My feet squeezed into the shoes, feeling sick, but at least they fit. I hated taking them. I could replace them. They looked and felt new, but she wouldn’t want them after my feet had been inside them.
My mouth shaped into the perfect ‘o’ as I exhaled a ragged breath and desperately hoped she wasn’t outside and making breakfast. I peeked through the curtains to get an idea of where I was.
“Shit,” I muttered to myself. A towering apartment building, overlooking the city park, the clock tower to the right. The clock wasn’t too far from where I lived.
I could take a run across the park and be home in fifteen minutes.
Suddenly, things didn’t seem so bad. Even if she was in the kitchen and making a coffee, I could make my excuses and make a run for home. There was no way an alpha would kidnap a beta. She would be happier waiting for her pack and then seek their omega.
Take a deep breath and stop overthinking this Tilly.
I inhaled that breath when I pulled the door and found it open. Overthinking again. I tiptoed down the corridor and headed toward the light, hoping that would be the large living room window of an apartment.
It was and massive. Two separate living areas, one looked cosy and tucked in the far corner, four single chairs around a coffee table, a floor to ceiling bookshelf behind on the back wall. The other area had a fireplace against a backdrop of a charcoal wall. Three enormous ivory coloured leather sofas positioning in a ‘U’ surrounded the fireplace. There was a large marble dining table, with enough seats to have the largest of banquets. This dining area separated the two living areas and was next to the matt black kitchen with handleless doors.
But it was the lack of food smells that made me almost cry with relief. My heart stopped racing then, knowing she was definitely at work.
But there were no clothes on the floor, no bag on the dining chairs or sofas. I held my hands on my hips, glancing around the room. My hand rubbed over a sore point on my hip. I pulled the leggings away to see a purple bruise.
It all came back.
Shit. Someone drugged me.
Panic bloomed as I remembered.
Where the hell were my clothes?
But I could smell her scent everywhere. I knew she’d not long left. The caramel, the chocolate, the clean linen, the smells I scented before and with my medication dissolved, I knew I needed to get home.
I raced to the lift, pressed for the car, and waited.
But damn, this woman was rich. This wasn’t just any apartment in a building, this was a penthouse with a private lift. But it didn’t matter to me. I didn’t want rich, or a woman.
Leaning my hands against the wall and holding my breath as I rested my forehead against the cold metal of the lift panel. The lift dinged, and I took in deep breaths, releasing those breaths with a loud gasp.
Shook my hands out and burst into the open lift.
Then stopped dead in my tracks.
Seeing his face, his eyes, his stare.
Fuck.
My feet moved as I ran backwards and away from him.
“Stop Tilly,” he growled.
I stopped and bit my lip to hold back my moan, as I knew I was about to fall apart. I kept my eyes on him but didn’t move as he perused my clothing, seeing me dressed in these clothes.
His alpha scent flooded me like a burst dam, drowning me in him. I sucked on my tongue as I tried to create saliva in my dry mouth. But all the wetness in my body had pooled between my thighs. And I was glad when I came to my senses and gave myself a mental slap across the face.
I straighten my spine. He knew who killed my father. And I wanted to ask where my sister and mum were, but I needed to braver than I felt today.
“I’m sorry, I don’t know how I got here and I couldn’t find my clothes,” I whispered, holding the tee shirt out at the hem. “I’ll replace them.”
His mouth pursed as his eyes flickered around my face. My heart rate spiked. The lack of coffee and medication was making me feel weak. “I’ve got your bag and your medication,” he said. “You’ve been asleep for a while, as your body weaned off the effects of the drug and your beta medication. You need to stay here for your own safety.”
“I can’t,” I whispered.
My throat constricted and my breathing was shallow, but I needed to find my backbone and pushed my feet away from the floor, holding my shoulders back and calmly but surely I strode with beta courage to the lift door. He let me pass him, and I dipped my head and didn’t give him eye contact.
I couldn’t.
“I’ll hand in my resignation. I really am sorry, I just...” I puffed out a breath as I tried to work it out. Why did his alpha seek me out? I thought he was in a pack. Or was this the pack? But why did Luca and Jackson lie to me and not let me know there was a female in this pack?
He growled as I touched the lift button. “Take a seat Tilly, we need to talk.” My shoulders dropped, and I turned. My eyes meeting his. “What happened that night isn’t what you think.”
I stared at him, not knowing what to say, not knowing what to think. His words took mine away, and I sucked in my bottom lip and bit to stop any sobs from releasing from my mouth.
“What do you want?” I whispered.
“You need to know the truth,” he said. “About your family. About me.”
I shook my head. “And what is that?” I asked. He didn’t know I was the girl behind the door.
“I can see everything ticking over in your head. How did I get here? Who is this man? Why does he smell so fucking delicious?”
Why did you kill my father?
Where are my sister and mum?
Why are you an evil bastard?