Playing You (Omega's Luck #3) - Claire Cullen Page 0,3
hell out before the alpha took advantage of him. Truth be told, that was what Riley had expected at first, until the alpha had shown him ID and the badge that said he was a licensed private investigator. Riley had only heard about PIs in movies and on TV. Yet here was Brendan, in the flesh.
The alpha scanned his resume again, front and back, then paused. “Math not a strong point?”
He winced at that. Had he just lost this job?
“It was more a clash of personalities with the teacher. She didn’t like teaching the ‘hopeless cases.’” He’d hated that beta more than anyone in the school, because she had never failed to ensure that he and everyone else knew just how unwanted he was.
“How are you with a calculator? Or a spreadsheet? That’s really all this job needs, the basics.”
“I can handle that,” he promised, relief warring with hope that maybe this would work out.
“High marks in drama—no surprises there.”
Riley had always loved pretending to be someone else. It sure beat his life hands-down.
“English, too. Figures.” The alpha let out a huff, but he was smiling. “You any good at making coffee?”
“Sure.”
“Great. How about you make us both a cup, while I get a copy of the contract to go over with you?”
The alpha showed him into a little kitchen area and left him to it. Riley fiddled around with the coffee machine, made two cups, and carried them back to Brendan’s office. The few minutes alone had been good for him, giving him time to see what a crazy idea this was and that he should be extracting himself from the situation as quickly as possible. It was only the thought of returning to that hostel, day after day, that kept him there.
He set a cup of coffee down in front of Brendan, who gave him a distracted thanks as he read through the little sheaf of paper in front of him.
“So, tell me about yourself,” the alpha asked, not looking up. Huh, were they still interviewing? If so, it was nothing like the practice interviews he’d done during his diploma. But then again, he’d never heard of anyone being recruited beside the dumpsters.
“Um, I’m twenty. I have a diploma in secretarial studies…” He trailed off. The alpha knew all this, why was he asking to hear it again?
“What’s your favorite play? Please tell me you’re not a fan of musicals.”
Riley laughed at that. “Alpha’s Dawn. I saw it performed in the Greystone Theater when I was fourteen. The tickets were a birthday present. I’d never… I’d only seen school plays until then. There was something about it, something… different. I knew then that I wanted to know what it felt like to live another life. Even if it was only for one night.”
He flushed, embarrassed that he’d gone on like that and Brendan hadn’t tried to stop him.
“I’m more partial to movies than plays, but I have a soft spot for anything written by Becker.”
“Then you’ve seen Midnight Oil?” It was Becker’s latest play, which Riley had read about in detail but would probably be an old man before he got to go see.
“Yeah. Got some tickets from a client. Perk of the job, I guess. A few of those might land your way if you play your cards right…”
It took him a moment to realize that Brendan was trying to sweeten the deal. Which was ridiculous, because he held all the power and Riley was the desperate one.
“Anyway, that’s enough about you. I run a small private detective agency. It’s just me. Most of the work is run-of-the-mill stuff—infidelity, family strife, identity theft, the occasional stalker. There’s some overlap with the police. I take stuff they can’t—or won’t—investigate. Ninety-nine percent of the time, it’s boring paperwork and phone calls. Now and then, things get interesting. That’s where I might need you to play omega to my alpha, help get me through doors that might otherwise be closed to me. Seems like you might be uniquely suited to the job.”
Brendan scribbled a few lines on the page in front of him, and then passed the whole lot over to Riley. “This is the contract. Most of it is pretty standard, but I need to add a clause in for the undercover work and how that’ll be remunerated.”
“You said you’d pay a bonus?” Riley asked tentatively, still struggling to believe his good luck.
“That I will. There’s always a little bit of risk in these situations. Most times, it’s just