Page 51 of Alpha Reid

I blow out a breath. “I have no fuckin’ idea, man.” I turn away from the window toward Brock, clapping him on the shoulder. “Guess I should probably figure that out, huh?”

He presses his lips together in a tight line, his eyes sympathetic.

“Has Astrid seen anything about Serena? Has she told you anything?”

“Of course not,” he scoffs. “Just that things will work out how they’re supposed to. You know how she is.”

“Dude, if I lived with a psychic, I’d want to know all the dirt all the time.” I take a sip of the latte Astrid offered me, grimacing a little at the sweetness of it.

“It’s not like that. She gets a lot of random stuff, past memories and things like that.” Brock shrugs, leaning against the kitchen counter. “She doesn’t want to invade people’s privacy by sharing it.”

“I guess I get that,” I shrug, taking one more sip of the latte before abandoning it on the counter. “Have you heard anything more about the virus IT found yesterday?”

Brock shakes his head. “Nah, just that they contained it and got back the data it corrupted. Astrid was stuck up there working late last night to make sure they had the thing completely wiped.”

“Did they say anything more about the source?” I ask cautiously.

He knows why I’m asking. “You mean whether it came from the inside?” Brock’s gaze flickers away as he takes another sip from his paper cup. He swallows it down, looking back to me. “Astrid said there’s no way of knowing for sure.”

I nod slowly. I’m not sure whether I should be relieved knowing that they can’t pin it on Serena or unsettled since that means we still don’t have any answers.

“If it makes you feel any better, I don’t think Astrid would be out there with your girl just chatting her up if she thought she was dangerous,” Brock offers.

I glance over my shoulder at Serena through the window, sitting cross-legged on the sectional and staring down at the paper coffee cup in her hands.

Could she really be dangerous? Have I been sleeping with the enemy?

“C’mon,” Brock urges, pushing off of the counter and clapping me on the shoulder. “Let’s head to your office and give Gray a call. See if we can’t set up a meeting this afternoon to kick around new ideas for battle strategy in light of this IT stuff and what it was aimed at.”

“Sure,” I agree. I lead the way, sneaking another glance at Serena on the way to my office.

My heart stutters in my chest as my eyes meet hers through the window. They’re wide, and the look on her face is one of pure panic.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Serena

As soon as I see Astrid standing in the kitchen, I know I’m screwed. I’ve avoided her for this long, but I suppose it was only a matter of time before I couldn’t anymore. I bet Fallon put her up to this, hoping Astrid could use her psychic powers on me to get the dirt. And since I’m basically grounded to the packhouse right now like a misbehaved teenager, I don’t have a good excuse to get out of this sit-down with her.

The two of us head out to the patio and get comfortable on the sectional- well, as comfortable as I can possibly get considering I’m just a ball of anxious energy right now. The morning air has a chilly bite to it, and I wrap my hands around the paper coffee cup to warm them, trying my best not to look super fucking guilty in front of the one person who could blow my cover right now. I’m obviously failing at it because she’s watching me carefully, studying my every move as she sips her latte.

“So…” I begin, attempting to break the ice and act natural, hoping to shift any suspicion off of me. “How was the date night on Saturday?”

Astrid’s lips spread into a bright smile. “It was great!” she chirps, light brown curls bouncing as she speaks animatedly. “It was nice to just reconnect a bit, ya know? With how stressful things have been lately, we both needed it. Brock may seem like a meanie but he’s a big ol’ teddy bear deep down, staying in and snuggling on the couch is his favorite thing.”

I chuckle, trying to picture big, grumpy Brock as a cuddler. They’re definitely an odd couple, but anyone can see how in love the two of them are- even now, Astrid’s whole face lights up when she talks about her mate.

“I’m sad I missed out on the sleepover, though,” she sighs. “The girls said it was a lot of fun.”

“Did they?” I ask, my eyebrows shooting up.

Her brows draw together in confusion. “Does that surprise you?”

I swallow hard, staring down at the coffee cup in my hands. “No, I guess not…” my voice trails off as I look up at Astrid again, shrugging. “I mean, I had a great time, I just thought that after everything… maybe they changed their minds or something.”

She rolls her eyes. “You mean after Fallon.”

“Well yeah.”

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