Chapter 524

Olivia

The reporter’s question hung in the air, heavy and loaded. My mouth went dry as the camera flashes threatened to blind me, the microphones all but shoved in my face.

“Is it true that you are getting a divorce?”

Before I could formulate a response—not that I even had anything to say—a warm, broad hand was suddenly clapped firmly onto my shoulder. My heart stuttered as Nathan stepped up next to me, his expression as stony as ever.

“Can I help you?” he asked the reporters, his voice booming across the walkway. “I certainly hope you have a good reason for bombarding my Luna out of nowhere.”

The reporters murmured amongst themselves, their cameras flashing as one reporter stepped forward. “We have heard that you two are getting a divorce,” the reporter stated. “So soon after the wedding?”

The reporter’s statement made my stomach churn; as if I had ever thought that getting caught having sex in the closet would be the worst thing we’d have to face today. But Nathan, calm as ever, simply slipped his arm around my shoulders.

I moved slightly behind him out of instinct, using his large body as a shield against the feral journalists.

“We are most certainly not getting divorced,” he stated plainly, leaving no room for argument. The reporters seemed taken aback by his abrupt declaration, scribbling furiously on their notepads.

But one particularly brazen man with a head of dark hair, sporting a pair of slender black glasses, didn’t seem deterred by Nathan’s calm statement. “Then could you explain this for us, Alpha Nathan?”

The reporter thrust out a glossy photograph, and my stomach plummeted. It was the image of Nathan sitting across from the beautiful, elegant woman at the dimly lit restaurant. It was Mila; the escort-turned-spy that Nathan had been working with.

And of course, Dan and his escort had been conveniently cropped out of the photograph.

I felt my blood run cold. Where did they even find that picture? Was the stranger who had been texting me working for some sort of outside entity? A double agent, maybe? Or just an agent of chaos?

Nathan stiffened almost imperceptibly beside me before smoothly replying, “I’m not sure what you’re implying, sir.”

The reporter scoffed. “Don’t play stupid, Alpha Nathan,” he chided. “Are you or are you not having romantic relations with this woman—”

“She is a business associate. Nothing more.” Nathan cut the dark-haired reporter off sharply, his tone—and the look in his eyes—brooking no further argument. “My wife and I are happily together,” he said, tightening his grip around me. “Now if you’ll excuse us…”

He steered me away with a firm hand at my back, leaving the rabid pack of journalists grudgingly behind. Their voices followed us as we stormed away, and they couldn’t fade fast enough.

I could feel Nathan’s tension radiating off of him in waves, his jawline tight and his shoulders bunched up. Neither of us spoke until we reached the car.

The moment the doors closed, shutting out the bright flashes and rumbling crowd noises, I finally dared to break the silence.

“Nathan, what are we going to do? Dan thinks we’re separated.”

He exhaled a harsh breath, raking a hand roughly through his tousled hair. “I can fix this; I’ll talk to him, tell him that it was just for publicity so as not to raise any red flags.”

I swallowed. “You’re sure he’ll buy it?” I asked. “If he thinks we’re back together, then…”

Nathan shook his head as we pulled out of the parking lot. “He’ll buy it; don’t worry.” As he drove, his fists became clenched so hard on the steering wheel that his knuckles turned white. “Dammit, I should have tracked down that anonymous caller.”

My throat constricted at the mention of the stranger who had been texting me. “Look, we still don’t know who they are or who they work for,” I said. “And if they know that you know they’ve been texting me, it could spell disaster.”

Nathan’s shoulders slumped as some of the rigidity seeped out. While he drove, he reached over and laced our fingers together, bringing my knuckles to his lips for a brief kiss. “You’re right, love. I just… I hate this. I never wanted any of it, but…”

“Neither did I.” I sighed, sinking down a little bit into the passenger seat. “But once we take down this sex trafficking ring, it’ll all be worth it.”

It was barely audible, but I heard Nathan almost seem to scoff slightly. “I hope you’re right,” he whispered.

The tension lingered between us as we drove home in silence, each of us too busy dwelling on our own thoughts to speak. Part of me couldn’t stop replaying that damning photo in my mind, no matter how much I trusted Nathan.

And another part of me hoped that I had been right about all of this being worth it, too.

When we arrived, Nathan pulled me into his arms one last time. “I’m so sorry, Liv,” he whispered into my hair. “I didn’t want to drag you into this.”

I sighed and stroked my hand along the nape of his neck. “We’re stronger together. You know that. And Dan knows that; which is why he wants us kept apart.”

Nathan pulled away, nodding softly as he released his grip on me. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Liv.”

“Utility closet, same time?” I asked with a smirk.

He chuckled. “We’ll see.”

…

I awoke to the sensation of warm sun spreading across my cheek and a sense of hope blossoming in my chest. It was a new day that would no doubt be fraught with new worries, but somehow, I had a good feeling.

After all, with Nathan and I side by side, we could weather anything. Or at least, that was what I hoped.

But it was as I was preparing the twins’ breakfast and brewing my coffee, with soft music playing over the bluetooth speaker and the scent of pancakes in the air, that it happened: a text rolled in, the sound of the soft ding echoing through the kitchen.

Yawning, I reached out and picked it up, sliding to read the text. I figured that it was Angela or Layla, or maybe even Nathan texting me to confirm our secret little date in the utility closet later.

And oh, how I wished I hadn’t opened that text.

“If you’re smart, you’ll stay away from him.”

I felt my stomach plummet into a void below me. The text from the stranger stared up at me, unbelievably short and yet somehow as menacing as ever. Gasping, I quickly typed out a response without even thinking.

“Was that you who set those reporters on us? And conveniently cropped out the other two in the picture?”

There was a long wait; several minutes, actually. But not once did I look away from the screen or set my phone down, even as Elliot and Aurora began fussing in their high chairs. Then, finally, another text came in: a link this time.

A link to a news article.

The headline on the news page’s gossip segment stared up at me in huge, garish font:

“Alpha Nathan Has Affair With Strange Woman!”