Deceived: A dragon shifter novella (Alice Novella Serial Book 2) by Maria Dean

Author:Maria Dean [Dean, Maria]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-10-27T16:00:00+00:00

Saturday evening blurred into Sunday morning, which blurred into Monday before Astrid's eyes. She tried to function like a normal human being but couldn't, still drained from everything that happened with her aunt. Nova didn't call her afterward, though Astrid used social media to track her aunt's progress. The woman could NOT stop tweeting.

Nova was safely back in North Carolina, still without telling Astrid why she left. It was a dick move, if you asked Astrid. Especially after her aunt told her that Calypso vanished too. Astrid knew she could've called Nova and tried to reconcile, but she held back. The Gray women were stubborn. If they were going to fight, Astrid would not give in.

Winston and Sally knew something was up when Astrid came in on Monday without a cup of coffee. Sunday brunch had gone well, though they assumed she was just tired and not interested in drinking. But two days without coffee was a shock.

"Do you want me to grab you anything?" Winston offered. "I'm going across the street for some Starbucks."

Astrid shrugged. "I guess," she murmured.

Her office mate sighed. "Astrid, you can't mope all day. Is there something wrong?"

"Just go get me coffee, please," Astrid sighed. She waved Winston off and tried to open her computer and work on a case. She got as far as opening her computer, greeted with her aunt's Facebook profile. Astrid shut the computer and groaned.

Sally walked in just as Astrid face-planted into the desk. "Oh," she squeaked. "I was going to ask you how you were doing, but I guess that's my answer." The receptionist circled Astrid's desk and enveloped her in a hug. "I don't know what's going on, but you're always welcome to tell me if you want. And I swear I won't tell anyone. That's a promise."

Astrid mumbled out something along the lines of a thanks and tried to get up. "I'm just going through the motions," she said as Winston returned with her coffee. "I got into it with my aunt this weekend and she up and left without telling me." She accepted the coffee gratefully. "It's not a big deal. I'm just adjusting."

"If you don't mind me asking, what happened? Normally you cant wait to see the back of her," Winston leaned on the side of her desk.

Astrid sighed, trying to find the right way to explain the situation. It ended in a simple, "It was about my mom."

That was enough for her friends. They knew enough about Astrid's past to understand that she hadn't seen her parents in years. "Let us know if there's anything we can do," Sally said. "Winston can keep Tom out for the rest of the day if you want." Winston shot her a glare at being volunteered for something he didn't sign up for. "Or I could just tell him you're booked all day."

"Who's booked all day?" Tom entered at the worst moment possible. "Oh, man, Astrid you look terrible."

"Thanks, Tom," she grumbled.

He entered her office and shut the door.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.