TEMPORARY MATES PERMANENT CRAVINGS novel Chapter 137

One hundred and thirty seven

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One hundred and thirty seven

Franklin POV

Пlet out a short laugh at the idea. “Then why wasn’t Lisa attacked months ago? Evangeline’s sickness started years back. The ‘no trace, no source’ pattern doesn’t happen on its own in two different women.”

“You’re still convinced it’s her,” she said.

“I’m saying it’s an attack,” I said “And I need to know what I’m missing. That woman who came to see her last month, the one with the wooden calabash. Where is it? I haven’t seen it in any of these rooms.”

“I don’t know where it is. And you should try to keep your options open instead of focusing on one person. If Cameron hears you’re tossing her room, he won’t take it well. He already thinks you’re the one poisoning Lisa’s mind with fear.’

“I’m not feeding anyone anything,” I said. I paused as the light caught a white bandage on her left hand. I looked at her again, focusing on the oversized glasses. “Why are you wearing those inside, Nadia? The sun went down an hour ago.”

She turned her face away toward the stairs. “It’s nothing. Just a headache.”

“Take them off,” I said, stepping closer.

“And I should obey you because?”

“Did you go to that club again last night? Did Desmond find out? Or are you back on the pills?”

Her head snapped toward me, her nostrils flaring. “Watch what you’re saying to me, Franklin.”

My hand shot out and grabbed her arm when she turned to leave. Without warning, I reached up and pulled the glasses off her face before she could raise her hands to stop me.

The bruise around her left eye was horrific.

It was a deep, mottled purple that no amount of makeup could have hidden. It spread across the socket in a way that showed the heavy force of a closed fist, darker at the bone and fading into a sickly yellow near her cheek. The lid was swollen, making that eye look smaller than the other, and a small, jagged cut marked the edge of her brow where the skin had split.

Someone had hit her with full force. I felt a cold rage settle in the center of my chest. My grip on the glasses tightened until the plastic frame creaked.

I heard a steady pounding in my ears as adrenaline flooded my system. I reached out to lift her chin so I could see the damage better, but she jerked her face away.

“Who did this to you?” I asked, my voice dropping to a growl.

“It’s nothing. I tripped.”

“That is not a trip. Someone punched you. Look at me, Nadia.”

She didn’t move. She folded her arms across her chest, trying to pull herself together.

“Desmond,” I said.

Her head snapped back toward me, her eyes wide. “You don’t know that. Don’t say his name.”

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“I don’t need you to say it. I know the look of a coward’s work. That pig did this.”

She tried to hold her expression steady, but her lip trembled. The tears came without warning, thick and fast, slipping down her cheeks and over the bruised skin. She turned her back to me, her shoulders shaking as she fought to stay quiet. My hands hung uselessly at my sides. I remembered how she always drew a hard line between us, talking about her status and not lowering herself to my level. Now she stood there broken, and I didn’t know if I was allowed to step across that line to hold her.

“I went to his house,” she whispered, her voice cracking. “I saw him in bed with another woman. My sources told me she is already pregnant with his child. When I told him I wouldn’t go through with the wedding unless he confessed everything to our families, he…”

She stopped, pressing her hand over her mouth.

“He hit me,” she finished.

I stared at the back of her head. I didn’t want to blame her while she was hurting, but the frustration bubbled up anyway.

“You wanted an alpha for the title,” I said. “You got a hand-slinging one.”

“That’s not fair!” she cried, turning back to face me, her face wet.

“No, it isn’t. But neither is a broken face.”

She wiped at her eyes with the back of her hand, careful not to touch the bruise.

“I’m calling it off,” she said. “But I don’t have enough to stand on yet. You know the ripple effect of a woman breaking an engagement with a powerful alpha. His family will say I’m unstable. They’ll say I’m a liar trying to ruin his reputation. I need proof of that other woman’s pregnancy to tie him to the betrayal.”

“And until you find it?”

“I hold it together. I wear the glasses and I don’t give them a reason to call me difficult. You cannot tell Cameron, Franklin. I mean it.”

“That is a massive secret to keep from your brother.”

“I’m begging you. If he finds out now, he will go after Desmond without a plan. He’ll make it a blood feud before I have the evidence to protect my own name in the aftermath.”

I looked at her for a long moment, then turned and headed toward the small bar in the corner of the lounge. She followed me, her footsteps silent on the rug. I poured a double shot of dark liquor into a glass and handed it to her. “The wedding preparations are already public,” I said. “This won’t stay quiet for long,”

“I’ll end it,” she said, taking the glass. “But not without a shield to hide behind.”

I studied her face, the way the purple mark stood out against her pale skin.

“Then we do it properly,” I said. “I’ll help you get what you need. But it means I don’t keep investigating this house alone.”

She took the shot in one swallow and set the glass on the bar. “What do you want from me?”

“I need you to be my eyes on Evangeline,” I said. “Anything you’ve ignored in the past because she’s your friend, or anything that didn’t seem to matter. I want every detail. In return, I handle Desmond. I’ll get the proof you need and ensure he never touches you again.”

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She looked at me, weighing the offer, then gave a single, firm nod.

“Fine,” she said.

A heavy silence settled between us.

Nadia sighed when I cupped her face. My thumb brushed the purple mark under her eye.

“He doesn’t deserve you. He’ll pay for this.”

“And I don’t deserve you.’

The words didn’t sit right. I pulled my hands back.

“Don’t say something you’ll take back later.”

“I know I’ve been foolish to think it was about rank. About who stands higher and who doesn’t. I told you I wouldn’t lower myself and I meant it at the time, but look at me now. An alpha did this.”

She stepped closer to close the space.

“If I’m going to regret anything, it won’t be this. Kiss me.”

I pressed a kiss beside the bruise. Our lips met and the softness of hers made me hard. I held the kiss long enough to let the tension leave her shoulders.

“My room or yours?”

“Mine. My bed is sturdier.”

I laughed. I didn’t plan on taking her rough today.

Back in her room, our hands tore at each other’s clothes. I peeled her dress off first and stopped to kiss the skin I uncovered. Her bra came next. I kissed the curve of her shoulder where the strap left a faint line. When I reached the bruise again, I lingered there.

“You are safe here.”

She shivered. My forehead pressed to hers as I slid inside. The heat of her wrapped around me tight and wet. She gasped and her walls clenched around my length.

I stayed deep and controlled. Every thrust was a silent vow that her body was being worshipped rather than used. She wrapped her legs around me and her thighs gripped my hips with gentle pressure. I watched her face and kept the pace steady. The wet slide of my skin against hers made quiet sounds with every push.

I saw the first tear slip from her eye when the intensity rose. It traced a warm line down her cheek. I cradled the uninjured side of her face in my palm. I kept moving slow and steady so she could cry without fear. Her sobs mixed with gasps until pleasure took over.

The emotion passed through her in waves. We reached the peak together. Her body pulsed around me and she cried out my name. Mine followed with a low groan against her neck. I stayed inside her for a long moment before pulling out.

I left the bed and returned with a warm cloth to wipe between her legs. The touch stayed light. Later, I sat her between my legs and dabbed arnica cream on the bruise. She leaned back into my chest and let me finish.

“You never actually hated Lisa, did you?”

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Nadia shifted onto her back.

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“No. She was trying to survive and I understand that. I just didn’t have the space to carry her too. Cameron, Evangeline, everything was already too much. When she moved out, I slept better. Eva was paranoid that Lisa was going to take Cameron. She thought it was only a matter of time. I thought it was insecurity but I also knew that if anyone should be blamed, it’s Cameron. Lisa didn’t force herself on him.”

“Cameron loves Lisa even though he’s clueless about it. He only feels a sense of duty to protect Evangeline. If something is being done to Lisa and you know where the pressure is coming from, maybe try to help. She’s carrying his child.”

“Eva is my best friend. I’m not ruling the possibility out, but could she really go that far to poison Lisa?”

“The truth will tell.”

She shut her eyes and drifted toward sleep in my arms. I kissed the top of her head. If that pig touched her again, wouldn’t just be the man who fucked her gently. I would be the man who made sure he was destroyed.

The drive to Ironfangs was always an opportunity to clear my head. The road was flat and open with no other cars and only the same lines of trees repeating on both sides. With nothing breaking the sound up, my thoughts circled back to the same problems I couldn’t close.

By the time I reached Desmond’s pack, the gates were already open. One of the guards at the outer gate took my cash and slid it into his pocket without looking at the bills. He leaned closer and spoke in a low voice. The woman had been moving in and out of the alpha house long before the engagement was announced. She was already pregnant and the staff knew exactly who she was.

She lived in a separate building at the back of the estate with her own assigned staff. Money went out regularly for her upkeep and medical bills. Desmond’s mother even supported the pregnancy since the woman had been in his life before Nadia. Nadia was only brought in for the alliance and the public image. Desmond intended to claim the child and had no plans to give that up.

The sun was down by the time I reached the holding area where the home nurse was being detained. I went through her answers in my head again. She hadn’t dodged questions or attempted to redirect the conversation. Her file was clean and her bank activity was normal. That was the problem because there was nothing to push against. I reached the cel

I and stopped when I saw it was empty.

“Where is she?”

“Released. The order came through from Alpha Cameron.”

I stood there stunned before stepping back from the bars. Cameron hadn’t informed me, and that was extremely unusual.

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