The Ugly Omega

10.

Erin’s tutor was a thin, dry man in his fifties, wearing a dark suit that Jake could easily imagine that it might smell of mothballs, though nothing indicated such a thing to be true. At first glance, Mr. Richardson seemed an uninteresting man, and one who was only interested in shoving information on finance into the unwilling young head – Erin’s, in this case.

“And this is…” The tutor gestured at Jake, without breaking eye contact with his student.

“My bodyguard,” Erin said brightly.

Mr. Richardson frowned. Weird, Jake thought, he looked like he almost had no eyebrows, and his bald head only made him appear even more washed-out. The prescription glasses, thick as bottle bottoms, didn’t help make his face seem sharper or more defined.

“And what is he doing here?”

Jake wouldn’t have said ‘no’ to being kicked out of the tutoring session, even if the young Salazar started throwing a tantrum, but something in the tutor’s manner made his hackles rise. He couldn’t explain it, and it wasn’t like he was an alpha, capable of using his heightened senses to glean important information about other people. But he didn’t like the looks on the man, and worse, he sensed danger.

Of course, all of that was most likely a load of bull. Jake couldn’t explain it. The same thing had happened only a few times in his life, and each time, it had helped him go through difficult situations and emerged at the other end, relatively unscathed.

But in this case, it seemed absurd. The tutor must have been selected after a thorough process, and it wasn’t like the powerful alphas in the house wouldn’t have already identified the potential enemy in their midst.

He was being silly. Maybe he should agree with the teacher and get out of there, as soon as the man commanded it.

“Jake wants to learn about finance, as well,” Erin said, lying through his teeth and looking like an angel while at it.

“I do?” Jake asked.

“Yes, of course. Don’t you recall our earlier conversation?” Erin asked in the most suave of tones, turning his head and throwing little daggers to convince his bodyguard to play along.

As much as he would’ve loved to give Erin a little lesson in honesty, Jake couldn’t bring himself to deny the young Salazar his silent request.

“Of course. I wasn’t suspecting such generosity, though,” he replied. “I didn’t get a chance to attend college, but I’ve always had a love for learning.”

“I’m not getting a chance to attend college, either,” Erin said with rancor. “I should mingle with kids my age and commit all the mistakes I’m going to regret later not having committed.”

“Your father,” the tutor emphasized his words, “decided to offer you the best education, and all you do is complain. Your bodyguard is much more grateful.”

Jake knew that Mr. Richardson was pressing him into showing how thankful he was for being given such a great opportunity.

“How about we start?” he said, slapping his hands together. “I’m eager to learn new things.”

Erin, the naughty imp, rolled his eyes but opened his textbooks. He pushed one towards Jake and exchanged a glance with him. It seemed like the young Salazar had said the truth about wanting company, because he, not Jake, looked grateful.

***

After three hours of study, interrupted by a couple of short breaks, Jake was ready to agree with Erin that the topic of economics and whatever else was related to it were so complicated that even the most studying-dedicated nerd would have trouble with them. Mr. Richardson definitely didn’t care about making things fun, and it showed. There was a constant battle going on, with Erin refusing to understand the most basic concepts, and the tutor insisting to the point that he made things feel nauseating.

Jake focused on the material being taught, but only partially. The more time he spent in the company of this tutor, the more he disliked the man. That spoke volumes, one, because Jake was never quick to jump to conclusions regarding other people, and two, because Jake felt, at most, neutral towards strangers. Such a strong dislike surprised him, and he had no idea what to do with it.

That only meant that he needed to observe Mr. Richardson a little longer. Either Jake understood the reason for his aversion towards the man or the feeling passed.

So far, neither was happening, but at least Jake’s knowledge of how international markets worked had improved about tenfold.

“That is all for today,” the tutor announced, to the relief of his two pupils. “Tomorrow, we will cover stock exchange and--”

“Yeah, yeah,” Erin interrupted him. “Let’s worry about how boring that is tomorrow. Jake, let’s go have some fun.”

“Be careful about having too much fun,” Mr. Richardson said, wearily taking off his glasses. “Your father expects results, Erin.”

Jake winced. He didn’t like the way the tutor said the youngster’s name. Not because that wasn’t Erin’s name, but because he had expected a bit more deference from an employee. Could it be that Mr. Richardson was close to the family?

It could be that he, Jake, was a bit of a hypocrite. He wasn’t expected to call Erin ‘sir’ either, which could very well mean that the tutor had been asked, insistently even, to call the young Salazar by his given name.

He truly needed to set aside his personal preferences. Mr. Richardson was Erin’s tutor, not his, and there was no requirement whatsoever for he, a bodyguard, to like the man.

“He’d get more results if he let me go to college like normal people my age,” Erin quipped.

“Your father knows best. And I doubt that any college administration would allow you to drag your bodyguard to the courses all the time.” The tutor had a suffering look on his face as he said that.

Erin scrunched up his nose. “That wouldn’t be a problem. I’ll have Jake enlisted, too. We might even share a room on campus.”

The tutor shook his head and pursed his lips as if he’d just been pressed into swallowing a whole lemon, unpeeled.

“As anyone who has been born and raised privileged, you have no idea what you are talking about, Erin.”

Erin shrugged. “Of course I don’t have any idea about anything. Since I’m being kept in this golden cage and not allowed to experience life.”

Could it be that Erin forgot how he had just exposed himself to criminal intents hours ago? And his father had seemed so delighted that his youngest son had fought against a group of bandits and won. Something didn’t add up. Jake was curious what Erin was thinking.