Chapter 23: Chapter 24

Chapter 24

Aiden’s POV

Carol begins to relax, and we enjoy our snacks together. I can see the tension she’s carried with her all night slowly begin to slip away. She’s even more beautiful with her soft, natural smile on her face.

We are just moving on to the champagne when I hear a knock at the door. Immediately, Carol tenses up beside me. I glance in her direction.

“Do you want to see anyone right now?” Lask. She nods her head at first, but when I raise my eyebrow at her, she slowly shakes it instead. I take her hand.

“Come on,” I whisper, “let’s hide.”

Carol and I stifle our laughter as we slip out onto the balcony. We duck behind the balcony furniture just in time for the door to open. Whoever is checking on us seems to look around for a moment. Finding no one, they leave after a few minutes and close the door behind them.

The two of us laugh to ourselves and stretch out our legs. “I didn’t expect such a secretive rendezvous,” Carol jokes, leaning against the railing. Her hair blows in the nighttime breeze, and the lights of the city dance across her face.

I feel a fire stir inside of me. My hands drift to her waist and I press against her from behind, stooping slightly to kiss the side of her neck. Carol shivers under my touch and braces her hands against the railing.

“Why don’t we make it a real rendezvous, then?”

Carol’s POV

My heart catches in my throat. I look down at the cityscape below us, feeling oddly exposed to the world even at such a high height.

“What, on the balcony?” I say incredulously. Aiden’s laugh rumbles low in his chest.

“I mean, if you insist,” he teases, “although I meant the bedroom.”

My face flushes. “Iyeah. The bedroom sounds nice,” I say breathlessly.

Despite our agreement, we don’t make it off the balcony before we fall into one another’s arms. Our lips lock passionately, hands roving across one another’s bodies. Aiden gently but firmly pushes me backward through the doors and toward his bed.

Aiden has me pinned against the mattress in a passionate kiss that takes my breath away. He loosens his tie with one hand, and my hands begin to make quick work of the buttons of his shirt.

“Someone’s eager,” I manage between intense kisses. Aiden breaths out a laugh against my neck as he delicately. loosens the lacing of my dress.

“I can’t help it. You look so irresistible tonight.”

Both of us are careful not to take off each other’s clothes too carelessly. Both of our outfits are too expensive to completely discard, and eventually, we will have to re–enter the party. Aiden lays out my dr nearby chair, and I treat his shirt with more patience than I normally do

over the back of a

Aiden has stripped down just to his boxers when I realize I’m not completely bare yet. My hand flies to my neck, and I feel the cool yet soothing sensation of the expensive necklace Aiden had bought for me.

Chapter 21

“Oh I forgot to take this off,” I say, embarrassed. I turn away from Aiden to expose the clasp at the back of my neck. “Can you help me undo it?”

I hear Aiden suck in a harsh breath between his teeth. One hand slowly smooths up my body from my waist until it rests over the necklace.

“Keep it on,” he growls against my shoulder. “Tim going to watch it glitter as it swings from your neck.”

My body is overwhelmed with heat as Aiden upholds his promise, Our bodies tangle in the bedsheets as we shift from position to position. Before long, Aiden is holding my hips firmly in his hands and guiding my movements with passion. The necklace glitters in the lights of the cities with thrust,

Our lips connect in a passionate kiss as our tryst comes to a desperate end. My arms wrap around Aiden’s body and we slowly recover. Both of our chests heave with exertion as we enjoy the feeling of skin against skin for a long

moment.

I eventually have to ruefully break our embrace. “We have to get back to the party,” I whisper against Aiden’s lips. “People are going to start asking questions,” I start to stand up, but Aiden grabs my waist and pulls me back against

him.

“Let them ask questions,” he says playfully. “I’m the only one who gets to know what we’ve done.” I laugh and slap Aiden’s shoulder teasingly. The two of us take a moment to clean off and get back into our clothes.

As Aiden and I finally emerge from the penthouse, we find the main room emptier than it was before. Some guests already seem to have left for the night. Despite the subdued atmosphere, the expression on Mr. Cruz’s face when he sees us is nothing less than stern.

Mr. Cruz wastes no time in crossing the room to meet us at the bottom of the stairs. This time, his ire is focused on Aiden.

“Where on earth have you been?” He hisses. “You are the host of this party just as your mother and I are. It’s impolite

abandon your guests.

to:

I manage not to wince at Mr. Cruz’s words. I feel as though this is my fault, at least in part. As enjoyable as it was, watching Aiden be criticized like this makes me upset.

Luckily, Aiden is less perturbed. “Relax, father. There’s hardly a weekend where these people aren’t at a party just like this one. I’m sure they were too bored to notice my absence.”

Mr. Cruz’s eyebrow twitches with evident frustration. “You have benefited from your alpha status for all of your life.” he says coolly. “That status comes with responsibility. It is your duty to unite our pack.”

I can feel the tension in the air rising yet again. More and more, it’s becoming obvious that Aiden and his father will likely never see eye to eye. A silent power struggle emerges as they stare each other down at the foot of the stairs,

I shift uncomfortably. So much has already happened. At this point, I just want the night to end. Aiden seems to agree with me as he takes my hand.

“As an alpha, my duty is whatever I decide it is Aiden says firmly. He wraps an arm around my shoulder. “Carol and I have dealt with enough of your drama already. We’ll be leaving now.”

I follow after Aiden, eager to be free of the oppressive atmosphere. I can feel a few sets of eyes trailing us as we head toward the door.

“You can’t keep running forever,” Mr. Cruz calls after him with a powerful voice. “You know your time’s running out. All you have is one more season after that, your duty is to this family.”

—

452 PM

Chapter 24

Aiden’s hand tightens on my shoulder. “Of course, father,” he says over his shoulder. His voice is as cold as ice..

My mind is spinning as Aiden whisks us out the door. One more season? I think. Does he mean a season of hockey? Why did Aiden agree with him? Do they have some sort of agreement? We’ve already made it back out onto the street before I can collect my thoughts.

We walk in silence for a few blocks as we close the distance toward Aiden’s car. I can tell that Aiden is as deep in thought as I am. I hesitate for a long moment. I want to ask him about everything that’s happened, but my train of thought is interrupted when Aiden suddenly stops in his tracks.

He takes in a shuddering breath and grabs my hand tightly. “We’re being followed.”

曲

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