Chapter 13

Erin’s POV

I pulled myself off him, feeling a wave of shame crossing me. I grabbed my underpants off the ground and slipped them back on, adjusting my skirt and pulling my hair out of my face and into its usual bun.

By the time I finished, I turned back to Gavin. He was already fully dressed and standing. I hadn’t even seen him moving.

He was watching me with concern in his eyes.

I heard what he had said moments ago, but I was trying to play it off like I hadn’t.

“You should go…” I told him, trying to keep my tone even.

“Erin—”

“I’m married, Gavin,” I snapped at him, tears filling my eyes. “Can’t you respect that? Can’t you respect me?”

A flash of hurt went through his eyes and for a moment, I thought he was going to argue with me. But he didn’t.

He sighed.

“I’ll be leaving now,” he said.

Soon, I heard the restaurant being brought back to life. Everyone was resuming what they were doing before time was frozen. The clicking on the clock continued and Kelsey’s shadow grew until she was in view.

She paused when she saw me standing at an empty table; Gavin was already gone.

“There are you,” she said with a worried look. “Is everything okay? I got some complaints from your tables that you haven’t been by to check on them in a while.”

“I’m sorry,” I said, wiping a stray tear off my face. “I had to take a phone call.”

“You have to take a lot of phone calls lately. Are you sure everything is, okay? Your face is red…”

“I’m fine,” I said a little too quickly.

I gave her a forced smile to back up my statement.

“It won’t happen again. I’ll tend to my tables,” I assured her.

She still looked uncertain, but she didn’t say anything more.

I went to the front of the restaurant and resumed my duties. I was getting side eyes from some of the waitresses. One, in particular, was Ella, the waitress that told me Gavin was requesting me.

“What a slut,” Ella whispered to the others. “She would do anything for male attention.”

“Isn’t she married? What would her husband think of her kissing Gavin Pierces’ ass.”

I turned away from them, ignoring their cruel words. I wouldn’t be subjected to such cruel rumors.

Even if they were true.

…

Gavin’s POV

“Are we not eating here?” Seth asked as Gavin returned to the car.

“I’ve had my filling for the evening. I’m ready to go home.”

Seth peered at Gavin from the driver’s seat, a frown on his face.

“I don’t want to hear it, Beta,” Gavin said between his teeth. “As I said, I’m ready to go home.”

“Well, while you were speaking with the waitress, your phone rang so I took the liberty of answering it. It was Susanna. She wishes for you to call her back as soon as you can.”

Gavin sighed; the last person he wanted to speak to at that moment was Susanna, but he didn’t seem to have a choice if he wanted to make sure she was kept happy.

He grabbed his phone and brought her name up.

“Gavin, love. Where have you been? I’ve been trying to call you,” she said with a whine; it was obvious she was pouting.

“I’m sorry, my dear,” Gavin said, keeping his voice low and tender. “I was caught up with something. But I’m here now. Is everything all right?”

“I wanted to see if you’d like to have another meal this evening. Perhaps we can leave off where we left off last night?”

There was no way he would be able to perform for Susanna tonight after what he had just done with Erin.

“I already ate. Plus, I’m far too busy tonight. Perhaps another night?”

“Oh, all right,” she said, sounding disappointed. “Another night then.”

She hung up without another word.

…

Third Person POV

Susanna hung up with Gavin feeling fury rising through her body. He was lying to her; she knew what Gavin sounded like when he lied and plus she had just spoken to Seth a few moments prior. He said that Gavin had nothing planned for the rest of the evening.

She didn’t like feeling lied to by the ones she loved. She had a feeling it had to do with that she-wolf he keeps mentioning, Erin.

Who was this bitch? Why did she keep getting in the way of her love?

She had already sent her assistant, Catalina, to watch his every move. Catalina had just returned to Susanna’s studio with news on where Gavin really was, this evening.

“He was at a restaurant. It looked like a casual meal, though the restaurant was odd for his liking. It’s a very low-rating restaurant.”

“What would Gavin be doing at a low-rating restaurant?” Susanna asked, curiosity piquing her interest.

“Perhaps it has to do with one of the waitresses there,” Catalina answered. “He always requests the same waitress whenever he goes there. Her name is Erin.”

Erin.

There’s that name again.

So, she’s a waitress at this low-rating restaurant? Is he messing around with her behind Susanna’s back?

“However, this waitress seems to act coldly toward him. It looks as if he gets amusement out of getting a rise out of her.”

“Is that so?” Susanna asks, pressing her lips firmly together. “Do we know anything more about her?”

“I haven’t looked too much into her, I’m afraid. I don’t believe he’s having an affair though.”

“I see,” Susanna replied, tapping her long, manicured, fingers on her desk. She wasn’t liking this at all. Whomever this Erin girl was, it was obvious there was more about her than meets the eye. It was obvious that Gavin knew more about her than he was telling Susanna.

“I want you to find out everything you can about this girl, Erin.”

“Yes, mam.”

Catalina turned and left Susanna’s studio.

She gazed out the window; her office overlooked the entire city. it was beautiful at night and lifelike. The city never slept, much like Susanna.

She took in a deep breath and strolled to the far side of her studio where one of her many canvases sat. One of her models was a handsome man that she had painted recently in her new men’s underwear line.

Painting was something she enjoyed doing on the side; she always said she can capture the true beauty of her models on her canvas.

She grabbed the canvas, took it off the stand, and held it up so she can see it better. She smiled, pleased with her work as she turned around and began toward her desk.

Only her foot snagged one of the open paint cans on the ground and she tripped, tossing her painting to the ground in a last effort to protect herself from hitting the ground too hard. By the time she recovered, she gasped as she saw that the paint can have tipped over and the colors were running across her canvas, ruining her painting.

Her face grew warm with fury, and she clenched her fists.

If she hadn’t been so distracted by that she-wolf, she would have been more careful and not ruined her painting.

This was all Erin’s fault.

She wanted to show Erin that Gavin was hers and only hers.

She stomped back to her desk, opened one of her drawers, and uncovered a large diamond ring that Gavin had been keeping hidden in his nightstand. A ring that he was planning on proposing to her with but has yet to do so.

She grabbed her cell phone and called her dear friend that works for the media.

“I want to have a press conference, immediately,” she said into the phone. “It’s time I finally announced my engagement to Alpha Gavin.”