by Nora Phoenix
He would focus on this investigation and force the all-too-visual images of Vieno and Lidon fucking their way through the alpha's massive mansion to the back of his mind. He rushed through his regular articles for the day, including one on another cop accused of corruption. It would make Lidon distinctly unhappy with him, for sure. Well, it couldn’t be helped. Here, his job came first. He informed his boss he was working on the McCain story and headed out.
Robert McCain had worked as a computer programmer, an uncommon job for an omega. It involved more education than most omegas were able to afford—or were given the opportunity to. But Robert had managed to get a degree in computer science from a respected online university. The online part had triggered Palani in his belief that Robert, too, had suffered from the gene.
Robert had worked from home—another clue—but had been employed by an IT company called Bits ’n’ Pieces. His boss was still in shock, according to his secretary, but willing to speak to Palani, albeit off the record. That was fine with him as he had no idea where the story would lead.
“Mr. Leigh, Palani Hightower is here to see you,” the secretary informed her boss as soon as Palani had reported to her desk. “You can walk in. He’s expecting you,” she told him after hanging up.
Adam Leigh was a sharp-looking alpha in his early forties, dressed in an expensive pinstripe suit. His handshake was firm, and he had no trouble meeting Palani’s eyes, always a good indicator of someone’s intentions and character.
“You indicated you had questions about Rob,” he opened as soon as he’d signaled Palani to sit down.
Palani waited until the secretary had brought them both a glass of water and had left the office again. “Yes.”
“I must admit your interest in him surprised me. His death was a shock to all of us, but I don’t quite understand why it’s of interest to the papers, let alone to someone who is known for investigative reporting, like you.”
Palani detected genuine curiosity in the man’s voice. “I’m afraid I can’t tell you why, sir, only that Robert—Rob—is in no way under investigation for anything and neither is your company. It’s more of a general curiosity, as I’m still gathering facts.”
Leigh leaned back in his seat, but his eyes remained sharp. “I understand. Well, what can I help you with?”
Usually, he would ask a few introductory questions first, stuff he already had the answer to, just to settle people or to test if they were being honest. Leigh didn’t strike him as the man who’d appreciate wasting his time, so Palani went right for the important stuff.
“Mr. Leigh, did you know Rob personally?”
“We only met twice in person over the year he worked for us, but we had regular contact through email, and we spoke on the phone at least twice a week. So yes, I think I can say I knew him personally.”
“Did any of the other employees have a personal relationship with him, outside of work? Hanging out, that kind of thing?”
Leigh shook his head. “No, not that I'm aware of. Rob kept to himself and indicated that when we hired him, he wasn’t interested in socializing.”
“That wasn’t an issue for you in hiring him? Bits ’n’ Pieces is a small company. Wouldn’t you have preferred someone willing to network more?”
“Not at all. Rob excelled at what he did, which was line-checking code from our other developers. It’s not the most glamorous job, but he found great satisfaction in it. I didn’t care if he never left his house since he did a damn good job. Besides, programmers aren’t known for their social skills, so it’s not like he was the only one who had trouble building relationships.”
“Are you saying he never left his house?”
Leigh looked uncomfortable for the first time in their conversation. “I’m not sure, but I suspect so.”
“But you said you met him in person,” Palani pushed.
“Once during his job interview and then once a month later for his first review. After that, we kept all our contact online.”
Palani’s instincts were screaming at him. Something had happened, something Leigh was reluctant to talk about. Yet he had agreed to speak to Palani, which told him Leigh wanted to talk, but he needed a little more encouragement.
People talked to reporters for various reasons, Palani had learned. Some did it for their five minutes of fame, to get their name in the paper. Others wanted to look important. Then there were the folks who genuinely wanted to help. Leigh didn’t fit into either of those categories. No, he’d wanted to talk to Palani because he had something to confess. All Palani had to do was ask the right questions.
“What was your impression of Rob when you met him, both times?”
“Impression?” Leigh swallowed.
“Did you like him? Did he behave in a professional way?”
“He was shy, somewhat aloof. But yes, professional. I…” He cleared his throat. “Yes, I liked him.”
Oh, that statement was loaded. Palani’s head buzzed with ideas about what could have happened. “You’re mated with children, correct?”
“Yes. My wife, Patricia, and I have three children. Two boys, one girl.”
“That’s her?” Palani asked, pointing at a large picture of a gorgeous Hispanic-looking woman that hung on the wall near Leigh’s desk.
“Yes. We’ve been married ten years, mated for five. I love her very much.”
He was getting close; Palani felt it. “She’s beautiful.”
“I wouldn’t dream of cheating on my wife, but… We’re speaking off the record, correct?”
Ah, here we go. “Yes, Mr. Leigh. Anything you tell me is background information or will be used in such a way it doesn’t lead back to you.” He waited a beat before continuing in a softer voice, “Did something happen between you and Rob, Mr. Leigh?”
The man’s face distorted in guilt before he buried his head in his hands. “I don’t understand what happened. I’m not even attracted to men!”
All Palani had to do now was be patient and affirm with soft encouraging cues.
“The first time we met, I thought he smelled good despite the fact that he’d about drowned himself in cologne, which I attributed to him being nervous. But his scent still came through, and it was…” He sighed. “It made me hard. I didn’t understand why, since I’m not gay. I’m not a homophobe. Please don’t misunderstand me, because I fully support equal rights for gay couples. It’s just not how I’m wired. I love Patricia, and I’ve always been attracted to women. This reaction to Robert was disturbing.”
He dared to look up at Palani, who kept his face friendly and encouraging. “It triggered guilt because of Patricia, but also because Rob is…was so young. So innocent.” He rubbed his temples. “The second meeting was disastrous. I… I don’t understand what happened,” he said again. “We were supposed to do his monthly review over the phone, but I was out to meet a client, and that meeting wrapped up sooner than I had planned, so on a whim, I drove over to Rob’s to meet him at his place.”
Palani knew what was coming. “What happened?” he asked.
“As soon as he opened the door, it was like I wasn’t myself anymore. He was all I could smell, all I could see, all I wanted… God, I fucked up. I pushed him against the wall, kissed him. I had him undressed in seconds. He resisted at first, then seemed to give in and invited me to his bedroom. Next thing I knew, I woke up in the backseat of my car.”
Palani’s eyes widened. He had not seen that coming. “How?”
“He injected me with something that knocked me out cold, then placed me in my car and waited for me to wake up. As soon as I did, he called me on my phone to make sure I was okay. I was…God, I was ashamed of myself. If he hadn’t used that stuff on me, I would’ve…”
The anguish on his face was palpable, and it told Palani how deeply he regretted this. “What did Robert say?”
“He asked that we never speak of it again. And to never meet in person again. For obvious reasons, I agreed to both.” His eyes sought Palani
’s. “Can you tell me what made me lose control this way? And does it have anything to do with Rob taking his own life?”
Palani nodded. “Yes. But I have one more question. Please be assured I’m not judging you, but if Rob hadn’t intervened, what would have happened? Would you have been able to stop?”
“No.” The answer came swift, even as Leigh hung his head. “I would’ve raped him. And it would’ve been rape because he clearly told me he didn’t want to have sex with me. But it somehow didn’t register at that time. It didn’t matter to me. All I wanted was him, and I was determined to have him. Pardon my bluntness, but I would’ve fucked him six ways to Sunday had he not taken me down. I’ll be forever grateful for his precautions.”
He wiped a tear from his left eye before looking at Palani again. “I’ve thought about this constantly since he passed, as you can imagine. The fact that he didn’t want to meet, that he had this syringe, it tells me he expected this to happen. What did he have?”
He couldn’t refuse him this information after this brave confession. The man deserved peace of mind. “My guess is he had a mutation called the Melloni gene.” Palani explained what he had discovered about the gene so far but didn’t mention what he’d found out about the rest of the McCain family.
“Oh god, poor kid.”
“It also means this wasn’t your fault, Mr. Leigh. Researchers are still studying what the gene does exactly, but it does seem to affect alphas in an extreme way when the omega is close to his heat.”
“Extreme, that’s one way to call it. As much as I respect you for telling me it’s not my fault, we both know that’s not true. I hold myself to a higher standard than most alphas, and I should have been able to resist what my body was telling me to do. I’m disappointed in myself, and what you explained only ameliorates that slightly.”
Palani understood. “I can appreciate your ethics, but the fact that he affected you this way despite you being mated and not being gay says a lot, just pointing that out.”
Leigh looked pensive. “I hadn’t thought of it that way,” he said.
“How long ago did this incident take place?” Palani asked.
“Six months. I offered to pay for counseling or therapy, but he got upset with me for bringing that up. I spoke to his mother at the funeral, and she said Rob struggled with chronic depression. I guess he never told her about what had happened, because she was grateful to me for employing him. God, I felt like such a hypocrite. What made it even worse was that he was their oldest. Apparently, she’d struggled with infertility for years until she became pregnant with him, then with three more. He was their firstborn, their pride…”
His pain hung in the air. Nothing Palani could say could make it better, so he waited, giving Leigh the opportunity to recompose himself.
“Did you tell your wife?” Palani asked.
“Yes. Not at first, but she could tell something was troubling me, so she coaxed it out of me. She was shocked at first, but then understanding. She called it a chemical anomaly, a freak reaction.”
“Sounds like a smart woman.”
“She is,” Leigh said, a soft smile on his lips for the first time since they’d started talking about Robert. Then his face tightened. “Does it only affect male omegas? My oldest son is a beta, the middle one an alpha, but my daughter is an omega. If necessary, I’ll get her tested.”
Palani could barely prevent his mouth from dropping. Leigh was asking a question he’d never even considered. All the victims, so to speak, he’d heard of had been men, but that didn’t mean girls were immune. His research had never mentioned gender as far as he could remember. Hell, that could mean Tiva was…
“Let me make a quick phone call to check,” he said, his phone in his hand before he was even finished speaking.
Enar answered on the second ring. “Yeah?”
“It’s me,” Palani said. He’d forgotten for a second about their drinking-binge yesterday before calling him. Not that now was the time to bring it up, but boy, this was awkward.
“You’re in my phone, Palani. What’s up?”
Apparently, Enar wanted to pretend it never happened. Okay, worked for him. “Question.” He’d go straight to business. Maybe that was easier for both of them. “Does the gene only affect men?”
“There are no known cases of women with the gene. That doesn’t mean it’s one hundred percent sure they can’t get it, but it does suggest they’re not likely to. Why?”
He had to ask, of course. “Still investigating,” he said, hoping Enar would get the hint.
“The McCain family?” he asked.
Enar remembered the name. Palani didn't know why, but it made him happy. “Yes.”
“I’m doing a little digging myself today. Wanna stop by tonight so we can compare notes?”
“Stop by?” he repeated, his stomach in knots.
“Yes. Or I could come to your place. My last call is at five, so around six thirty?”
Palani swallowed. “I’ll come to you.”
“Good. You know the address. Be careful.”
He hung up before Palani could say another word, and he closed the screen. He looked up to find Leigh watching him with an amused expression. “Sounds like you got roped into a date with an alpha, tonight.”
18
It had been a stupid excuse to see Palani, obviously. All Enar could think of when Palani called him was that he needed to see him again. He had thought of little else but Palani since he woke up. After he’d deposited the contents of his stomach into the toilet, he’d taken a hot shower, berated himself for being utterly stupid, and solemnly vowed never to drink again. Once he’d made that decision, his mind had gone to Palani. What had happened the previous night?
Enar had vague memories of being way too candid, of oversharing, as he tended to do when he was drunk. Another reason never to touch liquor again. What the hell had he told Palani? He couldn’t remember, but he’d complimented him on his mouth, he thought. And something about Vieno’s ass, which was embarrassing as fuck.
The one crystal clear memory he had, the one that was etched into his brain and his soul, was the sensation of falling asleep in Palani’s arms. The beta had held him as tenderly as if Enar was a child, and it had been perfect and painful at the same time that out of everyone, it was this sassy beta who’d seen a glimpse of the real Enar. The Enar he tried so hard to keep hidden because he couldn’t show that part of him.
Was it even a part of him, though? Or was it the real him? It had become increasingly confusing. He tried hard to conform to what was expected of him as an alpha, but yesterday, all his barriers had come down, and he’d acted on what he craved more than anything: to be held. And Palani, bless him, hadn’t rejected him. He’d kissed his head, mumbled something along the lines of “Sleep well,” and Enar had been out like a light.
And in a few hours, they would meet again. He could only hope that his excuse to meet tonight hadn’t been as pathetic as it had sounded to his own ears. Even if that had been the case, Palani had still agreed to come see him. Only after he'd hung up the phone had Enar realized that inviting Palani to his house again was not the smartest idea. Sure, the beta had been to his house the previous night, but it had been dark, and they’d headed straight for the bedroom. Seeing it in the light of day was an entirely different matter, especially since he was working and wouldn't have time to do much cleaning. And after having lived with Vieno for five years, Palani was used to a clean house.
Enar pulled up a mental picture of his living room as he drove to his next patient. Books stacked on every available surface, and dust everywhere, except for the kitchen, which he did keep spotless. No food poisoning for him because of bad hygiene, thank you very much. His personal bathroom was clean too, but the rest of the house was…not. Oh well, there was nothing Enar could do about that now.
He had to be grateful Palani hadn’t taken him up on the offer of sleeping in the guest room, since he couldn’t even remember when he’d la
st washed the bed linens or had aired it out. When had he become such a slob? Probably around the same time he’d decided working seven days a week was better than sitting at home and being confronted with how much his life sucked.
He stayed busy all day and had barely time to grab a shower before Palani showed up. When the doorbell rang at six thirty on the dot, he took a fortifying breath. Palani didn't look as confident and self-assured as he usually did, which was comforting. Apparently, Enar was not the only one who had trouble navigating what had happened between them and their complicated relationship.
“Hi,” he said somewhat stupidly.
Palani answered with a similar greeting.
“Come on in.” As Palani walked past him inside, a whiff of his smell tickled Enar’s nose. “How have you been?” he asked.
“Since last night, you mean?” Humor laced Palani’s voice. “Better than you, I would expect. Though you look remarkably well now, considering.”
Enar’s hand shot out to grab his wrist, just before Palani was out of reach. With a gentle pull, he made him turn around. Palani’s eyes were twinkling. Sassy little shit. “Are you making fun of me?” Enar asked, but he couldn’t keep the laughter from his voice.
“I wouldn’t dare, Doc,” was Palani’s quick reply.
“We both know you have no trouble whatsoever mocking me.”
Palani’s face sobered. “I wasn’t mocking you, you know. When we…”
Enar still held Palani’s wrist but gentler now. His fingers caught Palani’s racing pulse. Not quite so cool and collected now, was he? “I know.”
And he did know. It had never been Palani’s intention to mock him or even get Enar to spill something he’d planned on keeping a secret. The man had made a joke that Enar had taken too seriously until it had been too late to give the appropriate reaction. By then, Palani, smart as he was, had figured it out.