Chapter 48

Judy’s POV

I was momentarily stunned by his words. Did he really think I was so cruel and conniving that I would purposely hurt someone to get what I wanted? The only thing I wanted was to work hard and pay off my father’s debt, I wasn’t looking for anything and I certainly didn’t want to hurt anyone. Ethan was doing enough of that for the both of us.

I didn’t have to stand here and let him ridicule me though; I was fed up with being looked down on. I pulled my arm out of his grip and glared up at Gavin, my rage evident in my eyes.

“I don’t want to hurt anyone,” I told him. “I’m capable of hanging out with your daughter and being friends with her without any alternative motives, Alpha Gavin. If you have a problem with me being friends with her, then perhaps you should speak to her about it. She was the one who invited me out after all.”

I didn’t bother to stick around and listen to his response. I turned and quickly hurried up the stairs and after Irene. Though, I could feel Gavin’s eyes burning in a hole in the back of my head. I wondered what he was thinking at that moment or if he believed me.

I walked into Irene’s bedroom; she was busy throwing together an outfit for me. She smiled when she saw me at the doorway.

“Did father upset you?” She asked after a quick assessment of my face.

“No,” I lied. “He was just talking to me about Matt’s studies.”

She nodded thoughtfully as she went back to picking out an outfit.

“Here, put this on,” she said, handing me a white crop top and a pair of Capri jeans. I took them and went into her bathroom. The clothing fit a bit tighter than it would have fit her because she’s smaller than me, but it wasn’t uncomfortable, and they were honestly cute. I slid my shoes back onto my feet and brushed out my hair, taking it out of tight restraints. I splashed some cold and sprayed some body spray on myself to make myself smell better. Once satisfied, I left the bathroom to meet with Irene.

She smiled widely at me when she saw my appearance.

“You look amazing,” she breathed. “You can just put your dirty clothes in my hamper. The maids will clean it later.”

I hesitated, but I eventually did what she said and put the dirty clothes in her hamper near her closet.

Irene draped an arm through mine and gave me another wide smile.

“Come on,” she said, motioning for me to follow her.

I followed after her; we went down the stairs and I saw that Gavin was speaking to his driver, Leroy, at the front door. Irene frowned and folded her arms across her chest.

“What are you doing?” She asked, narrowing her eyes at her father.

“Leroy is going to take you girls into the city,” he answered.

“I was planning on driving my new car,” Irene said with a pout.

“I’m not arguing about this,” Gavin growled, clearly not in the mood.

I wondered if he was angry because of our conversation. I decided against pressing him and turned to look at a fuming Irene. It was obvious she did not want Leroy to be driving us, but it also seemed as if she didn’t really have a choice.

After a moment, she relented and followed Leroy outside. I only hesitated a moment, glancing back at Gavin who was watching me. His expression was indifferent and making a nervous pit form in the middle of my stomach. Without a word to him, I turned and followed Irene and Leroy outside.

We both got into the backseat while Leroy got into the driver’s seat.

“Leroy, roll up the window,” Irene ordered, her tone hard.

Leroy glanced at us briefly from the rearview mirror before he pressed the button that rolled up the window separating the backseat from the front seat, giving Irene and me privacy. Irene let out a breath of air I’m sure she’s been holding.

“Everything okay?” I finally asked after we remained silent for most of the drive.

She glanced at me, and I could see the turmoil in her eyes.

“I just wanted to get away,” she murmured. “Away from everything and everyone, but that makes it hard when my father enlists his men to watch over me like a hawk.”

“It’s just Leroy,” I told her. “He’s barely watching you.”

She rolled her eyes.

“If you think it’s only Leroy, then you are deranged. Look behind us,” she muttered.

I glanced over my shoulder at the car driving behind us. I raised my brows when I recognized the driver. He was one of the guards I’ve seen around the Silver Crescent pack. His passenger was also a guard.

“Are those Gammas?” I asked in awe.

She sighed.

“Yes,” she muttered. “He never lets me go anywhere by myself. I’m always being watched. I was hoping since I’m with you, things would be different.”

“Is that why you wanted me to come along with you?” I asked, feeling kind of dejected. Here I was thinking she wanted a friend, but she just wanted to get out without being followed by her father’s warriors.

She glanced at me with a frown.

“No,” she told me, her tone softening. “Honestly, I wanted to hang out with you, because I wanted to talk. I needed someone to talk to and I need to reassure myself that it’s all in my head.”

“What’s on your mind?” I asked her.

She bit her lower lip and stared at her hands.

“Not here,” she finally said after a brief silence. “Let’s just enjoy the evening first. We can talk when we grab dinner.”

I stare at her for a moment longer before relenting. If she didn’t want to talk right now, then we weren’t going to talk right now. She wanted to take her mind off things and ease her discomfort.

30 minutes later, we arrived in the busy city. Leroy parked the car in front of one of the department stores. He didn’t get out with us as I expected him to, but the guards in the car behind us did get out after they parked. They were wearing casual clothing, but their weapons were clearly hidden beneath their outfits. They were also trying to not make it obvious that they were following us.

I appreciated the effort, but I doubted that mattered to Irene. She was still upset that they were there.

“Let’s go into this store,” she said, pointing at one of the high-end boutiques. I’ve only ever walked by this store in the past. Even when my family had money, I never dared walk in here. I wasn’t surprised that this was the first store that Irene wanted to check out though and I wasn’t going to argue with her, so I quickly followed her into the boutique.

“Pick out anything you’d like,” she told me from over her shoulder. “It’s on me.”

“You really don’t have to buy me anything,” I told her, but she was already around the corner and disappeared in a rack of designer clothing.

I sighed and glanced around at all the beautiful outfits and dresses. These were all too fancy for my taste. I slowly made my way around the boutique, wondering what it must be like for Irene who could come here whenever she wanted and buy whatever she wanted. It must be nice to live like that and never worry about money. Being a Landry, she never had to work a day in her life. Everything would always be handed to her.

I walked by the jewelry counter and noticed all the gorgeous designs on display. One in particular caught my eye; it was a necklace with a ruby pendant and a pure cold chain. There were clusters of diamonds around the ruby that made it sparkle under the illuminating light. It was the most beautiful necklace I had ever seen, and I found myself drawn to it.

I reached out to touch the ruby with my fingertips but the black box that held the piece was immediately slammed shut. I managed to pull my fingers away before they were hurt and I looked up at the furious woman that stood before me.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing??” She asked through her teeth.

My heart hammered wildly in my chest.

“I was just looking—”

“You can’t even afford to breathe in this store let alone touch this necklace. Keep your grimy fingers off!”

My face paled and my wolf growled in my head. She did not like this woman speaking to us like that.

“I’m sorry?”

“You should be,” she hissed. “How dare you walk into my boutique and think you have any right to touch anything here. You shouldn’t be here.”

“I’m a customer—”

She barked out a laugh, cutting off my words.

“Oh, please. You couldn’t afford one of our socks let alone jewelry,” she murmured, shaking her head. She glanced down at my outfit and grimaced. “I mean look at you; you’re dressed like a cheap hooker. Is that what you do for work? Must be a real struggle to have to suck dick for a living.”

“You have no idea what you are talking about,” I argued.

“I can’t believe you were about to touch a 5-million-dollar necklace. You’re lucky you didn’t dirty it, or I’d make you pay for it,” she said, shaking her head as she put the necklace back on display. “How about you save yourself from further embarrassment and get the fuck out of this store!”

“What seems to be the problem?” A gruffly male voice said from nearby.

A tall man, wearing a nice suit and black designer glasses, walked out from behind the counter. The woman sneered at me and her lip curled in disgust.

“She almost ruined the Emily Wonton designer ruby necklace,” the woman hissed.

The man looked at me, sizing me up from my toes to my head and his eyes narrowed.

“Do you have any idea how expensive that necklace is?” He asked. “I’m the manager of this boutique and I made the rule that anyone who can’t afford my product wasn’t allowed in here. If you aren’t going to make a purchase, then I suggest you leave.”

“Look at her; she can’t afford anything here,” the woman snickered. “She’s pathetic. I’ll have security throw her out immediately, sir.”

“No need to get security,” a familiar voice said from behind me. “I’m sure we can talk this out like adults.”