Junior didn’t answer. He just stubbornly stared at his father.
“Bree, read him,” said Fritz.
Shrugging, Bree made her way toward the teenager. In truth, she wouldn’t read him against his will—she did have some morals—but he didn’t need to know that, did he?
Junior backed up. “No! No way!”
“Bree, don’t you dare!” warned Dani.
Ignoring her, Bree tilted her head at Junior. “You don’t want to prove your innocence?”
“Of course he does,” said Fritz. “Because he knows that if he makes this any worse for himself, his punishment will go on for a while.”
Junior’s shoulders drooped. His mouth bobbed open and closed a few times. “Parker’s telling the truth,” he muttered.
Fritz growled. “I figured that out five minutes ago, idiot.” He looked at his nephew. “Why didn’t you come to me with this?”
Parker’s face scrunched up. “I’m no snitch.”
God, it was amazing that a kid would rather get in trouble for vandalizing a vehicle than earn a reputation as a snitch. “Okay, I’d say the solution here is simple: You each pay for the damage to the other’s property. Not your parents, you. Or the only lesson to be learned here is that someone will always bail you out. Well, they won’t. Can we agree on that?”
Harriet righted her sweater. “Sounds fair to me.”
“He’ll pay,” stated Fritz. “There’s no way I’m doing it.”
“Super,” said Bree. “The mechanics can look at both vehicles and give you an estimate for the damages. Boys, let’s end the shithead behavior, if for no other reason than it pisses me off to have to haul my lazy ass down here to deal with it.”
Farrell snickered. “Thanks for the help, Bree.”
She nodded and then walked away.
Alex fell into step beside her. “You did—”
“What the hell did you think you were doing, Bree?” Dani demanded, hurrying after them, her heels click-clacking on the concrete pavement.
Without breaking stride, Bree shrugged and replied, “Solving the problem.”
Dani planted herself in front of her, forcing her to come to a halt. “You threatened to force an emotion into that boy.”
“I know.”
“And you don’t find that wrong?”
“It’s not like I actually did it.”
Dani’s mouth fell open. “Have you no ethics at all?”
“I have some. They sleep a lot.”
Dani shook her head. “Why fate would gift someone like you with omega powers is beyond me. The crap you pulled back there could have had your status stripped from you.”
Alex rumbled a curse in Russian. “Instead of bitching at Bree, maybe you could go do some primary-related tasks. You might as well enjoy the role while it’s still yours to enjoy. We all know you won’t manage to hold it for much longer.”
Dani glared at him, her eyes hard as diamonds.
Bree had to hide a smile. He could be such an asshole, but she had no complaints about that right now. Like at all.
“Move.” He fairly barked the order at Dani, who very wisely stepped aside. And then he and Bree were walking again.
The smile that Bree had been hiding broke free. “Dude, that was pretty mean.”
“I don’t care.”
Bitchy though it might be, neither did Bree.
Alex didn’t speak again until they’d crossed the street. “You know the real reason she has a bug up her ass isn’t that you took an unorthodox approach to dealing with Parker and Junior. She didn’t like that your approach worked, or that Fritz wanted your help rather than hers.”
Bree shrugged. “I can never do any right in Dani’s eyes, so I don’t bother trying to please her. It would be pointless.” Finally reaching the store, she forced a smile for Greg as he opened the door for them to enter. “Thanks,” she said.
The familiar scents of gentle perfume, lemon glass cleaner, and fresh-cotton air freshener washed over her as she stepped inside, comforting her cat and soothing her nerves. Alex returned to his office and she retook her position behind the counter.
Of course, Elle, Valentina, and James all made their way over to ask why Farrell had come for her. Bree told them what happened.
“Did Dani give you shit afterward, all bitter that you helped?” Elle asked. “She did, didn’t she? God, she is one heinous bitch.”
Bree sighed. “It’s not that, it’s just … Ever since she was little, people told her she’d be primary one day. She was a strong omega right from the start. It became her goal, her purpose. Most primaries don’t step down until they’ve been in power for at least four decades—it’s usually not until then that a stronger omega surfaces. She’s only been in power a single decade. It’s not surprising that she doesn’t feel ready to step down yet.”
Valentina made a haughty sound. “That is no excuse for her behavior. Some people become attached to power. They let it define them. They cannot be satisfied with reflection in mirror unless they have that power. It is weak. You know I despise weakness.”
James nodded. “We do, yes. So it confuses me that you want to go visit Skeletor and her man-slave.”
Valentina’s eyes blazed. “James Devereaux, you will cease calling my mother that! And my father is no slave!”
“A puppet, then,” said James. “Seriously, you don’t find them both weak? She needs to bully her mate to feel good, and he allows himself to be bullied. It’s messed up.”
“They are happy.”
“They are dysfunctional.”
“And yet happy. That is good, no?”
“When she does weird stuff like knock him out with chloroform occasionally because she thinks he breathes too loud, no.”
Bree exchanged a smile with Elle as the couple continued to argue. Seriously, there was no better place to work.
Over the next few hours, people came and went. Bree answered questions, pulled out trays, measured fingers, took payments, and wiped smudges from the glass display cases.
Shortly before the store was due to close, she rung up a purchase for a human and was just tucking the receipt into his bag when the front door swung open. Vinnie breezed inside with Tate and Luke close behind him. They briefly greeted Elle, James, and Valentina and then headed straight to the counter.
Only once the human customer had walked away did Vinnie speak. “How are you doing, sweetheart?”
Bree wasn’t put at ease by his casual tone. Her stomach was twisting itself into knots. “Someone saw the hyenas?”
“No, I’m not here about them,” said Vinnie. He glanced around, noticing a few customers lingering here and there. “Can we speak in private?”
“Sure,” agreed Bree. She led him into the break room and closed the door behind them. “What’s up?”
“Nothing’s up,” said Vinnie. “I just didn’t want to speak of pride business in front of outsiders. I had a little talk with Farrell. He told me about the Fritz-Harriet mess; said that Dani wasn’t having much luck resolving the dispute and that you handled it very well. I also heard she wasn’t very happy with you.”