I shook my head. Of course, I already understood the significance of the chocolates. He’d groomed her into expecting the sweet treats, so when he no longer needed her, the last delivery she’d received contained the arsenic-laced bonbons that ultimately ended her life. Despite her poor decisions and horrific attitude, Cecily didn’t deserve to die that way.
“All right.” I set the folder aside. “I don’t understand why you feel this information was something that should be kept from Liza? She already knows all of this. I consider Liza to be my partner, my better half, and I want her to be involved in these types of briefings.” I paused for a second, remembering the asshole candidate who’d belittled Liza, and followed on with misogynistic comments in the middle of his interview. Surely, Isaiah didn’t think that as a woman, Liza had no place in these meetings? “Explain yourself, Isaiah.”
“Unfortunately, there’s more, and it’s, well… shocking.” Isaiah slid another folder he’d been holding across the desk in my direction. “Besides the text messages and deliveries, I also found something rather disturbing on Cecily’s laptop.” Isaiah’s voice took on a more somber tone.
“How were you able to access her computer? Don’t the police have it?”
I interpreted the stare he gave me as a signal to not ask questions, which he only confirmed when he answered, “I could tell you, but if I did, I’d have to kill you, but I’m not a fan of clichés, and I really don’t want to threaten my new boss.” He flashed a brief grin before quickly continuing, the smile fading. “It’s probably best if you’re in the dark, Alpha—culpable deniability and all. When I got possession of the laptop, it was completely out of juice. Once I charged it up, it appeared to have been mid-reboot when the battery died. I was able to override it and discovered it had been accessed remotely, where someone had been attempting to delete files. Fortunately for us, Cecily wasn’t someone who kept her laptop charged all the time. So I could see exactly which files the person—who I assume is Castro—attempted to erase.”
As I opened the folder, my mouth dropped open at the contents. Inside were countless candid images of Liza, some taken in broad daylight, captured with some type of high-powered lens while she appeared to be working in her client’s home. Cecily had been watching Liza for quite some time, documenting her every move.
“Why would Cecily have all of these photos?” I asked, forcing my voice to remain steady.
“From the emails I found, it seemed that Castro encouraged her to take them as references for buyers.” Isaiah’s eyes darkened with concern. “It seems he’s planning to sell Liza off, her status as an omega being the main selling point.”
“Are you fucking serious?” Anger and fear coursed through me as I stood abruptly, sending one of the folders to the floor. “Buyers? What the fuck?”
“Ty, I know it sounds insane, but that’s what I found.” Isaiah remained composed, despite my visible anger. “Look, neither ofus wants to accept that Castro would actually do something like this. The information you shared with me suggests he wants her for himself because of a promise made in their childhood, so I understand your disbelief. But we’d be fools if we don’t consider the evidence in front of us. Especially if he’s as furious at you and Liza for marrying and completing the mating bond as you suspect. What I’m about to say is conjecture based on my investigation. He still sees Liza as his possession, but as you’ve officially mated, he now sees her as sullied. So, selling her is possibly his way of causing maximum hurt to her and, as an added bonus, destroy you. If he has already started the process of advertising Liza, that won’t stop just because Cecily is dead.”
I clenched my fists as I stared at the photos of Liza. How many people had seen them? What did they have planned for her? My blood turned hot as lava at the thought of deviant shifters whacking off to her image, trying to imagine what it’d be like to fuck the omega. I’d seen firsthand what happened to the men who caught a whiff of Liza’s pheromones. Those sickos would stop at nothing to own her, and they wouldn’t treat her as the queen she is. They’d use her for their own nefarious purposes, and who the fuck knew what they’d do when they were finished with her.
“Okay, Isaiah. We’ll look into this situation and see if there’s anything in it,” I said, trying to keep my voice steady. “But you made the right call. I don’t want Liza knowing about this just yet. Not until we have more solid information.” If this turned out just to be some sordid fantasy between Cecily and fucking Castro, then she didn’t need to know. I tapped the folders in front of me. “Thanks, Isaiah. You’ve done some impressive work here.”
“I’ll let you know if I find out anything more.”
I retrieved the folder I’d dropped on the floor and put all the documents into my desk drawer. A sudden thought occurred to me. “What did you do with the files on the laptop?” I didn’twant to risk the police seeing these pictures, or seeing Castro’s plans to sell Liza off like some sick bastards’ ultimate sex toy or breeding mare and leaking it.
“I took the liberty of ensuring the images and any reference to them were removed and scrambled from Cecily’s laptop, sir. Nothing we’ve discussed can be found on the machine.”
His quick and detailed probe left me genuinely grateful. Based on his actions on this first mission alone, he’d proved to be dynamic with his investigation skills and thought processes. Also, his compassion regarding my mate’s feelings left me very impressed with Isaiah, and extremely happy I’d hired him. I had a suspicion he was going to become as valuable an informant to me as Nico had been to my father.
With a nod, Isaiah stood.
As Isaiah made to leave, Liza and Sabrina walked through the office door. It gave me a front-row seat to the drama unfolding between Sabrina, Bryce, and Isaiah. Now I realized exactly why Bryce had his fucking boxers in a bunch. I watched in amusement as Sabrina immediately got hearts in her eyes like a damn cartoon character when she spotted Isaiah.
I coughed into my hand, covering my mouth, and trying not to snicker at my best friend. Bryce’s glare flicked between Sabrina as she batted her eyes at Isaiah, and Isaiah’s indifferent stare. Oh, Sabrina wanted to jump Isaiah’s bones, and the only thing that would make it more obvious was if she stripped naked and offered herself up on a platter. We all knew it, but notably Bryce.
“We have some leftovers in the kitchen if you’d like me to make you a plate to go. I bet you burn a lot of calories working out.” Sabrina’s eyes traveled down Isaiah’s fit body, and I almost choked, especially when Bryce turned an odd shade of red.
Isaiah stared down at her, his face blank. “No, thank you.” He shot Liza a small smile and a nod before he walked away, with Sabrina staring after him like a fucking cat in heat.
I locked eyes with Liza, and we shared a knowing look. My eyes darted between Sabrina and Bryce, and Liza nodded discreetly. It took everything for us to hide our laughter. The levity was required to chase away the images of the pictures Isaiah had put in my head of Liza being sold like a piece of meat.
Sabrina turned to Liza. “Right, pretty lady, I am off to have a cold shower after that fine example and then make my deliveries. Best not to upset the mate to the alpha. I’ve heard she can be a real bitch.” She and Liza laughed, and my heart swelled. It was good to see Liza looking happy and relaxed.
Bryce surprised me by saying, “I’ll see you down to your car, Sabrina. I forgot something in my car.” Sabrina gave Liza a quick hug and told her she’d let her know when the deliveries were complete, then left, giving no sign she’d heard Bryce, but he scuttled off behind her, anyway.
Liza and I waited till we heard them reach the stairs, then we both burst out laughing. “Well, that’s going to be interesting to watch play out,” Liza said.
She moved to the side of my desk and put her arm around my shoulders, teasing the fine hairs at the nape of my neck. Her touch made it hard to concentrate and sent all my blood rushing straight to my cock, until it immediately deflated when Liza asked. “So, what was Isaiah doing here? Did he find out anything more about Castro and Cecily?”
I couldn’t tell her everything—not yet. Instead, I smiled and squeezed her hand. “Isaiah did a fantastic job of uncovering additional text messages and emails between Cecily and Castro. It turns out Castro had convinced Cecily that you wanted to be with him. Can you believe it?”
Liza looked physically ill at the notion. “Why in the hell would Cecily think that?”
“She believed what she wanted to believe. After all, we knew Cecily had already been jealous of you, wishing she could’ve been my chosen mate.”
Liza rolled her eyes. “Don’t remind me.”
