Chapter 65
CHARLOTTE’S POV
I spent the whole day with Liam. I took him to the park, hoping it would lift his mood. I still couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that my own son spent the entire day trying to woo me for Ace. He talked nonstop, his little voice filled with excitement as he told me how Ace would show up in his class with gifts for all his friends. By the time night came, I tucked him into bed, kissed his forehead, and went back to the cards and pictures, staring at them like they might suddenly explain everything.
I wanted to hate Ace. I should hate him after all the lies he told me. But my heart refused to listen. In one of the pictures, he was smiling while holding Liam, and the resemblance was impossible to ignore. Same smile, same eyes. When I looked closer, I noticed Ace and Gavin looked alike too, almost like brothers. If they were brothers, why all the hatred? Why would Gavin want me to stand there and watch them hurt each other?
With no answers waiting for me, I headed to the private pool. It had been so long since I’d been in the water. I finished changing into my swimsuit, tying my hair back, when my phone rang. The screen lit up with Les‘
name.
“Finally got a hold of you,” she said.
“We arrived late and I crashed almost the moment we got to the hotel. How are you? Is there a problem at the hospital?”
There was a pause on the line. I heard her exhale slowly and I became slightly worried. “There might be… a little problem.” She drew in a sharp breath. “Ace came to the hospital looking for you. I told him you were out. He left, then came back again. He said he’d been calling and texting you nonstop and you weren’t picking up. He looked so worried, Charlotte. I almost told him where you were.”
“Thank goodness you didn’t,” I said in a steady voice. “I don’t want him anywhere around me or my son.”
She didn’t argue. “He came back again this morning. He looked like he hadn’t slept at all. I tried to brush him off, but he already knew I was lying to him. I was almost shaking with fear at the intensity of his eyes on me. He figured out you blocked his number.”
Yeah. I blocked his number. He wouldn’t stop calling. “Les, I understand how hard it is to keep him away, but please do. Tell him anything, just not the truth.”
“That’s why I called,” she said. “He threatened your secretary, and she told him everything. Including how his wife came to threaten you. Ace almost went feral, then suddenly cold, like something in him shut off.” She went quiet. Only our breathing filled the line. “Why didn’t you tell me Moon came to see you?” she asked softly. “I had to find out at the same time as Ace.”
Guilt sank into me. I hadn’t meant to hide it from her, I was just hurt, and embarrassed.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I didn’t know how to tell you that the wife and Luna of the man I might have feelings for showed up to warn me to stay away from her husband.”
“You were embarrassed?” she asked.
I nodded, then remembered she couldn’t see me. “Yes,” I said. “I felt like a mistress. Hearing her say Ace would
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Chapter 65
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never choose me made me feel small. She showed me her love bite too, the one he gave her the same night he gave me one. He was with both of us, Les. And the worst part is, Moon will always be his choice.”
She pulled in a slow breath. “I’m not defending him,” she breathed softly. “But Ace isn’t an Alpha who lies for no reason. When he speaks, everyone believes it. I don’t understand what he has with his wife, but I know this, he’s different around you. People have noticed it. He has become softer with people, still wild and sharp. He still has that dangerous side, he still scares the hell out of everyone, but with you… he’s not the same man. And I hate him for putting you in this position.”
“Did he say where he was going when he left the hospital? He’s not coming to London is he?”
“No, he didn’t,” she said. “But I know for a fact that he’s looking for you. He might even be in London already, I’m not sure. Still, he won’t be able to find you there, so you don’t have to worry.”
I shook my head even though she couldn’t see me. “He won’t,” I said quietly. “After everything Moon said to me, he might even be relieved that I’m gone and no longer disturbing his life.” I shut my eyes, holding back tears. “I can’t believe he lied to me, Les. He made me believe he was real, that he cared about me and Liam.” I sniffed. “Liam can’t stop talking about him. He planted himself so deep in my son’s life that Liam wants him as a father. You already know that.”
“I hate it when you cry,” she said softly. “It’s his loss. Truly. Any man who messes things up with my best friend deserves sleepless nights, bad moods, and a lifetime of stepping on Lego barefoot. And if he ever shows up again looking confused, I’ll remind him of everything he lost.” A small laugh escaped me before I could stop it.
“I love you,” she added. “Stop breaking your own heart for people who don’t deserve it.”
“I love you too,” I said, and we hung up.
I stepped into the pool, closing my eyes as the cold water wrapped around me. I swam slowly, letting it cool my skin, trying to ease the ache sitting in my chest.
My eyes snapped open when I heard footsteps. I had paid to have the pool to myself without any distractions, no company. I looked up and saw a man standing there, holding out a robe for me.
“Ethan,” I called, relief and excitement rushing through me at the same time when I realized it wasn’t a stranger. I stepped out of the pool, took the robe from him, and slipped it over my body. He picked up the towel from the lounge chair and gently dried my hair, carefully. He was unusually quiet. Ethan that I know would be talking my head off playfully, trying to find out why I was in the pool alone. Anything but the silent look in his eyes.
With the towel still over my head, he pulled me into his arms, wrapping me close, not caring that my wet body soaked into his clothes. I let myself sink into his embrace. I had missed him more than I realized. Before Ace, it had always been the three of us.
He pulled back just slightly, then pressed his lips to my forehead, lingering there before tracing down to the bridge of my nose. I blinked as his mouth ghosted over my eyelids, my cheeks, and the curve of my jaw. His lips moved slowly, teasing and claiming every part of my face, and I felt heat crawl up my neck. My head was clouded, my thoughts scattered all over the place, I didn’t know if I should push him away or let him kiss me. What has gotten into him! He wrapped his arms tighter around my waist, like a possessive boyfriend. He paused just above my lips, his eyes dark and burning with a need I couldn’t name, and I barely had time to catch my breath before a low growl ripped through the air, shaking the building.
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Chapter 65
We both froze, turning toward it, and I saw a pair of fire–spitting eyes staring straight at us, full of rage.
AD
Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.
