Surrogate for My Brother-in-law - Chapter 25: Chapter 25

I hurried to Leo's room after a quick stop in the kitchens. One good thing about pretending to be Eva: no one dared to question me. I took Leo's lunch and a second portion for myself and the staff just shrugged and let me do it.
Leo looked up in surprise when I entered his office with a tray.
“Eva, how nice to see you,” he said. “What's the occasion?”
“I need an occasion to have lunch with my husband?” I asked with a grin.
“I guess not.” He stood up and held out his arms. “Let me take that, it looks heavy. You shouldn't strain yourself.”
Huh. He never thought it was too heavy for Tessa to carry. I kept that thought off of my face and let him take the tray.
Leo set the tray down on the desk and motioned for me to sit across from him. He passed me my portion of soup and little sandwiches first, and poured me a cup of ginger ale.
“Are you still having trouble with morning sickness?” he asked.
“Sometimes,” I admitted. “It's not so bad by lunch, most days, but the ginger ale helps.”
“I'll remember that,” he promised.
I smirked just a little. Eva hated ginger ale. But other pregnant women swore by it and she had to pretend to like it because she was, after all, pregnant. I'd made sure that all the cooks knew it was the only thing that could help.
She'd probably find some horrible way to pay me back for that little prank. I didn't care. It was funny. And the drink really did help me.
“Where's Tessa, anyway? She's supposed to bring my lunch, she could have carried the tray for you,” Leo said.
I shrugged. “I sent her to the library to help sort books. She was looking a little worn out.”
“Oh. That was kind of you,” Leo said.
He looked just a little uncomfortable. Had he not noticed how exhausted I was?
Lunch was pleasant. Leo remained gentle and caring and kind. I knew it was because he thought I was his wife, but it was nice.
After lunch, I pretended that I had work to do in the library. Leo told me to send “Tessa” up when I got there. I nodded and left.
I switched back to my own clothing and reapplied the scar make up. Then I went back to Leo and hoped he wouldn't have too much more work for me. I was just so tired.
“You like working in the library?” Leo asked me when I was in his office.
I nodded.
“All right. From now on, after you make my lunch, you can spend the afternoons in there. But don't think about slacking off. I'll be asking the archivists about you.”
I was so relieved I wanted to cry. The archivists would expect a lot of work from me, sure, but they would let me sit down while I did it. None of them wanted me shelving books. Not after the Incident when I was twelve.
But I could scan documents and repair damaged books and anything else they needed. And I would be happy to do it.
“Thank you, Alpha,” I said with a bow.
“Sure. Now, if you wouldn't mind taking these notes to Alpha Arthur? It would be a big help.”
“Gladly,” I said, even though my father was one of the last people I wanted to see.
After that, I was still constantly exhausted but I wasn't quite on the edge of fainting anymore. The pup still made its presence known every morning and every time Leo was nearby. But apparently my baby found the library as soothing as I did. The pup stayed calm while I worked there.
Eva and I switched during the day several times over the week. She never told me where she was going or why. I never dared to argue or question her.
She was demanding I spend more and more time with Leo as the days went on. Oddly, she didn't ask for any more nights. Maybe she and Zane had decided it was safer to have their affair in the daytime while Leo was busy.
Leo remained kind and loving towards “his wife Eva” and distant but mostly fair to “Tessa the maid.” Remembering which one I was at any given moment was something of a challenge. I became very skilled at applying and removing the make up scars that separated my identities.
“Do those scars bother you?” Leo asked one day while I was changing his sheets.
“Alpha?” I stopped and turned, bowing.
“The scars on your face. I've seen you touch them sometimes. Do they cause you pain?”
“No, Alpha,” I said. “They pull when I smile, some, but it doesn't hurt.”
“All right. Well, if they do ever trouble you, my friend Ethan runs a hospital nearby. They have skilled doctors there. And I believe a new healer, too.”
“Oh, there's no reason to bother your friend,” I said, trying not to imagine the disaster that would occur if Leo decided to try to have Dr. Angel heal Tessa the maid. How would I pull that one off? “I'm just a half-blood maid. The scar's never been a problem for anyone before.”
“You're still a part of this pack,” Leo said. “We take care of our own. That's what it means to be pack.”
I nodded although inside I was seething just a bit. Maybe a pack was supposed to “take care of their own,” but no one had taken care of me when the Alpha Daughter burned and clawed my face to ribbons. No one had taken care of my mother when she was cast aside for a “proper” Luna. No one had taken care of us when the Rogues attacked.
I shook my anger away. I wasn't mad at Leo. He didn't know. He had stopped the Rogues and he was, in general, kind and fair to me.
“Just keep it in mind,” Leo said.
“I will, Alpha.” I straightened. “If you don't mind, Alpha, there's extra laundry today, because of the rain. And I need to help mop the first floor.”
“You're my personal maid. Why are you cleaning the whole manor?” Leo asked.
“Alpha, with all the mud that tracks in after rain like this, if we don't all help the first floor will resemble a bog. I have to pitch in just like everyone else.”
“All right, that's fair. Well, I guess Eva and I will get our own lunch then, if everyone's going to be busy.”
“Thank you, Alpha.”
Of course that was another day Eva wanted to go out. So after mopping up ankle deep mud all morning, I had to clean myself off, take off my scars, and put on a breezy little maternity top that showed off a baby bump that Eva didn't have. I didn't have one yet, either.
“When are you going to start showing, anyway?” Eva asked, poking me in the belly.
“I'm not sure,” I admitted. “The books say it's different for everyone.”
“Huh. Well, I guess it's easier if you don't show for a while.” Eva shrugged. “Remember, if Leo gets suspicious, you won't get to see your mother.”
“You promised me a picture at least,” I said. “I've been covering for you all week.”
“Yeah, yeah, here,” she held up her phone. I'd hoped for more clues to my mother's location, but the image was zoomed in tightly to her face. She looked pale, but that was all I could make out.
Eva put the phone away. “Could at least thank me,” she muttered as she left the room.
I spent lunch with Leo in the greenhouse behind the manor. Leo had packed us a picnic lunch, complete with blanket and basket and sparkling cider since I couldn't drink. It was incredibly sweet.
“I'm glad you're showing more of your true self during the day,” Leo said as we ate.
I didn't have any idea how to respond to that. Eva's “true self” was an entirely different person. And if he ever realized that, I would never see my mother again. And Leo would likely blame me for the deception anyways, so I might well end up banished or even executed.
I managed a smile as I nibbled the fruit salad he'd brought. “It's because I feel safe with you,” I said.