Page 72 of All In

Being an alpha is straight-up weird at times.

The rain doesn’t let up all damn day.

Ranger leaves for an hour to stop by his sister's house, but he's back in time for dinner.

Laken eats with me, Ranger, Maverick, and Gunner, but then she heads upstairs to shower. She and Ranger are back to acting super sketchy around each other, and it would be humorous to watch if I wasn’t also wondering where she and I stand.

I’m not expecting Ranger to literally snag me out of my chair and drag me toward his office. We barely make it inside the room before he speaks.

“Kane was often my sounding board, but I don’t want Sparrow to worry. I have low expectations of him keeping anything I say to himself, so I would like you to listen.”

I lean against the wall, nodding. “You got it.”

This is my chance to make myself invaluable to him.

“There are reports Braxton Barrett is missing,” he says, pacing a line in front of his desk. “I had nothing to do with his disappearance, but I’m sure I’ll be a suspect.”

“I’m guessing by the last name that he’s high up in the Barrett family business?” I ask, scratching my jaw.

“Number three.” Ranger nods, swiping his curls back from his forehead. “The top two places are held by the sons of the original family. Number three, Braxton, is an especially ruthless cousin.”

“And there’s no chatter on where he might have disappeared to?”

“None as of yet,” Ranger says, staring at the ceiling as he finally halts his pacing. “It’s too great of a coincidence. I’m not sure if it’s someone trying to force a war between us, but I’ll handle that when the time comes.” He turns to face me, yanking out his phone. “The marriage certificate should be delivered within seven to ten business days. I selected a ring online that can be picked up in Charlottesville tomorrow, but I don’t know her ring size.”

“You’re going about this the wrong way,” I tell him, striding forward. He twists the phone to face me, and I examine the giant rock. It’s a single square diamond in platinum. I whistle as I get a look at the price tag. “Okay, she might actually forgive you for what that sucker costs.”

A squeak comes from the doorway.

“I asked if you had a girlfriend or any romantic partners.” Laken’s small hand shakes as she points at Ranger.

“I didn’t when you asked,” he says simply.

“Seriously?” I scoff. “I didn’t think you could make it worse, but trust me, that made it worse.”

“I didn’t want to ruin the surprise.” Ranger shoves his phone into his pocket. “Our marriage certificate should be here within a few days. We can talk more about what you’d like to do in the future, but I have a bit of a work emergency I need to handle.”

“Whose marriage certificate?” she asks, her eyes narrowing.

“Ours,” he says without hesitation. “Yours and mine.” I’m not sure if he realizes he’s digging himself deeper with every level of clarification, but Laken looks a little like the top of her head might pop off. “I’ll explain more when we cuddle at bedtime.” He gives her what might pass for a friendly smile on anyone other than him. “Please shut the door on your way out.”

Laken lets out a sound between a scoff and a growl. “Oh, I’ll shut the door all right.”

The door closes with a thunk.

My eyes bounce between the door and the idiot alpha. “Were you trying to piss her off right now? Like, was it your goal to drop a bomb, then casually dismiss her?”

“I need time to look into the Braxton Barrett situation,” Ranger says, completely ignoring me as he begins to pace. “My instincts are screaming there’s a player we don’t know about on the board. There are multiple factions that want the Barretts removed, but none of them are powerful enough to make a move this large on their own.”

An obnoxious buzzing sound comes from Ranger’s pocket, and he rips his phone out, pulling it up to study the screen. “Laken is wandering around in the rain.” His face scrunches. “In the backyard with Nova and Haze. Jesus Christ. I’ll never be rid of the wet dog smell. What on earth is she doing?”

I snort, swiping a hand over my face.

If I had to guess?

I’d say she’s making a break for it.

There’s only so much insanity a person can take before they try to escape.

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