Sage crossed his arms in front of his chest. Right in front of him, his youngest son was looking dead ahead, chowing down on a chocolate bar with his right hand. He didn't seem to show any guilt for what had gone down last night. Sage felt a little annoyed because he wasn't getting the response he wanted.
He's too calm for someone who's causing problems and making trouble.
Since he was a kid, Joshua had never really caused Sage any major headaches. He was the best of the three kids in the Dhurudatta family. He never started fights or got into fights, so this was something new for his parents.
His two older brothers, hearing the news, came straight over to his place like something crazy had just gone down.
"Josh, everything alright?" Cross walked quickly into the room and stopped when he saw Sage sitting on the sofa with a tense look on his face. He took off his coat without saying a word, realizing that a world war might be starting.
To be honest, he felt pretty worried when he thought about what his Alpha's dad react, so he was pretty sure he thought it wouldn't end well.
"Uh-oh.." Gruvv followed behind him and made sure he didn't say anything. They didn't say a word when they saw Sage. Yeah, they were adults, but this wasn't about age. Fear isn't just for kids. OK?
"Isn't you guys are in Vienna right now?"
"Yeah, we flew back here on a private jet after hearing what happened." Ian appeared from the kitchen, with one of the maids pushing a trolley with a big teapot, a milk jug, a sugar bowl, and tea cups, plus some snacks on a plate.
Cross put his hands over his face. His parents were excited for their honeymoon after Sage retired and turned over the reins of the company to his two oldest sons. They had planned to spend a few months traveling around the world. They'd docked in Vienna just two days ago, and now they were heading back.
Cross looked over at Joshua, who was happily munching on his chocolate bar.
The boy didn't seem afraid at all. It's true that out of his two younger siblings and himself, Joshua was the only one who always got special treatment from his Alpha dad. Whether it was because he was the youngest kid in the family or because of what had happened to him in the past, who knows?
Ian was sitting right next to Joshua and took the chocolate bar from his hand, startling the man a little. Ian put the half-eaten chocolate on a small plate on the table and looked at Joshua.
"Your older brothers are both here. Can you run through what happened that brought us here and made us have to bail you out of the police station? This is your first time in trouble, Joshua Dhurudatta."
Joshua didn't say anything, just rubbed the back of his neck.
"So, what was the deal with bringing the White family's son to the house, anyway?"
"He was showing signs of heat when we left the park."
"HEAT?!"
"Just wondering, why did you and White's son meet?" Cross asked, looking a bit puzzled. Joshua's narrative was straightforward, with no prelude, context, or additional info.
"Didn't they go to the same school?" Gruvv asked.
Joshua didn't say anything back to his two older brothers, but now he looked over at Sage, "Dad, remember a while back I asked you about the data on firearms sales?"
Sage looked at his youngest and said, "Go on..."
"It's all because of Amari. He said he was threatened with a gun that we sold."
"Hey, do you remember when you gave me a ring that night about the Campbell family firearms? Was it because of him?" Cross asked, getting Gruvv and his parents to turn their heads and listen because this was the first time they'd heard it.
Once again, there shouldn't be any secrets among Dhurudatta's family.
"What does that mean?"
"Joshua called me, asking about the firearms registered to the Campbell family, and I told him what we had. Specifically, the little dot after the initials."
"Wasn't that added just recently?" Gruvv looked over at Cross, who nodded in agreement.
Sage sighed, feeling a bit confused about the whole thing, "Josh, could you break it down for us, step-by-step?"
Joshua started explaining what happened to Amari based on what Amari told him that night. He also mentioned how he ended up taking Amari to his place. He hadn't expected that his actions would lead Amari's parents to report him to the police for kidnapping. He thought it'd be safer for Amari to stay at his place than to take him back to the cafe, especially since most of Amari's guards were Alphas.
Yeah, the White family reported that Joshua kidnapped their only child, Amari, last night. Even though George told the White family's head guard that Amari was at Joshua's place.
The Whites sent the cops to search Joshua's place that night and found Amari. They arrested the guy, who still barely had it together, and Joshua had to go with them to the police station to get interrogated.
His parents got wind of the situation after their secretary gave them the heads-up.
"I know you want to help him, as his childhood friend. But Josh, we all know how the Whites are. Ever since they left the mafia and the underground business, they've been overprotective of their kid." Ian added.
"You shouldn't feel like you have to let him stay at your place just because he gets heat when he's with you. You can send him back to all the guards working with him. I think all his guards are using suppressants." Cross replied.
"The White family is pretty complicated..." Gruvv joined the conversation.
Joshua didn't say a thing, even after telling his family everything. He was just playing with his fingertips while listening to his older brother and Omega father give their opinions about what had happened.
"Anything else?"
Joshua raised his head when Sage asked the question. He could see his Alpha's dad's eyes staring at him so intensely, like he knew his son was hiding something else.
He thought about whether he should tell his family the truth about being able to smell Amari's pheromones. Joshua, on the other hand, really knew his family. He knew telling them would probably be fatal, and he was still trying to figure out what was happening to him.
He shook his head, not saying a word.
"I just thought it was the right thing to do to bring him to this house," He continued.
Ian turned to Joshua and said, "Josh, you're a Dominant Alpha... How could the White family have not been worried about their Omega child ending up with a Dominant Alpha during his HEAT period?"
Joshua lowered his head again. Cross and Gruvv looked at the top of their youngest brother's head and sighed.
"So what's next? Did you clear up this misunderstanding?" Cross asked, taking a sip of tea.
"The lawyer has explained the situation to the police and the White family, telling them it's just a misunderstanding. Unfortunately, Amari can't be questioned because he's still under the effects of the HEAT. Isn't he using Suppressant?" Sage asked, leaning back in his chair. He felt like his youngest son was still holding something back, but he didn't want to push him to talk.
"Amari uses a pod suppressant."
"Pod Suppressant?" Cross turned his head.
"Oh, Shiloh uses it too. This is the newest device that FOTHER PHARMA has released. Specifically for Omegas, the device can provide suppressants at regular intervals based on each Omega's dosage." Gruvv helped explain.
They nodded along to the explanation.
"Then..." Joshua piped up again, this time turning to his father and his two older brothers. "Can I take a look at the list who bought the weapon that was sent to Amari in an attempt to threaten him?"
His two older brothers didn't say a word for a moment. While Gruvv got his tablet from his work bag, Cross pulled out his cell phone. They both left the office when they got a call from Ian saying that Joshua was in trouble.
"You said earlier that it was a long-range, long-barrel weapon. For snipers, MsMiran TAC 50?" Cross asked, checking his phone one more time.
Sage looked at Ian, and the two parents exchanged glances like they were talking without words. They both thought something was off about Joshua. He's a typical boy, they figured, always focused only on his family. So, it was weird to them that he was paying attention to other people.
Gruvv showed Cross what was on the tablet, and they looked at each other. Joshua looked concerned.
"What did you find out about?"
Cross grabbed the tablet from Gruvv's hand and put it on the table. "A long-range long barrel. For snipers, the MsMiran TAC 50 was released eight years ago. It was a weapon made by Campbell to celebrate Leona as the only successor of the Campbell and Dhurudatta families..." Cross paused for a second, seeing that his parents and younger brother still didn't get what he was saying.
"To put it simply, Campbell made it and gave it as a gift to the 10 families of his loyal customers," Gruvv explained.
"What?" Sage and Ian reacted at the same time.
"So it's not a product you're trying to sell?" Joshua asked.
Cross nodded, "Those 10 families got the weapons as gifts from the Campbell family. Nothing's really changed except that the weapons only have 10 bullets and there's no rule saying you can't give them to other people, which is different from other weapons you can buy."
Ian and Sage let out a sigh. "So, there's a chance that one of these ten people might've passed the gift on to someone else?"
Cross nodded slowly.
It'd be hard to pinpoint the main suspect here, especially since, like the Dhurudatta family, the White family also had a long history of Mafia-related enemies. There are a lot of possibilities as to who might've been after Amari and wanted to give him a heads-up.