Chapter 26

Gavin’s POV

“I picked up the pink gems you requested,” Beta Taylor said as I walked into the villa. He held out a long black case to me and I took it without hesitation. I opened it and smiled at the pretty string of pink gems. This would look great on the mirror in Irene’s new car. She was going to love this.

I glanced at the clock and saw that it was turning into late evening. I was home earlier than usual; even Adam took notice of my presence, but he wouldn’t dare ask me about it since I ordered that he doesn’t speak in my presence until I say otherwise.

Irene was most likely out with Ethan at this hour and Matt was probably finishing up with his tutoring session.

“Was there anything else you needed before I head home?” Taylor asked, glancing at his wristwatch.

“No, have a good night,” I said to my long-time friend and Beta.

Taylor grinned as he turned towards the door.

“Yeah, you too,” he said, his tone suggestive. I rolled my eyes and watched as he left the villa.

Shaking my head, I turned towards the stairway and took the stairs two at a time. There was no use in waiting for Irene to show up because if she was with Ethan, she probably wouldn’t be returning tonight. She’s been spending most of her nights at Ethan’s house; sometimes he stays the night here and I pretend that I don’t know about it.

I walked to her room, and I grabbed the doorknob; I’ll put this gift on her pillow for when she returns. She wanted something special for her new car and I got her the perfect thing. I couldn’t wait for her to see this gift, but for now, I would have to be a little patient.

I pushed the door open and that’s when the strong scent of lavender and vanilla hit my senses. I completely froze when my eyes found a very startled Judy staring back at me. Then, my eyes lowered, and I was greeted with two very bodacious sets of breasts that made my wolf immediately growl with need.

Her gasp and shriek hadn’t broken me out of my trance just yet, but when she used a shirt to cover her body, I blinked a few times and lifted my gaze to meet hers.

“What the hell are you doing in my daughter’s room?” I asked her, my voice coming out harder than I meant it.

She wasn’t supposed to be on the second floor where our personal bedrooms and bathrooms were. That was one of the rules we instated when she started working as Matt’s tutor.

“Do you always barge into your daughters' room without knocking?” She countered, her voice not wavering.

My eyes darkened as I glared at her and just when I was about to answer, Irene poked her head out from around me and frowned at me.

“Dad?” She asked. “Why are you home so early?”

I glared at her; my eyes narrowed.

“Why are you home at all?” I asked her. “I thought you’d be out with Ethan.”

She shrugged.

“He had a meeting today and I had some time to kill. So, I hung out with Judy.”

“You… hung out… with Judy?” I asked her slowly, enunciating each word carefully so I could be sure I heard her correctly.

She smiled at me and nodded.

“Matt likes her, and I had to admit that I was curious about her,” she told me. “So, yes. We were hanging out.”

“This is fun and all, but do you think I can get some privacy?” Judy asked, turning her back towards us so we were no longer in view of her incredibly full breasts.

“Oh, Goddess!” Irene gasped, finally noticing that Judy was completely shirtless and braless.

Why the hell was she braless?

“Dad, were you spying on Judy while she was getting dressed?” Irene asked, swatting at my arm but yelping in pain when her hand connected with pure muscle. “Ouch!”

“I wasn’t spying on her,” I said through my teeth.

Judy pulled the shirt on and turned to face us. The shirt had a deep V cut that left no mystery of what lay underneath; it was also short and rested just under her belly button. The skirt she wore matched in color and rested at her hips, hugging her every curve perfectly. I recognized the outfit as Irene’s because she had worn it in the past.

Irene was Judy’s age, so her clothes were youthful. It made Judy look even more youthful as she wore her clothing. Her legs were slender and smooth; my fingers twitched, wanting to touch them.

“Then what exactly were you doing in my room?” Irene asked, raising an eyebrow at me.

I lifted the black box for her to see.

“I was leaving this on your bed. I got it for your new car,” I told her, handing her the box.

She opened it with eagerness and when she saw the pink gems inside, she gasped loudly, her eyes lighting up with excitement and a large smile spreading across her glossy lips.

“Oh, Dad!” She gasped as she wrapped her arms around me, hugging me tightly. “I love it! Thank you so much.”

She pulled away from me and ran over to Judy to show her what I got her.

“I’ve been wanting something special for the inside of my car; this would look so cute on my mirror. Don’t you think?” She asked Judy as she showed her the gems.

“That was my thought,” I agreed.

Judy glanced at the gems and gave Irene a small smile; it was forced, but I was surprised that Judy was actually trying to get along with her considering Irene was marrying her fated mate. My wolf let out a huff at my thoughts and I shook him away.

“It’s really pretty,” Judy finally said after a beat of silence. “It’ll look nice.”

Irene bounced excitedly.

“I’m going to put them in my car right now. Come meet me before you leave!” She said and then she hurried out of her bedroom, leaving me alone with Judy. I looked at Judy and stared, once again, at her outfit with a deep frown.

“I thought we had an agreement about your clothes?” I told her harshly.

Her face blanched and she swallowed the lump in her throat.

“I had a bit of an accident with my clothes,” she told me, shrugging like it was no big deal.

“What kind of accident?” I asked her, my tone deepening. I told myself that I only cared because if there was an accident on my property, with my employees, I needed to know about it.

She bit her bottom lip.

“During my sparring with Matt, I tore my shirt,” she told me.

She wouldn’t look at me, which led me to believe there was more to the story, and if I knew Matt, I would bet that he had something to do with her torn shirt. It was clear she was trying to cover up for him though and I wasn’t going to press her any further.

“Irene was kind enough to let me borrow her clothes,” Judy finished. “But I won’t stay. I should get going.”

I remained unmoved as she neared me to get to the door, her arm brushing across mine gently, causing my heart to skip a beat. I furrowed my brows at the feeling, not understanding what it meant. Judy paused and I wondered if she felt something too. Her gaze lifted and met mine and for a moment, it felt as if time had stopped completely, and we were the only two in the entire world.

“I’ll see you later,” she said, her voice coming out breathily.

I managed to nod and watched as she hurried out of the room. My cock twitched in my pants and silently cursed myself for letting this woman get to me like this. My wolf was stirring around with the need for her, and I quickly silenced him, blocking him from my mind.

Shaking my head, I left the room and walked down the stairs, Judy was a distance ahead of me, not bothering to look back. She paused at the doorway when she saw Irene walking into the house, a frown on her lips.

“Is everything okay?” I asked her as I reached the bottom step.

“Yes, I guess so,” Irene said softly. “The gems look amazing in the car. I took some pictures to send to Ethan and then I called him. He told me he was going to be busy the rest of the night and I won’t see him until tomorrow.”

I saw Judy tensing at the mention of Ethan, and I had to stifle a scowl in her direction.

Matt walked in from the living room and when he saw Judy, his face lit up.

“Can we finish our lessons?” He asked her, completely ignoring the rest of our presence.

Judy gave him a small smile.

“I’m actually going to head home,” she told him gently. “But I’ll be here tomorrow.”

Matt’s face fell and my heart tugged for him; he truly was a lonely kid. Judy might have been right when she said he craved connection.

“But we didn’t get to finish,” he pouted.

She put a hand on his shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze.

“I promise, we will practice longer tomorrow,” she assured him.

He looked like he wanted to protest, but I intervened.

“What I’m hearing is both my kids are home tonight?” I asked, looking at both Irene and Matt. “How about I have the maids cook us a special meal? We haven’t had a family dinner in a long time.”

Irene seemed to have perked up from that, as did Matt.

“That’s a great idea,” she said, giving me a side hug.

“I’m in,” Matt said happily. “But only if Judy joins us!”