Free Alpha Ever After (Midnight Liaisons Book 5) by Jessica Sims Page B

.
    The woman I love - the woman carrying my child - is seeing other men. She wants someone else to be the father to our child.
    It should be me.
    With a last, despairing look at the house, I fling my tools into my toolbox and head out. Instead of heading home, though, I take a drive in the opposite direction. Home is filled with Gracie, and Buck, and the rest of the pack. I head someplace else, someplace that I’ve been saving. Someplace that no one knows about but me.
    Twenty minutes later, I open the wrought iron gate and drive down the long, winding gravel driveway. The house is there, just as I left it, and I get out and head for the front door. I have the key on my keyring; it’s my house.
    Or rather, it’s the house I bought hoping I could bring a family into it.
    Since I flip houses, I can see a gem in the rough, and this house came to me not long after that one and only night with Savannah. It was more expensive than my usual purchase, but I didn’t intend to flip this one. A two story farmhouse with fifty acres, I bought it despite the foundation issues and the clear work that needed to be done on the 1970s styled house. Now, months later, I’ve purchased additional land from a neighbor, bringing the total land to 250 acres and the house has been completely revamped. It’s gorgeous inside. I’ve poured buckets of blood, sweat and tears into this place, imagining Savannah in it.
    And she won’t even talk to me.
    I walk through the house, my steps slow, my heart aching. I don’t need to turn the lights on to know that the walls are a delicate blue because she mentioned once that blue was her favorite color. Or the bathroom upstairs has a claw-footed tub since she mentioned she likes taking long, hot baths. Or that there’s a nursery upstairs next to the master bedroom, just waiting for our baby.
    None of it matters.
    I flip the keys in my hand, thoughtful, and then turn and drive back to town.

Chapter 9
    SAVANNAH
    “ W hose keys are these ?” I ask. There’s an unfamiliar keyring on my desk with three keys on it and a small red carabiner and a tag. No name, no nothing but an address written down on the tag itself.
    “Hmm?” Ryder types away at her computer from her desk, barely glancing over at me. “Hey, do you think we should have more practice Q&A sessions for the primordials? I worry they’re not going to be able to handle themselves in public.”
    I hold the keys up to my nose and sniff them, trying to place a scent, but metal doesn’t hold smells all that well, and the only scent I get from it is metal. “We can,” I say absently, then hold up the keys. “These yours? I came in for work and they were on my desk.”
    She finally glances over at me. “What? Nope, not mine.”
    Sara comes out of the back room, no doubt switching movies on the DVD player that sees constant use with the Primordials around. I hold the keys up. “These yours?”
    An uneasy look crosses Sara’s face. “No?”
    “Whose are they?” It’s clear she knows something.
    “Connor left them on your desk. He says it’s yours.”
    A wealth of emotion moves through me. Connor was here…and deliberately avoided me? I’m surprised at how much that hurts. “What’s mine? What do these keys go to?”
    She shrugs. “I don’t know. You should probably talk to him about it.” Sara gestures at the door. “Ramsey’s waiting for me, so I need to go.”
    “Thanks,” I tell her softly and then toss the keys aside on my desk. I’m not sure what to make of the gift. The only thing listed is an address. Connor’s address? I sit down and get to work, determined not to think about the keys.
    Naturally, they’re on my mind all night. I’m distracted as I work the night shift, and even the normal babysitting issues with the Primordials doesn’t take my mind off of Connor and his strange gift. Things are slow on the night shift, and since Marie’s now working for Beau as his assistant, I’m full-time at the agency and