The Alpha's King Hidden Mate

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Nadia's pov

“How did it go?” Petra asked, and my heart jumped.

“Gosh, Petra. I wasn't expecting to see you here. What are you doing? Waiting for me to come out?”

She frowned. “I was just walking by.”

I shook my head. “You're strange Petra. This minute your strict and all business, and other times you're really caring and sweet. Well, if you must know, it went well. He asked if the postion is something I was expecting.”

“Good.” She replied. “I just wanted to make sure that you're not leaving anytime soon. I like you and I want you to stay.”

I smiled as she left.

I had every intention of staying so she has nothing to worry about.

But that same day, I began to notice strange things.

The first thing I noticed was the coffee.

I had been drinking the same brand for three years, a medium roast from a corner shop two blocks from my old apartment in Queens because it was cheap, reliable and if did exactly what coffee was supposed to do but when I made a cup from the kitchen's standard supply, i stopped before I finished the first sip.

I could tell the exact origin of the beans even without thinking. The mineral quality of the water used to brew it. The faint trace of the cleaning solution used on the machine the previous evening.

I put the cup down and stood at the counter for a long moment.

"Something wrong with it?" Petra asked from the doorway.

"No," I said. "It tastes different."

She studied me with that closed-door expression of hers. "It is the same brand we've been using for two years."

"I know," I said. "That’s why it is strange."

She looked at me for a little longer and left without another word but she did not look surprised. I decided not to push.

Around noon, Petra was downstairs managing a delivery, and I decided to go upstairs just to check if there was anything left to do. That was when I noticed that the long corridor was dirty.

I grabbed a mop and bucket and began scrubbing the long passage without being asked too. The upper floor was quiet as usual, and I thought that Mr Ashford had gone to the office.

Till I saw it.

The door at the far end of the corridor was opened. Only slightly open with about four inches.

When Petra brought me here during the tour, she told me that the room was a private office which was out of bounds to domestic workers including me. So I decided to ignore it and continue cleaning until I started hearing voices.

I stopped. This corridor is always quiet and I never hear voices. So why am I hearing them today?

I tried to listen and I heard it even more clearly. There were three people in that room who were speaking in low tones. Rushed like they had something important to discuss and no time to discuss it.

I clearly recognized one voice. Dorian. It was unmistakable. But the other two, I couldn't recognize their voices.

I was not trying to hear the conversation. But I could clearly hear the words coming out from that room at the far end of the corridor which made no sense because I shouldnt be hearing voices from such a distance unless I had miraculously gained super powers.

I laughed it off and continued cleaning till I heard territory.

My brain worked. They that word was not used in relation to business, it was relating to something else. Like a piece of land people fought for. Then I heard bloodline, rights, words just kept flooding my ears until something landed like a rock.

Apex carrier.

It wasn't Dorian who said it, and I didn't know what it means. But the person who said it, said it quietly like it was something he was afraid of and that sent a chill down my spine.

I took one step backward and my shoulder brushed a sharp piece.

The room went completely silent.

One of the unfamiliar voices inhaled slowly through his nose, paused then said three words. “She is here.”

I straightened and tiptoed back to my trolley till Dorian's voice sounded from behind me.

"Miss Frost."

I stopped and turned.

He was standing by the office door which was now fully open.

"How much of that did you hear?" he asked.

I held his gaze. "Enough to know it had nothing to do with business."

He did not flinch. He studied me for one careful moment and then said, "Come downstairs."

---

We sat in the formal sitting room that nobody ever used for sitting. Dorian took the chair across the low table and I took the one opposite. A man I had not seen before stood near the window with his arms at his sides.

For a moment nobody spoke.

"I am going to ask you something directly," Dorian said, breaking the silence.

"Alright."

"Have you discussed anything you have heard or seen in this household with anyone outside this place?"

"No," I said. "That is not how I work."

"Not even casually to a friend, by phone call."

"I do not have family," I said, "and the friends I have are not interested in my work. Maybe unless Petra, your staff."

Something that looked close to sympathy moved across his face then he glanced at the man near the window, who gave the smallest nod I had ever seen, before looking back at me.

"You will sign a confidentiality agreement," he said carefully. "What you heard this morning is very sensitive and must never leave this room."

"How sensitive is it?" I asked, trying to make sense of it.

"Very sensitive."

I held his gaze. "And if I do not sign it?"

"Your contract ends today. You will get your full payment for the month, no negative comments on your file and no complications. But you must pack your things immediately and leave." He said smoothly like he didn't mind which one I chose. "It is your choice, Miss Frost. I want that to be clear."

I looked at him for a moment. "You are very calm about this."

"I am always calm," he said with reckless abandon.

"That is not a reassuring thing to say to someone you are asking to sign an expanded legal agreement."

The corner of his mouth curved into a smirk "The rate increases as well," he said. "Considerably."

He slid a folder across the table and i opened it. It was four pages but that didn't stop me from reading it word for word.

The quality of the silence in the room changed and I could feel it without looking up. They didn't expectme to actually read it.

"Take your time," Dorian said, after the second page.

"I intend to," I said, without looking up.

From near the window, the man I did not know made a quiet sound that resembled a laugh.

"She is thorough," he said to Dorian in a low voice.

"I noticed," Dorian said.

I turned to page three and kept reading. By the time I reached the final page, Petra had appeared in the doorway. Then two security men just came through the elevator and the chef, still in his coat, was standing at the edge of the room like he had come in and forgotten to finish walking through the door.

I looked up before I signed.

Every person in the room was watching me like I had ten head.

I looked at Dorian. "Is there something about this that I should know before I sign it?"

"The agreement covers what you need to know," he said.

"That is not what I asked." I shot back.

He held my gaze for a long moment. "This house might be a bit strange, especially for people like you," he said finally. "But what I can tell you is that you are safe here, the work is real, and the rate is what we are asking you to accept on trust."

"That is a considerable amount of trust," I replied, studying his face.

"Yes," he said. "It is."

I looked back down at the page and thought about everything I have expirenced in this house so far. Especially his Dorian Ashford looked at me like he already knew something about me that I did not know about myself.

I picked up the pen.

"I have one condition," I said carefully. Dorian waited.

"If I ask a direct question, I want a direct answer. Not a legal answer, not a managed one. A direct one."

A pause settled over the room.

"Agreed," he said.

I signed my name on the last line and put the pen down.

Every single person in that room watched me sign the document with baited breath and none of them released it yet but I didn't care. I walked out of the room with Petra following closely behind me.

“You are insane.” Petra whispered when she caught up with me.

“I know.” I replied. And I meant it.

I knew I was crazy but I was going to stay through to the end. I had to find out what made this house different from every other place I had worked in.