Page 41 of Rejected Pretend Mate

I pulled myself up and headed down the hallway towards the kitchen. I pulled everything out that we would need, cooked the griddle, and set it to warm. I was mixing the batter and pulling plates out when my phone buzzed.

I answered it, seeing it was Cayden. "Morning. You're up early."

"Weslie, what are you doing?" His voice sounded off, almost worried. I scowled, pausing as I grabbed the spatula out of the drawer.

"I'm at home. I'm cooking breakfast, and April is in the shower. Why, what's up? Your voice doesn't sound good."

"There’s a problem at April's apartment."

My entire body tensed up, and I felt like I couldn't breathe. I blinked. "What do you mean there is a problem at her apartment?"

"We got a call about a smoke alarm going off in the building, so we headed down. When we arrived, we realized it was coming from April's apartment."

I ground my teeth together. "Shit! I will be there in ten minutes. Just let me figure something out."

"Okay, and…. don't tell my sister. I don't want her to know. This is the last thing she needs to know about after she's just starting to get settled."

I ended the line and gripped the counter tightly. I should be telling April. It was her apartment, after all. But she was just getting comfortable, just finding her footing. This would push her back, and she would start looking over her shoulders even more.

I can't tell her. At least not right now. I took a deep breath, pushed myself off the counter, and started the pancakes.

Ten minutes later, April came down the hallway with a skip in her step. I gave her a smile. "Hey, I just got a call from Ayden. I need to help him with something. I made you some breakfast."

She frowned. "Oh, you're not going to sit and eat with me?"

I shook my head, turning towards the front door. "No, he sounded a little frantic, so I told him I'd be over right away. I'm sure it's nothing serious, so I'll be back in a little bit."

"Okay, I'll see you later then?"

I nodded, slipped out of the apartment, and sighed. I hated lying to her, but this was better. We didn't know what hadhappened yet. Why panic about it when it could be something simple?

My mind instantly went to Ivan. He knew she was living there, and breaking in wouldn't be hard. The building didn't have high security. I couldn't prove anything, but a part of me knew.

I arrived at the apartment complex and hurried up to her floor. As soon as I arrived, police tape blocked the door. I hurried under it, slipping inside. I came to a halt, taking in her apartment.

April left the furniture here since we had no need for it. We hadn't exactly discussed what we wanted to do with it after everything, but we knew we were going to need to eventually. But I honestly thought this Ivan thing would have ended by now.

The space stunk of smoke, and burn marks could be seen when you looked down the hallway to the bedroom and bathroom.

"Hey," Ayden spoke up, and I turned to him. He stood with the sheriff, who he waved off as he walked over to me. "You didn't need to come down. We had it under control."

"I wanted to see what all happened. Besides, Cayden sounded off on the phone. Did you guys figure anything out?"

Cayden came out of the bedroom. "Fire started in the bedroom. It looks like someone stayed here last night. The bed was a mess."

My stomach curled up at that.

Ayden looked at me. "I'm guessing from the look neither of you have been."

I shook my head. "No, we've been staying at my place. Neither of us has even come down here since she moved in."

"What happened in the bedroom?" I asked, pointing towards the burn marks.

"Lighter fluid was poured on the floor and lit."

I ran a hand through my hair and sighed. If April had been staying here, what would have happened? I didn't even want to imagine what would have all happened.

"How did he get in?" I asked, knowing she had locked the door when she left. April was careful about that.

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