Page 30 of Sovereign Oaths

But I’d told him I would give him another chance. That meant I had to pretend I could let it go. Somehow.

Fake it ’til you make it was my best option.

I took slow breaths and counted to twenty. Our waiter approached, and Alessio gave him our order.

I shifted, angling to face him more, and put my hand on his thigh. “This week was really hard.”

His eyes softened, and he laced our fingers together before pulling our hands up so he could kiss the back of mine. “It was. It was nothing like I had planned. I wanted us to take a break and relax on the beach. I wanted you to get to know mi madre and me better.”

I squeezed his hand. “Is she okay?”

“Yes. We replaced the guards, and I had one of my teams check for weaknesses. They found several points with gaps in the cameras, so we got that fixed.”

Good. I wouldn’t have to find a subtle way to suggest that. If the guys were able to get in as wolves, there were obviously issues.

“That’s good. I’m glad she’ll be safer now.”

“She feels terrible about what happened too. She blames herself for allowing you to be in that position.”

“Oh no, she did nothing but protect me. I should call her and let her know I don’t hold her accountable at all.”

He leaned in and kissed my temple. “She might not listen, but I’m sure she’d be very happy to hear from you.”

The waiter returned with our drinks and four small plates of beautifully presented appetizers—shrimp, oysters, artichokes, and something I couldn’t identify.

“Thank you.” I grinned up at the man, and he gave a slight bow as he backed away.

I picked up my glass as I looked around, noting several pairs of eyes on us.

“I don’t recognize anyone.”

Alessio took a sip of his old-fashioned and hummed. “A few of them were at the pool party, but this isn’t my typical scene.”

I made quick eye contact with Derek. Was that bad for the plan? We expected most of his higher-ups to be here, far away from the warehouse district.

He didn’t react, so I took that to mean it was fine and focused back on my target.

“How’s Ama?” I didn’t want to bring her up, but I truly missed her. His sister was a natural topic for us.

“She’s great. She’s happy to be back with her animals, but she said she misses you.”

“I’m glad she’s back with her sloths.” I forced a smile.

Getting close to her wasn’t part of the plan, so I was glad she was out of the range of most danger. I needed to let go of that attachment. It would only hurt more in the end.

I leaned forward and picked up a shrimp. It was delicious but also an excuse to keep my mouth occupied.

This evening was awkward, like a bad first date, not a night out with my boyfriend. Could he tell or was it all in my head?

I peeked over to find him watching me with a sigh.

“We feel different,” he said. “I know it’s going to take time for you to trust me again and for us to move past what happened, but I want nothing more than to get back to where we were before we left.”

When we’d woken up in his bed and I’d made him tell me more about himself because I’d wanted to know everything about the man that had asked me to be his girlfriend. When I’d questioned if things between us could be real. When I’d wondered if I could walk away from my Pack––as if they’d allow me to leave alive––and what our lives would look like.

I was no stranger to crime and the darker side of humanity. A part of me believed I could be happy as his arm candy. His oblivious wife who spent her days in luxury instead of on missions assassinating the enemies of her Alpha.

Even now, the idea tempted me—a fantasy of a white knight swooping in to save me from a dragon.

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