Page 6 of The Alpha's Sin
“No, baby…no.” I put an arm around her again and she leans into me. “Come on,” I tell her, as I lead her through the house. “Let’s get you settled in the spare room. Did you bring your things?”
She nods and sniffs.
“I knew I was about to be evicted—my landlord said if I couldn’t pay he would kick me out. So I packed everything up and put it in the car—just in case. I’m sorry to bother you, I just have nowhere else to go. My Grandma who raised me is dead and I don’t have enough gas to get back down to Florida.”
My hatred of my little brother flares up all over again. How could he leave her like this? How could he hurt such a sweet, innocent soul? I feel a powerful urge to protect her—to keep her safe from all this shit.
“It’s going to be okay,” I tell her and squeeze her shoulders gently as I get her settled on the side of the spare room bed. “Give me the keys to your car. I’ll bring in your stuff.”
Mutely, she digs in the pocket of her jeans and hands them to me with a jingle.
“Thank you,” she whispers. “I swear I won’t be a burden. I’m going to get a job and?—”
“Later for that,” I tell her. “Right now, I just want you to feel comfortable. You did the right thing, coming to me. My home is your home. Got it?”
Her eyes widen a little and she looks uncertain, as if she’s wondering if I really mean it.
“I mean that,” I tell her. “I promise you, not all the men in the Hayes family are undependable, lying bastards. You have a place to stay here for as long as you want. I’ll look after you until we get this straightened out.”
I see a little hope dawning in her eyes.
“Thank you,” she says softly.
I give a short nod. I’m still angry at Dirk. I wish I could find him and shake him—make him give back what he stole. But even if I could, I know he took more from her than money. He took Poppy’s trust—he took her heart and stomped on it.
I swear if I get a chance I’ll make him pay. But in the meantime, I’m going to look after her as though she was my own mate. Nobody is going to hurt her again—not while I’m around.
4
POPPY
I sit on the bed in Logan’s spare room, feeling dazed. At first I was sure he was mad at me—he got so angry looking and his pale gray eyes almost seemed to glow—seriously scary. But then he assured me it was Dirk he was angry at, not me.
I’m impressed by the way he didn’t try to make any excuses for his little brother. I wonder if he can really help me get the money back. I hope so but even if he can’t, at least he’s taking my side. And it was nice of him to say I could stay here and even nicer of him to give me a room to sleep in instead of the couch.
Yeah, he’s nice now, but wait until he finds out you’re pregnant! whispers a mean little voice in my head.
I push it away. It was a cheap test. I’m not really pregnant. I’m almost totally sure about that. Probably being under all this stress is what made me miss my period. I bet I’ll get it any day now and then I’ll feel stupid for being worried.
I look around the room to take my mind off my anxiety. It’s nice and bachelor neat—it’s clear a single man lives here. The furniture is sturdy and clean but hardly decorative—a solid oak bed and a dresser to match dominate the room. In the corner there’s a bookshelf, which has several Tom Clancy novels on it. The only decoration is a picture that looks hand-painted—a forest at night with a full moon overhead.
I wonder if Logan painted the picture—he doesn’t look like the artistic type, but you never can tell, I guess. It’s pretty, in a wild kind of way. In one corner there’s a big gray wolf with glowing eyes and there are more eyes glowing among the painted trees. Interesting…and a little bit scary, I decide. And sure enough, in the other corner is a signature—CH in bold letters.
I try to imagine Logan holding a brush and making this art…and I can’t quite do it. Then again, I never would have imagined him putting an arm around me and letting me cry all over him either. My brother-in-law has hidden depths, I can’t help thinking. I felt so small in his arms—but safe too. And when he said he was going to take care of the situation and I could stay as long as I wanted, I felt so relieved. He?—
My thoughts are cut off by Logan bringing in my suitcases.
“Just have a few boxes left to bring in,” he says, laying the battered suitcases on the bed. “Is this all you have or is there more back at the apartment?”
“There’s nothing else.” I shake my head. “I, uh, didn’t bring much with me. Dirk got me to leave most of my things and all my Grandma’s furniture in a storage unit.” I have a sudden thought and put a hand to my mouth.
“What? What is it?” Logan asks, frowning in concern.
“Oh, it’s just that he promised me he would pay the rent on the unit, and I never checked to see if he was really paying.” I rub my temples as a tension headache squeezes my head in a vice. I hate to say it—hate to even think it—but I really doubt my runaway husband actually paid any rent.
Logan looks grim.
“Do you know the name of the place?”
