Page 70 of Where She Belongs

“Alexander? What are you doing here?” The bite in her tone could be blamed on her exhaustion and the fact that she was still dealing with an absent boyfriend.

Wait, was she even considered his girlfriend?

That put another wrench into her line of thinking.

Alexander pushed past her without waiting for her to step aside or invite him in.

“Hey—” she started, but he turned around and faced her, his expression dark.

“You can’t trust him.”

“What? Who?” she stammered.

“That Tate guy. You can’t trust him.”

She scoffed and rolled her eyes. “I’m sorry, you need to leave.” With that, she pointed toward the still-open doorway.

“No.”

Rylee scowled at him. “You’ve taken this too far. I don’t know what you think you’re doing here, but you can’t just barge into my home and say stuff like that. This isn’t the time or place⁠—”

Alexander shoved a photograph into her hands. “Just look at that.”

She frowned, not daring to pull her attention to the picture he’d forced on her. “What is this really about, Alex?”

His nostrils flared and he took in a deep breath as if he needed to calm himself. “He doesn’t deserve you. Can’t you see that? He’s not who he says he is. Have you even looked into the guy? He doesn’t date. People in town have said as much. They’re all very surprised that he’s dating you. And you want to know why?”

She shook her head, but clearly Alexander had meant for the question to be rhetorical.

“Isn’t it obvious? It’s because of your money.”

Rylee groaned. “You don’t know what you’re talking about⁠—”

Alexander grabbed the picture in her hand and held it up. Then he pointed to the pair standing close together beside a great stone fireplace, probably a hotel lobby, by the look of it. Whoever had taken the picture had done so while not wanting to be caught. She wouldn’t put it past Alexander to do something shady like that. Unfortunately, the picture was clear enough that she could tell who was in it.

Tate. And a young woman Rylee had never seen before, polished and city-dressed, her hand resting on his arm, their heads bent together like they didn’t want to be overheard. Rylee squinted at the picture and took it from Alexander’s hand. “When…”

“This was taken yesterday.”

While they were still dealing with their fight. He’d moved on? That didn’t seem like him. But then, how well did she really know him?

Her throat went dry, and her next words were barely a whisper. “Do you know who she is?”

“Some girl staying at the lodge.”

Rylee’s head snapped up. “How do you know that?”

He shrugged. “That’s where I’m staying. I’ve seen her around for weeks. Hadn’t seen him there until yesterday, though. Marched right in first thing in the morning like he had an appointment. He’s not a good guy, Rylee. You can’t trust these people. They looked pretty cozy, too.” He rambled on about what he’d witnessed while her world came apart.

Her hands were shaking as she lifted the picture once more. With how she was feeling, she wanted to march over to Tate’s home and demand answers. How could he do this to her? But then, did she have any right? Was that fight the other day big enough that Tate no longer wanted anything to do with her?

“Leave,” she rasped.

“What?”

“I said, leave.” Rylee scowled at Alexander and once again pointed toward the door. “I don’t want you on my property unless you’re invited.”

His shock morphed into irritation. “That’s how you’re going to treat me after I’ve been nothing but⁠—”