Chapter 9 Ethan is different

While we wait for the security footage to load, the waitress recounts her transaction with Jane’s lookalike. “She was beautiful, and very friendly. I wish all customers were like her.” She gushes, “She bought a box of cookies and asked if she could use the service exit, because she parked in the side street. The young woman glances back and forth between her manager and me, uncertainty painting her features. “Was that wrong?”

“No, you didn’t do anything wrong.” I assure her, trying to keep my voice gentle even though her decision has actually inconvenienced me greatly. If only she’d said no! The blonde would have been forced to walk out the front, right past me. “Have you ever seen her before?”

Unfortunately the waitress is too young to have been working here when Jane and I were married, but maybe she’s seen her on other occasions. “I’m sorry, no.” She replies. “I think she was from out of town.”

“Why do you say that?” I question sharply.

“Well, she said she loves our pastries but she never gets to eat them anymore because she moved away.” The waitress explains.

“Can you tell me anything else about her?” I implore, keeping my fingers crossed that she’ll remember some small clue to the woman’s identity.

“Well, I can tell you she has money.” She answers, “Her clothes were designer and the perfume she was wearing costs

thousands of dollars.”

I leap at the detail, “What was the perfume brand?”

“La louve.” The young woman flushes, “I’ve been saving up for a bottle for months. I think it was the signature line.”

I breathe, turning my attention to the security tape. We all watch with bated breath, but the grainy footage doesn’t reveal any helpful hints. In addition to the oversized sunglasses obscuring the woman’s features, she kept her face. averted from the cameras

I return home without ordering anything for myself. The mysterious woman stole my appetite completely, and now my only thought is of my one-time bride. When I get back to my penthouse, I head straight for my closet, reaching up to the high shelves above the clothing racks and extracting a worn shoe box. Opening it, I sort through a stack of well-loved photos until I land on a

is the woman

Linda

to find waiting

in surprise, I choke, “Alpha, to what do

Linda.” He greets me coolly. “I came to thank you for

trying to hide my unease. That can’t be the only reason he’s here, I’m only thankful he chose to

shrewdly, “Why

uncomfortably, I say, “You clearly didn’t remember me,

should have

okay.” I flush, desperate for the imposing wolf to stop looking at me like I’m a puzzle he’s

my law firm. “Though I wonder – why did a high price lawyer need a reward for

looking at me much too closely and I wanted you to stop. I think dryly. “You know what they say

my bookshelf.

Oh no, oh no, oh no. “What

another woman found her near Eve’s shop, but

one of our friends. Like Jane, Isabel is a small blonde who moved away for work a few years ago. “She’s in town on business and had to get to a meeting, so she asked me

Ethan nods, looking unconvinced. “It must be hard for you

is doing well. Instead I dab at my eyes, pretending to be caught up in emotion. “She wasn’t the type of person who would want her friends to go on mourning her forever. I know she’d want me

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