Chapter Twenty Six

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Elaina ~

It was nearly lunch time, but Lainey was already physically and emotionally exhausted. The hike hadn't done her any favors in terms of dehydration so her muscles were a little tense and she was feeling pretty fatigued. She and Caleb decided that a shower and nap was more beneficial to her than a day at the office since they had a dinner to attend in her father's honor that evening.

Walking into the bathroom, Lainey turned on the shower water and slipped her shoes off, ready for the hot steam to warm her chilled skin. She reached down to unlace her shoes and noticed the sides were coated in mud.

Great. I probably tracked mud through the entire house.

Letting out a groan of frustration, Lainey hooked her fingers in the backs of her shoes and headed toward the back door to hose them off.

Her bare feet slapped against the tile floor as she made her way down the hall and out the back door, walking down the steps toward the exterior water hose. Lainey's ears perked when she heard a deep familiar voice from around the corner.

Reaching down for the hose, she let the sweet sound of Caleb's voice float through the air around her. She couldn't quite make out what he was saying, but just the faint sound of his deep voice was comforting - at least it was comforting, up until she heard her name echo from around the corner.

Is he talking about me?

His tone was cold and serious and she thought she might be hearing things as she approached the corner of the house and listened for her name again.

Somethings wrong, he never sounds like that. I hope he's okay.

She held her breath to keep quiet as she leaned closer to the edge of the wall hoping to hear what was upsetting Caleb, but nothing could have prepared her for the words that assaulted her ears.

"Pretending to be romantic with Lainey has given me access to the inner workings of Flores' business. I'm getting a direct line of intel and access to financial records daily. There is strategy to my relationship with Lainey that plays in Alpha teams favor and I would be very interested in an extended stay on this job."

All of the air left Lainey's lungs at once, causing her entire chest to cave and her stomach to drop.

What? What did he just say?

Every word that he had spoken swirled around in her head, making it hard to think or see straight.

Pretending to be romantic with Lainey? Did he say pretending? He definitely said pretending and I...I can't breathe.

Lainey's lungs refused to re-inflate and she covered her mouth with her hand to keep herself quiet before she darted back into the house. She couldn't stand there and listen to any more and her body was screaming at her, urging her to run. 

Her mind started playing Caleb's words on repeat, pumping them down to her heart which rejected them and refused to accept that she had really heard what she heard. His poisonous words were physically affecting her as she felt her heart hammer against her ribs and blood pound in her ears. It was her fight or flight response that was in full effect, screaming at her to run away and find a safe place, to run from the person who was hurting her - to run from Caleb.

This can't be right...He...we were so...I thought we were in...

Oh my God I'm so fucking stupid.

She had too much adrenaline and her vision started to blur as she rushed down the hallway, having to brace herself on the wall before she could make it into her room. Her safe empty room. With trembling hands she was able to lock the door,  immediately dropping to her knees the second she stepped foot inside.

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