Page 36 of Rejected by My Stepbrother Alpha (Billionaire Shifter Club #1)

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Asher

The lobby around me was packed with the CEOs of the biggest tech companies in our kingdom, but I only had eyes for Ivy.

It was the morning after we slept together, and Ivy, Damian, and I were in the same hotel from before, waiting to present our project to Anya and a team of judges hand-selected by the Alpha king. When the three of us arrived in the crowded lobby, Ivy had chosen the chair by Damian instead of by me.

She had been in a strange mood all morning, and I was afraid that she regretted last night.

When I woke up this morning—wrapped up in the blanket, surrounded by her honeysuckle scent—I immediately reached for her.

But I had heard her voice coming from the other side of the door.

She was already waking Adrian up for the day.

Ivy and I didn't know where we stood in regard to our romantic relationship. I didn’t want our son to know that I had slept in Ivy’s room, then get excited we were a couple, only to disappoint him if—Goddess forbid—things didn't work out between us.

I dressed and went back to my room to get ready .

She had been avoiding me all morning, barely even looking me in the eye.

At first, I thought that it was because we had to leave Adrian to present our idea, and she was worried about his safety.

I was worried too, of course, but when I assured her that he would be protected by my guards and Mason had promised he wouldn’t take his eyes off of him, Ivy just gave me a small smile.

I’d hoped that we could be there for each other this morning when the anxiety about our son’s safety became too overwhelming, like we had last night. But Ivy seemed to be lost in her thoughts right now.

Her pulling away from me made my heart hurt.

I thought that we had connected emotionally last night, not just physically.

But I would give her the space she needed.

I knew that I still needed to earn back her trust. I just hoped that she would be able to forgive me for rejecting her. I hoped that she could trust me again.

My phone vibrated in my pocket, and my palms became slick when I saw that it was my Beta calling me. What news did he have for me?

“I have to take this,” I told Ivy and Damian.

Damian nodded, and Ivy gave me a small, distracted smile.

I went over to an empty corner of the waiting room. I passed by Ginger Howard and Silas Shepherd on my way. They glared at me. I ignored them. We were both front-runners to win the account, but I had faith that Ivy, Damian, and I would come out on top.

“Flynn, any news?” I said, when I answered the call.

“Every staff member's investigation came back clean,” Flynn said. “I’m sending the reports the investigation team put together to your email now.”

My body relaxed slightly at the news. The investigation that I had done on Flynn didn’t raise any red flags, either.

It was a relief to know for sure that no one on my team was working with Evelyn.

It would have been a slap in the face if someone whom I employed was helping sneak someone into my territory.

But my relief soon turned into worry. Despite ruling out a member of my staff, I still didn’t know who Evelyn was working with.

Was it someone who lived in Sun Fire? That would mean that it would be a member of my pack.

My jaw clenched at the very thought of that.

I couldn’t rule it out, though. Evelyn could have met many people during her time here with whom she had stayed in contact over the years.

As my mind continued to race, my eyes wandered to my absolute favorite sight.

Ivy.

Her auburn hair had a little wave to it today, and she was wearing that damn red lipstick again.

Just looking at those plump lips made my pants tight with desire.

Ivy was dressed in all black, even down to her high heels.

She kept clutching the necklace that I had returned to her last night.

When I looked at her, I couldn’t help but think about last night.

I thought of her sweet lips pressed against mine, our tongues tasting each other, licking her clit as I slid my finger into her warm, tight center.

I wasn’t sure about revealing to her that I had followed her into the woods the night of her twentieth birthday, since her mother hadn’t offered to help her through her first shift.

I had wanted to protect her even then. Even when I thought I hated her, I didn’t. Ivy had always been the one for me. Even when I didn’t know it.

Last night was the best night of my life. We hadn’t simply had sex. What Ivy and I had done had been so much more than that. We’d connected in a way that surpassed our physical bodies. Our souls had connected.

As if she could feel my stare, Ivy glanced my way and our eyes locked together from across the room. My heightened senses heard her little gasp, and it made my mouth dry. The mating bond thrummed between us, urging us to close the distance.

Damian wasn’t sitting beside her anymore, and I used this opportunity to talk to her. I strode across the room, back to her side where I belonged.

“Can we please talk about last night?” I asked her when I sat down.

Ivy let out a sigh, and when her eyes met mine, they were indecisive.

Not a good sign.

“I just need some space to think everything over right now,” she said .

My heart dropped.

“I understand,” I replied, trying to keep the pain out of my voice.

I went to move a seat away from her, but her warm hand on my thigh stopped me.

“You can still sit by me,” she said and the corners of her mouth lifting.

I turned back to her and we shared a smile.

Progress.

But the happiness faded from her face when she looked behind my shoulder. I turned to see who she was looking at. Silas Shepherd was glaring at us with his arms crossed.

I faced Ivy again, and I rolled my eyes. “Ignore him. He knows that our companies are better than his by a long shot. Deep down, he knows he isn’t going to get this account.”

“You’re right,” she said and tore her gaze away from Silas’. “But there is something weirdly familiar about that cold stare of his.”

“Don’t let him intimidate you,” I teased, trying to cheer her up.

She straightened her chin. “That would never happen. I’m not easily intimidated. Especially by men who don’t think I belong in the boardroom.”

I smirked. “I know. That’s one of the many things that I like about you.”

Ivy blushed, and the Fated Mate bond pulsed with need. I folded my hands tightly together so I wouldn’t reach out and touch her.

When Damian came back, the three of us talked through our presentation again. When we were in the middle of it, the young woman who was running the coffee cart in the corner of the room brought three paper cups of coffee on a tray to us.

“Good morning!” she said with a large smile. “This is our cart’s specialty, and someone ordered it for you three.”

Ivy and Damian looked at each other and shrugged, then reached for the cups.

I glanced at the caramel-colored coffee and tilted my head when I saw that the drink was foaming at the top, almost bubbling over the rim of the cup.

That's odd.

A regular coffee didn't usually look like that.

The drink was bubbling like…champagne.

My head spun and a strange feeling of Déjà vu washed over me like a tidal wave.

All of a sudden, I was transported back to seven years ago, to the night of my father’s gala dinner.

Although that night was usually hazy in my memories, this time, a moment from that night came back to me in perfect clarity.

A waiter had come up to me and said that someone had ordered me a glass of champagne.

After that, there was a block in my memories.

As much as I strained my brain, I couldn’t remember anything else from that night.

Trying to recall what happened after that one glass of champagne was like running directly into a brick wall repeatedly.

Pointless.

My mouth dropped open as realization flowed through my mind. It was like someone had turned on a lightbulb inside my head so that I could finally see the truth. I hadn’t gotten blackout drunk that night.

Someone had drugged me!

Evelyn had been there that night…could it have been her? Why would she do that when she thought she had my dad wrapped around her finger at that point?

This entire realization only took a split second in my mind. Ivy and Damian were still reaching for the coffees.

Has someone drugged these coffees, too? Was it the same person using the same poison? Was someone trying to hinder our presentation?

“No!” I hissed and stood up.

Quickly, I explained my theory to Ivy and Damian. He looked confused. But Ivy’s eyes widened with the same realization that was making my head spin.

She had seen me that night. She knew how far gone I’d been. Ivy thought that I was just drunk that night, but I had been drugged.

“Oh my Goddess,” she breathed out. “That makes so much sense.”

I nodded, then spun around to face the young woman from the coffee cart.

“Who put you up to this?” I demanded in my Alpha voice.

Immediately, her face crumpled, and tears formed in her eyes. “I swear, I don’t know! They hired me online. I’m so sorry! I’m just really desperate for money right now!”

I motioned for two of my guards to take her away to the pack prison. I would call Flynn to have her questioned extensively.

With my heart slamming in my chest at that close call, I scanned the lobby, wondering how many enemies we had out there.