Page 34 of Breaking the Alpha (Serpent’s Tongue Ink #2)

A ngelina forcefully pushed the Serpent’s Tongue door closed behind her and leaned against it, assessing the scene she’d inadvertently interrupted.

River was standing beside the desk in his boxers with a stunning brunette on her knees in front of him and his gobsmacked brother beside him, mouth agape.

“This is NOT what it looks like,” River stammered as the woman rose gracefully, shoved her hands through his hair, and lifted the strands with a frown. “Angel, I—”

Birch’s statue impression cracked. “Look, Angelina, it’s not as bad as—”

She held up a hand, her eyes on the woman now tilting River’s head to the right. “Either this is your agent, a designer with boundary issues, or you’ve found yourself a new nurse.”

“Agent,” River exhaled as he attempted to extricate himself from the woman’s grip. “Angelina, this is Jodie. Jodie, this is my…my Angelina.”

Jodie gave River a final look-over before turning to her. “Your Angelina?” She glanced over her shoulder at River as he hiked his jeans over his hips. “Bring her. You need her type of damage control. Now. I’ll be at the Italian restaurant across the street.”

Angelina’s brows shot up and she moved away from the exit while Jodie strode past her and out the door. “She is definitely not zen.”

“No, she isn’t,” River huffed from across the room as he tugged his shirt over his head, grabbed his crutches from Birch, and hobbled over to her, pressing his forehead to hers. “I am so sorry. I didn’t know she would just show up here. But I am so happy to see you.”

“What the hell just happened?” Birch murmured from behind the protection of his desk. “ Strip , she says. And you just… strip ? Fuck, I almost stripped. Why did I almost strip? River? What the fuck?”

River grinned and closed his eyes for a moment before straightening up and altering his balance on his crutches.

“Hate to say it, Birch, but Jodie has her eye on you. If my ugly mug doesn’t make her happy in the next hour you better run, because I suspect she’ll be gunning for you next.

” When Birch let out a choking sound, he reached over and took a handful of Angelina’s hair, letting it fall from his fingers.

“There’s no way I can get out of lunch with Jodie.

How long of a break are you taking? Maybe I can swing by and see you before I head over to the house to hang out with Grey. ”

Smoothing her hand over his shirt, she looked up at him, happy to see that his eyes didn’t hold the same apprehension they had every time he’d ignored his agent’s calls over the past week. “I believe I was commanded to attend lunch with you, so let’s go.”

He wrinkled his nose but followed her out the door with a wave to Birch. “Text me if Grey wakes up before I’m back,” he called over his shoulder before turning his attention back to her. “I should warn you: Jodie can be painfully blunt. Don’t take anything she says to heart.”

“Do you?” she asked, thinking back to what he’d told her about his scars.

“Nah. She’ll rip apart my eye color and shoe size as fast as she will everything else, so it doesn’t really hit hard.

And she feeds my ego in equal amounts, so it works.

” He smirked at her and her pulse quickened, as though her body suddenly remembered he was truly a devastatingly gorgeous man.

“She and I have a lot of business to cover, but we won’t spend the whole meal on it. ”

The restaurant was almost empty, making it easy to spot Jodie in her crisp black suit with her phone held tight to her ear. River led her over to the booth, motioning for her to slide in first while he balanced his crutches against the empty table behind them.

Jodie set her phone down and stared at River long enough to make it uncomfortable.

Uncomfortable for Angelina, at least.

River simply remained still, his expression a mix of unimpressed and bored.

The server took their drink orders, his presence doing nothing to break the staredown. As the cups of coffee and water were placed down in front of them, Jodie clasped her hands on the table and leaned forward, ending the silent standoff. “How did this happen?”

“We’ll go with a mountain bike accident.”

“True?”

“No.”

“Can you tell me?”

“No.”

“Do I want to know?”

“No.”

“Does it require a lawyer?”

“No.”

Jodie nodded sharply and moved on with her rapid-fire interrogation, completely ignoring Angelina. “Why haven’t I seen your girlfriend on your social media?”

“I’m not sharing her.”

“Is this a fling?”

“No.”

“She made your bracelets?”

“Yup.”

“Market her.”

“No.”

Angelina knew her eyes were wide as saucers as the back and forth continued, with Jodie firing off questions and River responding mostly in one-word answers.

The topic switched to money and deals, with Jodie warning of the percentage cut River might face in his current condition.

But she made no comment about him losing work, simply stating his upcoming jobs while he confirmed.

Although her head hurt trying to keep up, she noticed River had no problem. He was wholly absorbed in the grilling, focused and alert and quick. There was no hint of hesitation or uncertainty in his replies, no glimpse of the insecurities she knew he had.

He knew this life. Knew it, and thrived in it.

It was, without a doubt, the starkest reminder that his life wasn’t here. He was happy enough at Serpent’s Tongue, but there was a spark in his eyes as he verbally sparred with his agent. He wanted to get back to work. Maybe needed to.

Their meals arrived and Jodie snapped her napkin onto her lap, her entire demeanor shifting as she turned to Angelina. “We had to clear up a few things. Now that business is done, let’s enjoy this.”

*

River waved Jodie and her luxury rental car off and turned to Angelina, catching the slight downturn of her lips before she gave him a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “Are you sure you need to get back to the store so quick? We should probably talk before I fly out.”

She rose up on her toes and kissed his cheek. “Come over tonight after Birch gets back.”

“Over where?” he asked, frowning when he realized what she meant. “You’re going home?”

With a nod, she got into her car. “Text me when you see how Grey is, okay? I’m going out for a coffee with Zoe after work but I’ll be home before seven.” And then, almost as an afterthought, she looked up at him. “I love you. I’ll see you later.”

“Yeah,” he murmured as her door shut. “I love you too.”

He leaned on his crutches and watched her drive off, an ache forming in his chest as Birch walked out of Serpent’s Tongue to take him back to the house to see Grey.

“Your agent gone?” his brother asked as they hit the road. “Shit, that woman was terrifying. I still have the shakes.”

He scoffed and nodded. “She is. I’m supposed to fly out tomorrow morning to meet up with a few campaign organizers. We need to make sure they can work with all this damaged shit.”

“Good,” Birch said, turning toward the water tower.

“Grey is going to be fine, and with Jocelyn able to work from home, he won’t be alone until he’s ready to be.

And you need to get back on the ladder.” With a grin, he pulled into the driveway.

“As disturbing as it is to see your half-naked ass plastered all over the place, I can’t wait to see what else you do. ”

Easing out of the truck, he accepted the crutches Birch passed over. “Guess we’ll see soon, huh?”

“Damn right we will.” His brother’s face became serious. “And don’t you worry about Angelina, okay? She understands your job. You saw that today. You’ll get to see her during downtimes and shit. You can fly here, or she can fly there. It’ll be good.”

“Good, yeah,” he echoed. “See you later.”

Birch had no idea how right he was.

Angelina did understand his job. And he did see that today.

Just not when his agent was on her knees with her hands on his thighs like Birch was thinking.

He saw it when Jodie was ploughing through everything that he’d put off dealing with.

He saw the shift in Angelina’s expression when his ex-wife’s new social media attack was mentioned, saw her uncertainty when Jodie laid out the money his new injuries might cost, saw her face change from surprised to worried to sad before it settled on a hardened resolve.

She’d made up in her mind about their future in the restaurant booth this afternoon. He’d known before the check hit the table. And he had a sinking feeling he wasn’t going to like what she decided.

Remembering he didn’t have a house key on him, he knocked on the door and waited for Jocelyn to open it.

“Thank god you’re here,” she huffed, stepping aside to let him in. “Grey wants to watch another sci-fi movie and I’m buried under a million emails. Go. Entertain him.”

Leaving his crutches at the front door, he limped into the living room and collapsed on the sofa beside his brother. “How are you holding up?”

“I should ask you,” Grey replied, turning up the volume a bit. “You look like someone ate your dog.”

“I don’t have a dog.”

“It was my nice way of saying you look like shit. What’s up?”

Shrugging, he got comfortable and put his legs up on the coffee table. “I fly out to LA in the morning.”

“Angelina going with you?”

Exhaling, he shook his head and focused on the TV.

“She already closed her shop to take care of me all of last week and this weekend, so no. Besides, I have a feeling I’ll be there for a while with the way my agent is talking.

” Not wanting to think about it, he snatched the bowl of chips Grey was holding. “How are those busted fingers?”

“Jocelyn is keeping me high as a kite, so I’m not feeling a thing,” Grey said with a lazy smile. “What time is Angelina coming home?”

His heart clenched and he dug his thumb into the spot, trying to work the kink out. “She doesn’t live here, Grey. Neither do I.”