“If I knew, then you wouldn’t be asking that question.”
“What have you done to her? If I come across as disrespectful, please pardon me. But Nadia is very important to me. And the fact that she’s not here means only one thing. It’s either she didn’t want to be here or you threw her away.”
“And your point is?”
“I like Nadia. Maybe more than you do.” My brow hiked up with his words because he was fucking wrong. “I waited for her to make up her mind to choose me over my uncle.”
“And all the while you waited, you floundered with different females. Am I right?”
“I have my needs.”
“Point taken. I still don’t understand what you want to get from this visit.”
“I will go straight to the point, Alpha. I want Nadia. If you’re tired of her, just give her to me. We will leave the territory, and you will never see us again.”
“And you think Nadia wants that?”
“A man can try.”
“And you think I would let you?”
“Tell me, Alpha, why is she not here?”
I didn’t answer him.
Instead, I rounded my table and opened the drawer, pulling out the envelope with their pictures. I took it out and showed him the one where he was holding Nadia’s jaw.
“Is this photo real?”
“Yes.”
“Do you own this picture?”
“No. But I know who did. It was shown to me months ago.”
I nodded my head before I took out the last one that broke my heart. The picture that I didn’t show to anyone.
“And this?” I laid the photo on the table, and I saw his eyes squint.
Nadia was straddling him in what looked like a picture taken in an alfresco dining place. Her arms were wrapped around his body while her head rested in the crook of his neck, and Benedict’s hand was resting on her upper thigh.
Nadia’s marked neck was visible.
It only means it was taken after I marked her.
I would have wanted someone to scrutinize the photo if it had been tampered with, but a part of me didn’t want to show this intimate photo to anyone because I was terrified it would tarnish her reputation.
“No. This one is a fake.” He pointed his finger at it, and I was glad that I didn’t need to ask him.
“It’s not you and her?”
“It’s me. But it’s not her. It’s a different female. I didn’t see Nadia after she was marked. The first time I saw her again was at the conference with you.”
I felt a big burden had been lifted off my chest. Although I was willing to find and take Nadia back, regardless of whether the photo was real or not, a part of me mourned at the thought of her being with someone after we met. Even if they didn’t do any intimate acts, this scene was still too intimate for me.
“Don’t tell me you fought with her about this?”
“I don’t owe you any explanation.”
