Fair Warning: This chapter contains some big spoilers for Free Love. That's going to be true for a lot of chapters, so consider this a blanket warning going forward-- if you hate spoilers, you may want to go read Free Love and then come back.

This chapter also contains some non-graphic discussion of child exploitation and intimate partner violence that may be triggering. No abuse is depicted, only recounted.

Gabriel looked for Will for a good ten minutes before he spotted him. He was ready to deliver on his promise to introduce Will to someone eligible although Will had clearly seen it as more of a threat than a promise. Either way, Ahmad fit the brief perfectly. Gabriel already knew where Ahmad was, he just needed to gather Will up and shepherd him over to make introductions.

Before he could get across the room to intercept Will, however, he saw a fascinating drama unfold. Will walked over to set down his glass and almost got mown down by Brent, who grabbed his arm to steady him. They appeared to exchange apologies then stare at each other with odd intensity. After chatting for  a moment, they shook hands. Will then became the recipient of a smolder and a confident smile from Brent, and his response was to go smooth off on a hilariously startled Brent. 

I think I may have spotted the reason you aren’t getting more dates, Will.

A few more words were exchanged before Will checked his phone and stalked off purposefully, leaving Brent looking like he’d just been struck by lightning. 

Very, very interesting. 

Gabriel abandoned his original plan sur place and walked back to his husband, brain whirring.

“Hey, So… I just found Will, finally. He's stealthy. Guess it's all the undercover work. Anyway, though. I want you to brace yourself. I don’t want this to be like Story of an Hour or something.”

“Whoa. Swift subject change. Story of an…? Seems like you made me read tha—Ah, the joy that kills! See, I’m learning your ways, book nerd. Okay. I’m braced. Hit me.”

“I think I was wrong about something.”

Alex's flawless Face filled with simulated amazement. “Whooooa. There’s no way I could have braced myself sufficiently for that. You should have broken it to me a little more sensitively! What were you wrong about?”

“Laying it on pretty thick, Smart Ass. But… I don’t think Will and Ahmad would be the cutest couple after all.”

“No? Okay, I’ll bite, why not?”

“Because right this moment, I am ‘shipping Will and Brent pretty hard.”

Alex’s head cocked. “Brent?! Plot twist. Based on?”

“I just saw them run into each other, and to me, it looked like: Accidental Collision, Normal Apologies, Thirsty Brent Conversational Gambit Laced With Heavy Overconfidence, Absolute Annihilation by Will, Hilarious Shock from Brent, Will Says Something Less Hostile, Will Walks Off, Hilarious Shock from Brent Intensifies, Becomes Very Thirsty Stare.” It was everything Gabriel could do not to rub his hands together like a gleeful villain.

“Huh. You might be right. Annihilation, you say? I like the cut of this Will person’s jib. You should introduce us and he can teach me how to not like Brent.” Alex bent to kiss Gabriel. “Permission to come aboard?”

“Permission granted. I don’t think Will can teach you to not like Brent, though. If you ask me, looks like he disliked Brent so much, so quickly, and with so little cause that the not-liking must be fueled by an urge to violate his very sensible ‘No dating Alphas' policy. We’re gonna see some action out of those two. I guarantee it. I will see to it.”

Alex chuckled.

“You’re so feisty tonight, Ginger Spice! I’m into it. How much longer do we have to stay?”

“Not much.”

“Good. I want to get home in time for the traditional eleven pm snack. I miss Lailah.”

Gabriel sighed in dramatic disappointment over not being the motivation for Alex's hurry to get home. Dang adorable green-eyed beautiful perfect angel baby. As soon as he pictured her, though, he suddenly missed their infant daughter, too, in a way that was as much acute physical craving as emotion. She usually woke up to nurse around eleven, and if they got home in time, the sitter wouldn’t have to give her a bottle.

“Then I want to eat my 11:30 pm snack.”

Gabriel perked up. “And that would be?”

Alex nipped his ear. “I think you know.”

***

Two weeks later, Gabriel got a golden opportunity to steer the new ‘ship into a promising harbor. He and Alex were alternating work-from-home days for Leilah’s first couple of years, with plans for back-up from an au pair once she became mobile and verbal. So far, it was going beautifully. 

He was so grateful for the privilege of a flexible job. It made things even easier that Victoria Anderson, Alex's mother and their mutual immediate boss, had a vested interest in the well-being of her own granddaughter. She was the self-appointed babysitter for all scheduling conflicts, so there had been no resistance to their childcare plan from on high. 

That week was an Alex B Week, which meant he was home Monday, Wednesday, and Friday barring patient emergencies, and Gabriel was home Tuesday and Thursday. The previous day, Will had called while Lailah was being a tooth-sprouting fusspot. He told Gabriel, above Lailah’s loud expressions of dissatisfaction with the Help, that an Omega had been arrested in a case connected to the trafficking case he was working. 

Will had looked at the charge of attempted murder, looked at the name of the alleged victim, one of a group of men he’d been investigating for human trafficking for months, and realized that anyone who’d stabbed the guy likely had legitimate reasons for doing so. The Omega would need a good attorney. He knew where she could find one. He’d immediately called Gabriel.

***

Will’s first-ever phone call to Gabriel Cooper-Anderson had come more than a year earlier. He had been tapped for a joint investigation with D.C. Metro. They were running down a trafficking ring involving numerous underage victims. The ring spanned both cities and victims were being moved back and forth across state lines, further escalating the severity of the crime. They’d staked out a flop house in a D.C. Neighborhood, and lo and behold, one of the younger-looking vics they were surveilling was trafficked to none other than one Brad Paxton, conservative news channel camera hog and nephew of Senator Thad Daniels. 

Will had watched Paxton half-carrying the dosed-up fifteen year old kid into his car with plans to do God Knows What to her. He watched the car pull off and immediately called in an APB, pissed that he couldn’t join in on the chase without blowing his cover. 

Uncle Thad’s Ass-Licking Little Shitbag had not failed to deliver a wild ride for the police officers who did get to pursue him, a ride that ended in Paxton catching numerous sticky charges. After the arrest, Will noticed that Paxton’s name was linked to two other cases, a break-in and a forced claim. The two cases shared the same victim four years apart—Gabriel Cooper. 

He’d made contact to see if he could get any information that might help prosecutors with the current Paxton case. He’d taken a very personal interest in the case after seeing Paxton shoveling that poor kid into his car. He was determined that Paxton would not slip the net, no matter who his uncle was. 

That was how he’d made the acquaintance of Gabriel Cooper-Anderson. Gabriel, and more particularly Gabriel’s former personal security detail Bruno Gallo, had been extraordinarily helpful on the subject of all things Brad. After Paxton’s sentencing, Will had taken Gabriel out for a beer to thank him for the help. Gabriel had given him some business cards and urged him to call the Anastasia Anderson Foundation, or AAF, whenever he came across an Omega who might need some medical, legal, or social assistance. Will had promised to stay in touch .

It hadn’t been long before the first Omega in need of legal assistance came along. He’d contacted Gabriel and had been impressed at how swiftly the Omega had received skilled representation. The case against him had been dismissed outright after the AAF got through with it, an outcome Will endorsed. The Omega had inventively used the drawer of an air fryer to concuss the boyfriend who’d been beating him. There had been some burns and possibly a little brain damage, but those seemed fair to Will.

At that point, Will, generally not a huge fan of lawyers, had judged Gabriel to be one of the good ones. He’d tipped him off about Omegas in need of help several more times. He kept a couple of Legal Fund business cards in his wallet at all times and always had a stack of AAF Clinic brochures in his desk. They’d fallen into a strange but enjoyable fox-and-the-hound friendship somewhere along the way.