Page 48 of Bailey-Rose: The Complete Duet

Ulysses paused to consider what I’d said. “So she’s worried if we go back to the house, we’ll want to talk about the surgery, maybe try and convince her to do it.”

Shrugging, I tossed up my hands. “Only guess, but yes, I think what you say.”

“Guys, hurry up,” Warrick shouted from the end of the row.

Ulysses chuckled as Gareth rolled his eyes, but Yun-Sun still seemed a little lost in thought. I fell into step beside him, hoping he might share with me what was going on in his brilliant mind. While I haven’t told the guys much about my family, I knew Yun-Sun and I shared similar issues with our parents. Likewise, Yun-Sun chose to be his own person, and that led him to us.

By the time we reached the service counter, Yun still hadn’t shared his thoughts, so I let the matter drop. He’d open up if he needed to, and the past twenty-four hours had been a roller coaster of feelings and hormones. I didn’t blame him for wanting some time to understand how he felt about what we’d learned.

“Hello there, how can I be of service to you today?” the woman behind the counter asked.

Warrick smiled at the woman and leaned against the counter. “We’re here to do some nest shopping, and our girl has a profile on your website. Could we get one of those tablets that helps you find stuff in the store?”

“Certainly, I’ll just need the young lady’s name to look up her account so I can pair it with the tablet,” she said, her gaze shifted to Bailey-Rose, no longer in the shopping cart.

“Oh…” Bailey-Rose seemed surprised by this. “Could I just log in myself?”

The woman frowned slightly. “That’s not how the system works. Look, you’ve already given us the information on the website to start an account, so you’re not telling us anything we don’t already know. It’s for your security that we do it this way.”

Not liking how this woman spoke to my precious kitten, I stepped up and rested my hands on Bailey-Rose’s shoulders. “Do not speak to her like that,” I stated.

There weren’t many times that I let out the part of myself that proved I was my parents’ son. However, to defend the person I treasured more than anything in my life, there wasn’t anything I wouldn’t do. My kitten’s head tipped back as she looked at me with wide eyes, and her lips parted in surprise. Giving her a smile full of every emotion I felt for this stunning woman, I dropped a kiss to her forehead. Once I felt my girl was settled, I turned my attention back to the employee.

“You want name, I give you name,” I offered, my voice cool even to my own ears. “Vili Rantala, there is account made.”

When we first started our scent matching quest, I created one wanting to prepare myself for when the day came. I studied all there was about making a warm and comforting home for a new Omega. So far, we’d been doing well with Bailey-Rose, but I would take nothing less than the best for our Omega. Our pack had more than enough money to do whatever it took, and I planned to apply that thinking to this shopping trip.

“I’m sorry, did you say Rantala?” another woman asked, stepping away from the shelf she’d been stocking and joined in the conversation. “Forgive me, I couldn’t help but overhear. Would you be related to Henning Rantala, the founder of Silveda?”

“Yes, he is one of my fathers,” I answered in a soft voice.

“Oh. My. God,” the woman squealed. “Tanya, radio Philip and tell him we have a VIP and his pack in our store.”

When Tanya didn’t move fast enough, the woman clapped her hands urgently. “Right now, Tanya.”

“No, no, this not needed,” I assured the exuberant employee.

In an odd way, it was hard to take reactions like this when all my pack brothers were people of note to society. She, of course, brushed me off and stepped up to Bailey-Rose, causing me to tighten my hold on her ever so slightly. I didn’t want to alarm my sweet kitten, but I’d learned long ago to be prepared for people to act irrationally when they found out I was rich. While I might want to fill the world with light and joy, leaving it a better place than I found it, people were unpredictable. Something shifted the second I realized I’d found my scent match. Not generally an overly dominant Alpha in daily life, the need to protect my Omega had become a major driving force in every action I took.

“Forgive Tanya. We have procedures to follow, but I understand not wanting to give out your name when you’re bonded to someone of his status,” the woman said kindly, taking Bailey-Rose’s hand in hers. “Thankfully, we do have a system set up for situations like this that will make your shopping experience more enjoyable.”

In a move that shocked the woman and me, my kitten yanked her hand free. “You know what, I don’t think we need your help or a tablet. Thank you for your assistance, but we’ll be off to do some shopping.”

The woman blinked at her then looked up at me, utterly confused. “Thank you, as my kitten say, we go shop now,” I explained and started to turn away.

“Wait one moment, please,” a man called, running over in his three-piece suit, making him look like the odd man out in this setting.

Bailey-Rose looked at the man, her expression annoyed. “Look, we just want to shop like normal people. I don’t want to sit in the fancy rooms, drinking champagne as I click on a computer screen and you pull my order. That isn’t fun nor does it give me a chance to really look at the item before buying it.”

“Yes, I understand that, Miss Thatcher… it’s noted in your file. Would you allow me to offer one of my staff to handle the things you personally pick out? That way, you don’t have to worry about a full cart or something being on a shelf you can’t get to?” The man asked as he tried to catch his breath. “Forgive me, our elevator is out of order, and I had to race down five flights of stairs.”

This seemed to make our girl soften toward the man. “No, I’m sorry. Your staff wouldn’t let me just log into the tablet so I didn’t have to tell them who I was, and I got frustrated with them. Then I upset my Alphas, and they tried to fix the issue I was blowing out of proportion.”

“Not at all, Miss Thatcher,” he assured her. “Our goal here at The Snuggery is that every Omega or pack gets to enjoy shopping in our store however they want, not to mention you’re one of our largest stockholders. Please take this tablet I connected to your account and take all the time you want in the store. I’ll have one of my staff along to assist you shortly.”

I took the offered tablet when Bailey-Rose didn’t accept it, allowing the man to scurry off. We all turned to look at our Omega who was apparently full of surprises. She didn’t meet our gaze, just tucked some hair behind her ear and tapped the toe of her shoe on the tiled floor.

“Baby girl,” Gareth started, but she held up a hand to stop him.