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“You’re the boss. I just work for you. If you think that it’s okay, then you go ahead. You let your freak flag fly, and you let that charming woman into your life all you want.”
He said nothing in reply.
“Though… I do think it’s interesting that you’ve let her into your house. Is she that hot?”
“Don’t,” he growled.
“What? Is she?”
“I will knock your head in if you don’t stop.”
“Fine. Fine. I won’t ask any more questions, but I do think it’s pretty funny that you let this woman in. If I didn’t know any better, I would think she’s your mate, and you’re hiding her from the rest of the world.”
Wilder’s gut clenched.
This was bad.
Really bad.
If a young pup still wet behind the ears like Ian could guess who Amelia was to him, it wouldn’t take too long for others to catch up. He couldn’t have that. It was too dangerous.
“She is known to a lot of shifters. Her husband hired lions for his protection detail. Keeping her at my place just makes sense. I’ve been staying at a hotel.”
“Right. Okay, sorry for overstepping.”
Wilder pursed his lips and returned his focus to his work. The sooner Amelia was free from her husband, the sooner she—
He wasn’t too sure what he wanted for her. Space and freedom to discover who she was or spend her life with him. She would never want for anything again. Not money or shelter, not safety or love, and definitely not space and time to be herself.
He liked her just fine exactly as she was.
* * *
Wilder stoodoutside of his home, his hands stuffed in his pockets. From the sidewalk, he saw the living room lights were on. He wondered what Amelia was doing.
Would she be reading? Watching TV? Chatting with Padma? He could only guess.
Well, no. You could go in. It’s your home. You’rechoosingto stay away.
It was for the best, of course.
Wilder believed that to the very core of himself.
His ringing phone brought him back to reality. He answered without looking at the screen. “What?” he barked.
“That is no way to talk to your mother. Alpha or not.”
“Shit,” he hissed. “Sorry, Mom. You caught me at a weird time.”
“I’ll say. Your sister called. She said you weren’t going to be around for your newest pack member’s birth.”
“I don’t remember that being part of my alpha duties.”
“Well, it is when it’s your sister’s first child,” his mother replied tightly. It was never a good thing to anger the Wolverton matriarch. “If I didn’t know any better, I would think that my older son is hiding something from me.”
“Not hiding anything, Mom. Just really busy running an international company.”
“So you say. Any chance you can delegate to Padma and make more time for your family?”
