Page 9 of Bailey-Rose: The Complete Duet

A growl of frustration slipped out at how terribly I was explaining this. “I found our Omega,” I blurted.

“Hold on, what did you just say?” Yun-Sun pressed. “I feel like I’m missing part of the story. Where are you right now that you’d be sitting outside some woman’s bathroom while she showers?”

“Yah, sounds little bit creepy,” Vili added, his heavily accented voice making him distinct on the call.

“I’m at my friend Crew’s place. We’ve been best friends for years. Earlier, he called me to help him with a situation that had to do with his little sister, Bailey-Rose. I’ve known this girl for just as long as Crew, and we’d been close before I left for college. Now, I see her for the first time in several years only to discover she’s my scent matched Omega,” I explained. “Look, the bottom line is all of you need to get over here now. There’s more to this whole situation, but I’m not doing this over the phone. Just get your asses over here.”

“Holy shit! This is for real, isn’t it?” Gareth asked in disbelief. “Why wasn’t she in the Matching system?”

“All of that will be explained, Gareth. There’s a legitimate reason, but I’m not saying anything until you’ve all had the chance to meet her,” I assured him. “I’ll send you guys the address, but I’ve got to go… the water just turned off.”

“So mysterious, this is exciting,” Vili said, and I could picture the giant smile on his face.

Finding our Omega was important to all of us but even more so to Vili. He’d come to Preidon from Numoland three years ago to run the international portion of his family’s jewelry business. He knew no one and didn’t speak our language well—even now, there are times we have to explain the meaning of phrases or slang that’s not commonly used. When he joined the pack, it was like we’d given him the greatest gift in the world. There was nothing more important to Vili than this new family, and it certainly made the transition of combining five existing lives into one smoother with his help.

“You have no idea, Vili, so I suggest you all hurry the fuck up,” I urged before hanging up and immediately texting them the address and gate code.

The sound of someone clearing their throat had my head snapping up and halfway standing to protect this doorway by any means necessary. When I saw it was Eli, I relaxed slightly, but only slightly, as I registered the look on his face wasn’t all that pleased. Then again, this man was never one to express clear emotion to anyone but Bailey-Rose.

“Eli,” I greeted with a respectful nod.

While his second father might own the majority of the company in name, Eli is the one who ran the damn thing. That wasn’t the reason I tended to be wary around him, though. When it came to Rosie, Eli was ruthless in his efforts to keep her safe behind the scenes so as not to tip her off. That Alpha’s Achilles heel was in the form of a tiny loving Omega—also known as his baby sister. In some ways, Crew got to stay being Rosie’s brother because Eli took on more of the father role after their father, Adrian, passed away.

“Why are you sitting in front of the bathroom door?” Eli questioned, his frown deepening as he crossed his arms. “I’m telling you right now it better be a good answer because scent match or not, I won’t allow you to pressure her into anything.”

His icy tone was cold enough to give me the chills. I had zero doubt he would uphold that threat if he felt I was stepping out of line when it came to his precious sister.

“Eli, I know we don’t know each other all that well, even after all these years. That being said, I will say this once,” I bit out through clenched teeth, trying to keep calm at his unspoken accusation. “I would never pressure or manipulate Bailey-Rose into anything she didn’t want to do. Only the lowest of the low would dare to do that to a person, regardless of their connection. Now that we’ve cleared that up, I don’t want ever to hear you question my intentions when it comes to Bailey-Rose. Her safety, happiness, and well-being have been important to me since the day I met her.”

Eli’s jaw flexed, probably not used to people speaking to him in such a manner, but I didn’t give a flying fuck. How dare he question my motives when I’d never given him a reason to think less of me. I’d known Crew and Rosie for almost twenty years. This kind of treatment was reserved for strangers, not family friends, and I wouldn’t let it stand.

Taking a deep breath, Eli closed his eyes and let out the breath slowly as if trying to calm himself down. I knew his protectiveness over Rosie was intense, but I’d never seen this side of him before. Typically, the Eli I knew was calm and even-tempered about everything, to the point I sometimes questioned if he might be a robot. Even as I looked at him now with his perfectly cut hair, close-cut beard, and pressed navy suit giving him an air of detail and control, I also knew that man worked out like a beast, which had me considering a new motivation other than keeping himself in peak condition.

When he met my gaze again with blue eyes the same color as Rosie’s right eye, I saw the barest flicker of fear that I questioned if I was right. “I apologize, Ulysses, that was beyond rude of me to attack you in such a manner. I think it’s just been a shock to return home, learn of the events that transpired, and then find you in her room while she’s showering has set off my protective nature. Bailey is still so fragile from what occurred with Randall, I overreacted.”

Hearing him apologize and seeing the true regret on his face, I relaxed, stepping away from the door to close the gap between us. I offered my hand to him, and he gave me a quizzical look but took the offered hand.

“It’s nice to see you, Eli,” I greeted, hoping to start this interaction over. “In case you haven’t heard, in a surprising turn of events, your sister is my scent match. I truly hope we can build a good friendship since I know how important you are to Rosie.”

He gave me a wry smile. “Sucking up has never been your strongest skill, you know that, right?”

“Figured it couldn’t hurt,” I answered with a shrug and a grin. “It did get you to stop glaring at me, though.”

A huff of laughter was Eli’s response as he ran a hand through his perfectly styled hair. “I’ll be honest, I knew this could happen one day, but clearly, I wasn’t prepared for it.”

“Is anyone? I came over intending to cheer her up enough to leave her room,” I pointed out. “Just so you’re aware, I called the rest of my pack, and they are heading over. I thought having her meet them here would be less stressful for her. She set off her monitor twice fairly back-to-back, which is why I was sitting outside the door while she showered,” I explained, feeling it couldn’t hurt for him to have the reasoning.

“Ah, yes, it would make sense for you to think she needed that,” Eli commented with a nod. “Just to set your mind at ease, she truly has been able to manage her condition with little involvement from us. I suppose being an adult helps since now she understands the details of what her body goes through and how best to prevent dangerous situations.”

I raised a brow, not believing the calm he was portraying. “Right, and that knowledge has set your mind at ease enough to delete her heart monitor alerts from your phone?”

Eli started to answer then stopped, giving me the answer I already knew. “You rushed home from the office because you already knew she had two alerts back to back, making you worry. You knew I was coming over, but I can’t figure out why you thought I was causing the problem?”

“Honestly, I don’t think it had anything to do with you. If Crew had been standing in this room, I would have chewed his ass out for upsetting her,” Eli answered honestly. “I should have known that Crew would be hiding, though. He texted me what happened and didn’t even bother to speak to me when I tried to call. That brother of mine could make a nun pull out her hair with how he handles certain situations.”

He didn’t have to tell me that. I was well aware of that trait in my best friend. My phone buzzed, and I glanced down to see it was Warrick letting me know he and Vili were pulling up to the gate. Shit, they’d made it here in record time. Then again, Warrick wasn’t known for following the rules when it came to speed.

“Well, I’m about to flush him out from his hiding spot since two of my pack brothers are here,” I shared as I texted Crew to greet them because I wasn’t leaving this room until Rosie was ready to meet them.