The Alpha King Call Boy
Chapter 238

"Fi..." Alex's eyes roved my form, taking me in from head to toe, and settled on the diamond necklace around my neck. I think I succeeded in rendering him completely speechless this time. "You like?" I knew he did.

"This looks incredible on you," he said, coming close and running both hands over the necklace delicately, before sliding them up to stroke my neck and throat. "Like it was made for you," he mumbled, his amber eyes going hazy. I shivered under his light touches and released a tiny moan of comfort, then stepped forward to hug him.

"I'm the luckiest man in the world," he whispered, lowering his face to hover in my hair.

I almost laughed at the horrible irony of Alexander's words. This was a man whose job required him to walk into a den of monsters in two days' time. Lucky?

Nina walked back into the room from the nursery, doing a little double-take and stopping in her tracks when she saw the two of us wrapped up in each other's arms.

I eased out of Alex's embrace and turned my attention to my friend

"Thank you," I called out as she tried to sneak away. (It's pretty hard to sneak with a baby in your arms and a diaper bag slung over your shoulder, but she tried.)

She shrugged off my thanks. "No prob, babe. I'll see you guys over there in a few."

Alex opened the door for Nina and she was off. He had asked her, when he got back from his meeting, if she wouldn't mind taking the baby on ahead to dinner with her so that we could have a few minutes alone.

"So, what's up?" I asked. "Everything alright with the travel planning?"

"Yes, the meeting was fine." He frowned. "Something else I wanted to talk to you about before.. tomorrow."

Oh

He nodded. "T hate leaving the Iris situation up in the air."

"Well... hm." I hated that too, of course. Iris was so like a child, skilled at squirming out of uncomfortable conversations and situations. But I had one idea. "Why don't you call her right now, Alex? See if you can get her to pin down a date and start planning for when she'll move. Maybe on a quick phone call you can press a sense of urgency."

Alex took out his phone, nodding. Iris answered on the first ring and sounded all too happy to be hearing from Alexander. The cloying tone of her voice as she said his name-it was all I could do not to roll my eyes so hard I'd start an earthquake.

As planned, he pressed her to commit to a date to move back to the moors. "Oh, yes, indeed," Iris said to my great surprise. "But Alexander, are you here? Are you around? Can we talk in person, instead of on the phone?"

He looked up at me for an answer. I shrugged, nodding.

"Sure," Alex said into the phone. "Fiona and I were just about to leave for a social engagement. We can make a quick stop by your room on our way, if you would like."

A long silence held. And then Iris said, "Oh. Yeah, alright. That is fine."

And so I finished helping my husband get dressed and ready for our little party, and then we made a detour to pay Iris a visit on the way there. I actually hoped that our formal attire would provide a sense of urgency for this conversation, since it was pretty clear looking at us that Alex and I had somewhere to be.

Alex rapped his knuckles on Iris's door when we reached it, then stood back. When the knob unlocked and the door began easing open, he gave my hand an encouraging squeeze.

I needed it. Because Iris's energy hit me all at once as soon as I saw her eyes.

Ugh-T hated how familiar that rush of heated, strange emotions had become. The chaos, the noise of it.

"Wow, You guys look amazing." Iris's mouth fell open as she looked me up and down. "I've never seen such a pretty dress, Fiona." Perhaps those words would have sounded more complimentary from another. From Iris, they sounded like petty, jealous digs. "Thank you Iris," I said with as much calm neutrality as I could muster.

Gratefully, Alex took the reins of the conversation and steered it on course. Again, he pressed his charge to commit to a departure date for her move. And he looked down at his watch in an intentional demonstration of impatience when she began to stammer, procrastinating.

"Maybe just two or three more days," she finally said. "The thing is, I just have some paintings I'm working on. Paintings of the gardens. I really want to finish them before I go."

"Okay," Alex said, keeping his face neutral. "Well, I am about to go out of town for just two days. I have a business trip to attend. What I'd like to do is set you up with my chief of staff, so he can assist you with booking your travel this weekend. Okay?" Iris nodded, accepting the business card that Alex had produced from his wallet and handed over. She looked down at it with a furrowed brow.

"That's Brandon's number right there," Alex spelled out, pointing to the front of the card. "Just call him. He'll take care of everything.

Alright?"

"Alright."

"We really must be on our way now." Alex stepped back and took hold of my hand once again.

"It was good to see you, Iris," I lied, offering her the most polite smile I could conjure, "Have a good night."

She met my eyes again - it was all I could do not to shudder at the feeling that her energy gave me when she did that - and flashed a fake smile of her own.

"Good night, Iris. I'll see you in a few days."

Iris replied with her version of polite goodbyes - "mm-hmm, sure, you too, Fiona;" "yes, yes, see you then" - and then we were leaving. Only...

Alex had turned his eyes forward already, but the door was not yet closed, and Iris was still eyeing me. My wolf's instincts dared me not to look away, told me I was being watched and must watch back.

And that was when I was saw it. For only just a fraction of a second, just before the door closed...

Iris's eyes fixed on the diamond necklace around my neck. And then jerked back up to my eyes.

She recognized the jewelry. I felt that plain as day. She recognized it as Alex's mother's, and she was not happy to see me wearing it.

Her mouth twisted into a strange shape, and her eyes went black as pitch.

"Fi?" Alex stopped walking and looked down at me, then back to Iris's door, just before we were about to make a turn down the hall toward the dining room. "Something wrong?" he asked quietly, searching my eyes. "No." I resumed walking, pulling him back into motion. I mind linked him the rest. Just in case Iris had very good hearing. Just keep walking.

He brought my hand to his lips and kissed it.

We'll be done with her soon, he promised.