Page 76 of The Gift
She laughs, and goddamn it’s a little breathless and does lots and lots of good things to the fury escalating within me. And yeah, I’m a little unstable, my alpha tendencies overruling my human traits. Much like when an omega goes into heat, alphas can drop into a rut.
Without another word, she hangs up. And Ashton starts thumbing through the screen looking for a number in his phone book. Finding the contact he’s after, he presses call before I get the chance to match up the name to the place.
“Ashton?” A woman answers, and it takes me a couple of seconds to register he’s speaking with Kayla from Sommers, the upmarket store we use.
“We’re coming in, Kayla. Black tie for all of us, and a dress to match, please.”
Kayla is good at what she does, which is dress us. Her alpha husband is an absolute asshole and doesn’t leave her alone for a red-hot fucking minute which used to piss me the hell off.
“Ohhh, a dress,” she gushes before becoming the consummate professional she is. “Size?”
“She’s five eight, size seven shoes, long brown hair, green eyes.”
“I’ll have a couple of options laid out. Do you need jewellery as well?”
“No. Henley’s on it.”
I look at him, stunned. And before I can ask what the fuck he means, he’s saying goodbye to Kayla and calling Reno. The call picks up on the first ring.
“Henley has a date. Aren’t you proud?” he teases, talking quickly while weaving in and out of traffic. “We’re going to the vault. Do you want anything?”
“Will you grab some cash?”
“Done,” Ashton replies in a flash.
“I’m taking the liberty of ordering some things for Bailey. Since the last time you all gave me shit, now I am giving you the heads up,” Reno says sardonically.
“And… what are you getting?” Ashton asks enthusiastically. I turn and watch, a smile growing on his face.
“Whatever the hell I want. Henley, you screwed up, she’s going to need another shot. Dropping all that come claim me scent.”
“No. I was protecting her,” I answer, talking through my teeth. So restrained, like Bailey said.
“We all were there, Henley. He couldn’t move.”
“He was taunting her. Don’t question my motivation, Reno, I am not in the mood.”
“You need to tone your mood down. I have no qualms with what you did to that wank stain, but the result, besides you having bruised knuckles is you’re going to push Bailey past where she wants to be. She asked for time. Don’t go caveman and ruin it for all of us.”
“I get that, thank you.” My tooth howls in pain when I bite down on it again.
“Good. Don’t forget it. Koda and I will be at Exposé for the day. We’ll go through the raw footage and edit out some of it while trying to get a better handle on the games Donnie’s playing. This crew are actually really good at what they do and I’ve already spoken with them at length. They’re insistent the doctor is not the evillest person they’ve spoken with. They’re all rattled and a little protective of Bailey, but everyone is more than fine.”
“Is she okay? Really?”
“She was when she climbed in the car. I’m ordering some food for her to be delivered, and I’ll let you know if I have any worries. Let her work though, Henley, it’s how she copes. She’ll sort out all the bullshit that happened with him, but don’t push her to respond or deal with it how you do.”
“He was trying to break her. I should have snapped his fucking fingers so he can’t write anything down. What if he broke the hypnosis? And what was that fucked up shit about them being unable to bond? We’d be dealing with the aftermath.”
“Don’t be such a prick. We’re already dealing with the aftermath. And please don’t discount her ability to cope again. I’m offended on her behalf, you’re better than that.”
“What is the likelihood he could do that though?” Ashton interrupts, using one hand to rub over my thigh. I grab it and hold his hand instead, I feel so fucking thrown.
“I want to say there is no likelihood, that he was too inept to be able to understand the ethos properly. But there’s a high chance he did employ some form of hypnosis. And hypnosis has been scientifically proven as effective in treating trauma. It provides psychogenic amnesia or removes the reliving of the event and certainly the use of hypnotic words can switch a session on or off. But in the same context, over time the brain continues to recognise the influence but without a therapist’s continual guidance, a person’s brain will evolve and train itself. If Bailey was hypnotised, I’d suggest that without knowing how, she’s rewired herself. We know that she is a complex person, and I want to suggest that includes she has regular instances of deep reflection. She clearly understands she went through some form of trauma; she recognises that in some situations she has walled those traumas away. Can he break it? Look, I want to say no, but we all know what he’s capable of. I’m sure Koda would agree wholeheartedly. Although I strongly suggest, if we get the opportunity, we should ensure Regalo can’t speak or write another word.”
“Agreed,” both Ashton and I reply.
“Bill said he’s in the infirmary now,” I continue.
