Page 17 of The Alpha Wolf's Pregnant Bride

“Then it's a good thing I've arranged for a meeting tonight.”

“You sneaky bastard… That's why you wanted to see me today?!” I accuse with a pout.

“Nonsense!” He flaps a hand through the air. “You know I missed you. But this client has been on my neck for a while. He's desperate.”

“Desperate for what?”

Kenji waves over to the waiter to pay for brunch. “We need to find you a dress for your dinner date,” he winks. “I'll tell you all about the job when we're at the boutique.”

***

Nerves twisting into a bunch as I ride the cab, I spread my fingers out on my lap, appreciating the smooth silk of the black dress we'd picked up from the designer boutique.

It was Kenji's way of celebrating not just my return to the States but a sort of pre-celebration for nabbing a high-profile client who'll be paying a huge sum of money.

I look up in the small confines of the cab and gasp, realization dawning upon me at that moment. We'd been running through all the details of the job, and we forgot one key piece of information.

I know who the client will be pretending to be tonight for the sake of our meeting in a public setting. As far as he's concerned, I'm just Asuka's rep, but this is the only way I get to gauge my client one-on-one. But I forgot to ask Kenji who he is in real life.

Slapping the headrest of the seat in front of me when a light goes on in my head, I sift through my purse and get my cell phone out just as the cab pulls to a stop outside the Shogun restaurant.

“Hey, Cass. Ya all good?” Kenji answers the call.

Propping the phone between my shoulder and cheek, I pay the cab driver and shimmy my way to the door.

“You haven't given me his name, Ken,” I chuckle as I exit the cab. “Rusty ‘round the edges, huh?”

“It's been a while, okay?” he defends. “You've been gone for years, Cass. What do you expect?”

“Well, if we're gonna keep doing this, you'll need to sharpen your swords, okay? No loose ends if we're gonna do this for the long haul.”

“Okay, okay, Madame! Relax,” he consoles over the phone.

“You've cross-examined this guy, right? He's not gonna sell me out?” I enter the restaurant, accepting the attendant's help when he takes my coat. “Reservation for the Browns,” I tell the hostess behind the desk.

Working with Kenji, we've always covered our tracks using aliases like this. Tonight, I'm “Mr. Brown's wife,” meeting him in a fancy restaurant for dinner.

“Your husband is already here, Mrs. Brown,” the hostess tells me and whispers instructions to a waitress.

As far as the restaurant is concerned, my “husband” is meeting me inside. I stifle my giggle as I nod.

It's always been fun playing a different role each time. It's a perk of the job, and I'm excited about this one.

“He's as squeaky-clean as they come,” Kenji assures me as I follow the waitress into the cozy restaurant. “Like I said, he owns the biggest tech company in Oklahoma. Aha! Here he is… a mister Cyrus Rudolph…”

I stop dead in my tracks, the color draining from my face as every nerve ending in my limbs goes cold.

“Mrs. Brown…?” the waitress presses when she turns and notices my face turning pale as if I've seen a ghost.

“Cyrus Rudolph…?” I murmur into the phone, my arm dropping at my side as a buzzing sensation fills my eardrums. Everything starts to spin in my hemisphere of vision, and my flight detectors perk up.

“... Your husband told me to call him once you arrived,” the waitress goes on. “Would you like to take a seat in the meantime?”

“N—no…” I snap out of the momentary daze, lifting the phone back to my ear to speak to Kenji. “Are you sure that's his name?”

“Yeah, Cass. Why—”

I cut the call off abruptly, returning my attention to the waitress as my heart pounds at a dangerous speed in my chest.

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