“Of course. I love you. Have fuuuunnnnnn.”
“I love you, too.” She hangs up, holding her phone to her chest. “Thank you so much.”
“It was nothing. Pink purse?”
“It’s our code word if something is wrong.”
“Sounds like a good protective measure in your line of work.”
“Yeah, not all alphas are as nice as you.”
She snuggles closer and her sigh of contentment is music to me. We sit in comfortable silence while she checks her social media accounts.
“I have a surprise for you.”
“Really?” She perks up. “What is it?”
“You’ll see. It’s later tonight, after dinner.”
Chapter 15
Madi
Dr. Rose wasn’t lying when she said this week was going to be hard. My temperature fluctuates hourly between feverish and freezing. Right now, though, I’m burning up. I’ve put on elastic shorts and a white sheer oversized top over my bathing suit so I could go outside and sit on the patio to watch the waves. The rain has stopped for now, but the dark incoming clouds promise more of it. The cold wind is exactly what my flushed skin needs, and the sound of the ocean is peaceful.
Zachary went back to working and I’m grateful for solitude.
My phone pings and I stare down at the message.
It’s from a new number, but it’s the same text as Friday night.
Unknown number:
I’ll pay anything for your heat!!
Name your price.
I know it should be happening any day now.
I don’t sell sex, asshole. I sell my time. Only the special ones get sex.
When I search for the number online, it confirms what I already suspected, unknown source. After I get back, I’ll change my number. I don’t want to hear from any old clients or donors after this. I’ll have to find a new job, too. Harper would let me work at the gallery for a while. I have my savings, but I’d hate to dip into them. I’m sure the guys will offer me money, but it feels wrong to disappear and stay on their dime.
No, I can make my own way in this world. Even if Alric insists on trying to bankroll me.
I haven’t seen him today. If he’s hiding from me, he’s doing a good job. I did more exploring of the villa and only saw Zach and Hunter.
Alric is a puzzle I thought I had figured out. He was livid when I arrived after disappearing on him, an asshole in the bathroom, generous at dinner, but tender, in his own way, when he held me while I shattered in his lap. Now, I don’t know how to act around him. Even thinking of him twists my stomach into knots.
As if I summoned him, he quietly leaves the house and heads over one of the small hills. I don’t think he sees me as he left from a different part of the house and my seat is tucked in the corner. His suitcase was packed with much more forethought than mine, and he wears a warm coat.
I shouldn’t follow him.
But I’m bored, trapped here, and I want to know where he’s going on this rain-soaked island. Hopefully, he’s not traveling far, since I’m in flip-flops and I can only avoid so much of the muddy parts, but still far away enough that hopefully mypresence can go unnoticed. He hasn’t turned around yet. After a few minutes, he comes to a short stone wall with a swirling metal gate below a stone arch. The wall encloses a small cemetery peppered with marble crosses, wild plants growing around them.
Okay, so I shouldn’t have followed. This is clearly a private moment, one not meant to be disturbed by a nosy omega. He places a bouquet of flowers that I didn’t notice he had been carrying down on the marble slab engraved with beautiful designs.
“You can come out. I can scent you from here.”
