Page 16 of The Alpha's Bullied Rejected Mate
He stumbled over his words. He never stammered.
She nodded. “You’re welcome, and thank you, too.”
“Goodnight,” he said, holding out his hand.
The gesture hung there for three seconds, suspended in the air, before she finally responded, gingerly sliding her hand in his.
“Goodnight.”
* * *
Marcus heard the deadbolt slide firmly into place behind him, and for the first time in a long time, Marcus Vale didn’t feel victorious walking away from a target.
He felt… unsteady.
He bolted into the night, walking briskly toward the inn, running a hand aggressively through his hair.
Things weren’t going right.
This was supposed to be simple.
But it wasn’t. Not anymore.
Not with her.
Not with Riley.
When he got to the inn, Marcus pulled out his secure phone and texted Adrian Cross.
“‘Visits the bookstore for obvious reasons’? Dude, she has a fucking child.”
The response came in almost immediately.
“Impossible.”
“Exactly. Only, I saw him with my own eyes.”
This time, he waited thirty-six seconds before a reply came back.
“I just cross-examined. It’s clean here. But I’ll let you know if I find anything.”
He dropped the phone on the bed and ran a hand through his hair. The phone buzzed again. It was another text from Adrian.
“The initial plan couldn’t go through?”
Marcus stared at the screen.
The Initial plan.
A syringe bottle burned through the pocket of his jeans. That was the initial plan. A sedative.
He hadn’t used it.
The plan had ticked off for him the moment the blonde-haired boy walked through the door.
For some reason, he couldn’t proceed. He couldn’t say why.
He had let his emotions get the better of him. He accepted that.
