Chapter 35

Judy’s POV

I thought Gavin would have taken me home first and then gone home with the others, so I was surprised when he dropped Irene, Matt, and Ethan off at the villa first. As soon as they left the car and shut the door behind them, Beta Taylor rolled up the window separating the backseat from the front seat.

I furrowed my brows and glanced at Gavin who was facing forward and avoiding my eyes.

“Did you make me go out to dinner with you and your family just to rub Ethan’s relationship in my face?” I found myself asking, my tone unwavering.

“You needed to see that they are together and nothing you do is going to break them apart,” Gavin said, his voice void of all emotions.

“And you think I want to break them apart?” I asked. “I don’t want anything to do with Ethan—”

“Good, so it should be easy for you to stay away from him then, right?” He asked, turning his head to face me; his eyes pouring into mine as if he was staring into my soul.

I found myself paralyzed as I stared back at him, almost captivated by him.

“Right,” I answered, my voice coming out breathy.

Before I knew what was happening, Gavin was cupping the back of my head, keeping me still as he lowered himself to eye level. He was so close to me, that I could feel his warm breath brushing across my lips. My eyes tried to flutter shut, but I desperately fought to keep them open, not wanting to give in to the sweet temptation that was clouding my mind. But Gavin Landry made it almost impossible to resist. My heart was hammering so wildly against my ribcage, I thought it was going to beat out of my chest.

“Let’s get one thing straight, Miss Montague,” he said, his voice deep and making my legs weak. “If my daughter gets hurt because of your antics with her fiancé, I will be holding you accountable and I won’t go easy on you. Nothing and nobody is more important than my family.”

“You don’t even like Ethan. So, why do you want her with him so badly?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper. I knew I shouldn’t have asked that question, because it doesn’t make me look good. It almost makes me sound like a homewrecker, but I couldn’t help myself.

Since I’ve been around Gavin and Ethan, it’s clear that Gavin doesn’t like him. I mean, he almost killed him earlier. If I hadn’t reminded him that Irene would be upset if Ethan was hurt, he probably would have killed him. I couldn’t understand why a father would want his daughter to be with someone he couldn’t stand.

As soon as the question left my lips, Gavin’s face darkened, and he released his hold on the back of my head.

“That’s not your concern,” he murmured. “Keep your nose out of other people’s business.”

I stared down at my hands, tugging at my fingers awkwardly.

“You are right; I’m sorry,” I said softly.

The car soon stopped, and I realized we were outside of my house. I unbuckled my seatbelt and peeked over at Gavin; he seemed detached almost. Like he was lost in thought, and I wanted to ask him what was on his mind, but I knew that wasn’t my business either.

“Thank you for the ride, Alpha Landry,” I said as I pushed the door open.

I could feel his eyes on me as I slid out of the car and shut the door behind me. The cold night air wrapped around me, and I shivered; this dress that Irene let me borrow left nose room for wondering what was beneath. There was more skin than fabric and it wasn’t really weather-appropriate. I wrapped my arms around myself and shivered as I made my way to the doorway.

Before I could walk any further, I felt warmth wrapping around my shoulders and my entire body froze. I looked down to see a familiar jacket draped around my body. I slowly turned to see Gavin standing closely behind me; he had taken his coat off and put it around my shoulders. My face warmed as I looked up at him.

“You should have been more prepared for the weather,” he told me, his voice indifferent.

I frowned at him.

“I wasn’t planning on wearing a dress this evening,” I told him. “Especially not one so revealing.”

His eyes gazed down at my body briefly before traveling back up to my eyes.

“Don’t make this a habit,” he muttered and then he turned and started to walk back towards his car.

“A habit? Seriously?” I called after him. “Then maybe don’t force me to go out to a fancy restaurant with you and your family. I didn’t really have much of a choice in my attire.”

He didn’t reply, he got back into the backseat of the car, slamming the door shut behind him. I scowled and marched to my front door. I reached into my bag to grab my set of keys. Unlocking the door, I pushed it open to peer into my dark house, sighing.

I turned back to see that the car was still there; he never drove away until I was securely in the house. It was one of the things I appreciated about Gavin Landry; it made me think that maybe he did care.

As soon as I got inside, the car drove off and I let out the breath I hadn’t known I was holding. My entire body trembled, and I held his coat tightly around me, inhaling deeply.

It smelled just like him.

…..

The next day.

“What are we going to practice today?” Matt asked as we made our way outside. We finished doing his homework and I promised him we would go outside for some extra training.

“I was thinking we could practice defense,” I answered. “I think you need to learn to better protect yourself in case of an emergency. A rogue attack could happen at any time.”

“Our warriors are the best; they would never let any rogues in our borders,” Matt said, his voice filled with pride.

“Maybe so, but you can never be too careful Master Matthew,” I teased.

He smirked but he didn’t argue.

I showed him some of the new moves that I’ve been working on in my own defense classes and he mimicked the moves almost flawlessly. I have to say, I was pretty impressed with his level of expertise.

“Wow,” I said as he blocked my attack for what felt like the hundredth time. “You are really good at this.”

“Defense was one of the things my father taught me,” he explained with a shrug. “He also said I needed to be prepared for anything.”

“Well, he’s a wise man,” I said, grabbing a water bottle from the ice bucket I set out for our training session. I handed Matt a water and then grabbed one for myself.

“He is,” Matt said thoughtfully. “He’s the best when he’s around.”

I gave him a sympathetic look.

“Do you wish he could be around more often?”

He stared down at the water bottle, fiddling mindlessly with the cap.

“It would be nice,” he murmured. “But I get that he’s busy…”

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

“I’m sorry, Matt,” I told him sincerely.

He kept his eyes fixed on the water bottle and I could tell something was weighing on his mind. I wondered if it still had to do with his father, or if it was something else.

“Is there something else wrong?” I asked.

He looked a bit sheepish, and his cheeks turned pink.

“Kind of,” he murmured. “I might have gotten in trouble at school today… and now they want to have a parent-teacher conference.”

“Does Gavin know?” I asked.

Matt shook his head and looked up at me.

“He’ll be so mad if he found out,” Matt said in a hoarse whisper. “I can’t tell him.”

“Well, if you don’t tell him, then what are you going to do? Your teachers are expecting your parent there.”

He nodded and then he took a deep breath.

“I was wondering if maybe you could be my mom for the conference…”

I raised my brows.

“But Matt, I’m not your mom,” I reminded him.

“I know that,” he said quickly. “But you could pretend. Just for the conference!”

“Your father would kill us both if he found out about this,” I said, shaking my head. “I can’t risk my job…”

“You aren’t going to get fired, Judy. You are the first tutor that I actually like. My dad won’t risk losing you,” Matt told me. “Please, Judy. He won’t have to know if we don’t tell him. If he finds out about me getting in trouble, he’ll disown me.”

I smiled at him.

“He would never do that, Matt,” I assured him.

“I can’t lose him…” I saw the panic in his eyes, and I furrowed my brows, wondering where this was coming from. “Please, help me…”

Staring into his pleading and desperate eyes, my heart tugged for the young boy. I sighed and then I finally nodded.

“Okay, I’ll help you, Matt. I’ll pretend to be your mother.”