She kissed Finn one last time then whispered, “Goodnight. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“I will be in the room next door. If you need me for any reason just call out and I will come running, “Finn said, pushing her hair behind her ear. “Even if you get cold or lonely.”

The corners of Finn’s lips lifted into a smile. Alex shook her head. “You’re making this so hard for me to watch you go, but I need some alone time. I hope you understand that.”

“I do, remember to lock the door,” Finn said, backing away from the door ending the conversation. She slowly closed the door.

Grabbing her laptop off the table, Alex sat on the bed and pushed the thumb drive into the slot and waited. When a video popped up of her parents, she knew this was going to be bad. Knowing that Finn had superhuman hearing she pulled out her earbuds and clicked the play button.

“Alex, if you are seeing this and something terrible has happened to us you need to get this information to the FBI.” Ross Marsh, her father was doing all the talking. She could tell they were both scared because his voice was shaking.

“Alex, my baby girl. We did something so stupid. Usually we don’t do favors for people, but this one time, Jackson Peters asked if we could help out a friend of his. He said that it would be an easy job for us because his friend only had a virus on his computer from playing games online.

“I thought I recognized the guy’s name but it didn’t dawn on me until it was too late. Once we got into the computer and started looking around for the virus we found a file that had account numbers from a bank in the Cayman Islands. It had millions of dollars but once we looked in the other files, we realized these accounts belonged to the Malton crime family.

“The computer belongs to Dominic ‘The Bull’ Santora and he is embezzling money from the Malton family. Then Dominic showed up and started questioning us, and you know we can’t hide stuff, and I let it slip that we only looked for the virus, but he knew, Alex. He knew we saw that information. So, we copied it just in case. We needed something to bargain with.” Her mother was nodding as she watched her parents give their last testimony.

“The man is crazy, and even though we gave him the computer back, he continued to come to the shop and quiz us. He said there was information on the computer that isn’t there now. We told him the virus must have erased it, but he knows something and we don’t know what to do. We should have told him we couldn’t fix it, but you know how much I love a challenge.”

Alex smiled, at her dad’s comment. That’s what her parents’ company was known for, finding viruses that nobody wanted to deal with. “Take Haine and run and get this information to the cops. Then leave until he’s put in jail. Don’t trust Jackson Peters, either. There was a file about him, too. The man has been taking pay offs for years. Just leave the city, Alex. We left money in the accounts for you. It all goes to you and Haine. Please take care of him. We love you, baby girl, and we’re so proud of you.”

Alex wiped the tears off her face as the video ended. She didn’t have time to cry. She needed to figure out what she was going to do next. After clicking on the file, she found what a bad boy Dominic Santora had been. She bet money that Ramone Malton didn’t have a clue his man was stealing from him. She wondered what he would do to him once he found out?

This was a question she already knew the answer to. Dominic already had police on his payroll. How far up the chain did he have in his pocket? The only choice she had was to go directly to Malton, tell him what Dominic Santora was doing and give him the thumb drive. She didn’t care about the information and she sure as hell didn’t want anything in return except to be left alone.

She was pretty sure Malton would take care of the rest. Everything she had read about him was about bringing his family into the corporate world and he planned to be a multi-billionaire. Malton had set goals for him and his family. He always called it a family but everyone knew he was a mob boss. None of that mattered to her, only that her family was safe.

She was a hacker and knew how to find people’s money and that’s what she was going to do this one time. Find Ramone Malton’s private cell number. She scrolled down farther and found she didn’t have to hack into anything, Dominic Santora kept all kinds of information on this drive.

Alex picked up the phone and walked into the bathroom and turned on the shower then called the cell phone. “Who is this?” the voice demanded.

Alex swallowed hard. “Sir, you don’t know me, but I have some information I think you will be interested in. My parents owned a computer company in Chicago and they worked on a system for an employee of yours. His name is Dominic Santora and he wanted them to get a virus off the computer.

“Well, they found something and it has to do with you. He killed my parents because of it. He’s been embezzling millions of dollars from your accounts. And, sir, before you ask, your account number is 5499990322220, is that one of your accounts? It would be from the Malton Food Binder account.

“Sir, I’m not making this up and if you would do some checking you will see. However, I have the account numbers where he is putting this money. I will hand the thumb drive to you if you will guarantee me and my little brother will be safe from Dominic. He tried to kill me once and if he finds me he will try again.”

“You do realize you are accusing one of my top men of theft and murder? These are very serious charges. What did you say your name was?” She was scared to even tell him her name, but for this to work, she had to.

“My name is Alex Marsh and my parents were Ross and Peggy Marsh. They were killed by Dominic Malton. Please do some checking and then call me back. I’m constantly moving so don’t try to track my phone. I have masked my cell phone location, as well. I will be waiting for a call.” Alex hung up not giving the man a chance to change it. She needed this plan to succeed. Haine needed stability and she was ready to start their life here in New Hope.

Alex tried not to make any noise. Placing her ringer on vibrate, she waited for the call. She ran some bath water hoping that would cover up her conversation and so far, she didn’t hear Finn pounding on her door asking her who she was talking to.

Honestly, she didn’t know what she was going to tell him except to get out, but she had already fallen in love with him and would never hurt his feelings like that.

Thankfully the phone started buzzing. “Hello.”

“So, all you want in return is for you and your brother to be safe?”

“Yes, sir. We want nothing but our lives back. We never wanted to be a part of this, but Dominic plans on taking out my whole family. I’m not going to let that happen. If you will come to my location I will personally give you the thumb drive where you can retrieve all your money and the interest he’s made. He wants this information and is willing to kill us to get it. You will never hear from me again. What do you say, Mr. Malton?”

“Where are you?”

“I will call you back in fifteen minutes and give you the exact location.”

“I don’t like to wait, Ms. Marsh.” This time the Malton crime boss hung up on her. Which was exactly what she thought he would do. Plus, fair was fair. She had heard Quinn talking about some land for sale with an old barn on it. She said it was right out of town near the Dixon pack property and they were thinking of buying it. Everyone would be at work and she could slip out tomorrow. She quickly got on the realtor’s website and got the address.

Alex repeated the address two times and then asked, “Can you get there by ten thirty tomorrow?”

“Yes, I will be there. Don’t even think about double crossing me, Ms. Marsh. I won’t be happy and you don’t want to make me angry.” The phone went dead. Alex started shaking. She turned off the water and put her PJs on then crawled into the bed. This had to work and she had to go alone or she would have to run, leaving everyone she loved. She would have to leave Haine, too. The pack would protect him but she had to draw the men away from everyone in New Hope.

* * *

Finn looked surprised when he opened the door to find Alex waiting for him. Her hair was perfectly placed in a ponytail. She wore little makeup, but it didn’t matter, she was a gorgeous woman. “Well, hello, beautiful.” Alex jumped into his arms and started kissing him hard. The kiss lasted until Finn pulled away. “Wow, now that’s a good morning. Did you sleep okay?”

“Not really,” Alex said frowning.

Finn asked concerned, “Are you okay? Are you sick?”

“Nothing like that.”

Finn tilted his head sideways. “What’s wrong then?”

“You’re not in bed with me.”

Finn pulled her up and hugged her tightly against him. “I was hoping you would say that. I missed you like crazy. I wanted you in my bed.”

“Tonight, but I’m starving, are you hungry?” Alex said, changing the subject. Knowing she was lying to Finn about her plans was eating her up inside, but she wouldn’t let him get hurt.

“I’m a shifter, baby, I can always eat. Come on, let me feed you,” Finn said closing his door.

Alex loved the way Finn smelled. His scent was addictive. He smelled like sweets, like cinnamon buns. The sweet sugary scent of cinnamon along with the bread was making her mouth water just walking next to him.

“Hey, Alex,” Haine said. He sat at the table along with Lucky, Simone, and Bane.

“Hey, buddy.” Alex hugged him tightly against her. She was scared that after today, she would never see him again. If Ramone Malton double crossed her, then she had it setup for the information to be sent to every news station in the United States and to every police department including the FBI. If he even thought about messing with her, she would make his life miserable.

Without missing a beat, Alex hugged Lucky, Simone, and Bane. She rubbed her cheek against the wolves except Bane. She only hugged him not wanting Simone to get mad.

“You’re learning, Alex,” Simone stated. “Once you’re turned and part of the pack, I won’t be jealous of you.”

“Turned?” Haine asked. “Will I get turned, too?” All eyes moved to Haine.

“Not yet, Haine. You’re too young, but Alex is an adult and her mate can turn her,” Finn explained, before Alex could say anything.

“But Lucky is a shifter,” Haine said.

“Yeah, but Lucky was born a shifter. Look, it will happen, but only when you are an adult and you know what to expect and you accept it as an adult, but right now you’re just a kid and it’s against our laws to turn someone as young as you are.” The conversation stopped when a family staying at the B&B came into the dining room. Even Haine stopped talking. She could tell he was mad, but he continued to eat.