Page 33 of The Alpha's Bullied Pregnant Mate

His mother smiled. “It’s fine Fannar. We would be right here when you get back. Lisa, please be a dear and clean all this up.”

Lisa nodded and scurried quickly away from the balcony. Fannar turned to Isla who looked confused by the sudden pandemonium. She looked at him and he nodded at her, then he turned around and followed behind Lisa.

Chapter 13 - Isla

The servant, Lisa, returned with a cleaning trolley. Most of the drinks had spilled directly on Fannar, the rest pooling on the floor and tracing patterns through the cracks.

When the accident had happened, Isla’d been waiting for Fannar to blow up in anger and lash out at the servant for her clumsiness. To her surprise, he’d seemed more concerned about her well being than his ruined clothes.

From the damage she saw, he wasn’t going to be wearing those clothes again. He didn’t even seem angry, just irritated at the inconvenience. She was still struggling to reconcile the difference between this thoughtful person and her childhood demon when she picked up something from the corner of her eye.

The former Luna was beside herself with joy. Isla turned to see the woman with a big smile on her face, shaking with amusement. Confused, Isla looked at Lisa and saw the servant grinning sheepishly. She glanced behind her and then continued sweeping up shards of glass.

Isla frowned, wondering what was going on, when Mrs. Agdluak said, “Wow, Lisa! That was nicely done. I mean, I didn’t expect you to dump a whole tray on him, but the more the merrier as the saying goes.”

Lisa covered her mouth to stifle her laugh and Isla’s eyes widened. She turned to the matron who was watching her with clever, amused eyes. “I take it that the accident we just witnessed some moments ago was not really an accident…”

The older woman feigned indignation. “What? And what makes you say that?” Isla was still thinking of what to say when the woman laughed. “Oh relax, Isla. You shouldn’t take things so seriously. Of course, it wasn’t an accident.

“Thing is, I needed to speak to you alone, but first I needed my son gone, and I enlisted Lisa’s help for just that purpose. As you can see, she delivered brilliantly, even better than I could have hoped for. I wanted just a minute or two, but with how thoroughly she soaked him, I’m certain we have more than quarter of an hour.”

Isla eyed the woman suspiciously. Of course, she knows. She has always known. She’s too clever by half and her old eyes miss nothing. If she went through such an elaborate ruse to talk to me, what else can she possibly want, if not to expose me for the fraud that I am?

“That was nicely done,” Isla agreed, swallowing her reservations. She could see Fannar’s mother watching her closely, those old, intelligent eyes seeing everything and missing nothing. “Although I must confess, I’m at a loss as to why you went through all that trouble just to talk to me. Especially in Fannar’s absence…”

The two women watched either quietly, one amused, the other unnerved and trying not to show it. The older woman turned to the servant. “Lisa, you should have been done a minute or two ago. Stop dawdling and get a move on, woman. There shall be no gossip for you today.”

Lisa smiled and gathered her equipment. “Of course, ma’am.” She bowed slightly and retreated from the balcony, shutting the twin doors behind her. The former Luna remained motionless, sipping slowly from a wine glass until the drawing room door sounded.

She set down her glass and turned to Isla. There. That’s much better. Isla, can we stop the games? You know exactly why I wanted to speak to you alone. I can see it in your eyes, even though your face is a mask, a rather impressive one.

“I can see recognition in your eyes. Recognition that I know. It’s written in the curve of my lips and the set of my eyes. You are just as astute an observer as I am. I must give it to you, it was an impressive performance, and with anyone else, I suspect you would have been largely successful. But with me, it was always going to be an uphill battle.”

Isla, to her credit, had a face so devoid of emotion that it would have shamed some of the best players in Vegas. She was fighting to maintain her stoicism but the former Luna’s words were excruciating to listen to. Isla guessed that the woman was a show off at heart.

Mrs. Agdluak raised a brow. “I can see you running numbers furiously in your head. Decisions, decisions. Should you disagree, it would be futile and you would invariably look stupid. To agree, though would be an admission of guilt, and that would be a shame, wouldn’t it?”

When Isla spoke, her voice was gritty. “Awesome. What do you want?”

The matron’s voice hardened. “For us to stop playing games. They exhaust me and wear me out, and I have a feeling that left to you, you’d be willing to let this go on forever. Now, to show you that I’m willing to stop playing games as well, I’d come out and speak plainly.

“I know that you and my son are trying to deceive me. I know that you are not really in a relationship, not as you’d have me believe, and I know that it was his idea. I don’t think it was premeditated, though, and I’m convinced he swept you into it.

“I know what’s in it for him. The only thing I haven’t been able to ascertain is what’s in it for you? Why help him fool an old woman? I can’t figure it out. In all our conversations and despite how closely I’ve listened, it’s the one thing that has managed to elude me. To no fault of mine, I must add. It just says how good you are.”

Isla leaned back in her seat and crossed her arms over her chest. “In the spirit of good faith, I’d tell you. You’re right about everything. And I want to apologize. For what it’s worth, I protested furiously against it at first.

“I wasn’t comfortable fooling you, as you seemed like a genuinely good person, and I also had no intentions of helping him do so either. As to the why? It’s rather simple. He offered me money for my help. Nothing else. Just a large sum every week.”

The matron nodded thoughtfully and then a smile broke out on her face. “Sounds like Fannar. Practical to a fault, but that’s still one of the best things about him. I thank you for choosing truth today. You have no idea how much it means to me that you didn’t call me stupid.”

Isla shook her head. “I’m sorry, but I’m confused. If you knew all about it, why ask to meet me a second time? Why let it go on even when you know it’s all a ruse?”

“Because, Isla, I wanted to get the measure of you as a woman, and as a person.” She took a sip from her glass and glanced behind Isla. Isla took the opportunity to take a drink as well and stare out at the lovely view of the mountain range.

“I still don’t understand.”

“I would have been surprised if you did,” the matron said, smiling. “I wanted to know the type of woman that you were. Understand, Fannar has never lied to me before. So while he thinks he was acting on impulse, I have a feeling that something deeper drove him to that impulse. And I also think that there’s that something in you too, as well.

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