38

38
ALICIA
“He said he loved you?”
Kayla and I are sitting at the kitchen table and drinking tea, although right now I feel like I need something a little stronger. I’ll stick with the tea, though. I need to have a clear head. I have a decision to make here.
“That’s what he said,” I say.
“And you told him you loved him too?” “I did,” I admit.
“I knew it!” Kayla says. “I knew you two were right for each other! This is why you should always listen to me. Older sisters know best.”
I have to laugh. “Well, you sure pushed hard enough to get us together,” I tell her. “You should start charging me for babysitting.”
“Oh, please. It was hard enough getting you to go out when child care was free. If I charged you, you’d never leave home.” She gets up to start another pot of tea. “So, you love him and he loves you. What does this mean? Are you together now?”
“Don’t be hasty.”
“Hasty? Your mating ceremony was twenty years ago, Alicia. Your child with him is two years old. We’re way past haste at this point. I just want to see you two together before I die!”
“Oh for the love of-you’re so dramatic.”
“But what’s going to happen?” she presses. “Is he going to ask you to be his mate?” She gasps. “Did he ask you tonight?”
“No, he didn’t.” Not technically. “But yes, I think he is planning on asking.”
“And you’re going to say yes to him, aren’t you?”
“I think I might,” I say. “But I have to tell him the truth about Emmy first. He needs to know he’s the father of my baby. It’s the right thing to do. If we’re really going to be together, he can help me keep her safe from Deidre and Lonnie. But he deserves to know she’s his.”
At that moment, the door flies open and Lonnie steps in. I freeze.
He looks murderous.
A guilty expression crosses Kayla’s face, and I know she’s nervous about this too. “Lonnie,” she says. “I thought you were at the Boneyard.”
“Came back early.” He doesn’t even look at her. He’s laser-focused on me. I want to jump up and run away.
“Brandon is that baby’s father?” he asks, his voice low. “I…”
“We weren’t talking about Brandon,” Kayla says.
“Yes you were. You said his name, Kayla. You said, ‘Brandon is the father of your baby.'”
“You were eavesdropping?”
“Obviously. You were hiding this from me. I had to find out what was
going on.”
Kayla looks at me, stricken.
I want to say something, to tell her it’s all right that Lonnie heard it from her. But of course it’s not all right. She pushed this. I was the one who wanted to be careful. I was the one who was always afraid that something would happen. Now something is happening.
If she had just listened to me, if she had just respected what I wanted, Lonnie would never have found out.
I have to think of something to say quickly. I get to my feet. “That’s right,” I say. “Brandon’s her father.”
“Damn,” he says, curling his lip at me. “I always knew you were a little slut, but I didn’t know you were this bad. I don’t know how you can show your face around here.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Kayla snaps. “They’re in love. He’s going to take her as his mate.”
I stare at my sister. She really can’t keep her damn mouth shut, can she?
Immediately, her cheeks go bright red, and I know she knows what she’s done. But it’s too late. She can’t exactly take it back now.
Lonnie laughs like this is all just the funniest story he’s ever heard.
I watch him warily. This wasn’t the reaction I expected to that news. “That’s what you think?” he says. “You think he loves you? You think he
wants you as his mate? You’re even stupider than I thought.”
I stand very still. I have no idea what he’s talking about, why he thinks I couldn’t be right about this, but I don’t want to give him any ammunition against me.
“He’s only been hanging around with you on my orders,” Lonnie says. “I told him to latch onto you when you came back into town. It was just to keep
the other dipshits around here from getting any ideas about trying to mate with you so they could challenge for the alpha spot. None of it was ever about you at all. I’ve just been keeping you occupied so I wouldn’t have to worry about any threats to my power.”
That’s crazy. I know that’s crazy. There’s no way Brandon would do something like that. I know him.
But what if I’m wrong?
This changes everything. I was on the verge of agreeing to stay here. I was about to tell Brandon that I was his, that he could have whatever he wanted from me. I was about to tell him about Emmy. But what if he’s belonged to Lonnie all along?
“Dumb bitches,” Lonnie says. “You really will believe anything.”
Kayla and I stand staring at each other. It couldn’t be more apparent that neither of us has the slightest idea what to do now.