Lola & the Millionaires: Part One (Sweet Omegaverse #2)(19)

“Too late. My boss called my cousin—who got me my job—to tell him I had a panic attack.”

“Actually…I called him. I just wanted to see how you were—”

“Oh my god, David,” I whined, squeezing my eyes shut as if that could prevent me from dying of embarrassment.

“He said you’d already made yourself invaluable. That you’d probably just entirely reshaped one of the department’s regular layouts and you stood out for the team at a photoshoot,” David said.

That shut me up at least.

“It wasn’t until I was ready to hang up that he mentioned the elevator shutting down and…everything. He said Leo got you home okay though?”

“You know Leo?”

“I know them all. Mostly Cyrus and Rake and Matthieu, but I’ve met them all. Lola, you’re okay?”

“Yes. Yes, I’m okay. I’m debating coming down with the stomach flu—”

“Please don’t do that.”

“—but I am actually…fine.” I rolled over in the bed and blinked up at the crack in my ceiling when I realized I was telling the truth. I’d had panic attacks while still staying with David and barely left my bed for three days. “It wasn’t actually being in the elevator with them. I was just surprised, and then the dark…”

“They’re…they’re a good pack, Lola. I wouldn’t have gotten you that job working for Cyrus if I didn’t trust him completely. And I was right anyway, he speaks very highly of you.”

I actually smiled at that. “I did have a really good first week, panic attack notwithstanding.”

“Come over for lunch tomorrow and we’ll celebrate it. Or commiserate.”

“Deal.”

I hung up lighter and a little relieved. Cyrus had led with everything I’d done well this week instead of my meltdown. That was a good sign, right?

My phone chimed in my hand, and I lifted it to see an alert for a text that must’ve come in while I was still in the bath.

UNKNOWN - 6:46

missin u

I frowned at the screen, and swiped open the text, not sure what I was expecting to find. There was nothing else but the message, and no clue whom it was sent from. Cool dread trickled down my spine and I forced it away.

It wasn’t… It wouldn’t be from them. Buzz was dead. Indy was gone. They’d let me walk out of their clubhouse.

And ‘missin u’ definitely didn’t seem like the kind of sentiment I’d have gotten from either of them. Maybe if the creepy anonymous message was ‘you dumb bitch’ I would worry, but this was probably some kind of weird baiting bot. I deleted it and pushed my phone face down on my bed.

Maybe my bath couldn’t relieve my tension, but I was pretty sure if I could find my batteries, I knew what would do the trick.





Seven





Lola





I considered calling in sick on Monday, just to avoid running into Cyrus or Matthieu or…anyone really. Even after David’s call, I was flushing red every time I thought about collapsing in the dark elevator, whimpering and whining like a pathetic creature waiting to be kicked.

Downside number one to agreeing to testing the waters with Leo was that he could tell my boss I’d been well enough to text him a picture of waffles—I was experimenting—the night before.

Instead of wallowing at home, I decided the best armor I could wear was a good face of makeup and a fierce outfit.

I had my shit together.

I was living on my own again.

I had my dream job, even if it was a little bit gifted to me. That was okay because I was earning it.

Cyrus wasn’t even in the group office when I arrived in my dagger heeled boots and crimson red wrap dress, but I got an approving chin dip from Zane and an ‘ooo’ of excitement from the girls.

“Guess what makeup artist got booted from Rakim Oren’s fashion week entourage?” Zane asked me as I took my own seat at the long table.

My eyes widened. “Wait. Courtney?”

“Courtney,” Zane said, waggling his eyebrows at me.

“Way to go, killer,” Betty said.

My lips twisted to fight my smile. “Okay, I do feel bad though.”

“Don’t, she’d been with him for years and she was getting lazy. There’s no room for error on a fashion week catwalk anyway,” Anna said with a wave of her hand. Anna reminded me of myself a year ago. She had highlighter yellow hair, and today she was wearing a vintage, sequined green jumpsuit that clashed with her vivid red eye makeup. Looking at her in all her technicolor glory, I missed my own purple locks.

There was a rap on the door, and I was still smiling when I saw Cyrus hovering there. My smile froze for a beat as his eyes met mine, and I might’ve imagined the flinch on his face for how quickly it disappeared, but it made my gut freeze all the same.

“We’ve got a quick meeting in Wendy’s office,” Cyrus said.

“Oh god, Lola, thank fuck you look decent today,” Betty blurted out as the whole team scrambled out of their chairs.

“Delicate as ever, Betty,” Cyrus muttered, but this time when he looked at me there was genuine humor and friendliness.

Maybe I had imagined the flinch, or maybe Cyrus was disgusted by my show of weakness, or maybe he was pissed that I was getting involved with his pack. The evidence was gone now, though, and he took the lead of our group with his back to me as we marched to the elevators and rode them up to Wendy’s office. He did keep everyone else between us in the elevator ride though.