Chapter Forty-One
Igotchangedandcleanedup, Lucas waiting for me by the door. He gave me a smile as he lad me down to the dinning room. The moment we stepped in the other three Alpha’s eyes were on me. There wasn’t any jealousy in their eyes, just hunger.
I shifted on my feet, my cheeks heating up. I could feel their eyes on me, and I didn't need enhanced Alpha senses to know they could smell Lucas on me, could probably scent exactly what we'd been doing upstairs. I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, trying to appear more composed than I felt.
"Sorry we're late," Lucas said, seemingly unaffected by the tension as he guided me toward the table with a gentle hand at the small of my back.
Gabriel stood at the head of the table, his blue eyes intense as they tracked our movement. "We were about to start without you," he said, his voice carefully neutral though I detected a hint of something darker underneath.
"Dinner smells amazing," I said, desperate to change the subject as I slid into an empty chair. Dakota was across from me, his dark gaze unwavering as he studied my face. Theo sat beside me, his glasses reflecting the overhead light as he passed me a basket of bread.
"We ordered food," Theo explained, his analytical tone somehow grounding amid the charged atmosphere. "Italian. Your blood sugar levels are likely depleted after your activities today."
I nearly choked on air at his clinical reference to what had just happened upstairs, while Lucas let out a barely suppressed laugh beside me. Dakota's jaw tightened visibly, and Gabriel cleared his throat, taking his seat at the head of the table.
"We have important matters to discuss," Gabriel said, his voice carrying that quiet authority that immediately commanded attention. "About the case and what we learned today."
I nodded gratefully for the shift to a more neutral topic, though I could still feel their gazes lingering on me—tracking my movements, noting my flushed cheeks, the way I couldn't quite meet their eyes. The air felt charged with an almost palpable tension that had nothing to do with the murder investigation and everything to do with the shifting dynamics between all of us.
"As Lucas may have mentioned," Gabriel continued, serving himself some pasta, "we interviewed the lab technician this afternoon. Trent Warren."
I nodded, grateful for the distraction of serious conversation. "Lucas told me he admitted to placing surveillance on me, but claimed someone paid him to do it."
"That's correct," Theo confirmed, adjusting his glasses. "Warren received a substantial payment—fifty thousand dollars—deposited into an offshore account. The transaction was routed through several shell companies to obscure its origin."
"But you can trace it?" I asked, taking a sip of water to ease my suddenly dry throat.
"I'm working on it," Theo replied. "The financial trail is complex, indicating whoever is behind this has resources and knowledge of how to obscure financial trails. The level of sophistication suggests either organized crime or someone with significant corporate or legal expertise."
"Or both," Dakota added, his deep voice drawing my attention across the table. His dark eyes met mine briefly before returning to his plate. "Warren also admitted to monitoring your daily routine for over two weeks before the break-in at your apartment."
A chill ran down my spine. "Two weeks? He was watching me for that long?"
Gabriel nodded grimly. "According to Warren, he was instructed to document when you were alone, who visited you, your regular schedule. All information that would make it easier for someone to target you."
"But he claims he didn't know why they wanted the information," Lucas added, his usual playfulness absent as he passed me the salad. "Says he thought it was corporate espionage—someone interested in your business practices or supplier connections."
Dakota leaned forward, his forearms resting on the table. "Warren claims he never met the person who hired him. All communication was through encrypted messages."
"Do you believe him?" I asked, taking a small bite of pasta despite my lack of appetite.
"Partially," Gabriel replied, his eyes meeting mine across the table. "He's likely telling the truth about the method of communication, but I suspect he knows more about his employer's motives than he's admitting."
"He's protecting himself," Dakota added, his deep voice rumbling with barely contained anger. "Pretending ignorance to minimize his culpability."
I wrapped my arms around myself, suddenly cold despite the warm dining room. "So he helped someone target me, possibly the same person who killed those other Omegas, and he wants us to believe he didn't know what would happen?"
"That's his claim," Theo said, his analytical tone tinged with skepticism. "His stress responses during interrogation indicated deception when questioned about his knowledge of the ultimate purpose."
"In other words," Lucas added, his hand finding mine under the table and squeezing gently, "he's lying about not knowing what they planned to do with the information."
I stared down at my plate, appetite completely gone now. The thought that someone had been watching me, tracking my movements for weeks, made me feel violated in a way I hadn't fully processed until now.
"What happens next?" I asked, looking up to meet Gabriel's steady gaze.
"Warren remains in custody while we continue to build our case," Gabriel explained, his expression grave. "He's agreed to cooperate in exchange for reduced charges."
"He's scared," Dakota added, his dark eyes meeting mine across the table. "Whatever he got himself involved in, he realizes he's in over his head now."
