Page 142 of Lonely Alpha

“This is another dead end,” I muttered to myself, clicking away from the web page.

Knowing Edith was a gambler helped a lot, and knowing what leverage she had over Leighton was extremely valuable. But, it didn’t help with the bigger issue, which was the Connollys.

Did they have the same blackmail?

If we counter-blackmailed Edith, that was all well and good. We’d be at a stalemate.

Except for the Connollys, because they wouldn’t care about Edith’s story getting out. They’d reveal Marlowe’s pack’s secret to the world if we didn’t listen, and then probably use nefarious means to get Kiara back on top of it. Leighton’s life would be in danger—more than it already was.

I checked the message on Leighton’s phone.

Liberty: meet me at the coffee shop? Got info

Leighton had mentioned Liberty was her assistant. I doubted the information was going to be too helpful, considering the jack shit Dash had found so far, but we could hope.

Picking up the phone, I stood from the bar stool and walked toward the bedroom.

Their grunts and moans and screams had stopped a while ago. However, when I turned into the hallway I hit a wall of their scent. I brought my hand to my mouth with a strangled groan, ignoring the steady beat of my pulse in my cock.

This was too fucking much.

Kiara was close enough to heat I could taste it. Coconut chocolate overpowered the vanilla cream and hot iron that were also lingering.

Yet, she was in danger and at this rate wouldn’t be able to have the proper routine of nesting and fucking an omega needed—and deserved—during heat.

We need to fix this.

Pushing through the haze of lust and my own arousal, I knocked loudly on the door. It opened a minute later, Leighton pinning me with a glare. “She’s sleeping,” she muttered quietly.

And Leighton was naked.

Fuck.

I didn’t look down, staring intently into her eyes. She scanned me from head to toe, no doubt noting the stiff bulge in my trousers and my spiking scent. Even my aura, which I usually had under control, was flaring.

“You got a text. Liberty has information.”

She grabbed her phone from my hand when I held it out, vanishing back into the room without another word. The door stayed cracked and I stared at the thin opening, wondering if I would see Kiara through it. I’d just have to angle myself correctly, and maybe the bed would be in view…

Shaking myself, I stepped back from the door and was back in the kitchen by the time Leighton caught up.

She was clothed again in her typical work attire. A pantsuit in steel grey, expensive fabric. She had a high-neck black tank top tucked into her trousers, and her blazer was draped over her arm.

“Ambrose and I are going to meet up with Liberty,” she said. “What she found could be helpful, especially if she doesn’t want to give details over the phone. Dash is going to the Dirt with Dash studio to grab some things and record an episode. That means you’re with Kiara.”

I glanced toward the primary bedroom as if I could see her through the walls. “It would be better if Ambrose stayed and I went with you.”

That way, I wouldn’t do anything else stupid. I wouldn’t dig myself deeper into the hole when it came to our relationship. Sometimes my mouth didn’t cooperate with the orders I gave it, and deep down, I still worried.

Kiara was under duress.

Were we a choice she’d made only because we were the only options? Was this trauma bonding at its finest? A bond like that wouldn’t last. We were in too deep to get out now, but there was a part of me that wanted her to admit she wasn’t sure about us. That way, I wouldn’t let myself fall for her too fast.

“You’re staying here,” Leighton said.

Her tone was final, the persuasive weight of her aura behind her words. I bit my tongue against another complaint. I could handle it. Being alone in the condo with Kiara wasn’t the end of the world.

With how hard she just got fucked, she might be asleep the whole time anyway.

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