Chapter 49

Julian follows me from the room, still naked and calling after me.

“Lily, stop. Please! Don’t walk away from me. I want to talk about this!”

“There is nothing to talk about Julian. We broke up and there is no chance of us fixing anything anymore. Leave me alone.”

“You have to forgive me, please let me explain!” He grabs my arm and brings me to a halt. He spins me around and grasps both of my shoulders as though he would shake me again.

“Let me go!” I snap, a little afraid of what he is about to do.

“Let her go, Julian.” A commanding voice behind him orders. The voice of an Alpha. Julian releases my shoulders as though they burned him and takes a step back. Though his face looks pained to do it.

“She needs some space. Perhaps you need to go to the country house for a while.” Adrian continues, still employing that same tone.

Julian scoffs. “I’ll go back to my apartment.”

“You still need monitoring after your concussion. You will go the country house, and the staff will keep an eye on you.” His father says. It’s not a recommendation.

There is something in the way he says it that tells me the concussion isn’t what the staff will be monitoring.

Julian gives me one more mournful look before he turns and goes back to his room, slamming the door.

Adrian and I walk back to his study where I’m surprised to find Susan waiting. She’s holding photos in her hands.

“I wanted to ensure these were received by you alone, sir.” She says in that no-nonsense voice and holds out the familiar damning photographs. My heart leaps.

“How did you know?” I ask, almost not believing what I’m seeing.

“Ida called. She suspected where the photos might be.”

A wave of gratitude washes over me and I have the sudden urge to hug the prickly woman, though I don’t think she would appreciate it.

“How did you manage to get them?” I ask. I doubted Susan would have let Vanessa into the house without telling Adrian that she was there.

A mischievous gleam sparkles in Susan’s eyes as she says simply, “Never underestimate the power of housekeepers conspiring together.”

The laughter that bursts out of me is a little hysterical and both Susan and Adrian give me a concerned look. I’m just so relieved that my anxious tension needs an outlet. Then the laughter turns to tears and I look away from them in embarrassment. Why can’t I ever control my emotions?

Susan excuses herself quietly from the room and Adrian comes to stand in front me. He wraps his arms around me and pulls me into his chest. Comforting me with a tight hug and holding me until the tears start to subside.

“I’m sorry. I’ve caused you so much trouble. You must regret ever meeting me.” I say, sniffling into his shirt.

He releases me just enough to grasp my chin and guide my face up until I’m looking at him.

“I have never regretted anything when it comes to you.” He says firmly. “Not a single moment from the day we met. Not the hotel, not bringing you to this house, and not the other night.”

My heart warms at the intensity and sincerity of his words and I find I can’t regret anything when it comes to him either. It feels like an inevitability, our coming together. As though fate set us on a path to one day belong to each other.

He seems to know this without me having to say it, because in the next moment, his mouth collides with mine in a claiming kiss that leaves me breathless and aching for more.

His tongue sweeps into my mouth, as though he would consume me entirely. I’m drowning in his taste and his scent and there’s nowhere else I would rather be.

He holds me tightly against him and I clutch at his shirt. Keeping him right here with me and never wanting this kiss to end.

It does end though. Adrian’s phone rings from where it sits on his desk and he breaks away from my mouth gently. He gives me one more soft kiss before he releases me to check who is calling.

“I’m sorry.” He says simply.

“I should get back to Grace.” I reply, and leave him to his call.

I head back down to where Grace waits for me after finishing her lesson with her new art teacher.

She’s beaming from ear to ear with excitement and I smile and listen as she chats happily a mile a minute about her lesson and how much she loves it.

We go outside and walk down to her small playground. I send her to play until she rids herself of some of her energy and she takes off toward the swings.

As I watch her, I sit on the steps, lost in my own thoughts.

What does all of this mean for Adrian and I. Where do we go from here?

I’m not so foolish as to believe that we can just be together. He’s an Alpha. The pack will have opinions about their leader forming a romantic relationship with his son’s ex-girlfriend. I would be subjecting myself to every bit of their judgement and ridicule. They already hate me. This certainly won’t help.

I feel a little hopeless. Now that we’ve acknowledged whatever this is between us, I feel like we have to make a decision. And there are problems with each one. Deciding not to be together feels worse than dealing with the repercussions of being together.

I don’t know if I can stay away from Adrian. Not anymore.

I call Erica. Talking to her always helps me clear my head.

I tell her about the blackmail, finding Julian and Vanessa together, and the declarations in the study. She listens patiently. Not interrupting and not asking any questions until I get to the end and lay out the decision I’m struggling with.

“Well, I think it goes without saying that if your ex-boyfriend goes missing, you can assume I’ve hit him with car and buried him in the woods.” She says and I bark out a laugh. Glad for her ability to always break the tension.

“As for what you need to do now, who says you need to do anything?” She continues. “You’re happy and you’ve earned the right to be happy. If you want to be with Adrian, you should be. I’m a little disappointed that you didn’t give me these juicy details to begin with, but I’ll forgive you.”

I give another little laugh even though I’m fighting to hold off more tears. “The pack won’t be happy about it.” I reason.

“Who cares?” Erica says dismissively. “You concern yourself too much with what other people think. If they want to judge, let them judge. You just need to do what’s right for you and forget about what other people say.”

It all sounds so simple when she says it like that. As though I can just turn it all off. But Adrian is the Alpha and I know it’s naïve to believe that he can just do whatever he wants regardless of the opinions of the ones he leads.

No matter how much we don’t want to, he has to take them into consideration.

“I just don’t think it’s that simple.” I say to Erica, feeling just as hopeless as I sound.