Page 183 of The Alpha

Kitty sighed. “You’ll get it, don’t worry. I know you’ve been through some stuff, and you know what? You survived it. Now let Melvale help you. Trust me, he’s a great friend.” She nudged Pari with her elbow. “And he could be more if you’d let him.”

Pari nodded as Kitty’s words sank in. “Thanks. I needed a good slap.”

Kitty laughed. “I don’t know if I’d call that a slap. Maybe just a dose of reality. What’s happened to you over the last couple of weeks has been terrifying, fantastic, wonderful, out of this world stuff. And if you let him, Melvale can take you on the adventure of a lifetime. Let him be for you all the things your heart has wished for.”

Pari teared up and quickly wiped her eyes. “How does e-everyone seem to know what to s-say to me?”

Kitty wrapped an arm around her. “Because we’ve all been there. Melvale and his people, they’re no different than us in a lot of ways. They love and love big. It’s one of the things that makesthem so dreamy. But they have faults like we do, and they can get messed up just like we can.”

Pari half-cried, half-laughed. “Really? I thought I was the queen of being messed up.”

“But you’re so much better than you were say… a couple of years ago. Right?” Kitty let her arm drop and waited for her answer.

Pari looked at her and slowly nodded. “You’re right. I am.” She wiped her nose with her hand, not having anything else. “Thanks, Kitty.” She smiled. “You should think about becoming a therapist.”

Kitty laughed. “I used to be in pre-med. My parents are both doctors and wanted me to follow in their footsteps but that’s not for me.”

“What do you do then?” Pari asked, curious.

Kitty smiled. “I’m a romance novelist.”

Pari grinned. “Wow, that’s so cool.”

Kitty nodded. “Yeah, it is.”

“What are you ladies doing?”

Both jumped as Melvale entered the room.

Pari, a hand to her chest, breathed a sigh of relief. “You startled us.”

“Apologies, Kitten. Now, since you didn’t want to go shopping, I brought some shoes for you to try on.”

Kitty rolled her eyes. “You are so lucky to have this guy.” She hopped up. “I want to see them.” She hurried out of the room.

Melvale grinned. “Too bad, wrong size for her.”

Pari rolled her eyes. “You’re terrible.”

“No, just a good judge of shoe size. Shall we?” He offered her a hand.

Pari thought of everything Kitty said. She was right, Pari needed to believe in what was happening, believe that all Melvale’s actions were genuine. “You’re going to spoil me.”

He bent to her. “That’s the idea, Kitten.” He straightened and crooked a finger at her. “Come along. It’s shoe time!”

She laughed. “You are so weird.”

“I do try,” he said with a grin.

Pari took his hand, and they headed into the other room.

“Mr. Vance,”Dr. Charles said as he took in his henchman. “What the devil happened to you?”

Mr. Vance limped into the doctor’s office. His arm was in a sling, his head was bandaged, and he was using a crutch to walk. “Hedid, sir.”

Dr. Charles left his chair and came around the desk. “Tell me everything.”

“We had just arrived in the area to begin watching for Miss Lindir. We’d just parked the vans up the block from her building and gotten out when he came out of nowhere!”

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