Dangerous Desires Novel

72 How Does She Sleep Tia.

Luke made love toin the morning, and | could feel his need. He was relieved that Paul was getting the care he needed, and | was relieved that Elisabeth was finally out of our lives. The woman almost ruined my marriage.

While | dressed for breakfast, | remembered the day | packed my things and left the mansion because | thought Luke was still in love with Elisabeth. | was so stupid. | was lucky that Luke clooking forbecause | went into heat that night. I giggled so much that Luke askedwhy | was laughing. He looked hot in his white t-shirt and blue jeans. His beards were bushy, but he looked so good it didn’t matter. | told him why | was laughing, and he laughed with me.

“Honestly, it did cross my mind, Tia. | wondered how you would have faired on heat alone in that hotel.” He said, laughing.

" Like | said, | would have swallowed my pride and called my darling husband to the rescue regardless of what | was feeling at that moment,” | said, and he stopped laughing and cto holdwhere | stood, trying to pull up my zipper.

Wrapping his arms around my waist, Luke pulledclose until there was no space between us. He looked down into my eye.

“I would have willing obliged without question”, he confessed, and | felt a bit shy.

“She is out of our lives now, Tia. We are free. You and me. No more guessing where my heart truly is. No more texts, emails and calls from Lisa. There will be no one barging into our bedroom and begging for attention. It is just us now, Tia.you and our baby,” he said, and he was about to kisswhen | covered his mouth with my hand.

“And Paul, Luke. Me, you, our baby and Paul. | want that boy honce he is alright,” | said with conviction, and his eyes softened. 1.

“Thank you, Tia. Thank you for making my life easy,” he said and kissedpassionately. We soon broke the kiss, and | turned around for him to pull up the zipper of my dress.

| wasn't looking forward to breakfast, but here we were. Left to us, we would have been in our house eating in bed, but we had to escort Elisabeth to protect her from Alpha Aesop. The man was mad at her, and something toldhe might have beat her up if we were not around. His quivering lips, angry stare and trembling hands said it all. Elisabeth was lucky we cwith her.

We walked hand in hand until we got to the breakfast lounge of the right-wing. Everyone was there, which meant we were late, but none of them had started eating.

“Finally, Alpha Luke and Luna Tia grace us with their presence,” Stacy said sarcastically, and | took no offence.

Luke pulled out my chair, and | sat down. | looked at Kimberly, and she smiled at me. Emma was in a stroller next to Caleb, and he was holding Kimberly‘s hand on the table. My heart warmed at the sight of the two of them, and tears of joy began to form in my eyes. | quickly blinked them away. Things were falling in place.

72 How Does She Sleep “Your best friend still has a long way to go, Tia,” Kimberly linked me, and | almost laughed. Somehow | knew the two of them would be okay. | was rooting for them, and luckily they did not have the likes of Elisabeth to trouble them. “Good morning Alpha Aesop and Luna Stacy,” | greeted; the man responded happily, and Stacy just nodded.

“Good morning Luna Tia,” Alpha Aesop greetedand nudged his wife. She reluctantly greetedtoo. The rest of the table greeted Luke and me, and we responded. I still wondered why Monica was at the table. She wasn’t a Moon.

“Alpha Moon, Luna Tia, thank you for lettingresmy work on the ground floor as a clerk. | want you to know that | am willing to work my way up and will not disappoint,” Monica said, and | nodded. There was no point arguing with her, but there was no way she would be getting promoted in Diamond corp.

“So the doctor says Paul will be alright?” Alpha Aesop asked the question that was in the air. Luke nodded.

“Yes, father, Like | said, the cardiologist said it would close on its own, but if it doesn’t, they will perform open- heart surgery to close it. He requested we leave Paul with them in the h a bit so they could watch him. The drugs Elisabeth took were harmful, and we do not know how else it affected the child,” Luke said, and Alpha Aesop nodded.

“I think you should leave the child there. He has no key mark, and your wife is expecting,” Stacy said, and | know that her voice made Luke cringe.

“I want him hwith us once he is okay,” | told her to shut her up.” Luke's child is my child, too,” | stated point-blank so she would know her blunder. It was a direct jab at her character. She had maltreated Luke because he wasn’t her child. | wasn't like her. | love my husband and know that loving his child would cnaturally.

“I am glad both of you have worked it out. | am happy for you, really.” Alpha Aesop said to Luke, “But | can't still forgive that bitch for what she did to my grandchild,” he added, and | could understand his misgivings.

We ate silently until we were done, and Caleb started a very uncomfortable conversation about Stacy's blackmailer.

“Has Regan Adhit threatened you lately, mother?” he asked his mother, and Luke adjusted in his seat, indicating he was interested in the answer and she should answer it.

Stacy was shocked immediately. She choked on the juice she was sipping immediately and began to cough.

“Caleb, this..” Alpha Aesop began, and Luke interrupted him.

“I need to know because | am organising ssoldiers to bring her parents here. We need to know the stakes,” Luke said, and Aesop was silent.

“He hasn‘t said anything yet, and his silence is makingnervous,” Stacy confessed, and Luke relaxed.

7? HOW DOES She Sleep “We will start searching for him once your parents are here,” He said to her, and she smiled at him, but her smile did not touch her eyes.

“I will be handing the Alpha position over to you officially next week, Luke,” Alpha Aesop said, and | knew it was in a bid to change the topic, but with the way Caleb and Luke were looking at each other, the conversation wasn't over yet.

Kimberly seemed like she knew what was going on. | wondered if they had had a discussion | wasn’t aware of.

“That will be great, father. | have a lot of things | will need to look into with how the pack is being run. I also noticed the lesser packs have grievances with us. It would be in our best interest to sort out the issues before our relationship with them deteriorated, especially with Luis on the loose trying to get us. The last thing we want is other packs teaming up with him. This Luis already has issues with you, father; we do not want to add to it.” Luke explained.

“Very well then,” Alpha Aesop said with a worried look,” It may seem like | am lying or trying to hide something, but I have never stolen from anyone before. Everything | had was either inherited or given toby Chloe. | never forcefully took anything from anyone or tried to use the money to belittle anyone. | had spent days in my office and nights sitting in bed thinking about what | might have done in the past that has now cto hunt me, but | can’t find any. If anything, | am the one that has been fleeced. My wife was poisoned, and | never found the culprit. | do not know why this guy would be adamant. | am beginning to suspect he wants to take something from us, but he is trying to justify his reasons so he can get support.” Alpha Aesop explained, and Luke leaned forward curiously.

“Why do you think that?” he asked.

“Look at his mode of operation. First, he wants to take out my heirs. If | have no one to succeed me, it would be the end of the moon bloodline. He might be an Alpha; all he has to do is killand absorb the mark. You think | want to live when all my children are dead?” Alpha Aesop asked sincerely, and it touched me.

“Then he attacks Eastwood, where we have the mineral resources that keep Diamond corp at the top and the family rich and strong. There was no way he attacked Eastwood to upset our supply; he wanted the place for himself. This man was trying to enrich himself. People already think we have too much, imagine how people will team up with him to achieve his goals if he convinces them that | got my wealth by taking forcefully from others.

Stealing from him and maybe my late wife,” Aesop said, leading somewhere with his argument. Everyone was silent because he was making a lot of sense.

Luke looked at his father for a bit and sighed.

“Regardless of the issue, we still have to find him. The offshore company, Nuclei, is registered in Santa Braee Island to a man called Luis Moon,” Luke said, and we all gasped.

“Yes, a huge bait,” Luke said, and Alpha Aesop looked confused.

“We all know it is a trap, and he wants us to cand look for him in Santa Braee. We must explore all the leads before considering going there,” Luke said to Aesop, and the man looked worried “You can’t go to Santa Braee, Luke. ” His father said, and Luke nodded.

72 How Does She Sleep “If there will be the need to go there, | have to. Tia, Caleb and Kirk will hold the grounds here while Mike and sselected soldiers will joinon a covert mission to Santa Braee. We will only be going there to investigate, but all that depends on what we find out,” Luke said, and | knew his father was uncomfortable with it. Somehow | was uncomfortable with it, and | intended to talk him out of it. Even if he said it wasn't yet an option, | didn’t want that to ever be an option. We finished breakfast and left. We decided to go hinstead of the office. “Luke, | thought you planned on asking Stacy about the padding and missing money?” | asked him about the ongoing investigation, and he smiled.

1 “I did, but | changed my mind /ast minute. That woman does not deserve sympathy. | do not want her to try to cover up her tracks. / want to catch her and punish her for it.” he explained, and | understood his views. The damage her actions caused to Diamond corp was extensive. /f she had continued, she would have ruined the company. | was going to get the audit report soon. | was angry about the things Timothy Miles and Stacy had done in that company. It was appalling. Twenty-three years of lies and theft. / wondered how Stacy slept at night.