Page 29 of Set Up By the Cartel

"No,"I growled low in my throat, shaking my."Absolutely not. You're wrong about this."

Santiago flinched almost imperceptibly, taking a small step backward under the force of my glare. Good. Let him feel he had to weigh his words when it came to Kael.

"I don't care what your sources say,"I snapped, jabbing a finger at him for emphasis."Kael would never betray me like that."

Or so I thought. Doubt wormed its insidious tendrils through my conviction, planting seeds of uncertainty. The truth was, as long as there was a chance that something had happened — or was still happening, in this case — it would continue to gnaw at me. I wouldn't find peace until I had ruled out every possibility.

Had I been blind to the signs? Were there clues I had overlooked or dismissed? It was possible, but for the time being, I was refusing to think that way.

Kael was my fated mate, I reaffirmed again to myself. Our bond just ran too deep for something like that to be true. Or at least, that was what I thought.

"You're letting your personal feelings cloud your judgment,"Santiago argued, trying a different tactic."Think logically in this case instead of following your heart. The evidence points to Kael being a mole, feeding information to Mr. Novak all along."

Evidence schmevidence.The reports didn't matter to me as much as he believed they did. I knew my omega better than anyone. He wouldn't do this to me. Or at least, he knew better.

"Get out,"I ordered, pointing towards the door."Before I throw you out myself."

Santiago opened his mouth as if to protest further, but wisely thought better of it. With a curt nod, he spun on his heel and exited the room, leaving me alone with my tumultuous thoughts.

He knew he had a point, but he wasn’t going to push his luck. Otherwise, I might end his life prematurely.

Alone, I sank onto the couch, looking up and reflecting. Was I making a mistake trusting Kael so much? Should I investigate his activities more thoroughly, just to be sure? I already knew the answer. The last thing was exactly what I was going to start doing.

For the moment, though, I shook off those traitorous notions. They served me no purpose at the moment.

The next few days passed in an uneasy haze, tension simmering beneath the surface whenever Kael and I found ourselves alone together. After my subordinate's revelation, it was never going to be different. It had forever changed my perception of Kael.

Though we both tried to act normal, pretending nothing had changed between us, the cracks in our once-unshakable bond grew wider with each passing hour. I'd thought one of the perks of being fated mates was that our love was indestructible, but that didn't seem to be the case anymore.

During quiet moments shared side-by-side, I caught Kael glancing at me askance, brow furrowed with concern. He sensed something amiss, but remained silent rather than pressuring me for answers. For that, I was grateful. I didn't want to answer his questions, if he asked me.

Meanwhile, doubts swirled inside my head, fueled by lingering suspicions stoked by Santiago's revelations. Every stolen glance, every hushed phone call, took on sinister undertones in my paranoid mind. I had never felt so paranoid before in my life and thought I had gone through much worse.Even the most innocuous actions seemed fraught with hidden meaning.

Was Kael truly innocent, or just playing a long con game? Was he even capable of such a thing? Had he been deceiving me since day one, biding his time until the perfect opportunity arose to strike? Would he really do something like that?

No, I couldn't believe such nonsense — and for the time being, that was all it was.

I couldn't take my paranoia too seriously after everything we had been through together. And yet... the nagging voice of doubt refused to be silenced. There was a way to handle it. It involved confronting the problem head-on, but I didn't want to go through with it. The consequences could be severe.

To distract myself from spiraling thoughts, I threw myself into work with renewed fervor, overseeing operations and meeting with contacts. Anything to keep busy and avoid confronting the elephant in the room. Maybe I was being a coward. In other circumstances, I would never think that way about such a problem. But when it came to Kael, things were different.

Late one evening, exhausted from a grueling day, I returned home to find Kael curled up asleep on the living room sofa. He might have been watching something while waiting for me, which made me think he wasn’t a traitor. Still, that 'proof' was flimsy at best.

He looked so peaceful, so vulnerable, that my heart clenched in my chest. How could someone who evoked such strong emotions within me possibly harbor ill intent? Maybe something else was at play, something that I couldn't put my finger on at the moment.

Unable to resist, I sat down beside him, gently brushing a stray lock of hair from his forehead. His eyes fluttered open, hazy with sleep and confusion. He looked so angelic.

"Mateo?"He murmured, sounding groggy."What time is it?"

"Shh, go back to sleep,"I whispered, tracing the curve of his cheekbone with my thumb."I'll carry you upstairs."

Without hesitation, he melted against me, allowing himself to be lifted as though he weighed nothing. As I carried him towards the bedroom, his face nestled against my neck, I breathed in his familiar scent, feeling some of the tension drain from my body. He was one of the reasons I remained strong.

In the darkness of our room, I laid him down atop the mattress before stripping off his clothes with practiced efficiency. Once naked, I joined him under the covers, pulling his warm body flush against mine.

"Stay with me tonight,"Kael pleaded, tangling our legs together."Please, don't leave..."

"I won't,"I promised, pressing a tender kiss to his temple."Sleep now. Everything will look brighter in the morning light."

---