SWNOVELS : Chapter 62
“I was surprised when I got your text,” Alexander said with a smile, meeting me at the door. “And happy to hear that you could finally get out of the office at a reasonable hour. I have to say, I do like it when you’re back here with me before sundown.”
“Me too.” I gave him the softest smile I could manage and started to put away my things.
I’d given it a lot of thought on the drive home. My strange discovery from this morning explained a lot, actually. Why Alexander involved himself with stopping his stepmother from sabotaging my project.
Why he didn’t tell me about it. And why he always had such a keen interest in hearing about my work. But it also, of course, raised even more questions. Bigger questions.
“How’d you manage to get away?” he asked, seeming
to enjoy watching me as I moved around the room, getting myself settled. “It sounded last night like everything was just about to take off for your project. I wasn’t sure if I would be seeing you for our regular dinner dates anymore.”
“Well, the time together is important,” I said, my tone even. “I will try to be here more in the evenings. I know it’s necessary.” I put my hands to my pregnant belly, which was growing rounder every day.
He nodded seriously and said, “I’m glad to hear that.”
“I also got some more support for my project,” I continued. “One of the other project managers was assigned to help me with whatever I need. Having him on the team has been a game changer.”
This was true, of course, but it was not the reason I had left the office early tonight. There was still a
mountain of work still waiting for me on my desk. But I had hurried through my meetings, skipped lunch, and worked super fast all afternoon so that I could leave by five, all because I needed time to talk to my fiancé, who I’d just learned was also, secretly, my boss.
“Good.” Alexander leaned against the wall by the door as I finished brushing out my hair and readying myself for dinner. “I’m glad Conrad is setting you up for success.”
I might have flinched if I was not so used to controlling my reactions. It was jarring, now, to hear Alexander speak about his uncle being my boss, and it got me wondering. Was it really Conrad’s decision, as I had assumed, to assign Gerald to help me with the expansion? Or could that actually have been Alexander’s idea, because he wanted to see me returning to the palace earlier in the evenings, as he’d just said he liked?
“Ready?” Alexander asked, holding out his hand. For the first time, I felt a slight reluctance to slip my hand into his, considering all the uncomfortable questions I had swirling around in my mind.
But I did it, nodding, without hesitation, and let him pull me in close. I wanted him to think that everything was normal right now, because I didn’t want to have to confront him directly about his secret. I wanted to provide him with an opportunity to tell it to me for himself.
I wanted to give him a chance to come clean before deciding how I felt about the whole thing.
I wanted to give him a chance to come clean before deciding how I felt about the whole thing.
To my relief, Alexander didn’t immediately start
quizzing me about my project when we sat down to eat, like he’d done the night before. Now that I knew what I knew, it seemed somewhat underhanded and sneaky for him to be asking me work-related questions in the context of our dinner dates, as he’d just called them.
Instead, he asked about my diet and wellbeing. Had I been remembering to eat lunch? Had I been eating enough? Was I taking breaks during those long workdays?
I assured him that I was taking care of myself at work, yes. That I did always take a lunch break, even though I had to admit sometimes it was no longer than ten or fifteen minutes, just enough time for food, water, and bathroom.
He gave a small nod, looking at me with a mildly critical expression. I supposed that my answer had
been precisely satisfactory: Alexander my fiancé was glad I was taking lunch breaks, while Alexander my boss was glad I wasn’t wasting time on the job.
“And how was everything at work today?” he asked, now making a seamless transition to the inquiry I had been expecting.
I took a sip of water before answering, using the small delay to choose my words carefully. “Good,” I answered. “Productive. Gerald – that’s my colleague I told you about, the other project manager who was added to my team – he has been great to work with.”
Alexander raised his eyebrows and asked, “How so?”
I detected a hint of jealousy in his voice, which I had not been expecting or attempting to incite.
It did not take much to make him jealous, I was learning. And I had to admit that I kind of liked it. It
just reminded me that Alexander desired me.
“Gerald holds a senior position, but he has been very respectful to me,” I explained. “That’s been a refreshing dynamic. And it’s wonderful to be able divide the higher level tasks with a peer, rather than just having more subordinates who need to be managed.”
Alexander stroked the small of my back affectionately.
He had stopped sitting across from me at the table, and now always kept close beside me, absently touching some part of my body whenever he had a free hand. “That’s great,” he said, with a very casual tone that I now perceived to be well-rehearsed.
“And how was your day? You seem to be in a good mood.” I smiled at him cheerily, as if this were a casual observation. It wasn’t a question, but it did invite a response. It was the perfect opportunity for
Alexander to tell me about his big accomplishment.
That he had just closed a tremendous business deal.
But he said, “It was uneventful,” looking down at his plate. “I ran a long training session this morning. I suppose I am feeling some relief that the men are improving their performance.”
I sipped at a spoonful of soup, offering more time for Alexander to elaborate. I wanted to ask, “Anything else?” but I did not. I just continued eating, watching his body language and waiting for more.
Alexander cleared his throat. “I saw some news today about my stepmother,” he said, steering the conversation away from the topic of his suspicious mood. He wiped his mouth with a white napkin, scrubbing it hard over his lips. If he was trying to wipe
away a smile, he did not succeed – a tiny bit of it lingered behind. “Looks like she’s going to court next month to stand trial for the embezzlement charges.”
“Wow.” My surprise was genuine. My workday had flown by, and I hadn’t made any time to check the news. “That’s good, I guess.”
Now the arrogant smile just came bursting forth as Alexander added, “I wasn’t sure my father would actually go through with a trial. I considered that he might excuse her of all charges, whether or not he believed she was guilty.”
Though my appetite was waning, I busied my mouth with more food and drink. My mind was suddenly racing on a rather troubling theme and I was lost to my thoughts, hardly hearing any more of Alexander’s words as he continued on.
It was dawning on me that destroying Scarlet was a personal goal for Alexander. Something he’d been planning and working on for a long time. She was, after all, a proxy for his rival to the throne, and clearly there was even more bad blood between the two of them than I knew about.
And everything Alexander was doing right now, to take down Scarlet’s business enterprises and reveal her crimes, was also working to ensure his own status as Alpha King.
Alexander was taking his stepmother to war. And he was using me to do it.
If that were true, it was also possible that all his recent displays of affection, supportive words, and nice gestures were part of the manipulation, too. Perhaps Alexander was another good actor, just like his uncle who winked at me and gave me praise and pep talks in the office. Perhaps it was all just a management strategy.
I didn’t want to believe it. And I simply could not be sure of Alexander’s intentions without hearing it from his own lips. But if he was not going to afford me the luxury of an honest explanation, all I could do was continue to speculate.
And now, my instinct was telling me to be wary.
I had grown very comfortable with Alexander, but it was time to put my guard back up around this man, who could very well be using me like a pawn on a chessboard.
I looked him in the eye. He smiled at me sweetly, with an expression full of warmth and affection, and stroked my neck in a way that sent a tingle down my spine.
He was a very good liar.