Page 24 of Forsaken Desire
“No,” I murmured. I’d been combing through it repeatedly. Trying to find any hole in it, but there was nothing. The charred body was in the driver’s seat; the same one I believed was hers. The only conclusion I could come to was that she’d been in the car with someone else. When I reviewed the footage from years ago, the only piece of footage I could find was her walking into the hotel with a man that looked like the male version of her. It must have been his remains in the car, while she’d survived, but without her memory.
Where had she been this entire time? The question was insistent, but if I pried, that opened her up to knowing this wasn’t the first I’d met her.
“Alpha, is she?—”
The elevator came to a jarring halt.
“Get the elevators fixed,” I snapped and pressed the side button to end the call. My derby’s clicked on the marble floors leading to my office. I passed the printer room and entered through the glass door. The rest of the wall rattled as it closed behind me.
I dropped onto my chair and navigated to the store link.
With my other hand, I dialed Alex.
“Yes, boss?” he sounded cautious.
“Order everything in the link I’m sending you. Have it delivered to the address attached and get someone to set everything up.”
“Wh—” I growled, and Alex shut the fuck up. Good. I didn’t need his input, but he was the only one I trusted a little, and evenwith him, I was struggling to maintain my composure. “Keep this to yourself,” I added and hung up.
I scrolled through the items once more. My mate deserved the best the world had to offer. I would sell my soul to provide it for her. I would show her that she meant everything to me.
That sweet female working downstairs in my hotel drove me to distraction. She shouldn’t be working. She should be relaxing at the spa, or getting her nails done. I didn’t know what. I just fucking knew that I would care for her.
Taking it slowly was the last thing I wanted to do, but the female shied away too fast. I would follow her lead, but there was no getting out of this for her. I just couldn’t make it too obvious.
Once I finished with the most important task on my list, I flipped open the folder with the documents I had to sign-off on. I’d fallen behind already, but I wouldn’t change it. My mate came first.
I’d learned my lesson with putting my selfish desires first. My email dinged, and I navigated to the tab. My finance guy informing me about the new pool renovations.
My phone rang, and I ignored it. Cierra hadn’t fucking stopped calling me even after I continued sending her to voicemail.
I had no time for her bullshit.
9
Iturned the key and froze at the door.Did I walk into the wrong place? I backed up and scanned the outside of the duplex. It had the same sloping roof with 2B hanging crookedly next to the door trim.
There was only one explanation. My mate. I shut the door behind me, scanning the small living room. The place was unrecognizable. A tan leather sofa sat against the wall, across from a huge, mounted television. My toe snagged on the edge of the entrance rug.
A stainless-steel stove replaced the white, dilapidated one that had been there before, and the matching fridge sat to the side with a screen on the front.
The entire space had taken on a clean, classic look with the additions. I kicked off my shoes, not wanting to dirty anything up, and shuffled across to my bedroom, almost scared to open it. My heart thudded violently in my chest. My jaw dropped at what awaited me. A ceiling fan had been installed, and the light bulb replaced with a glass sconce.
The bed frame was the craziest part. It was almost too big; it took up half the room. I stepped onto the cream carpet that had replaced the worn one from before.
What had Lucian done?I entered apprehensively. I slid my fingertips along the comforter, silkier than anything I’d ever touched. My lip trembled, and I bit down on it. Maybe I had touched something similar before, but all my memories consisted of cold walls and a creaky mattress in my cell.
I breathed out slowly. Leaning against the side of the bed, I slid down until I was on my butt. My forehead throbbed, not helping the nausea blooming in my stomach. On one hand, this was such a thoughtful thing to do, but my pride had taken a blow. It showed me how over my head I was and how bad his end of the stick was in having me as his fated mate.
He’d been saddled with me as a burden.
I bit my lip to stop the trembling. Once on my feet, I went to the new dresser across from the bed and opened it. My clothes were tucked to the side, filling a single drawer, making my belongings seem even more meager than they already had.
With a pair of shorts and a T-shirt in hand, I arranged them across the top of the dresser and shuffled to the bathroom. Flipping on the light switch showed my bathroom hadn’t been spared. A new, fancy shower curtain matched the theme of the rest of the apartment. I had no doubt he’d paid someone to do this since he’d been at work.
This looked like it had taken multiple people. I turned on the shower, shucked my clothes, then slipped on my shower sandals that were fortunately still under the sink. The water falling from the newly installed shower head pelted my skin, and I scrubbed my body with my exfoliating washcloth, making sure to scrub every inch until it was pink and sensitive. I set the soap and cloth back in their place, turned the shower off, and dried myself. I wrapped the towel around my hair and stepped ontothe bathmat. Leaving my sandals behind, I slipped my feet into the slippers I’d left at the edge of the bathmat.
My calves burned with every step, the pain more enhanced now that I’d bathed. Once dressed, I slipped into bed, wrung my hair with the towel, and tossed it to the corner of the room. I’d fallen asleep with damp hair in the past, and I was too drained to wait for it to dry.
