Kiss Me If You Can (1) Digital, page 4
‘Yes, just like that,’ he thought.
A soaking wet man walked out of the fierce waves of the ocean. It was as if the god of the sea had taken human form and was gracing the earth with his presence. His long fingers that swept up his dripping hair, his deep purple eyes that stared directly into the camera, his lips that were curled into a faint, cold smile—there was no way that Chase Miller was a human like everyone else.
Feeling his heart plummet, Josh felt a strong surge of emotion. Sadly, unless his brain was completely pulverized into powder form, he probably wouldn’t be able to forget that man until he died. His thrashing heart was proof enough.
Somewhere along the line, the advertisement had ended and the screen had moved on to show something else. Josh, however, couldn’t peel his gaze off of the screen.
He would soon have to come face-to-face with the real deal. He wanted to delay that moment with all his might.
He closed his eyes and kept them closed in an attempt to look away from reality, but the plane was zooming toward California with no care for Josh’s wishes.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Josh!”
Emma, who was waiting at the airport for Josh, beamed and ran toward her brother as soon as she caught sight of him. Since Josh was holding Pitt in one arm and dragging the suitcase with the other, he just let his little sister embrace his body without trying to hug her back.
Emma took a few deep breaths as if to hold back her overflowing emotions before she looked up from burying her face in his chest. Their eyes met, and Josh was the one to smile first. Emma smiled back.
It was their first reunion in multiple years. Josh greeted gleefully, “You’re as ugly as ever.”
The touching reunion ended there.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Can’t believe nobody knows how annoying you are,” Emma repeated yet again, gritting her teeth.
Josh stared ahead in disinterest, sitting in the front passenger seat. “Merge now.”
“Shut up. I’m the driver.”
“Step on it, God damn it, that car is zooming!”
“I said shut up! For the last time, I’m the driver!”
At the same time, Emma violently swerved the driving wheel. Having merged swiftly, she glared ahead and cursed under her breath. She looked like she was one unwanted piece of advice away from plucking the driving wheel and smashing it on Josh’s head.
Josh glanced behind his shoulder. Pitt was anxiously rolling his eyes around. Josh smiled warmly and made a bird with his hands, flapping its wings. Pitt giggled and clapped. All the while, Emma continued to swear softly.
‘I’m really back,’ Josh thought to himself as he closed his eyes and enjoyed the rays of sun that showered over him.
Chapter 4
Josh finally joined back with his team after about a week. Until then, Josh spent time with his family, shopped for a few things for Pitt, and prepared this and that in order to ready himself for his new work.
The house that he had returned to for the first time in a while was truly a mess. He was asked swiftly to fix things all around the house, and he ended up hammering things all day. On top of that, he mowed the wildly overgrown lawn, pruned the trees, quarreled with Emma, and shooed away the coyotes a few times. Before he even knew it, his vacation was over.
Although he had been spending time with Pitt all day for the past week, having to say goodbye to his child made his heart ache. The boy, who refused to let go of Josh with tears in his eyes whenever Josh had to go to work, clung to Josh’s leg yet again, tears rolling down his face. “Daddy, Daddy…”
Josh glumly picked up the child and held him in his arms. When Josh patted Pitt’s back, Pitt began to hiccup. Until now, they could see each other in the evening even when they were torn apart in the morning. This time, however, things were different. Since the team took turns to take days off, it was possible that Josh wouldn’t see Pitt for as long as 10 days.
Not knowing when he would be able to see Pitt again, Josh was reluctant to leave. Josh held and comforted the child, stalling for almost 30 minutes.
“You’re going to be late, Josh. You should get going,” Josh’s mother, who was watching them, reached out her arms.
Josh accepted with difficulty the reality that could no longer be delayed. He tightly embraced the boy one last time and unwillingly handed him over to his mother. Pitt immediately started screaming and flailing around. Josh turned away from the crying child, loaded himself into the car, and drove far away. His heart throbbed, and he thought he felt tears well up in his eyes.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Yeah. It’s the hardest thing in the world,” nodded Mark as Josh finally joined the team who were gathered in the restaurant for breakfast. Mark was already a father to three children.
“It’s a good thing that my oldest is all grown up now. When all three of them were wee babies, it was so hard to get my legs moving. Janet really had a hard time,” added Mark.
Since the job warranted staying away from family like this for months at times, it was a relatable topic to anyone who had kids. Isaac and Henry, who were still unmarried, robotically munched on their pancakes without many reactions. Seth, who was living together with his long-term partner, was the same.
“Just coffee would be great, thank you.” Since Josh had already eaten, he just ordered a drink for himself. The waitress smiled and walked away. When she came back, she took out a great handful of cheap cream and placed them on the table. She shot Josh a secretive glance and left.
Henry spat, “Wear your damn ring, you cheating b*stard.”
Josh merely smiled bitterly in return. Isaac, who had just poured a generous amount of maple syrup over his pancake, put a big slice into his mouth and said, “You should tell us about the gig now.”
Everyone’s eyes were pinned on Mark at once. Mark looked around once. It was past mealtime, and there were barely any people in the restaurant. After checking that the staff members were gathered on one side of the restaurant chatting amongst themselves, Mark began, “The officials got a word about a month ago, warning them about C getting K’ed.”
C stood for Chase, and K stood for kidnapping. It was part of the team’s secret code. If the client was too well-known or someone whose information had to be kept especially confidential, the team had decided on a few secret terms in order to prevent words from being spread.
Needless to say, anything regarding Chase C. Miller was top secret. Chase’s code alphabet was C not just because it was his initial; it also stood for something else.
C for Crazy.
“The FBI is looking into it, but there haven’t been any direct clues. Of course, the informer’s identity hasn’t been found out yet, either. There are a few suspects, but…”
“Is it revenge?” Isaac asked, cutting Mark off.
Henry, who was sitting right next to him, immediately criticized, “You dumbass, why do you even bother carrying your brain around? If this was about revenge, they’d never be able to find a suspect. Anyone who knows that bastard would 100 percent want to kill him.”
He was right. Chase Miller was a superior being to the point where his mere existence could make people hostile toward him. One word shared with him, however, could easily turn that hostility into murderous intent. And nobody who was sitting around this table refuted Henry’s statement. Even Josh just silently sipped on his coffee.
Isaac also must have agreed as he pursed his lips. However, his expression showed his discomfort. It was no surprise. Henry’s harsh language was difficult to get used to even after many years.
Mark cleared his throat and continued.
“What they’re assuming right now is that it might be the doings of either some extreme religious fanatics, a fairly large criminal gang, or a group of radical fans. Maybe it’s all of them,” explained Mark.
Extreme religious fanatics did a lot of wild, unexplainable things, so perhaps he was right. Radical fans also often tried to pull things like this. However, the other group of people was quite unexpected.
“Why a gang?” Seth asked before Josh could.
Mark replied as if it were the most obvious thing, “What do you mean why? For the money, of course.”
As Josh thought about the unbelievable sum of money Chase got paid for his acting gigs and the huge wealth of the Miller Family one after another, Mark asked unexpectedly, “Do you know how much an Extreme Alpha’s sperm sells for?”
“Sperm?” Josh asked back before he could catch himself.
At last, Mark turned toward Josh and nodded. “Yes, the child of an Extreme Alpha that everybody wants.”
Chills ran down Josh’s spine as his thoughts automatically trailed back to Pitt’s face. He frantically took his cup of coffee to his lips in order to hide the fact that he had turned pale.
Meanwhile, Mark continued, “Word on the street is that three generations of your family could roll around in piles of gold if you just get your hands on the sperm of an Extreme Alpha. It’s worth a shot for them. Besides, it’s C’s sperm. There’s going to be a crazy amount of premium attached to it.”
“But Extreme Alphas can control their insemination, right? Even if they force him to do the thing, they wouldn’t be able to get any offspring with it,” Seth pointed out.
“Under normal circumstances, that is. That’s why it’s so precious,” replied Mark. “It’s not like it’s impossible. Y’all know what happens when Extreme Alphas are unable to release their pheromones for a certain amount of time.”
“They go insane,” Josh replied automatically.
Mark nodded. “All they need to do is lock him up and leave him for a few days. There’s no way for an Extreme Alpha who has lost their sanity to control their insemination.”
Nobody said anything. The pheromones of an Extreme Alpha were the very thing that allowed them to perch on top of the social pyramid and gave them the power that they had. On the other hand, they were also a poison that attacked them when too much of it accumulated within their body. Due to this, it was normal for Extreme Alphas to regularly release their pheromones out of their body. This was the reason why the sweet scent that was characteristic of Extreme Alpha pheromones always lingered around them.
However, this only temporarily delayed the accumulation of poison within their body. The ultimate and simple method of solving this problem was intercourse. That was what justified their promiscuity. Using their pheromones as an excuse to bang multiple partners a day—the sheer audacity and the lechery—was enough to cross many people who knew about this.
At that moment, everyone recalled the frequent s*xual acts that they had all seen too much of while bodyguarding Extreme Alphas, and they all crinkled their faces and cursed softly. Josh was no exception.
“At least C doesn’t host parties at his own place,” murmured Seth. That was their only comfort.
Before they could get some relief from Seth’s comment, however, Henry gritted his teeth and snapped, “How many years has it been since then? You also only worked for three or four months that one time. How the hell would you know?”
The mood around the table became gloomy once again. As many celebrities did, Chase Miller was also often surrounded by scandals during his acting gigs with the lead actress or someone else whom he was working with. Back when Josh was bodyguarding him, however, nothing much had happened—perhaps because Chase had just finished his last gig and was resting.
There had been countless rumors about how he had just broken up with somebody that he had been dating, supported by many photos of his supposed ex going on dates with other men. However, Chase himself seemed quite unenthusiastic. For over three months, he never went on a date with someone or to a party to expel his hormones.
That was probably why Chase had completely lost it during his rut, resulting in such an accident with Josh.
Josh tried to think about it with a cool head. If Chase had proactively discharged his pheromones regularly, Pitt would not have been born into this world. Thinking about it like that gave him unexplainable mixed feelings, making his thoughts race.
I wonder how he’s been doing since then,’thought Josh to himself.
Since he quit his job as a bodyguard, he had consciously been trying to avoid hearing news about Chase. Even if Josh tried to, in fact, it would have been impossible to dig around to find out about Chase’s private life. Until now, Chase was much too far away. However, things were different now. Josh would be observing Chase 24/7 right before his eyes.
A belated surge of curiosity washed over Josh. ‘And I wonder how much he’s changed,” he thought. He recalled the advertisement that he had seen over someone’s shoulder in the plane. ‘His attention-drawing looks are probably the same as ever.’
“A gangbang party aside, his personality is the shittiest of all,” grumbled Henry through his teeth once again. Everyone thought the same and ended up losing their appetite. After that, they all silently sipped on their coffee and got up to leave.
✦ ✦ ✦
The huge mansion that Chase lived in was located at the innermost part of the country club, where the beach could be overseen. Walking down the stairs from the terrace led to the ocean. The entire area all belonged to Chase Miller, including the private beach. There were no other houses nearby, and all that could be heard was the regular splashing of the waves from afar.
“Welcome. We’ve been expecting you.” The security team who had been in charge of guarding the estate seemed visually relieved when they spotted Josh’s team and offered to shake hands. “It’s about time we took a break, but the vacation date kept getting pushed back. We were getting a bit anxious since we have our limits and whatnot…”
Gammas were usually the ones in charge of bodyguarding Extreme Alphas. The strong pheromones of Extreme Alphas sometimes forced betas and alphas to transition into omegas; this made gammas, who couldn’t smell pheromones at all and were therefore barely affected by them, truly suited to this line of work.
But even gammas couldn’t do anything about the pheromones that became absorbed through the skin. It was normal for them to receive regular shots to be rid of the pheromones that had accumulated in their bodies or take long-term leaves to take care of their bodies. This time, however, there seemed to have been an urgent change of plan.
“I ended up quitting the job, you see…” murmured the other team’s head officer. His troubled expression spoke volumes.
Mark replied understandingly, “It must have been difficult finding another team to take over since gammas are the rarest of all.”
“That, too. If we end up transitioning, we could die or have years taken off our lives at the very least—as you probably know already.” The team head sighed and continued, “Worst case scenario, if you aren’t able to find someone to take over, our team will be able to come back in six months. We’ll be leaving everything in your care until then.”
Josh’s team had been in charge of guarding Chase for a similar reason a few years back. Back then, unfortunately, the gamma who was in charge of bodyguarding had transitioned. This forced the entire team on emergency leave, which created a security hole. Hence, Josh’s team was urgently brought in as a temporary replacement.
It didn’t seem too different this time. Josh doubted that they would be able to find a team to take over in three months.
Everyone else must have thought the same as Mark asked, “In any case, we can assume a maximum 0f six months, right? We’d rather have a clear date, too.”
“Yes… well, it probably won’t get extended. Maybe.” The team head nodded, leaving a leeway of possibility just in case.
As Josh’s team followed behind the team head, they continuously looked around to get themselves accustomed to the areas where they would need to patrol. This meant checking out for any particularly shaded areas or places where someone might be hiding, places where they could secure a clear view of the general area, and any routes that someone could take to sneak in.
Just then, a woman met eyes with Josh and nodded in greeting. She was one of the team members of the previous security team who were now preparing to leave. She seemed quite restless as she walked by, busily talking about something with another one of her teammates.
They would probably all be gone before afternoon came. All the team members that could be spotted—without a single deviant—looked like they couldn’t wait to leave this place.
A faint sweet scent touched the tip of Josh’s nose. He didn’t seem to be the only one who had smelled it; he could see the other team members flinch. The team head, who was a gamma, continued walking nonchalantly, but everyone else was wavering.
“God damn it,” Isaac cursed softly from behind.
Everyone was an alpha other than Mark, who was a beta, and Josh, who was an omega. Even so, the temptation of the scent was strong to the point where even the alpha team members were bothered.
“What’s wrong, Josh?” asked Isaac, having seemingly noticed his peculiarity.
Josh quickly replied, “It’s nothing. Just a bit nervous.”
Did I take my inhibitors? he thought with his cloudy head. The only reason why Josh could hide his identity among his teammates until now was that his pheromones had a weak scent, and—thanks to that, perhaps—because he wasn’t greatly affected by alpha pheromones. It was even more like that ever since he had gotten imprinted. Both before and after, Josh never felt inconvenienced by the fact that he was an omega as long as he was careful about his heat.
Of course, this was all before he had smelled the pheromones of the very man who had imprinted him.
“All of you belongs to me,” the man had said.
For the first time, Josh came to realize what that meant. It was flabbergasting to think that the man who had told him such could sway him like this despite not even remembering it.
If he was affected this badly just from the lingering scent, he would have to take two, no, three times the meds as usual once he officially started working. Thanks to the imprint, Josh would be affected by that man many times worse than everyone else. He had already prepared himself for it, but he didn’t think that it would be this bad.
