Chapter 69

Ollie’s POV

I’m supposed to go to work today, but instead I’m standing in the foyer in front of my brothers and Sylvia. The minutes are ticking by. At this rate, I’m going to be late.

“You are absolutely not going back,” Conrad says. His brothers don’t say anything, but with the way they are standing, all facing toward me, I know they are in agreement.

“It’s my job,” I tell them. “I made a commitment. It’s my responsibility now. I can’t just bail on it.”

“You should have quit when we told you to the first time,” Declan says.

I don’t look at him, still embarrassed from moaning when he touched me. A full day has passed since then, but I still feel my cheeks heating up at the thought.

“I need to go,” I say.

“No,” Hugh tells me, crossing his arms.

“We know what’s best, Ollie,” Wes says.

“I’m already late for my shift,” I say. “I can’t just back out.”

The brothers seem firm in this decision, and I’m starting to wonder if there is anything I can say to convince them to change their minds.

Sylvia, meanwhile, looks around between them.

Just as it seems they are going to give their final judgment, she says, “I think you should let Ollie go back to work.”

Conrad shuts his mouth. Hugh and Wes turn to look at her head on.

She shrugs. “You can’t keep her locked up in the house all day. And it’s good for her to build up a work history. You know how hard she’ll have it as an Omega. Who wants to hire them? Isn’t it better for her to start now?”

While her words are not terribly flattering to me, she still seems to be speaking on my behalf.

This confuses the hell out of me.

Why would Sylvia want to see me have what I want? She hates me and likes to see me fall, especially in the brothers’ eyes.

She wants all their attention like a miser, and I think she’s still furious that I got to share their childhood with them. It’s not like I can go back and change it, but she doesn’t care. She resents me so much.

So why is she on my side now?

It was her message that had lured me out for Jake to find me and propose his wild plan of running away. She’d been plotting then, just like she must be plotting now.

But I can’t see her end goal.

If it has to do with Jake, Conrad likely fully scared him away with a punch to the nose and a threat.

What other cards does Sylvia have up her sleeve?

With how much she despises me, I have no foolish notion that she is doing any of this for my benefit. For her to want me to go back to work, against the brothers’ wishes, she must have something even worse planned for me.

As if Jake wasn’t bad enough. I still shudder thinking of how forcibly he grabbed me, how hard he tried to kiss me, even after I told him no. I’ve been telling him no for weeks, and he didn’t listen. Perhaps that should have been the sign that he wouldn’t listen now.

The brothers all look at Sylvia now, as if expecting some kind of further explanation.

She just shrugs again. “I’d be bored if I had to stay in my room all day.”

At that, the brothers instead look at each other. They are doing that quadruplets thing again, where they can have a full conversation without actually saying a word.

Then, when they’ve reach some kind of conclusion, they turn back and look at me.

“Fine,” Conrad says. “You can go to work. But don’t forget Sylvia’s kindness. If not for her, you would be quitting that job.”

Sylvia looks at me expectantly, even as she says, “We all have to look out for the Omegas, right? I’m just trying to be a good pack member.”

The brothers’ eyes soften as they look at her.

Even though I really don’t want to say anything, she has helped me today. She might have a secret motive planned, but right now, I’m still being benefitted. I’d rather have to navigate her plots than be stuck in the estate.

So I swallow my pride and I tell her, “Thank you.”

She beams in response. “You know I’m always happy to help you, Ollie.”

I know that’s a damn lie, but I bite my tongue. The brothers are clearly eating up every word she says. Speaking against her would only earn me their ire.

Again.

Instead, I decide to accept this generous gift. After glancing around at them, making sure no one will stop me, I walk around them and head toward the side entrance, where I can leave and walk to work.

No one moves to follow me. I guess that means I’m done getting car rides to work.

That’s fine. It’s all fine. So long as I’m a little less of a prisoner here.

Nancy is quiet today, spending most of her time reading something on her phone. I kind of want to make conversation with her, but I know how annoying it can be to have people interrupt you when you are trying to read. So I stay quiet.

Until I glance over and accidentally see some of her screen.

I only see a few words, but they are enough to have me freeze.

“’Good girl,’ Max whispered in her ear as he dragged the feather toy down over her breasts…’”

Nancy glances at me. When she sees me staring, she immediately locks her phone. “Hey! Who told you that you could snoop on other people’s phones?”

“Sorry,” I say at once. My cheeks heating up. I quickly turn away.

Nancy’s blushing a little too, probably because of the nature of what I’ve seen.

If she’s reading that, I wonder… does she have some experience in this kind of thing?

If she does, maybe I can turn to her for some… reassurance.

“Um…” I start.

“Let’s not talk about it,” she says.

“I kind of want to…?” I say.

“You can’t judge me,” she says, some defensive anger rising in her voice.

“I’m not,” I say right away. “In fact, I’m… curious…”

We both pause for a minute and then look at each other.

“Curious?” she prompts.

“I’ve been thinking about that kind of thing lately. A… dominant… uh… situation… where I’d be at his… um… mercy.” My face turns redder and redder. “I don’t suppose you have… tips?”

Nancy’s eyes go wide. “Ollie. You? I never would have thought.”

I bury my face in my hands. “It’s him. I know that’s what he likes and when I think about it with him… Maybe I would like it to…”

“Oh my Gods, Ollie, I have so many stories to share with you,” Nancy says. Suddenly, her anger is gone and she seems excited instead. “I never have anyone to talk about this stuff with.”

I’m relieved she’s open to this conversation. I really need some guidance. “I just… I like imagining it… But I’m nervous, too. Is it really that pleasant in real life?”

“With the right partner?” Nancy says. “Absolutely.”