Chapter 3

“What the hell is wrong with these assholes?!” Judge Clinton yelled with all his might, slamming his hand across the table in front of him. He was expecting a call from the bastards he had sent to kill Diana, but neither did he get a call nor were they picking his.

It pissed him and made him want to strangle them.

“What’s the problem?” His wife, who had been watching from a distance, asked with worry in her voice.

He raised his head to her, staring long and hard like she was a kind of ghost. “Did I tell you I have a problem?” He snapped at her, and just as she was about to utter another word, he yelled at her. She scurried out of his office never to return.

She should have known better than going to ask him about it, especially when she knew he had such a hot temper.

He picked up his phone from the table and then dialed their number again. There was no response again.

“Damn it!” he cursed, slumping into the chair behind him.

He wouldn’t know what to do if they ended up not killing Diana. She had a shred of evidence against him, and it could mar his dream of becoming the chief justice of Texas.

The TV in his room came on by itself, disrupting the air of silence that had surrounded the room in the last hour. He had set it to come on just at that time but had completely forgotten about it, so when it came on, it came as a surprise to him.

“Three men were found dead in the Forest of Doom just this morning when the department of forest reserve went to carry out some research,” the news read, shocking him to the marrow. At first, he wanted to kick it to the back of his mind as a coincidence, but the pictures were clearer than he thought.

First, the men he sent weren’t picking up his calls, and it was that same forest he had sent them to.

Secondly, there was no report that Diana Wellington was dead, at least that would prove to him that he had nothing to worry about anymore.

He stood to his feet as if he had just sat on a pin with the intention of heading to the morgue to find out if they were the ones, but that would only make the person suspect that he had sent them to that forest. He sat still, sighing softly.

At this stage, he was confused as hell and didn’t know what to do. “I’d have to wait for a few more hours, and if I get no response from them, then I’d presume they are dead,” he said to himself. All he wanted at that moment was to be sure if Diana was alive or not. He gave no damn about the condition of the men he sent to the Forest of Doom.

He was still on his feet when his phone rang. It was the chief justice of the state. His heart began to beat faster than usual. “She must have informed him about it,” he muttered under his breath as he picked up the call.

“Good morning, Mr. Clinton.”

Hearing the voice of the chief justice alone sent shivers down his spine.

“Good morning, sir. How are you doing?” He inquired, trying to make the air light.

“Well, it was fine,” he said and paused awhile. “I’d like you to see me in my chambers on Monday morning.”

“Is anything the problem, sir?”

“Just see me in my office on Monday, then you’d get more details, okay?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good, have a nice weekend, and my regards to your wife and kids,” the chief justice said and hung up before Mr. Clinton had the chance to speak further.

The chief justice had spoken to him over a dozen times on the phone and never once had he treated him in the manner he just did. That action of his only affirmed the fact that he had been refusing to accept.

The fact that Diana had informed him already before he asked his men to go silence her.

***

Diana couldn’t get the thought of that stranger who accosted her out of her head. It made her feel nauseous and ill, especially with the way he spoke to her. And the part where he called her an ingrate got to her.

If he was truly the one that saved her that night, then she was truly an ingrate considering the way she treated him.

“You shouldn’t speak like that. He’s the one at fault here and not you. He bumped into you,” her mind said almost immediately, but she would have none of it. The spirit of guilt had eaten deep into her, and at that moment, all that she wanted was to apologize to him.

“Are you kidding me right now? This guy kissed you without your consent, and you still want to apologize to him?” A voice said sharply, hitting her hard on the chest.

She was still contemplating it when her phone rang. It was the client she was to meet.

“Good morning, sir,” she greeted with a smile.

“Good morning, Diana. Please, can we cancel our appointment this morning? I just got a call, and I have to be in Colorado immediately.”

“Sure, no problems, sir. We can always set up another meeting anytime you wish.”

“All right, thanks so much, Diana,” he muttered and then hung up.

For some reason which she couldn’t explain, she was happy. Probably it was because she wanted to meet with the man who had saved her life the previous night. She had some questions to ask, and only he could answer them.

Her eyes darted around until they fell on him. He was talking to a tall and heavily built man who looked so vicious and unfriendly.

She walked up to him with so much elegance and grace.

“What do you want from me?” he asked with his hands clasped on his waist.

“I need to ask you a few questions!”

“And am I obliged to respond to you?”

“Yes, you are, and you’d give me just the right answer!” She shot at him, taking him by surprise.

“And if I refuse to? What’s gonna happen?” He sounded unperturbed and arrogant, one that infuriated Diana.

“Well, I’d have to report to the police, and then you’d explain to them how you knew I was in danger if you aren’t part of them.”

He was mute for a while.

“You know, I’m starting to like you. The way you speak with so much courage turns me on.”

“The nerve! I don’t think you know who you are dealing with!” she scoffed.

“And neither do you,” he responded, walking slowly toward her. She stood still, staring into his eyes and without fear. She was Diana Wellington, a renowned lawyer, and he was Michael, alpha of the Orange pack. He was also the son of a billionaire.