Page 48 of Fated to the Enemy Alpha

A smile crept over my face as I listened to Betty’s endearing counting and the way she diligently kept trying to say the word Mississippi.

I was standing behind the door in the utility room when I heard a soft tread on the stairs. I thought about coming out and announcing myself, but I didn’t want to ruin Betty’s game. She’d been so excited to play.

“Five Miss—sippi…”

I knew the minute Lina heard I was here, she’d have it out with me and send Betty to her parents in the office, too. Selfishly, I savored the little moment of precious fun I got to share with Betty.

“Hey, little Swanling,” Lina greeted. “What you doing?”

“I’s playing hide and seek, Mommy,” Betty said.

My throat tightened, and my heart seemed to explode in my chest.

“Mommy?”

Sparks of knowing fired through me. Betty’s eyes were the exact shade of electric blue as Lina’s. I’d known it deep in my bones already. Betty was Lina’s daughter.

“Six Miss—sippi…” Betty continued.

“Where’d you learn to count Mississippi?” Lina asked, and I could hear the smile in her voice. My heart seemed to strain against my chest.

“Uncle Stephen,” Betty said.

Now my heart was drumming as if it were counting down to the moment I knew I’d be found.

“Seven Miss—sippi…”

“Stephen?” Lina said, her voice taut.

“Eight Miss—sippi…”

“Is Stephen here?” Lina asked, the anxiety evident in her voice even as she tried to make it even.

Betty laughed. “Not here. He’s hiding, silly.”

“Nine Miss—sippi…”

“I think I might have seen him going into the office,” Lina whispered.

“Ten Miss—sippi!” Betty exclaimed. “Here I come, ready or not!”

I heard her little steps hurrying away just as Lina’s footfalls grew louder, but the blood pounding in my ears roared.

In a moment, she pushed open the door.

“Not here,” Lina whispered, pushing my chest and shutting the utility door behind her. She stepped past me, drawing the back door open, and I stumbled out after her, clicking the door shut behind me.

The gentle dusk wrapped around us as I followed Lina into the garden, the air thick with the fragrant scent of blooming buds and the faint hum of the night awakening. We moved past a copse of trees shielding us from the house, and Lina finally turned to face me. Her long hair was darker, still damp from the shower. My pulse quickened as I took in the sight of her, the blue sweater she wore, so soft and inviting that I immediately imagined running my hands over it, feeling the curves hidden beneath.

But for once, my need for the truth was stronger than my want for Lina.

“I heard her call you Mommy, Lina,” I pressed, the fullness in my chest all I was able to feel right now and unable to let this go.

A storm brewed in her blue eyes—a mixture of defiance and vulnerability. Lina’s gaze wandered, her expression drawn tight as if she were searching for a way out of this. “Betty likes to play house. It’s her favorite game at nursery school.” She shrugged as if she could dismiss Betty’s comment so easily. “Sometimes she pretends I’m her mom while Em and Matt are her aunt and uncle…”

My jaw tightened as I realized Lina was leaning into part of the truth to wriggle out of the lie she’d been caught in—she had gotten Betty to call her Auntie when I’d first appeared like she’d made her call Emily and Matthew Mommy and Daddy.

“Her eyes, Lina,” I lowered my voice, feeling the weight of truth crashing down around me. “They’re exactly like yours, the most electric blue I’ve ever seen.”

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