AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“It wasn’t hard to figure out. Secret Leto is an Omega, and Leanne’s mother was a Beta, married to another Beta until his untimely death when Secret was young. Leanne was out of high school for months ‘sick’ with supposed mono before her ‘sister’ was born. She had a habit of coming out to the city with older friends on the weekends before then. After, she stayed in Silver Lake, and developed a drinking habit. She only managed to sober up in recent years, after her mother’s death.”
He pauses, but none of us have questions. I’m still absorbing what he’s telling us, trying to let it sink in that the young-looking woman we just riled up had a child as a teenager.
“Secret came out here to go to school, and after being kidnapped and brought to the city by Frank Palmer, Leanne spent a few weeks in hospital before she went back to Silver Lake and immediately put her parents’ house up for sale. It seems Secret met her fated mates and made it obvious she would stay here, so Leanne decided to move to be closer to her.”
It’s starting to make sense now. I’d wondered how someone from another place could want to stay in the city when they were attacked so brutally here. Something in the stories I read didn’t add up with her decision to stay in Cressidan City.
“Why did Frank Palmer target her?” I ask, knowing E.A. must have figured it out. “Was he her kid’s father?”
E.A. shakes his head. “It’s likely that her daughter was Frank Palmer’s intended target. They look incredibly similar, and Secret is mated to two of his sons. One of those mates is the Beta he was obsessed with. That’s the one who killed him in the end. But all of that is beside the point. The point is, Leanne never would have moved to Cressidan City if it wasn’t where her daughter was.”
And he basically just threatened her daughter, by insinuating he knew who her sister really was, and telling her Omegas need to be protected at all times.
No wonder she told us where to go.
“You are such a fucking asshole,” I mutter.
He shrugs. “Well, you’re a boy scout. I’m sure she’ll appreciate being soothed by our Omega until she understands why I did what I did. You’ll help her come around to helping us.”
“She shouldn’t go near Anchor West.”
“That’s up to her,” he says, as if I won’t do everything in my power to put her off setting foot inside that building. “You’ll give her that envelope, and you’ll help her understand. Whatever her decision is, it will be respected.”
It feels like he’s manipulating me right now.
I need to get the fuck out of here.
I look at Echo. “Are you ready?”
He nods quickly, his eyes wide.
I check the envelope. The address is on there. It’s not that far away.
“Let’s go.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Leanne
The paranoid feeling doesn’t go away once I’m inside the apartment. It only gets worse. I felt like I was being followed all the way home. Every time I turned around, I saw nothing, but that doesn’t mean much. I was already tailed by that fake-nice guy with the blue hair.
I feel like showering until I’ve scrubbed three layers of skin off.
I want to be bright pink and a little sore.
Maybe then the creeping, crawling feeling I’m having will stop.
I get out my doorstops and wedge four under the front door.
That helps me to breathe a bit easier.
Once I’m in the bedroom, with another couple wedged under that closed door, I feel even better.
I drop my purse on the bed and strip out of my interview clothes. I hang up the clothes and leave the heels on the floor near the closet. I ditch my underwear in the laundry basket, and when I lock the bathroom door behind me, I make myself look in the mirror.
I’m shaky and pale, and I look like I’m ready to cry.
The scars I can see seem overly bright on my body.
