Page 143 of Retribution

“That’s not a great way to start a conversation with an alpha so paranoid he has a gate and guards around his property,” Lucas snarls.

“No. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean anything by it,” she says. “Her father wasn’t a good man, but insisted on visitation with her several times a week. I couldn’t stop him because I can’t afford to go to court. Toby was also a biker with a bad reputation and scared me when he was angry.”

Listening to her, my lips purse. This all seems very shady. The people that Isolde did that job for should have been gagged from giving any kind of information. Fear and gratitude apparently aren’t the motivating factors that they once were.

Isolde isn’t going to be happy when we find her. This club is putting our daughter in danger if they told this woman where to find us.

“Please stay here,” Oli murmurs, pulling off his coat and boots. A couple of steps later, he also strips off his shirt.

What the fuck is he doing?

“Lucas?” he asks almost sleepily, walking over to him. “Who is this?”

Oli throws his arm around Lucas and our alpha simply leans against him without question. It’s a testament to how much he’s grown to trust us.

“Some woman who says that she’s looking for her daughter,” Lucas shrugs. He’s laying on the heartless, indifferent shtick on thick.

We care, but we aren’t giving Leila up.

Moving slightly so I can see past them and still remain hidden, I see a woman with blonde hair and grown out black roots standing at the door. Her hair also seems fried from here, and her lips are severely chapped. This woman looks like she’s had a rough life, and her sweater is too thin for this weather as well.

Ask her name, I implore Oli through the bond.

I continue to watch the woman as she begins to get agitated, and she also keeps scratching her arm. Something tells me that she may be a drug user, and her dark pants are not her size either. This isn’t someone who should be in charge of a child’s wellbeing.

Certainly not ours.

And yet, Isolde said that her diaper bag was immaculate so this doesn’t make sense to me.

“You seem to know my name, but I don’t know yours. I’m at a disadvantage,” Lucas says archly.

He sounds like a blue blooded, rich asshole. Appearances are deceiving though because this is what he sounds like when he’s keeping his emotions locked down tightly.

“Stefanie Mitchell,” she says tightly. “They said you had her!”

“I’m unsure who they are,” Oli says easily. “Care to share?”

“I hired private investigators, and they said that the fire where her father lived was set. It wasn’t an accident! I’ve been waiting for them to pull a baby’s body from the building, but it never happened,” she says, shaking. “Charlotte can’t be dead. The investigators are low lives, but one of them showed me the police reports. There were so many people in that fire. It’s so messed up.”

“Fires happen every day, especially in older buildings. I have no idea where this happened, but you should have considered the stability of where you were allowing your child,” Lucas says. “This is a very sad story. I’m sorry for your loss.”

“Bones of a child so small could end up incinerated in a fire,” Oli adds. “You may never have closure.”

“No, no!” Stefanie yells. “There’s a woman who lives here, and she took her. I know she did. There are photos of my baby girl in this town.”

It’s true that Isolde took her on errands before she moved in with us. However, that’s still not proof that the child is one and the same.

“We’re gay,” Oli chuckles, lying well. “There’s not a woman who lives here.”

“They promised that I’d get her back,” she whines.

“Are those track marks that you have?” Lucas asks innocently. “I don’t think you should be caring for anything living. Why don’t you focus on getting clean and lay your dead baby to rest in your mind?”

“She can’t be dead,” Stefanie sniffles. “I need to see!”

She struggles to get around the two of them, actually grappling to break into the house.

“Indiana is a stand your ground state,” Grant growls, stepping into the foyer like the predator that he is. “Please, make my day and let her through.”