Chapter 48

Shock overwhelms me. What am I seeing? Just this morning, he was declaring that he still loved me, and he wanted to fix things with me. Now I see him in bed with a woman who has threatened, hurt, and even tried to kill me.

Betrayal stabs at my gut. How can he do this to me with her?

If it had been any other woman, I don’t think I would feel this way. But Vanessa? It all hits so much harder.

“Lily.” Julian says. My name snaps me out of the state of shock I’m in and I shake my head a little. “This isn’t what it looks like.”

I snap. “How stupid do you think I am? What else could it possibly be?”

He climbs off of Vanessa as though putting distance between him and her now would somehow undo what I’ve just seen.

Vanessa’s hair is mussed, and her lips are swollen. Both of them are sweaty and there is no denying what was happening in this room.

“Stop looking so surprised, Lily.” Vanessa purrs as she stretches out in Julian’s bed, absolutely shameless and looking so smug I don’t think a slap would have wiped it away. “This was inevitable. Only a matter of time.”

“Lily, don’t listen to her. It was just sex, that’s all. It doesn’t mean anything.” Julian says hurriedly.

“Just yesterday, you said you still loved me and wanted things to work out. Now I find you having sex with the woman who has done nothing but threaten and hurt me for weeks?” I yell back, completely forgetting why I came here to begin with. Julian looks panicked, but he quickly gains that expression he gets when he’s about to downplay something he thinks I’m overreacting to.

“She hasn’t hurt you, Lily. She’s been a little rude, but you weren’t hurt. And we aren’t together anymore. I found comfort with someone else, that’s all. I do still love you and I want to fix things.” He says, as though trying to reason with me.

He cannot be serious right now.

I feel Adrian approach behind me. I turn to see him, disappointment written all over his face as he looks at his son.

“Don’t condescend to her.” He says disapprovingly, “You hurt the woman you claim to still love. Own up to it.”

“Don’t you come in here and tell me anything!” Julian’s face contorts with rage. “You have no right!”

“I am your father! I have every right!” Adrian pushes back firmly. “You have insulted me and Lily by bringing this woman into this house. You know how treacherous her family is!”

That seems to bring a sense of humility to Vanessa’s face as she rises from the bed and lowers her head, not at all concerned about her lack of dress.

I guess werewolves don’t have a lot of sense of modesty.

“My family has always been loyal to you, Alpha.” She says, trying to sound confident, but her voice shakes a little. “I’ve always loved Julian, and I only wanted to be with him. My father and brother are loyal as well.”

“That’s enough.” Adrian snarls at her and I flinch a little to see Julian move to stand in front of her. He’s never protected me like that. “You think I’m blind to the ambitions of your family? Your father has schemed against me for years. He knows I know all about it too and still he acts to defy me.”

“Lily,” Julian says softly, “Please, go to your room. I’ll be there in a few minutes, and we can talk about this.”

Vanessa looks vexed behind him, but she’s not nearly as angry as I am. How dare he try to send me from the room and act like this is all just a big misunderstanding.

“I’m not going anywhere!” I exclaim, just as Adrian says, “Don’t give her orders, she isn’t a child.”

Vanessa’s vexation turns to spite, and just like that, I know we’ve made a mistake. We’ve forgotten why we’re here to begin with and just how much power Vanessa holds. We’ve given her the perfect excuse to exercise it.

“This is all a little hypocritical, don’t you think?” She says, snidely and Julian turns to look at her, confused.

“What do you mean?” He asks. There’s no stopping her. She’s about to tell him everything.

“Well, they’re in here chastising us for sleeping together, but they’ve been having an affair for months.” She says, giving us both a look as if to say, “checkmate.”

Julian scoffs. “That’s ridiculous. My girlfriend is not sleeping with my father.”

“I have proof, Julian.” She says with such fake sympathy it’s disgusting. Julian seems to have bought it though.

“I don’t know what you think you have, Vanessa, but I think you’re reading into things. Adrian and Lily aren’t having an affair.” He says it more like he’s trying to convince himself.

I say nothing, and neither does Adrian. It seems like neither of us can do anything as we wait for the inevitable to happen. We can do nothing but watch as Vanessa makes good on her threat.

Blood rushes to my head and my heart pounds. I’m in fear of what Julian will do and the fight that will surely break out. He’ll attack Adrian. I have no doubt in my mind. As soon as he sees those photos, he will try to hurt him. Adrian loves his son too much. He won’t fight back. And I’ll have to watch as they both get hurt.

Panic pins me to the floor. I can’t move. I can’t even breathe. I feel the weight of Adrian’s hand as he places it on my shoulder, and we brace for what comes next.

Vanessa rushes to the dresser against the wall, where a large purse sits. Of course. That’s why the housekeeper couldn’t find them. She was keeping the photos with her.

She grabs the purse and yanks out the folder, face the very picture of smug. “I have the proof, right here.”

She hands the folder to Julian, who takes it, opens it, and frowns.

He looks confused. That’s certainly not a reaction I expected from him.

“You have photos of the party?” He asks, holding up one of the photos. It’s not a surveillance photo. It’s a group photo of Vanessa and her friends at the ceremony.

“Oh, I don’t know how that got there. Look at the rest.” She says hurriedly.

“They are all the same.” He says, flipping through photos. “There are just a few pictures of you and your friends. What am I supposed to be seeing here?”

Vanessa looks flustered now and I feel a small squeeze on my shoulder. The housekeeper must have found the photos after all. Relief washes over me in a wave, even as I struggle to breathe again.

“Vanessa, I think you should leave.” Adrian says, his voice a growl. “I believe you’ve done enough for one day.”

Vanessa starts to tremble as she starts gathering her clothes. The look on her face is incredulous and a little shocked. As though she can’t believe what has happened.

She tries one more time. “I have photos. I’ll find them and bring them to you. They have been having an affair since my birthday party.”

“I don’t know what you saw, Vanessa. But I think you’re mistaken.” Julian answers her in that same condescending tone he used with me.

Dejected, Vanessa leaves, but not before giving me a scathing glare.

“Lily, I’m sorry. Please forgive me.” Julian gives me a pleading look. “I’ve been drinking, and I was just feeling lonely and depressed. The alcohol got to me.”

I sigh heavily. “Julian, your excuses are worse than your condescension. For once, take some responsibility.”

His face contorts in that familiar frustration, but I don’t listen to anything else he has to say as I turn on my heel and storm from the room.