Page 27 of Ellie 3

Also on the London side. The hospitals there didn’t want to be left behind after some poking from Dr. James and an American hospital coming to do something good in their backyard could make them look bad. Especially with the time difference.

It worked like a charm and we were going to have a lot of support staff taking blood and more. Fabulous.

I was supposed to have a meeting with Ellie and Alan about the blood, something she was a bit squirrelly about, so I wasconfused but ready for whatever she needed. I pulled out my phone to ask what they wanted for lunch, but it silently rang in my hand.

“This is Dr. Clark,” I answered the local number I recognized but couldn’t place. I was annoyed with myself for not saving it so I didn’t have to guess.

“Dr. Clark, this is the front desk at your condo,” a man said, sounding distracted. “There is a guest waiting here for you.”

“I’m not expecting…” I frowned when I realized the call was over, glancing at my phone. That was it? He just said that and hung up?

Something was off with that and it made my wolf on edge. I texted Ellie and Alan that I had to check on something at home. I had thirty minutes until we were supposed to have the meeting and it wasn’t a formal one on Saturday after all.

But I was definitely going to talk to the front desk about just calling like that and hanging up. It was really unprofessional and… Maybe there was a reason? They seemed to have their shit together better than that. The call could have dropped or a hundred other reasons.

Right?

Nothing surprised me more than walking into the lobby to find a woman who looked like Aurora’s twin standing there but way more put together.

Theresa.This is Ellie’s half-sister.

Immediately, I texted Ellie what was going on. Just a quick one saying her sister was at our condo to see me.

There was no way I was going to keep this a secret from her. None.

“I can’t think of anything we have to say to each other, but if you want to speak with your mother—” I started to say, but her snort cut me off.

“I haven’t seen that woman in hundreds of years and I have no desire to,” she said, anger in her eyes like she thought I was being cruel. “Clearly, you’re not very read in on our lives or past, Dr. Clark.” She continued on like she didn’t see me open my mouth to respond, probably counting that as a dig for her win. “I’m here to see you.”

“Then I stand by what I said,” I told her firmly.

“Well, then you’re short-sighted,” she sighed. “I can only imagine the villain Ellie has made me out to be, and in some ways she’s not wrong. But I am not her enemy. More than that, I went through a lot of trouble to see you.” Her gaze was hard. “Since I came from London where I’m currently living.”

The hair on the back of my neck stood up and my wolf’s fur even if he wasn’t in charge right then. “Is that so?”

“Yes, it is. I believe you can give me five minutes, yes?” She glanced at the front desk who was too interested in our interaction.

They should have been because of security reasons but now they cared? And they didn’t seem too busy. I started to bring up the call and how I wasn’t happy about how it had played out… But that had been Theresa. She’d reached over and ended the call, not wanting me to snitch to Ellie before she’d had a few minutes to talk to me.

Smart. Really smart, but probably still not how the front desk should have handled it. That was aggressive, and they just let me walk into a situation like this blind?

Theresa sighed, probably knowing I was valid and handed me a business card. “I assured them that I’m not here to do you harm, Dr. Clark, and I’m not. I’m here to talk about something sensitive and private. The security here were astute enough to sense the truth and left it. Now, I am busy and don’t want too many knowing I’m here.”

Oh, this should be good then. She wasn’t here to try and steal me away from Ellie or anything trivial like that if she was rushing this along.

I led her to one of the private lounges residents could use. She thanked me when I opened the door for her and offered to get her something to drink. She said she was fine, but the hesitation and caution coming from her were very telling.

“Look, I’m not here to try to change your mind on me or argue with whatever Ellie has told you,” she said once we were seated. “I will say there are always two sides to any story and—”

“There isn’t another side to trying to kill her,” I bit out.

She blinked at me for a full minute before snorting and not in an amused way. “Is that truly what she is still telling people after all of these years? Well, good to know the perfect daughter can be perfectly foolish.” She held up a hand to me when I opened my mouth. “You’re an Alpha wolf, yes? Super strong one and that’s the problem in your family?”

I simply raised an eyebrow, not taking the bait.

She sighed. “Fair, I would have thought that suspicious as well. I’m asking because you can sense when people lie.” She waited until I gave a slight nod. “I don’t resent Ellie.”

Oh, the fuck she didn’t. Everything in me screamed it was a lie. Her heart, her scent—lie, lie,lie.

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