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Leith shakes his head, expression grim. “No. She engaged again today. A gift was delivered to OmegaBox addressed to Cammie. My security team intercepted it at the front desk. It was a teddy bear.” His voice drops. “Head ripped off. Knife stabbed through the heart.”

The room goes dead silent for a beat.

Finn’s face pales. “Absolutely. All dates inside.”

Beck’s usual humor vanishes. He sits up straighter, shoulders tense. I barely suppress the growl building in my chest.

I push off the desk and stand. “Then we do this right,” I say. “We keep her safe. We court her properly. And we make damn sure she knows she’s ours. All of ours.”

Leith gives one sharp nod. “I won’t let anyone harm her.”

Our eyes lock across the room. Leith may be quiet, stubborn, and difficult as hell sometimes, but when it matters, he is rock solid.

I look at all three of them. “Don’t tell Cammie about the teddy bear,” I say firmly. “She’s finally feeling better. I don’t want her worrying about this. Not yet.”

Finn’s head snaps up immediately. “We can’t keep secrets from her.”

Beck nods in agreement. “Yeah, I’m with Finn on this one. She deserves to know.”

Leith says nothing, but the look he gives me tells me he’d handle it differently. Still, he stays quiet.

I hold Finn’s gaze, letting a thread of alpha command slip into my words. “No one tells her about the bear. She’s healing. Let her keep healing.”

Finn looks like he wants to argue, jaw tight, but after a long beat he gives a reluctant nod. Beck mutters something under his breath but eventually dips his chin too. Leith simply watches me, expression unreadable.

“Good,” I say. “Then we’re agreed.”

The meeting breaks up quickly after that. Beck is the first one out the door, pushing past the rest of us like an overgrown toddler who can’t wait to escape. Before he disappears down the hall, he turns around with a shit-eating grin.

“Dibs on the first date.”

thirty-two

Beck

I’m dead on my feet, but it doesn’t matter. I’ve got two full days off, and I plan to spend every single minute of them on Cammie, if she’ll let me.

I have it all planned. It’s only late April, but the weather’s already pushing into hot territory. The pool is heated, though she still can’t get in it yet. Her incision is small and nearly healed, but I’m not risking infection. What she can do is wear the teeny tiny pink bikini I had Piers’ assistant hunt down for me, along with the matching heart-shaped sunglasses. I’ve noticed her fun wardrobe. I wanted to contribute.

No one’s admitted to anything, but I know Piers went full sugar-daddy with that ridiculous wardrobe drop, and I personally caught Finn sneaking in pillows like a guilty raccoon. The man was wearing gloves. Gloves.

I lean against the kitchen doorway, arms crossed, watching her. Cammie’s at the table again. She’s claimed that spot over any of the actual desks in the house. Iced coffee beside her, laptop open, legs swinging lazily as she works. She’s wearing one of our t-shirts (probably Leith’s, judging by how it hangs off one shoulder) and tiny shorts that make her ass look criminal.

My mouth goes dry. Those curves are going to look even better in that bikini. Fuck, I can’t wait.

I push off the doorframe and walk over, bending down to press a slow kiss to her cheek. I rub my face against hers on the way back up, deliberately scent-marking her. She lets me. She always lets me. That’s one of my favorite things about her; she likes the attention, and I love giving it.

I drop the tiny pink bikini right onto her open laptop. “Time to step outside and catch some sun, sugar. You’ve been cooped up in this house too long.”

She cocks a saucy eyebrow at me, picking up the bikini bottoms with two fingers. “There’s no backside to these.”

I grin. “You’ve got enough backside for you and the suit, baby.”

She pretends to be offended, lips parting in mock shock, but I can see the spark in her eyes. She likes it.

“I’ve been told it’s too big,” she says, voice dripping with challenge.

I lean in closer, intentionally dropping my tone lower. “No, sugar. It’s perfect.” I brush my lips against her ear. “Now get that beautiful butt moving and meet me at the pool in five minutes. I’ll make us drinks.”