Chapter 196

Judy’s POV

“Woah, this mansion is huge!” Sammy cooed as Beta Taylor pulled up to the mansion. On our way, he informed me that Gavin was giving me the night off and he would be arriving at the mansion shortly to get Sammy set up as the new maid.

I wasn’t sure of the kind of background that Sammy grew up in; I had no idea if she ever lived in a large home or if she lived in short homes. But one thing was certain, she’d never lived in a mansion before. I never had either until I came here so I couldn’t blame her for being awestruck by the sight.

Taylor stopped the car outside of the front entrance and he quickly got out to grab Sammy’s luggage which was stored in the trunk.

“Home sweet home,” I told her as I opened the car door.

“I can’t believe you live here,” she breathed. “How did you get so lucky to live in a Landry estate?”

I never actually told Sammy about my relationship with Gavin, though we didn’t really hide it all that well when we were at the resort. I assumed already that she knew about my relationship with him through Nan or something.

“It’s kind of a long story,” I admitted.

“Well, you’ll have to catch me up later,” she told me. “I’m not really used to having friends, but you and Nan have been great to me since the competition and now I finally;/feel like I have a small group I can turn to. I hope you know you can turn to me too.”

My heart melted at her words.

“Yeah, I would like that,” I told her as we walked into the mansion.

Before I could say another word, Gavin walked around the corner, his appearance business-casual and handsome as ever. My heart immediately skips a beat upon seeing him, and he pauses his movements when he sees me. His eyes scan me briefly before they fixate on Sammy.

“Welcome,” he told her. “I have some employment paperwork for you to sign, but for right now, Beta Taylor will show you to your new room.”

Sammy smiled politely at him.

“Thank you for this opportunity, Alpha. I won’t let you down,” she tells him as she follows Taylor towards the maid’s quarters.

“It was nice of you to hire her as your maid, and get her a transfer to my school,” I told him, standing a bit awkwardly in front of him. I wasn’t sure why I felt awkward in front of him, but for some reason, I did. He nodded thoughtfully, his hand reaching out to tuck a strand of fallen hair behind my ear, his fingers lingering around my cheeks for a moment too long before he pulled his hand back.

“She’s a good friend to you and she came to me in need,” he told me. “It was the least I could do.”

“I was going to have a girl's night tonight with Sammy and Nan; would that be okay?”

He raised his brows at my question.

“You don’t need to ask my permission to hang out with your friends.”

I shrug casually.

“But it would mean I can’t hang out with you,” I tell him with a smirk.

He thought about that for a moment and nodded.

“Guess we’ll just have to see each other tomorrow night then,” he said, running his thumb across my jaw.

As soon as we heard the door opening and shutting down the hall, he stepped away from me, giving me a respectful amount of space.

Sammy walks out with Taylor.

Sammy has a bright smile on her face.

“This place is amazing. My room is huge,” she cooed. “I think I’m going to love it here.”

“Glad things are to your liking,” he said with a nod. “Let’s go into the kitchen and discuss the terms of your contract and get these papers signed.”

He held up a folder of papers, a thick stack that made her eyes widen. They were pretty much the same papers that I had to sign when I started working for him as well. Samm went into the kitchen while I called Nan and set up a girl’s night at the mansion.

After about an hour, Gavin and Sammy emerged; Sammy looked more tired than when she went in.

“I’ll leave you girls alone now,” Gavin said, adjusting the papers in his folder. “I’ll see myself out.”

Without another word, Gavin left.

“He’s an intense man,” Sammy said, running her fingers through her hair. “The paperwork was so long and thorough.”

I nodded.

“Yeah, he’s very detailed,” I tell her. “Nan should be here any minute. We are going to have a girl’s night. Chester is making our food as we speak.”

Her eyes lit up.

“I’m excited to have my first girl’s night in this mansion,” she breathed.

Nan arrived shortly after and soon we were gathered in the living room with plates of finger foods, deserts, wine, and blankets. We were dressed in pajamas and giggling about the latest gossip.

“You should have seen the look on my ex’s face when I told him I was leaving,” Sammy said, shaking her head after her second glass of wine. “I thought he was going to start crying.”

“Has he tried calling you?” Nan asked.

Sammy shrugged.

“I blocked his number so who knows.”

We all chuckled.

“What about you, Nan?” I asked her curiously. “How’s you and Chester ever since your first date disaster?”

She smiled, a small blush creeping along her nose and cheeks.

“We’ve been good these last couple of days,” she admitted, nibbling on her lower lip. “He’s been really great… tentative. I haven’t seen him flirting with anyone… I think this could actually work.”

I felt relieved hearing her say that; I knew Chester could man up and get his head out of his ass if he really wanted to.

“I’m glad to hear that,” I tell her, resting my head on her shoulder as I grab another mozzarella stick off the plate. “You two are going to make beautiful food together,” I tease, a little wine tipsy.”

She chuckled, taking another long sip of her wine before pouring another glassful.

“Yeah, I think so too. He wants to help me with my cooking endeavor,” she explains. “Which is awesome. I never had anyone who wanted to help me like that before. But Chester is different. He’s been through all this already, so he knows what needs to be done.”

I nodded.

“He’s your fated mate; he was made for you. Chosen by the Moon Goddess for you… it’s supposed to be a match made in heaven,” Sammy said thoughtfully.

My heart twisted at her words; as much as I wanted to believe that what she was saying was true, part of me didn’t believe in the concept of fated mates anymore. Not since Ethan came into my life and then destroyed my vision of happily ever after. He was my fated mate; the one the moon Goddess had chosen for me. He was supposed to be my match made in my heaven, but it turned out he was just a manipulative asshole who only cared about himself. He wasn’t my perfect match… he was someone I wished I never met.

“I’m surprised you didn’t invite Irene to this girl’s night,” Nan said with a frown.

I thought about inviting her, but I knew she had her own shit to deal with, and plus, our relationship was a little weird right now. I wasn’t sure where we stood with our friendship. We hadn’t really talked since coming back from the competition and I wasn’t sure if the bond we shared while in a different country was even real.

“Maybe next time,” I settled on saying as I took another long sip of my wine before pouring myself another glass.

“So, what’s going on with you and Gavin?” Sammy finally boldly asked, her eyes narrowed at me.

My eyes grew wide at her question as I turned to look at her.

“I’m sorry, what?” I asked her, my breath coming out as a whisper.

Nan laughed.

“Do you mean Sammy has no idea about this?” Nan asked, her brows raised.

“I knew it,” Sammy said, sitting back in her seat with a grin. “So, something is going on between you and Gavin.”

“W…what makes you say that?” I asked a bit awkwardly, expertly avoiding her eyes.

“Well, for starters, y’all were acting weird during the competition and I thought it was kind of obvious. But now… I mean, look at you. You are living in his mansion and the way he was looking at you earlier. It’s even more obvious now. Something is happening here… what is it?”

I nibbled on my lower lip.

“Yeah, maybe there is something. But there’s no label to it,” I admit. “We are just casual…”

“So, anyone could just hook up with him?” Sammy asked, her brows raised. “And you wouldn’t be upset?”

My cheeks flushed at her words.

“He can hook up with whoever he wants,” I told her.

Nan and Sammy exchanged knowing looks.

Soon, the front door opened, turning our attention in that direction. My heart dropped when I saw Harper staggering into the room.

It’s obvious she’s been drinking.

Her things were all still there and though Taylor had packed her things up already, she hadn’t come to collect her things. I’m assuming that’s why she was here, but her being drunk was questionable.

“Harper, what are you doing here at this hour?” I asked, glancing at the clock. It was 11 pm at this point.

She pauses when she sees us sitting on the couch and then her eyes narrow at Nan, a scowl clear on her lips.

“You fucking home-wrecking bitch. You are going to pay for this,” she growled and then before I could react, she was lunging at Nan.