having Urho service his needs.
Caleb lifted a brow. “Well?”
“He has, yes.”
Caleb’s voice leapt. “He’s discreet. He knows about you. Perhaps we could tell him that I have interminable heat and—”
“No.” There were any number of reasons he didn’t want to go down that path, but the biggest was his concern for Caleb’s social standing and reputation. A diagnosis of interminable heat would be a death knell in society. It didn’t matter what name was used—nymphomania, interminable heat—everyone knew it meant your omega was a slut who couldn’t get enough, and the diagnosis was tantamount to social ridicule and ruin for everyone involved.
Besides, what would his father say if he found out? Never mind that it wasn’t even true!
Caleb tapped his lower lip thoughtfully. “We have a few months to come up with another solution, but let the record show that I wouldn’t be opposed to this one.”
Xan frowned, a spark of frustration threatening to burst into flames. “I have a connection, someone with access to medication that might provide me with the necessary stamina to make it through this time.” That this connection was again Urho was a thorn in his side he didn’t share.
Caleb’s expression softened, and he approached Xan, taking the makeup from him and applying it to Xan’s cheek with the most tender of touches. “You can’t be something you aren’t, darling. And, truth be told, I wouldn’t want you to be.”
“I am an alpha,” Xan said, closing his eyes as Caleb worked on his face, finishing with the gooey paste makeup and then adding some powder on top that tickled his nose.
“Physically, perhaps, but in your heart, you’re an omega, and that’s part of what makes us such a beautiful match.” Xan opened his eyes to Caleb’s sharp smile and gentle eyes. “We’re a good family, darling, never doubt that. But heats are a problem and neither of us wants a repeat of last time.”
Xan shuddered. “No.” He rose and pulled Caleb close, tucking his face against Caleb’s long neck, holding him tightly. “I’m sorry.”
Caleb stroked his back. “It was our first together. We didn’t know how it would go. We both expected my heat pheromones to produce a stronger response in you, the way the hormones produce such a strong need in me. Now we understand the way it will be and can plan ahead. But it’s time to start planning, alpha mine. We can’t leave it for the last minute.”
Xan kissed Caleb’s cheek. “You’re right of course. I’ll find out more about the stamina medication today.”
Caleb’s forehead creased into a frown, but he didn’t say more while Xan finished dressing. He even helped with his green and gold plaid bowtie and then kissed his mouth with a smack. “You can do this. Whatever he throws at you, whatever words your father says, know that you have me here at home and I believe in you.”
“You’re too good to me.”
“No better than you are to me.”
Xan huffed. That was a lie but he appreciated that Caleb seemed to believe it anyway.
His family’s corporate offices on the uppermost side of Blue Vein took up the top four floors of the newest tower built there. The amenities were marvelous, with a full kitchen, executive washrooms, and an elevator to take instead of steps, but Xan loathed the place all the same. It was, again and again, the site of some of his most humiliating moments outside of Wilbet Monhundy’s grasp.
The hush that fell over the main office floor as he marched toward his father’s conference room proved that the makeup hadn’t done a sufficient job of hiding the latest evidence of his dark addiction. His stomach burned anxiously as whispers reached his ears, far too blurred by the rustle of papers and clack of typewriters to decipher, but the tone was undeniable: Xan was in trouble again.
Just as he was about to turn the corner toward the door of the conference room, he was grabbed and yanked into his older, beta brother Ray’s office instead.
“There you are,” Ray said, his sand-colored hair flopping over his broad forehead and his wide, hazel eyes peering anxiously into Xan’s own. “I’ve been waiting for you.”
“Father said—”
“Father’s left you to me this time,” Ray interrupted gently, his thick, golden eyebrows winnowing down in concern. His suit was pressed, but he went without a tie, preferring a more casual, open-throated look. “And thank wolf-god for that. He was ready to…” Ray closed his eyes and took a slow breath.
“Ready to what?”
Ray’s expression gentled as he looked down into Xan’s face. “It doesn’t matter. I convinced him to let me deal with you. He’s in with the Monhundys discussing their latest demands. Which, no thanks to you, from what I gather anyway, aren’t exactly allowing for much in our favor.”
Xan swallowed dryly. “The Monhundys are here?”
“Yes, the florid father and the prickly pater.” He rolled his eyes. “At least the brutish brat has stayed home to deal with his omega. The poor thing came home sick after visiting his pater with the flu apparently, which is rough going this year.” Ray’s eyes turned thoughtful. “My doctor friend, Lils, says it will be an epidemic this season, and a deadly one at that.”
“Oh.” Xan’s stomach churned.
“Regardless, Wilbet Monhundy’s omega is down with it.”
“That’s…terrible.” Yet sweet relief flowed through him. He couldn’t have born the humiliation of seeing Monhundy’s handsome, knowing face in the office while he still wore the bruises from their last encounter. He wished Kerry good health, of course, but he couldn’t help but be glad that the young man was too ill for Monhundy to leave him alone. Just more evidence of Xan’s own depravity as a human being, he supposed.
Ray tugged him deeper into the office, closer to the broad windows that reflected the sun’s rays as they bounced off the windows of the other tall buildings going up all around them. He touched Xan’s chin. “Wolf-god, your face,” he murmured, shaking his head. “Baby brother, what are we going to do with you?”
“It’s nothing. A bar brawl.”
Ray’s expression showed how little he believed him, though he only said, “You and these bar brawls. They have to stop.” He looked so like their pater in that moment, so affectionate and loving that Xan’s heart ached.
But his pater’s presence had been missing from Xan’s life for the last few months, ever since Father declared Pater had spoiled Xan and made him soft. Supposedly, being denied Pater’s support now was meant to toughen him up. Though Xan was pretty sure it was simply a punishment to them both, really.
Even if Ray wasn’t Pater, he was safe, and Xan relaxed as Ray touched Xan’s chin again. His brotherly concern dampened the sting of his demands. “This stops. Do you understand? It has to end. Now.”
“I’ve already promised Caleb—”
“As you have a half dozen times before. And, as you’ve promised me, too, in the past. Don’t you remember? Last year, before you contracted with Caleb, when the rumors were swirling about you and some alpha getting up to—”
“Those rumors were completely untrue!”
And they had been.
Xan had already been getting his dark fix from Monhundy for several months when the rumors began about him and one incredibly handsome alpha actor named Gil Regelly. Mr. Regelly starred in many plays at the city theater, and it was well known that he went without an omega by choice. Crass rumors swirled regularly about his preference for betas as sexual partners—and even, it was whispered with the eagerness of scandal, sometimes other alphas.
Xan had been intrigued by the rumors, and when the opportunity arose to meet him, he hadn’t hesitated. Certainly if Mr. Regelly had wanted more than the few words they’d exchanged under the supervision of Jason’s pater, Miner Hoff, then Xan would have let him take it in a heartbeat. But Mr. Regelly hadn’t seemed interested.
Xan went on. “I met Mr. Regelly one time, and one time only, at the Sabel-Hoff house. I was never alone with him for even a minute. Jason’s pater was with us the entire evening.”
Because Mr. Regelly was Miner’s friend, and he’d arranged the meeting. Xan had sensed the whole thing was a set up. Jason’s pater knew more than he should about a lot of things, but he was very good at keepings secrets, so Xan didn’t worry overly much about that.
“I know. So you explained at the time,” Ray’s brows lowered again. “But there’s something going on, and it’s not barroom brawls. The Monhundys even alluded to the rumors about you yesterday when setting up this appointment, and, of course, that set Father off.”
Xan’s pulse galloped. “He thinks everything that goes wrong for the company is my fault.”
“No, just the things that go wrong because people are whispering about your sexual proclivities and whether or not you truly are unmanned.”
Xan coughed, trying to school his face to something akin to offense, but his heart jump kicked and he felt faint. Ray had never actually said the words out loud before. He’d hinted at it in the past—everyone in the family had. But no one had just said it all bold and bald like that. Xan didn’t know where to look.
“Not that I give one damn about what sort of cock you like, baby brother, because, believe it or not, I really don’t.” Ray’s voice gentled, but Xan couldn’t look at him. He stared out the window at the building next to them, at the way the blue sky reflected in the windows.
Ray went on, “As a beta, these Holy Book of Wolf protocols and strictures about sex and reproduction seem all too clearly about keeping control of the breeding stock, so to speak. Frankly, if you were any other man, I’d say love who you love and enjoy what you like, and we’d put this aside.” He placed his hands on Xan’s shoulders, their weight warm and firm. “But you’re Xan Heelies, and that means you’re the alpha son of our father, the heir to his business, and the man people need to believe is capable of being more than a pretty figurehead here.”
Xan opened his mouth, but only a strangled noise came out. He closed it again.
“Our clients and the company’s employees need to see you as mature enough to take over when Father eventually leaves the helm. But parading around looking like you’ve been worked over with a meat tenderizer is no way to do that. Neither is allowing rumors to bloom about whether or not you bend over for alpha dick. Or any dick for that matter.”
Xan jerked his gaze back to Ray and croaked out, “I didn’t want to come in! I wanted to stay home. But Father—”
“No, Xan. This isn’t about Father.” Ray squeezed Xan’s shoulders. “This is about what we need to do now. The gossip mill is working over time and we have to get this under control. Bringing you in today was clearly a bad idea, but it’s too late to do anything about that now. You’ve been seen, and we’ll have to contain this damage as well.”
He turned away, heading over to his paper-stacked desk. The place on Xan’s shoulders where Ray’s warm hands had been went cold, and he shivered as he forced himself to turn away from the window.
Ray motioned toward the chair opposite, and they both sat. Xan’s heart clacked hard like a steam engine on the line, making him both nauseous and sweaty. He wanted to undo his bow tie to give himself more room to breathe, but he didn’t want to appear so undone in front of Ray. He hadn’t denied anything, but he hadn’t admitted to anything either. Maybe there was still a way to salvage this.
“So what’s the plan?” he finally managed to ask. “How do we spin this?”
“You’re being sent to Virona,” Ray said with a sigh. He leaned across his desk, steepling his fingers, slightly knocking askew a framed photo of their lost brother, Jordan, who’d died as a child. Despite the kindness in Ray’s eyes, his voice brooked no argument. “Your house there is being prepared. The one pater left to you in a trust. It was his family home, if you remember? The Lofton Estate. It’s large. Too big for just you and Caleb. I suggest filling it with children as quickly as possible, and, in the meantime, host influential guests.”
“Virona,” Xan said, his pulse rushing in his ears so that he wasn’t sure he’d heard properly.
“By the sea, yes. Three hours from here by rail. Not exiled, but definitely distanced. Perhaps it’ll give you time to think about your association with whoever did that to your face.” Ray winced. “As well as reconsidering your relationship with whoever it is that you’re screwing. I can only pray they aren’t one and the same.” He wiped a hand over his mouth, heaviness and sorrow evident in the drag of his features.
Xan cast around for the right words to say to fix this, but he came up empty. “What will I do in Virona?”
“Direct the opening of a satellite office,” Ray said. He tapped a file folder on his desk. “I’ll send weekly instructions. You’ll carry them out. Handle problems that come up on your own to the best of your ability. Most of all, Xan, you will prove yourself.” Ray leaned back in his chair. “This is a good opportunity for a fresh start. The rumors won’t have made it to Virona yet, and, so long as you don’t find a new associate there with which to stir things up, you can clear the air, gain some traction in the business, and redeem yourself in Father’s eyes.”
“And what about your eyes?”
Ray leaned forward across his desk, his brows rising earnestly. “I love you always, baby brother. Don’t you know that? I’ve spoiled you as much as Pater has, perhaps more. So it hurts to send you away, especially when I can see in these bruises how very much you might need me right now. But Father believes this is the best compromise. He was in favor of a much more drastic step. But Pater and I made him see reason.”
A more drastic step than sending him away? Xan’s mind ran wild with possibilities of what that could be and kept coming back to the same one again and again. “But I’m the only alpha. The only one of us who can inherit. By law.”
Ray nodded. “True. In this branch of the family. If you’re proven to be unfit to inherit, though, Father can legally name another alpha relative as heir.”
Xan squeezed his fists. The flash of a smarmy smile and floppy brown hair over gray eyes came to mind.
“Our cousin Janus? Seriously?” Xan snarled. “Father would entrust that smug, obsequious, yes man with the company?”
“Better a yes man, brother, than a bomb about to explode.”
Xan swallowed hard. “Tell me what Father said, what you’re trying to save me from hearing.”
Ray sighed. “All right. I suppose you should know. Maybe it will get through to you when nothing else has. Father said he’d rather leave the company and fortune to Janus, with me in charge of operations, per the law of succession by declaring you unmanned publicly, than to allow his legacy to be tarnished.”
“By me?”
“By your actions.”
Xan’s chin wobbled and tears stung his eyes. He hated the disappointment in Ray’s voice, and all because Xan was born wrong. Why couldn’t their situations have been reversed? Xan could have been a beta happily—well, more happily than he was an alpha—and Ray, as an alpha, would have done their father proud.
“Don’t look so sad,” Ray said, his hazel eyes going soft. “The house in Virona is beautiful. You probably don’t remember it, since we haven’t been there since you were a baby, but you and your omega won’t be disappointed. You can decorate it as you see fit too. I’ll make sure you have a large expense account for the purpose. I know you’ll love that.”
“Caleb has his opinions about furnishings now.”
“Of course he does,” Ray said fondly. He and Caleb got along famously at family dinners. “Then divide up the rooms. Make a game of it.” Ray smiled and leaned forward across his desk again. “We’ll miss you at the Autumn Nights feasts, but—”
“But Father wouldn’t have let me attend anyway. He’s keeping Pater from me.”
“But this can be a fresh start for you. Have your own feasts, invite your friends, and entertain clients. Show Father that you’re your own man in ways that don’t humiliate him.”
Xan’s throat constricted, but he nodded. “Caleb enjoys throwing parties.”
“Yes, once the house is aired out, you can entertain. Father will like that. Especially if you can include that Sabel boy. Father’s still hoping Yule Sabel will cut him a good deal on new delivery trucks. We plan to provide three-day delivery to our clients across the country by year end.”
Xan’s mind whirled at all the change that had just been thrown at him, but he managed to murmur, “That’s good news.”
“Buck up. You’re not being sent to the wilderness. Virona is a lovely town with many fashionable restaurants and stores. You’ll enjoy it there. Caleb will as well. He likes to make art of some kind, doesn’t he? There are a couple of rooms in the detached wing that would work perfectly for a studio. If I recall, Pater enjoyed the morning light there, reading with his tea. And, of course, the shore is beautiful, even in winter. I’m certain you’ll find the atmosphere bracing. And healing, I hope.”
“I don’t think what’s wrong with me is something that can ever heal.”
Ray’s sympathy hurt almost as much as his disappointment. “I know, baby brother. Believe me, I understand you inside out and I have since you were quite small. If I could change the world around us so that you wouldn’t suffer, I would. But all I can do is help protect you. Even if it’s from yourself.”
Ray rose from the desk and came around, pulling Xan up to hold him in a loose hug. “Now go home and tell your omega what’s happening. There’ll be a lot to plan in the next few days. You’re expected in Virona by week’s end.”