Page 15 of The Bookseller and the Alpha (Witch Twins #1)

Calypso

An hour later Sam and I had arrived in my apartment, after a brief stop at the supermarket for supplies and Sam was helping me cook.

“Do you really think the intruder could be planning another attack?” I chopped capsicums and mushrooms while Sam stirred the onion and garlic frying in the pan, filling the kitchen with a heavenly scent. My stomach rumbled. The salad at lunch had not been enough.

“Maybe,” he said. “There’s a reason Electra asked Luc for help. Do you have any angry exes? Could this be personal? A stalker?”

I shrugged, trying to act as if it didn’t bother me that no-one cared enough to be jealous. “Don’t think so. My last date only went out with me because I looked like his ex-wife who he then got back with and the boyfriend before him ditched me for someone else, and they moved out of town.”

Sam winced. “Jealous lover doesn’t really sound like our problem then.” He thought for a moment. “Any business partners?”

“Nope. The business debts are all mine.”

Sam looked up from the pan, his eyes surprisingly intent. “Are you in financial trouble?”

“No. I didn’t mean it that way. I’m solvent if that’s what you’re asking. The landlord and my suppliers get their money every month.”

Grabbing the chopping board, I moved to Sam’s side at the stove.

He took a small step sideways to give me more room.

It was… nice. It had been so long since I’d had someone else in my kitchen that I’d forgotten how good it was to have human companionship…

even if it was that person’s job to be there.

We continued to work together in silence while I transferred the diced vegetables into the pan and stirred them vigorously.

Without being asked, Sam turned away and hunted in my cupboards for bowls for the pasta and cutlery, putting them ready on the counter.

Sam was an all-round nice guy. I frowned as I remembered how Luc had treated Sam in my shop today.

“How long have you worked for Mr Tall, Dark and Growly?”

“About six months.”

“Do you like your job?”

“Yeah. I like the variety of the work, and Luc is a good mentor.”

Huh. At least someone likes him. “Doesn’t the Alpha behaviour get to you?

He was really rude.” I had been trying to not overhear the conversation that had been carried on with lots of intense whispers, and most of it had been inaudible, but the deep voiced demand, “You don’t fucking touch her,” had come across loud and clear.

As well as the demand that Sam protect me with his life.

Luc had been way out of line. Although I hadn’t known Sam for long, I could tell that he was gentle and shy. He wasn’t the sort of guy to hit on me while guarding me, and I was probably about ten years too old for him. Luc’s behaviour was bullying; plain and simple.

“Er.”

Glancing at Sam I saw a slight flush on his cheeks. “What?”

Sam looked away, thinking. “He’s not normally like that,” he said eventually, still looking uncomfortable.

“So, he’s only a dickhead some of the time?” I added the beef to the sauteed vegetables.

“No,” said Sam. “He isn’t a dickhead.”

I didn’t know why he was still defending his boss. “He shouldn’t talk to you the way he did.”

Sam chewed his lip, looking suddenly younger and less confident. The water was ready for the pasta. I gave Sam a couple of minutes while I added the spaghetti to the pot.

“Luc is an Alpha. A very strong one.” I nodded to show I understood. “They can get very… protective.”

“Sure, I understand that.” I concentrated on stirring the sauce.

I didn’t want to think about Luc as a protector.

It was easier to be angry when I thought of him as a bully.

“I know that Shifters, and Alphas in particular, are protective of their mates and young. But I’m not a Shifter, nor am I mated to one. ”

Sam was silent for so long that I thought he wasn’t going to reply. When he did, he wouldn’t meet my eyes. “Some Alphas, their protective instincts get… fired up... I suppose you’d say, at the thought of any form of violence to women.”

Huh. That was something I hadn’t known. The anger in my chest was fading.

I grasped at the dying embers, trying to keep my anger alive.

If I didn’t like him, I could ignore my attraction to him.

Luc might be protective of women, but he’d bullied Sam.

I leaned back against the counter, crossing my arms over my chest. “He was out of line, though. To you.”

“No, he wasn’t,” Sam said. This time he made sure to meet me eyes and I was sure that he really meant it. “By Shifter standards, what he said was absolutely right.”

Well fuck. Sam had taken away all my ammunition.

Luc was sex on a stick. Since the moment he’d entered my shop this morning I’d been thrown off kilter.

He flustered me and made me want things I couldn’t have.

I wanted to believe that he was an arrogant bully and not a hot, protective, sexy-as-all-hell Alpha.

“Well, I think it was unnecessary,” I mumbled, turning back to the stove, hoping that he wouldn’t see how my face had heated at the thought of that protectiveness being directed towards me.

“Really, this whole thing is unnecessary.”

Yes, it was unnecessary and part of me loved it.

To have one person, other than my sister, who cared about my safety.

To worry about me going home alone to an apartment that wasn’t in the best part of town.

Maybe I should have gone to therapy about my issues with my parents.

With my free hand I waved dramatically. “I hear what you’re saying.

But it’s not very professional if he flies off the handle every time a woman is involved.

I’m sure it’s understandable when he finds a mate, but he needs to dial the alpha-ness down a bit. ”

Sam made a strangled sort of sound and I looked across at him in surprise.

“Sorry, choked on my water. Luc already apologised.” He gave me a smile. “It’s all good. Don’t worry about it.”

The conversation stalled until after I’d served the meal and we were sitting at my small dining table. Pompy looked up from her bed, watching in case anything fell on the floor. Her nose twitched and Sam laughed. “You and me, sister,” he said. “I’m ravenous.”

We both ate in silence for several minutes. “So, no nasty ex-boyfriends, no money trouble. That rules out the most common reasons. And you said nothing was stolen?”

It was clear Sam didn’t want to talk about Luc anymore.

I didn’t want to make him any more uncomfortable than I already had.

I grabbed the conversational lifeline. “None of the valuable books at least. If something else was taken it will take me weeks, maybe months before I know. I’d have to do a thorough stocktake to be sure.

” I twirled my fork in my pasta. “Theft just doesn’t seem right.

None of the other books are valuable enough to be worth the trouble, and if a student can’t pay for an expensive text up-front I’m usually able to work out a payment plan.

Honestly, they could probably read any book they wanted just by coming to the shop a couple of times and reading it in store. ”

I finished my food and sat back in the chair. My phone pinged with a text. I picked it up. And froze.

Unknown: Where is it bitch? Hand it over or you’ll be sorry.

What the fuck? And then I remembered. The weird phone call this morning.

“What?” Sam’s voice was tense. He must have seen how my body went rigid.

I stood, my chair clattering to the floor behind me. “This morning! I had a call. I forgot completely because they only left a creepy mouth-breather message. And now I got this text.” I showed him my phone.

“I need your phone.” His voice authoritative, Sam now projected stern protector vibes rather than his earlier golden retriever energy. I handed him my phone. He scrolled to my call history, pulling out his own phone to make a call.

Quietly, I cleaned up from dinner while he talked on the line. He kept me in his line of sight the whole time. He was taking his bodyguard duties seriously.

I didn’t understand it. As I’d told Sam, I had nothing that anyone would want that badly that they had to break into my store to get.

And if they had been after one of the more valuable texts that I kept locked up on the top floor, why did they throw all the books off the shelves?

I had thought that someone was playing a prank.

But the call and now the text suggested a more sinister motive. I rubbed my arms, suddenly cold.

Sam covered the phone, turning to me. “It was probably a burner phone, but we’ll see what we can find.”

I nodded, slumping against the counter. I was done.

Normally after dinner I’d read on my couch for a couple of hours, but I was drained.

Everything was heavy and my head was starting to spin.

I needed my bed. My eyes turned to the couch and I groaned internally.

I needed to get Sam set up. My couch really was too small for him.

I hauled myself back upright. Sam, phone up to his ear, mouthed “Where?” to me as I stood. My linen closet was in the corridor which led to the bathroom/laundry and my bedroom. I pointed in that direction, miming laying a blanket on the floor, and then a person sleeping.

He nodded and waved for me to go ahead, swivelling his own body so that he could keep me in view. When the call ended, Sam put his phone back in his pocket, his face thoughtful. “Need any help?” he asked.

“It’s done,” I said. I’d inflated the air mattress with a foot pump and the makeshift bed looked comfy enough.

The old red sleeping bag had been in the cupboard for years, but I knew it was long enough for his tall legs, and the mattress would stop the chill from the floor.

“Sorry, this is the best I could do at short notice.”

“It looks just fine.” He gave an approving nod.

“You even positioned it so I can see down the corridor.” After a pause, he added, “I’m sorry, but I need to check your room.

I know it’s a bit awkward, having a virtual stranger wander through your private space, but I promise not to be creepy about it.

” The smile he gave me was crooked and a bit sheepish.

“Knock yourself out.” I hadn’t made the bed this morning, but the floor was free of dirty clothes.

He was in and out in two minutes. “All clear,” he said.

Curious, I asked, “What were you looking for?”

“Ways for an intruder to access the room. If the walls had been covered in vines or trellis, for example, it would be easy for someone to climb up. Seeing as we’re on the third floor it’s not too likely but I had to check.”

“Finally, a reason to be grateful for my boring apartment block,” I joked. “And my little balcony?” I pointed towards the tiny balcony that attached to my living area, even though we couldn’t currently see it. We’d closed the drapes to keep the warmth in.

“I checked it earlier,” Sam said. His face shifted, and suddenly he looked older, grimmer.

I wanted the joking young man back. “I won’t lie to you.

It’s possible that someone could use the balconies on each floor to make their way up, but they’ll have to get through me first.” My stomach twisted.

He was putting himself on the line for me. I wanted to cry. It wasn’t fair.

“I’ll give you some privacy to get changed, but you’ll need to keep the bedroom door open tonight.”

I shrugged, letting him know that was fine.

I crawled into bed gratefully, but despite the exhaustion that dragged at my limbs, sleep took a long time to come.

After the stress of the day and the weirdness of having someone watching over me, I was wound tight.

Pompy was curled up against the back of my knees, snoring gently.

I counted sheep for about the tenth time and sighed.

Sam’s voice came down the corridor. “You’re safe,” he said. “Relax.”

Surprisingly, I did, and fell asleep.