“If that’s what you want, we can do that.”
I gave him a big smile, relaxing a little. “I’m going to text Isaac, finish my coffee, and go for a run before I meet up with him.”
“I don’t want to sound like an overbearing Alpha, but please let me know where you are meeting him. With everything going on, I’d just like to know where you are in case something happens.”
“Understood. I’ll let you know.” I paused for a moment. “He’s building me a new house.”
I had been around Alpha males long enough to know that even as powerful as they are they can be overly possessive. If I was starting a relationship with Liam, I thought it only fair that he knows what was going on in my life, even if he hadn’t told me much about himself yet.
With all his money he may feel slighted that I didn’t come to him for help with the rebuild. Or he could just be a jealous asshat and hate that another male was helping me out.
“That makes sense. He’s excellent at what he does.” His brow furrowed. “I am sorry I didn’t ask about your house plans.”
I smiled at his response. “It’s all good. From what I gather, you are as experienced at relationships as I am. Which is not very. Sex is easy, intimacy is hard.”
“Very true. I’ll work on it,” he said as he rose from his seat. “Enjoy your run. I’ll see you later.”
“Have a good day at work, honey,” I called after him, and smiled when his laughter floated back to me.
Three hours later I was pulling into Isaac’s driveway. I was nervous as I approached his front door. Would he be as astonished and hurt as me? Or did he already know? I really hoped he wasn’t involved in whatever it was Stella was doing. I didn’t think my heart could take losing them both.
“Isaac?” I called as I entered the house.
“Yeah, I’ll be out in a sec,” he replied. From the sound of it, he was in his bedroom. He came into the living room still tucking in his shirt.
“Am I interrupting something?” I asked, wondering if he wasn’t alone.
“Nah, I’m running late. A work call sidetracked me.” He sat on the sofa to put on his work boots. “So, what’s up? Everything okay?”
I nibbled my lip while trying to figure out the best way to tell him. I decided it was best to just do it quickly, like pulling off a Band-Aid. He was running late after all.
“We staked out the laced chocolate pick up location.”
He perked up and leaned in closer. “Oh yeah? And? Did you see them?”
Stella’s face flashed through my mind and my rage spiked again. I was thankful for it. Anger is easier to deal with than hurt. At least for me.
“We did.”
“Em? What’s the matter? What happened? Did Fraser hurt you?”
I sighed and laughed a little. “Please stop jumping to the conclusion that Liam did something wrong. Please, for me.”
His jaw tightened, but he nodded. “Fine. Tell me what’s wrong.”
“It was Stella.”
“What was Stella?”
“She was the one dropping off the box.”
His face drained of all color for a second before turning red. This time his jaw clenched so tightly I heard his teeth creak. He jumped to his feet, hands in fists. “You must be mistaken.”
I rose, and to calm him, I slipped my arms around his waist for a hug. When I felt him relax a bit, I pulled back. “I’m not wrong. I wish more than anything I was. It was her.”
“Did you take her? Where is she? What did you do with her?”
“No. Liam saw my reaction and asked his men to let her go. They’ll follow her, but we didn’t reveal ourselves. I was pretty messed up last night. Still am.”