Track 23 Mastermind

The last person I expect to find in my office at is my little brother. I mean, I wasn't expecting to find anyone here at seven am, but he really is the last person I would have expected.

"Luca," I say, proud when my voice doesn't show any of my surprise. Years of handling boardrooms and volatile meetings have taught me to be calm, cool and collected in the face of everything.

Even the second in command of the Falcone pack. Even the fact that he's not alone. Two omegas have joined him, if the scents in the air are anything to go by—cherry pie and honeyed nectarines—and Jackson Werth.

How the hell all four of them got into the building and past security is something I'm going to have to address, sooner rather than later. I can't have Liam coming into a building that isn't secure. Which he will do when he stops being pissed at me for how things ended with Sorrel.

"Jackson," I nod my head at the other alpha and around my desk to sit in my chair.

"Grayson," he grunts out, eyes hard. It takes me by surprise. We've always been perfectly pleasant to each other whenever we've come into contact. Which is fairly often given the circles we both run in. But now he looks near ready to tear me apart.

Come to think of it, Luca doesn't exactly look pleased to see me either.

But then, that's always been the case with my little brother ever since he became a criminal.

"I'm sorry, I don't know your-" I cut off my address to the omegas, because I realize with a start that I do know them. The one sitting in front of Jackson has shoulder length wavy blond hair, dark at the roots, hazel eyes and a nose ring. The other, perched on my little brother's knee, has long light brown hair, silver eyes and her lips are painted a bright shade of red that should be garish this early in the morning, but instead compliments her extraordinarily well. "Sylvie Kinsella and Sadie Pierce," I greet them. "Sorrel's friends." I congratulate myself on getting her name out without a wince or having my voice crack.

Sadie scoffs while Sylvie tilts her head. "You know who we are?"

I nod and lean back in my chair, trying like hell to not let my heartbreak show. Fuck, what I wouldn't give for things to have turned out differently. "I do." My gaze flicks to the two alphas in the room, but they seem content to let the omegas handle the situation.

"I don't know what you're doing here, though." Something occurs to me and my heart clenches, even though I battle against the feeling. "Is Sorrel okay? Did something happen to her?"

"You mean like a bunch of assholes breaking her heart? Maybe having the entire fucking world hate her for something she didn't even do?" Sadie growls at me. Luca chuckles like she's adorable and runs his hand down her spine.

"Down, vixen."

Sylvie nods slowly. "Yeah, Sade. He knows what they did. We don't have to rehash it with him."

"What we did?" I say, shifting forward, suddenly furious at all of them. At this ambush. At Sorrel herself. "What the fuck did we do except let her in, open our hearts to her? She's the one that-" Abruptly, I cut off. I don't have to do this with them. I don't have to defend myself or my actions to them. Taking a deep breath, I lean back again. "Just tell me why you're here."

Sadie and Sylvie exchange a look, and then Sylvie slides an envelope onto my desk. I frown as I pick it up and peek inside. A check. For the exact amount we paid the Stillwell pack to leave Sorrel alone.

It makes me fucking furious seeing it. I toss the envelope back on the desk. "What the hell is this?"

"Sorrel was afraid you'd resent helping her out. She didn't want this to be a loose thread. We're tying it up for her," Sadie says, voice and eyes hard.

"That money was a gift," I say through gritted teeth. A gift we gave willingly, even if she manipulated us into it. I never intended for her to actually pay us back. The payments she made were going to be routed to a savings account for her.

Sylvie shrugs. "She didn't view it that way. She always intended to pay you back. It's even more important to her now that you aren't together anymore."

The other omega leans into my brother's chest. "And since you've proven to be absolute fucking assholes that Sorrel should never have to see again, we're taking care of it for her." Luca drops a kiss onto her temple, and I'm momentarily so fucking jealous of the easy affection between the two of them that my heart thunders.

That's exactly what I imagined it would be like with Sorrel, before she proved herself to be a viper.

"Since you accused her of being money hungry," Sylvie says, harshly. Jackson's hand slides onto the back of her neck, squeezing slightly. "She sent all of that along, too." She motions with a hand to the left, and I follow the direction she points to bag after bag of stuff.

I push away from my desk and peek inside the first one. Shoes, still in their boxes. The next is full of dresses. I catch sight of a guitar case, more than one, since Liam wanted her to have options. I don't check every bag, but I'm pretty sure every item we ever bought her is here.

My stomach lurches, seeing it all. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe Sorrel really didn't give a shit about what we could give her. And even if she enjoyed the gifts, is that a bad thing when we enjoyed giving them to her?

But then I scan the bags again, looking for the items I know were purchased using the black card I gave her, only an hour after we found out the truth. I look for the five hundred dollar order from IndulgScents. The thousand dollar makeup order placed with Sephora. I look for the two thousand dollar purse from Harlow and the thousand dollar trench coat that matches. I look for all the items I know Sorrel bought before I blocked the card and not one of them is there.

Because she doesn't know I know about them.

This is another manipulation.

"This isn't everything," I say harshly, squashing the hope that had built in my chest. "She's trying to manipulate us into believing her innocence. Again."

Sadie growls at me, while Vee arches her brow. "If something's missing, that's on me and Sadie. Sorrel had nothing to do with packing up the shit you bought her. Give us a list and we'll get it to you."

"A list? Here's the list. Everything she bought on my black card after she was caught!" I shout at them. "How about that? Huh? The thousands of dollars' worth of shit she purchased an hour after leaving without a backward glance. Like we meant fucking nothing to her."

Sylvie stands and smooths her hands down the front of her jeans as Jackson moves to her side, his hand resting at the base of her spine as he glares at me, a low warning growl rumbling from his chest. I'm not even sure why he came since he hasn't said a fucking word. Same with Luca.

"I have no idea what you're talking about. An hour after Sorrel left you, she was with me and Sadie at the Falcone pack house."

"Crying her eyes out because some douchebag alphas broke her heart," Sadie adds standing as well. Luca rises behind her, sliding his arm around her waist and pulling her into his chest. "She certainly wasn't on a shopping spree."

Doubt creeps in, but these are Sorrel's best friends. Who's to say they aren't all in on it together? The two of them have snagged two of the wealthiest packs in the country. Maybe it's all a manipulation. Maybe my little brother needs to watch his back with a girl like Sadie in his bed.

Sadie, who's eyeing me like I'm shit on her shoe. "And just in case you think we might be in on the manipulation, we have time stamped security footage of her arrival and she hasn't left since."

"Sorrel said she gave everything but the clothes on her back to one of the PAs at the interview," Sylvie says, turning toward the door, Jackson right on her heels. "Including your precious black card. You might check with that girl for the missing items. Please pack up the clothing Sorrel left at your place, her own clothes not the high priced bullshit you bought her and send it to one of us. Do not send it to Sorrel directly. We'll get it to her."

"If there's anything else missing once you've sorted through all that, send the list to Luca," Sadie all but snarls at me. "Do not reach out to Sorrel. She doesn't want to hear from you, fuckface."

Luca chuckles and ushers her toward the door, dropping a kiss on her temple. "I'm gonna have a quick chat with my brother, vixen. Go wait with Jackson and Vee."

She smiles up at him, before popping up to press a kiss to his lips, murmuring, "Give him hell, baby."

She glares at me one more time and then turns to leave, letting out a squeak when Luca swats her bottom.

My brother watches her go and then turns to face me, his expression stony. "You really fucked up here, Grayson."

I snort. "Did Sadie tell you that?" The idea that his omega might also be a con artist wiggles its way back in. "How well do you know her?" I ask before I can think better of it. "If she's anything like Sorrel, you should do a thorough background-" I cut off as I'm slammed into the wall by my baby brother. His hand is around my throat, squeezing, squeezing, squeezing until I see stars.

"Watch yourself, brother," Luca snarls, face inches from mine, grip tight. "I'll put up with a lot of bullshit from you, but I will not let you badmouth my omega. She's my scent match, my fated fucking mate, so keep her name out of your goddamn mouth." Surprise rockets through me. I had no idea. None. I knew his pack had picked up an omega, but I didn't realize how deep their bond went. I nod once to show I agree.

Luca squeezes again, then releases me, stepping back, all aggression gone in an instant. He runs his hand through his hair before propping his hands on his hips. "Look. I'm gonna tell you something Sylvie and Sadie didn't want you to know. They don't think you have the right, but… you're my brother and I want you to be happy. So here is it. Sorrel didn't do fucking shit to you."

My mouth drops open and I go to protest, but he keeps talking. "She didn't do shit from the beginning. Liam and Rafe showed up at her house out of the blue and inserted themselves into her life. You paid off the Stillwell pack without her consent. In fact, she straight up told you not to do that, didn't she? You rented a house up on Lake Kilrose. You asked her out repeatedly. You sent her clothes and jewelry and fancy shit without her asking for a goddamn thing. She never once initiated anything between you, never asked you for anything, never pushed an agenda. The only thing she did was fall in love with you. You didn't give her a goddamn choice in anything , Grayson. Not even in how it ended. You just cut her off. You heard a few sentences of a conversation, took them out of context and then cut her off. Just like you did with me."

"It wasn't out of context," I say, gritting my teeth. "I know what I heard."

Luca nods slowly. "Sure you do. So you know Gage accused her of only wanting to be with you because of who you are. You know she threw all that back in his face and then cried because he thought so fucking little of her. You know she said she loves you and needs you, huh?"

I blink at him, suddenly lightheaded.

Shit.

Everything he's saying is exactly right. Sorrel never once pursued us. In fact, she went out of her way to give us space. She told us she wanted us to be sure about how we feel about her. She never asked for fancy dinners or clothes. She seemed happiest when we were hanging out at home without any prying eyes on us. Her favorite thing we got her was that stupid purple stuffed dragon Rafe won for her at the fair.

In the moment, I heard her admit she was using us for our fame and our money, I saw all of that through a different lens. As a manipulation, a clever ruse meant to make us think she was just some sweet down-home beta who didn't give a shit about our pack name.

But was I wrong?

Could I be wrong?

Hope springs to life in my chest, stealing my breath. "How do you know?"

Luca shakes his head. "There's a fucking recording of it, dumbass. They just cut it down to the parts that make her sound like a conniving bitch. Did a piss-poor job of it too. But you were all too eager to believe the worst about her. I imagine they did it to keep you from inviting a female into your pack, when it's so much better for Liam to be romantically connected to his co-stars. They can sell more tickets with fake romance, with the thought that he's single and might fall in love with any of his fans. Didn't they do something similar when you and Rafe claimed him?"

Fuck. They did. Liam is worth more as a free omega to them. At the idea that he might fall in love with a pack, the illusion that he's every pack's omega, every beta's boyfriend. We claimed him anyway.

"You have a copy of the recording?" I ask.

Luca nods. "Ethan does. I'll have him send it to you." He turns toward the door, ready to leave now that he's relayed his information. But he turns back, pins me with a glare. "If you manage to fix this somehow, brother, make sure you never do anything like this again. Sorrel is Sadie's family, which makes her my family, the Falcone pack's family. You hurt her again and we'll have to retaliate. We clear?"

Maybe it should bother me to have my own flesh and blood threaten me, but if what he's told me is true, then I'm just fucking grateful that Sorrel has him looking out for her, willing to protect her.

I give a jerky nod. "We're clear."

I listen to the recording alone in my office, and sure enough, Luca is right. There's an entire conversation that was cut out. Gage all but telling her she'd have to choose between us. Giving her an ultimatum. There's pain in his voice when he says we're not his pack, a pain that echoes in my chest at the words.

Before this entire mess, I'd thought we were going to be a pack. I'd begun to think of him as a brother the same way I do Rafe. I don't know why he seemed so dead set against us, but damn if it doesn't pierce me, the same way Sorrel pierces my chest with her tears and her words, with her fucking faith in us.

Faith that I promptly destroyed without even giving her a chance.

How could I have been so fucking stupid? How could I ever think of her as anything but loyal and good? She was never against us, never betrayed us.

Fuck. I mean, we had to convince her to join us. She made us work for it.

My brain flickers back to Liam's nest to her heartbreaking admission that she doesn't think of herself as special, as worthy of being happy with a pack. She was ready to tell us no right then and there. Someone who was trying to use us wouldn't have done that. She would have shouted yes when I asked in the shower for her to join the pack, and then tried to get me to bite her immediately, so solidify the bond and lock in her place with us.

She didn't. Instead, she asked us to wait until Liam's heat, so the bond will be stronger.

Luca was right. At every turn, we pursued Sorrel. We pushed her to spend time with us, to give us a chance, to trust us with her wellbeing, her safety and her heart. Against her better judgment, she did.

And at the first sign of her being anything less than perfect, we did exactly what she was afraid of, exactly why she was so hesitant to agree to be ours.

Told her she wasn't good enough and left her.

Fucking fuck.

How can we fix this? How can we make this better? It's already been days. She's been living with this pain for that long, and we no doubt made it worse by carting Hollis around the city to all the events we planned on taking Sorrel to.

She had to have seen that, and no doubt thinks she was that easily replaceable. That we just moved on. That the type of woman we actually wanted was thin and willowy, poised and polished.

We proved her right.

All of her fears and vulnerabilities, we fed into them.

I doubt she'll ever forgive us. Especially with how she's cut all ties with us. Not even keeping the loan I set up for her, which, for all intents and purposes, is a business deal. Even if business was the furthest thing from my mind when I presented her with the contract.

My eyes linger back on the bags and bags of gifts we bought her. Every single thing we purchased and sent to her house in Lake Kilrose is there. The stuff we bought her while in the city is still in our penthouse, behind the closed door of the room we prepared for her. None of us have been able to bring ourselves to go in there.

The only thing that's missing is the stupid stuffed unicorn Rafe won for her at the fair.

I latch onto that, to that tiny piece of hope. Maybe that she didn't return Clarence is a sign that she's not really over us. Not completely cutting ties with us. Though if she refuses to ever speak to us again, I wouldn't blame her.

We're the assholes in this situation. The fuck ups.

She did nothing but trust us. And we broke that trust.

I'm a little worried that we might have broken her.

Crying her eyes out because some douchebag alphas broke her heart. Sadie's words come back to me, making my own heart clench and throb.

We need to fix this. Now.

First step, let Liam and Rafe know what's going on. As much as I want to fix this for all of us, their input is invaluable to the pack, and I know they'll want to be a part of winning back our girl.

I send the recording to Rafe along with a brief text telling him who I received it from and then eye the shopping bags. All of it will go back to Sorrel, so that means all of it will need to be moved to our penthouse in the meantime.

I type out a quick email to my assistant, detailing what I need to happen and that I'll be out of the office for the next few days. It might be longer, but he doesn't need to know that. However long it takes to win Sorrel back is how long I'll be gone.

My phone rings three minutes after I've sent the recording, just as I slip behind the wheel of my car. I pick up without checking the caller id, already knowing who it is. "We fucked up," I say as soon as the call connects.

"We did," Rafe says grimly. "Liam's been shouting ‘I told you so' at me while also trying to call her. It's not even going to voicemail. She blocked us."

"Have him try the Snack Shack," I suggest, and Rafe passes that along to Liam, who is still shouting about how we should have listened to him. He's not wrong, but I can feel how worked up he's getting through our bond, his panic and worry over Sorrel ratcheting up with every shouted word.

It cuts off abruptly, and I hear the low murmur of my omega's voice through the phone, smoothed out and polite as he talks to whoever picked up on the other line. Not Sorrel. He wouldn't be using such a businesslike tone.

I doubt she'll be back at the Shack so quickly.

Then again, it's only been a few days, and she's already repaid her loan to us and packed up every gift we've ever given her. Maybe she is already back at work, focused on moving forward, on forgetting us.

"Where are you?" Rafe asks, drawing me back to the present.

"Leaving my office now. Heading home. We need a plan to fix this."

He lets out a beleaguered sigh. "Yeah, we fucking do."

"I canceled all my meetings for the rest of the week. I think we should start by going back to Lake Kilrose. She must be home by now, right?"

"I don't know. I should have put in that fucking security system when I had the chance." His anger at himself for not doing that is clear in his tone and through our bond.

"You didn't know this would happen. We thought she would be moving in with us in a matter of days. It didn't make sense to go through the time or the effort, when she was going to be safe with us in our pack house."

He grunts out a noise that I take to be agreement but doesn't say anything else. Liam's voice hits my ear instead. "Annie wouldn't talk to me," he says, sounding on the verge of tears. "She yelled at me and told me because of us, people have been ringing the Shack and spouting bullshit to whoever picks up. Threats, Gray. People have been threatening Sorrel because of us. We have to make sure she's okay."

I don't disagree. My alpha is all but roaring at me to find our beta and bundle her away, protect her from anything and everything while we prove to her she should give us another chance, that we won't fuck it up this time.

There comes the sound of a third voice. One I recognize all too well. Fucking Joey.

Luca's warning comes back to me.

"Fucking Joey," I mutter.

Rafe catches it though and says quieter, more dangerous than I've heard him in a long time. "What about him? You think he had something to do with this?" He asks even quieter.

"He was there, wasn't he? At the interview. I lost track of him, but he was fucking there." He hasn't been shy about sharing his concerns regarding Sorrel and Gage, regarding our apparently sudden and wholehearted infatuation with her. He warned us about her repeatedly. Told us we should be cautious and keep our distance. He's pointed out all the times she's done anything even remotely shady in his eyes. Which hasn't been much, if I'm honest, but only added to the doubts already taken root in my mind that she possibly had nefarious motives. The fake recording of her cemented it.

"He's never hidden that he doesn't like her, that he doesn't trust her. He told us multiple times it wasn't good for Liam's image to be seen dating her." My mind flashes back to the restaurant, to the paparazzi outside and Patrick attacking Sorrel. "He's the only one besides us who knew where we were taking Sorrel that night." I don't have to elaborate. Rafe already knows what I mean.

He swears, viciously, then says, "Liam, talk to Gray."

There's a shuffle on the other side of the phone, and then Liam's voice comes over the line. "Why is Rafe going after Joey with murder on his face?"

Maybe I should try to be more delicate about it, maybe I should protect my omega from the knowledge that his assistant is such a lying piece of shit, but then, Liam isn't a normal omega, and if he finds out we kept this from him, there will be consequences. "Because he's the one who did this," I tell him simply.

A loud growl of rage from my omega has me pressing on the accelerator harder, speeding through the city to get to my pack, to find a solution, to win Sorrel back.