Page 70 of The Alpha's Cursed Queen

“Yes, but—”

“I have to go, Katherine. I’m sorry. I need to sort out my head.”

I begin walking toward the door, but she stops me. Searching my eyes, she asks gently, “If anything was wrong, you would tell me, right?”

I stare at her, my heart sinking. “I—”

I expect her to get angry. Katherine is known for having a short fuse, but at this moment, she steps toward me and hugs me. “Take your time. I know seeing him has upset you for some reason. Get your head on straight and then come talk to me. Whatever’s going on, I’m on your side.”

When she releases me, my eyes fill with tears. “What if I tell you I can’t work on this project anymore?”

She hesitates. “I understand. We’ve already dealt with the biggest problems anyway. I can talk to Harry and have Levi replace you.”

“Thank you.” I take her hand for a moment before gathering my stuff from the floor. Katherine hands me my cell phone, which she must have picked up along with her own things in the boardroom after I ran out.

As I’m about to go, she asks, “Did he break your heart, Alice?”

I pause, staring at my hand on the door knob. My voice is dull when I say, “He broke me. In every conceivable way, he broke me.”

With that, I leave her office.

*****

One of the perks of being a senior lawyer is that I can work from home if need be without being answerable to anybody. I send Harry an email detailing our meeting with Acme Intech Corporation and tell him that I’ll be working from my apartment for the rest of the day. Holly reschedules all my meetings.

It’s not quite time to pick Mira up from school, so the first thing I do is head home and video call Mary.

“You never told me that Darian was in Arizona!”

My friend’s smile fades into a frown. “What?”

“He’s in Arizona, Mary!” I stare at the screen. “He was in a meeting with my client and me. I don’t know what to do. What if he finds out about Mira? What do I do then? Do I run again? I can’t think straight. What if he takes Mira away from me to hurt m—”

“Alright, breathe.” She disappears from the screen, and I hear the door closing and then the click of a lock. When she returns, she looks pale. “Darian can’t be in Arizona. He’s supposed to be on a family vacation with his—”

She pauses. This is the first time she has mentioned anything about Darian to me. I blink at her, wishing my heart would not tighten in pain at her words.

“With his mate, right?” I ask softly as my energy fades away. “He mated Willow, didn’t he?”

“Is it any surprise?” my friend asks quietly.

I lean back in my chair, throwing one arm over my eyes as a bitter laugh spills from my lips. “I wish my heart didn’t hurt. I despise myself for how I feel right now.”

Mary sighs. “He was your fated mate, Alice. Why wouldn’t you have feelings over this?”

“The only feeling I want to have is hatred. He made me a victim, Mary.” I lower my arm to look at her. “When I saw him today, I was so angry. And then, I was so scared. He will stop at nothing to hurt me, not even if it means going after Mira.”

“Did he say that?” Mary almost rises from the chair, her expression twisted in rage.

“Of course he didn’t. He was just surprised to see me. But the minute he finds out about Mira, it’s over. Tell me what to do. Should I leave? I already have Mira’s passport prepared. I can pack up, and we can get the first flight out of here to—”

“Don’t be ridiculous.” Mary frowns at me. “How long will you keep running? Look, from what I know, he isn’t supposed to be there. Willow and he were supposed to be on a cruise. Ever since the king’s death—”

“His father passed away?” I blink.

“Four years ago.” Mary sighs. “Listen, I know we’ve never discussed this before—and honestly, it’s because I didn’t know whether you would have been able to take it at the time—but the reason Darian was never able to find you, Alice, was because of the king.”

Shocked, I gape at her. “What are you talking about?”

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