Filed to story: Watch Me Win Alpha (Olivia & Ethan)
One of his strong arms was wrapped around my waist, and the other was circling my back. I caught myself by putting my hands on his strong chest. The warmth of him and his strong body pressed against mine made my heart stutter.
Alexander looked at me and smirked. “If you’re gonna touch me like that, at least buy me dinner first,” he teased.
An embarrassed flushed spread throughout my body, and I glared at Richard and then at Ava for their scheming. It was their fault that I was in this situation. But neither of them were looking at me. Richard was focusing on the road, and Ava was studying her nails. I knew that they weren’t making eye contact with me on purpose so that they could give Alexander alone time with me.
Gai was looking at us with a worried expression that I wished I could ask her about. Aiden was staring at me with his brow furrowed, but when I made eye contact with him, his cheeks turned red, and he spun back around.
His reaction just made me even more embarrassed. I tried to sit up straight, but Alexander leaned his mouth down to whisper in my ear.
“Oh, no, you don’t. I’m not letting you escape that easily. Maybe you fell because your equilibrium is off kilter. It will probably be safest if you just rest against me so you don’t fall again.” He slid his warm hand slowly down my arm, and I shivered. “Wouldn’t you rather be safe than sorry?”
For a moment, I leaned closer to him, but then I remembered how complicated everything was between us and that there were four other people in the car who could easily look back and see our close embrace.
I broke free of his arms as my embarrassment increased. I cleared my throat and smoothed my shirt, trying my best to seem nonchalant, but I was well aware that I wasn’t pulling it off.
Once I was sitting upright, I looked forward to see if everyone’s eyes were on me like it felt like they were. Ava was watching us with wide, excited eyes. My teeth gritted at the fact that she had a front row seat to the scenario that she had concocted with Richard.
Gai was facing forward, seemingly not paying attention to us, but I could see that her neck was red. Why did she seem so upset today? Maybe it had nothing to do with Alexander or me.
Richard was trying to hide his laughter, but I could see that his shoulders were shaking as he watched us.
Aiden had a sullen expression and was sinking low into his seat.
For the rest of the ride, I silently cursed Ava and Richard and fantasized ways that I could get them back.
Thankfully, as we passed by dense forests, horses, and cows grazing in green fields and tall mountains, Alexander stayed on his side of the car and remained quiet.
I crossed my arms and leaned my head against the cool glass of the window, grateful for the silence, giving me a chance to be alone with my thoughts.
The next thing I knew, someone was gently shaking my shoulder.
My eyes opened as I sat up and looked around disoriented.
“You fell asleep,” Alexander explained, his warm hand still on my shoulder. “We’re here.”
I looked out the window and saw a large red farmhouse that was located under the biggest mountain that I’d ever seen. When I stepped out onto the vibrant green grass, the front door opened, revealing a middle-aged man who had the same bright blue eyes and white blonde hair as Kelly.
He smiled and shook my hand. “Adam Walker, Ma’am,” he drawled in an accent. “Pleased to meet ya.”
After introductions were made, we headed for the house. When Adam was already inside, Alexander turned to Richard and Gai.
“You two, stand guard outside,” he ordered in a quiet voice.
Ava glanced at her brother. “Stay with them.”
“But-“
Ava cut off Aiden with a sharp look. “No arguing.”
Ava. Alexander, and I followed Kelly’s uncle into the house.
I figured that we were going to stop to talk in Adam’s large, open kitchen. There was even a pitcher of ice cold lemonade on the table with a tray of cookies beside it that I figured he had laid out for us.
But Adam kept walking. He led us up a rickety set of wooden stairs. We had to go single file since the space was so narrow.
When we got to the third floor, Adam led us to a white bedroom door that had chipped paint.
He gave us an apprehensive look, then swung open the door. Sitting in a rocking chair was an old woman with gray hair.
I let out a quiet gasp. Was Alexander’s information wrong? Was this Kelly’s grandma?
Did she fake her death because she was scared of her unhinged granddaughter?
*Olivia*
“This is my sister,” Adam said, gesturing to the woman. “Sarah Walker. She’s Russell’s mother.”
My shoulders slumped in relief. My mind had been conjuring up images of Kelly keeping her grandma’s dead body in that foul-smelling room in her apartment. Cold fear had flowed through me before I could really look at the woman in the rocking chair. But now that I did, Sarah Walker seemed to be perfectly nice. She smiled tentatively at the three of us and grabbed a cane that leaned against the wall and struggled to stand. I wanted to help her, but I didn’t want to embarrass her.
But then, Ava bumped my shoulder with hers, and she widened her eyes. This made me think back to what I knew about Russell’s mother.
When I remembered, my stomach swooped with surprise. Russell’s mother had supposedly died in a gas explosion. As I stared at the woman who was definitely still alive, it felt like I was seeing a ghost.
But instead of Kelly’s grandma-who I’d originally assumed this woman was-it was Russell’s mom who had come back from the dead.
Of course, this meant that she had never really been dead at all.
Ava looked at me with a knowing smirk. She had been the one to guess that Russell’s mother might still be alive.
Adam made introductions and then invited us to sit around a wooden table in the center of the room. There was a light blue teapot and matching cups with saucers.
“I hope you don’t mind talking up here,” Sarah said as she used her cane to walk over to the table. “The stairs are hard for me with my arthritis.” Carefully, she lowered herself into the seat. “Something my brother always forgets.”
The siblings laughed good naturedly. That would explain the untouched lemonade and cookie downstairs.
We served ourselves tea, and Sarah lifted a plate of biscuits up. “Would you like a biscuit, Alexander?”
Adam shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “Sarah, you should really address someone as high status as Mr. Green in a formal manner,” he told his sister.
Alexander waved his hand. “Don’t be silly. Sarah, feel free to call me by my first name,” he said and took a biscuit. “Same goes for you, Adam.”
His humbleness made a lump develop in my throat, but then I told myself to snap out of it. I wasn’t here to drool over Alexander.
As I doctored up my scalding tea with cream and sugar, I watched how Sarah and Alexander spoke to each other. They seemed familiar. It wasn’t like watching two strangers interact for the first time. Their conversation wasn’t the same as Ava and Adam’s awkward way of communicating.
I narrowed my eyes and decided that Alexander had to have visited Sarah before. My stomach jolted when I realized that it was probably the time when Felipe told me that Alexander had gone to visit with a mysterious person.
How involved was Alexander in this case? It seemed like he was always one step ahead of me. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that.
Once the polite small talk settled down, Ava didn’t waste any time. She folded her hands and stared at Sarah from across the table.
“So, the world thinks you’re dead.” she said bluntly. “Why is that? And we want the truth.”
My heart pounded against my chest. I wished that Ava had somehow consulted with me before she had been so blunt. This was Sarah’s brother’s house. He could kick us off his property. They didn’t owe us anything.
Thankfully, Sarah didn’t seem mad about Ava’s assertive approach. She just sighed, and when she looked up, her eyes had a deep kind of sadness in them. A kind of pain that broke you from the inside out.
“When Russell went missing, it was the worst pain I’d ever been in,” she murmured to a deadly quiet room. “I went mad without my son.” She set down her teacup, her hands shaking too much to hold it. “I quit my job as an elementary school teacher in order to look for him. It had been Adam’s idea to fake my death after that gas explosion. The
Windsor family was sniffing around, and it became too dangerous for me to be alive.”
Ava nodded, and I swallowed thickly as I processed all this new information.
New Book: Veiled Desires of the Alpha King Novel
Dayson was the alpha of the largest pack in North America. Powerful figures from other packs sought to offer gorgeous girls as potential mates for Dayson. He steadfastly rejected these advances, he was not a pawn to be manipulated. But eventually there came a mysterious girl he could hardly say No. Who was she?