Chapter 82

“That wasn’t so bad,” Kent admits as we leave the Alpha’s office together and head to my own.

“I told you so,” I roll my eyes, nudging him with an elbow. “But you never listen to me.”

“I listen to you all the time!” Kent protests. “I just didn’t – well, I didn’t expect this, for one thing. Plus, it’s not like you exactly have a head for the drug business. You went to prison for three years on account of someone else’s drug possession.”

I glare at him, and he grins. “Too soon?”

I just roll my eyes again and unlock my office door, ushering him inside.

“Come on,” I say. “We need to talk.”

“We do?” Kent asks. “About what? I thought I was going to finalize all these details with the Alpha, later this afternoon.”

“You are,” I say. “That’s not what I need to talk about.”

“What, then?” Kent asks. “Hey, this is a nice office. You should get a mini fridge in here. That’s the only thing you’re missing, a mini fridge.”

“Kent – actually, yeah, a mini fridge would be kind of nice,” I say, allowing myself to be distracted by the easy chatter for a moment. “I could make cold brew coffee and drink it all day without even having to get up to go to the kitchen.”

“I don’t understand how you ever get to sleep at night,” Kent says, plopping down in one of the chairs with ease. “You drink more coffee than anyone else I’ve ever met. Combined.”

“I’m not that bad.”

“Yes, you are. Now, what did you wanna talk about?”

“It’s Daisy,” I say.

“What about her?” Kent knows about Daisy’s conversation with Marcus and me the other day, but we haven’t had a chance to really discuss it yet.

“Well, we need to figure out what we’re going to do!” I say, drumming my fingers on my desk top. “I believe her when she says she wants to atone for what she’s done and help us against Charles, but I don’t know how to achieve that. And I think we really do need to tell the Alpha about – it all.”

“What does this have to do with me?” Kent asks, not in a combative way, just a confused one. “Shouldn’t you be discussing this with Marcus?”

“She already has,” Marcus says from the doorway, leaning on the frame with a smile. “And I agreed that we should run it by you, too. This affects all of us.”

Kent swivels in his chair toward Marcus’s unexpected arrival, then nods at him gracefully. Marcus returns the nod.

“Well, if you haven’t told your daddy about his daughter’s betrayal, I think that’s the first place you need to start,” Kent says. “And we can decide what to do from there.”

“You wanted to see me?” Daisy nervously stands in her father’s office, glancing from Nicole to Marcus to some man she’s never met before. Oh, wait. That’s Kent – the drug gang leader. What the hell is he doing here?

Daisy was summoned to her father’s office shortly after lunch. She immediately had a pretty good idea what it was about, but now she’s sure. She shifts uneasily from one foot to the other, holding her lower back. Her father’s face is unreadable.

“Sit down, please,” he says. His voice gives nothing away.

She sits. Her father doesn’t speak for a long moment, only staring at her with what looks like sorrow in his eyes.

“I am deeply disappointed in you, Daisy,” he says at last, and Daisy flinches. Before she can say anything, the Alpha goes on: “But, in some ways, I understand. I’ve not been fair to you, not fair enough, and it makes sense that, in the quest to change things for the better, you went terribly astray.”

Daisy, who had been twisting her hands in her lap with anxiety, looks up sharply with shock. Is her father actually saying he’s been wrong?

“I’ve been wrong,” her father goes on. “And I’m sorry, Daisy. It’s going to take time to trust you again, but I do forgive you. And now, we must work together to stop that husband of yours before he takes us all down.”

“I’m so sorry, Papa,” Daisy whispers, a few tears brimming in her eyes. She brushes them away impatiently – Daisy never cries. Never.

“I know, dear one,” her father sighs heavily. “I know. Let’s focus now on what we can do to fix this mess.” Daisy nods eagerly.

“I’ll do anything I can to help make this right,” she says. “Please, Papa. What did you have in mind?”

“Are we sure about this?” I ask Marcus doubtfully, an hour or two later. Daisy has gone back to her private quarters after planning an approach with the rest of us. She’s going to corner Charles and try to get him to talk, while she’s recording him.

“It’s the best shot we have right now,” Marcus says. “I know what you mean, though. I’m worried, too. But we will have two werewolf security officers right outside her door. Charles won’t be able to hurt her, if he grows suspicious.”

“Will he know they’re there?” I ask.

“Doubt it,” Marcus says. “He doesn’t have any werewolf senses, and he’s not been able to convince Father to let him put up security cameras in his hallway.”

“Did he really try that?” I ask, thrown off topic by this tidbit.

“Of course he did,” Marcus says. “Would you expect anything else from him? The man is paranoid.”

“Well, I guess not,” I say. Then: “Wait, can we keep calling him paranoid when we really are conspiring against him now?”

Marcus laughs aloud. “I don’t know,” he says. “That’s a good point.” He gives me a hug and presses a kiss to my hair.

Daisy fidgets, unsure of how to approach this conversation. She’s been so distant from Charles lately that she suspects he’s going to find it odd that she’s just showed up in their joint quarters, looking for a casual chat about all the crimes they’ve committed together.

She needed have worried, though, she realizes after she finally plucks up the nerve to enter her husband’s home office. Charles is here, all right, but he’s drunk. Pig stinking drunk at two o’clock in the afternoon. Daisy swallows her disgust.

“Daze?” Charles looks up blearily from where he’s slumped behind his desk. “What’re you doing here?

Daisy resists the impulse to touch the pocket where her phone is currently residing, recording his every word. She’ll just have to trust that it’s picking up their voices well enough to be understood later.

“I thought it was time we had another conversation about – everything,” Daisy says, trying to keep her voice even. “You’re botching this entire thing, Charles. Marcus is about three seconds away from marrying Evelyn, and he’ll get named Heir the minute he does.”

“And what do you expect me to do about it?” Charles snaps. “I tried to kill the bitch, but she just won’t die. Your father won’t die, either. I’m sick of this. There’s no reason for everything to keep going awry, but it does.”

He lowers his head into his hands and makes a weird, growling noise of frustration.

Well, that was a hell of a lot easier than she expected it to be, Daisy thinks in shock. It’s not really enough for a court of law, but it’ll probably be enough for the Werewolf Council. Still, she should probably try to get more.

“Let’s talk it over,” she says soothingly. “Like we used to. I feel so – so disconnected from you, Charles. We need to be a united front. A team.”

Charles mumbles something, but Daisy doesn’t give up.

“Really, Charles,” she says, putting on her best Understanding Wife voice. “Let’s talk it over. There’s still a little time. I’m sure we can figure something out.”

Marcus and I are waiting in my office when Daisy finally returns a few hours later, a triumphant look on her face.

“I got it,” she says, waving her phone in the air. “I got it. He confessed everything, and I recorded it all.”