When Connor went to have his lunch, he realized he'd lost Jamie somewhere along the way. He also realized that he missed Jamie's company, but he couldn't risk suffocating the boy, so he didn't go looking for him. Jamie was supposed to shadow him, not the other way around.

Connor went to the cafeteria, where Rachel had his order ready.

"Thanks, babe," he said and kissed her cheek, making her giggle. She already had a mate, so he didn't feel weird doing it. Most other females in the place were unmated and looking at him with hearts in their eyes, since he was the owner. Well, except for Sara who valued her job more than her social life.

He sat on his usual table and not five minutes into his lunch, the twins appeared early for their shift. He cocked an eyebrow at them.

"Hi honey," Miguel said, batting his eyelashes. "We heard you have a new apprentice."

"Or is he imaginary as well?" Daniel said, stealing a fry.

Connor growled and took his plate out of reach of those heathens. "Ha ha. He might have gotten a little overwhelmed, but I'm sure he's somewhere around here."

"So he's Nancy's brother?"

"Mhm."

"How old is he anyway?"

Connor looked at his plate. "I don't know."

"Well, is he a teenager, twenties, is he an old man with a cane, what?"

Connor rolled his eyes. "He's probably twenty or something."

"So maybe we could take him drinking, or no?"

Connor growled. "We're not taking him anywhere. Especially not to Heat." Heat was the most popular club in the vicinity.

The twins exchanged looks. "Umm, are you feeling okay, honey?" Miguel asked, making a kissy face while his brother snickered.

"Job pressure getting to ya?" That was Daniel.

"You two should take your fake concern and shove it up your–" Connor stopped. There stood Jamie, next to his table, and he hadn't even noticed when it had happened. Great, now he had to introduce him to his best friends, who would surely notice if he acted strange. Shit.

"Uhh," he said. "This is Jamie."

Miguel looked Jamie up and down, then looked back at Connor, who avoided his eyes. Daniel squinted his eyes as though he was trying to determine if Connor had lost his marbles. "Okay..." Daniel said.

"Hi Jamie, I'm Miguel, this loser's best friend."

Daniel rolled his eyes. "I'm his best friend, we've talked about this."

"I let you get Carrie in exchange for Connor, remember?"

"I didn't want Carrie, you're making shit up."

And so it went, the twins arguing about nothing and Jamie watching them like it was a freaking tennis match. He slowly sat at the table, looking equal measures confused and amused at their antics.

"Okay, you can have Connor, but I'm taking Jamie."

"No one's taking Jamie," Connor grunted. "You two stop making trouble."

"Never," both said at once.

Jamie spoke, making everyone shut up. "How do you even get any work done with those two around?"

Connor shrugged. "You can take them if you want."

"Hey, I'm not an expired coupon!" Miguel said, while his brother looked at Connor carefully. Shit, he was always the more observant one.

"Don't mind them, Jamie," he said, "and you two, let the boy learn. He's not here to make friends or have fun."

"That sounded like you want him to get bored to death," Miguel noted, then turned to Jamie. "Ignore the big man, sometimes he has these illusions that he's in charge, when really, Sara runs the place."

"Maybe he should shadow Sara then," Daniel agreed.

Connor hit his head on the table. "Maybe I should go on a fucking holiday."

Miguel jumped at that. "Where to, honey? The Caribbean?"

If nothing else, the clowns seemed to make Jamie a little bit more comfortable, which was more than what Connor had been able to do. He looked at Jamie's easy smile and told himself that he would give his idiot guards a raise if they kept it up.

***

For the first time since Connor had started work at the company, his desk was clean. There were no overflowing papers, no empty plates or cups, and the staple and phone were actually visible. Not that he ever used them much.

He looked at the place, then at Jamie curiously.

Jamie shrugged. "I was bored at some point and tidied up."

"You--"

"The filing system you have is gods-awful, so I kind of made some changes, but it's all still here," he said, as he opened a few drawers. Everything was so tidy, Connor had to blink a few times to make sure he wasn't hallucinating.

Jamie added, "Is that okay?"

He looked unsure, so Connor hurried to say, "Of course. But you didn't have to do this. You know that, right?"

"I enjoy order," Jamie said, looking at his feet. He was so adorable, Connor had to stop himself from touching his nose to Jamie's.

"Thank you," Connor said.

Jamie shrugged. "Sure. I'm at your service."

The rest of the day was made easy by Jamie's presence and his eagerness to please. Connor really hadn't expected the boy to be so effective or to want to do the work nobody else did. When the end of the work day rolled by, Connor had to remind himself to let Jamie go.

Jamie surprised him by saying. "I don't mind staying late."

Connor looked at him thoughtfully. Other than the fact that he liked to read and he was adorable, Connor didn't know much about his mate. He wanted to change that. "Jamie, why did your father want you to do this?"

"He thinks I'd like to run my own business one day."

"Do you want to do that?"

Jamie played with the stapler instead of answering.

"Because you don't have to do that if you don't want to."

Jamie let out a huff. "You don't get it."

"Tell me then, explain to me what I don't get."

Jamie glowered. "You're the Alpha's son, you're going to be Alpha soon, and you can do anything you want. You studied what you wanted. Everything you want is at your fingertips. For me, it's quite different."

Connor didn't correct him. "How so?"

His mate shrugged. "I have two older brothers. One older sister, one younger sister, and we have a dog, whom my dad treats like he's his only child or something." He paused, reining in his apparent frustration. "And for some reason, I'm the only one who's always a disappointment. The one who has to prove himself, the one who's wasting his potential. All because–"

"Because what?"

Jamie bit his lip. "Because I'm gay."

"Oh," Connor said. He'd suspected it, but now that he had confirmation, he felt a little lighter. At least his mate wasn't straight or something. "Wait, so your father makes you work harder because of something you have no control over?"

"He doesn't see it that way."

Connor grunted. "That sucks. Sorry, Jamie."

Jamie looked at Connor, pondering on something. "You–"

Connor waited him out.

Jamie took a deep breath. "Does your dad know?"

"That I'm bi? Yeah, he sure does."

"Oh, so you like girls too?"

Connor shrugged. He didn't want to lie to his mate. "Yeah. I mean, girls are nice and all, but I've always preferred guys."

Jamie nodded.

"I'm sorry your dad doesn't see how amazing you are, Jamie. If you ask me, you should be able to do whatever the fuck you want."

Jamie shook his head. "You're different than what I expected."

"I'll take that as a compliment," Connor said. "And just so we're clear, if you say yes to me, Jamie, I'll make sure you're the only one who decides your fate, not your father or anyone else."

Jamie looked away. "You're not playing fair."

"I'm not playing a game here, Jamie. I just know what I want."

Jamie sighed audibly. He shook his head, looking everywhere but at Connor. Maybe Connor had made him uncomfortable again, but he did need to know that he meant business. Connor needed his mate to know that he would fight for him, no matter what.

"Can I ask–" Connor said. Should he ask this?

Jamie said, "What?"

"What did you mean when you said you already know who you'll mate?" Connor asked and waited with baited breath. Depending on the answer, Connor risked having his heart broken all over again.

Jamie chewed his lip, jiggled his leg. "Are you sure you want to know?"

"Yes," Connor said, his heart be damned.

"I'm promised to an antiques dealer."

Connor blinked. He'd expected Jamie to say that he had a boyfriend or something. "An antiques dealer?"

"Yes, my dad made me sign a document."

Connor growled. "What do you mean he made you?"

"Hey, don't do that, someone will hear you," Jamie hissed, looking around at the floor, for signs of people, but there was no one nearby. "My dad wanted something the man wasn't selling, so he offered me in exchange for it. It's one of the most expensive antiques in the South, and my father wanted it more than anything. So."

Connor shook his head. "Jamie..." He scooted closer to his mate and took his hands. They were colder than his own, but so soft. "I hope you know that I would give up my entire palace in exchange for you, my entire legacy, my business, and I wouldn't even bat an eye doing it."

Jamie took his hands back. "So you'd basically be paying for me. Just like that man. I don't have any say in it, is that it?"

Connor frowned. "You didn't let me finish. I was going to say, I would trade everything for you and then let you fucking decide what you want to do with your own fucking life. Even if that means–"

Jamie said, "What?"

"Even if that means you don't want me," Connor said in an odd moment of honesty and vulnerability. He couldn't hold back from his mate, it wasn't in his nature. He waited for Jamie to tell him how crazy that was and that he didn't want him. He was ready for another rejection.

But Jamie surprised him. "You would pay all that money, you would give everything away, and then just let me go?"

"If you wanted."

Jamie took a deep breath, he scooted closer to Connor, and mere inches away from him, he touched his nose to his mate's.

Connor was going to die of happiness.

I just love the twins, don't you? :D

And what about that bomb Jamie dropped? The antiques dealer? Ugh. Did you see that coming?