Eleanor quickly jumped in, “Don’t be silly! You don’t need to pay with all these gentlemen present.” She shot Joseph a meaningful look.
Joseph caught her hint immediately. “Of course dinner’s on me! It would be my honor to treat everyone, especially my goddess.” He winked at Ava, who blushed adorably.
We all cracked up at his dramatic act. Everyone was feeling pretty chill.
Once our food arrived, we all enjoyed the delicious meal along with some wine. Under the table, I felt Draven’s warm hand find mine, his fingers gently intertwining with my own. Rory stirred contentedly within me at his touch.
“Ava,” Draven said after taking a sip of his wine, “do you enjoy working at the boutique?”
“I do enjoy it,” she replied thoughtfully. “But it’s not my forever career. The hours can be exhausting, especially working weekends and holidays. And not all customers are as wonderful as these ladies.” She smiled at us gratefully.
“Would you be interested in working with me at Thorne Enterprises?” Draven asked, surprising us all.
I thought what a wonderful opportunity this would be for Ava. Working at Thorne Enterprises had been an incredible experience for me, despite everything that had happened.
Ava looked touched but hesitant. “Draven, I appreciate the offer, truly. But I know you’re just doing this as a favor to Joseph, and I can’t accept that.”
“I would never extend a job offer merely as a favor,” Draven replied firmly. “I need a new executive assistant I can trust,my current one will be leaving soon. And since I’m still hoping Caroline will return to her position, your business degree would be incredibly helpful. The hours are weekdays only during business hours, and the compensation package is quite competitive.”
Ava looked at me uncertainly, seemingly asking for my opinion.
“It’s an excellent opportunity, Ava,” I encouraged her. “Working there really is wonderful, and there’s tremendous room for growth. You should definitely discuss the details with Draven.”
“So now you want to steal both my employee and my goddess?” Joseph exclaimed with mock indignation. We all laughed at his theatrical protest.
The conversation flowed easily after that. Ryan was in the middle of recounting a hilarious story about the three of them getting drunk last weekend when I noticed three women approaching our table. Before anyone could react, they had practically thrown themselves onto the laps of Draven, Joseph, and Ryan.
I recognized one of them immediately-Ella Howard, daughter of Howard from Finance. My blood ran cold as I watched her drape herself over Draven.
“Hello, handsome! I’ve missed you so much,” Ella purred, pressing a quick kiss to Draven’s lips before he could pull away. The other women were doing the same to Joseph and Ryan.
“I was just telling the girls about our incredible night of passion in your office during Clara’s farewell party,” Ella continued, running her fingers through Draven’s hair. “That leather couch… fuck, you were rough with me that night. I can still feel where you marked me.”
Had he fucked her on his office couch? The same couch where he’d made love to me? My stomach churned. Was this who he really was all along? Just another player using his office to sleep with beautiful women?
I felt sick. I couldn’t believe he’d had a one-night stand with her at Clara’s farewell party. Just the day before that party, he was in the Puma Globe office, kissing me, begging me to come back to him. Was that it? Begging for my love while fucking this insufferable woman on his couch?
Tears burned in my eyes as my world crumbled around me. How could he do this? One day pleading for me to return, claiming he loved only me, and the next day screwing her? The betrayal cut deeper than any knife could. Rory whimpered in distress, feeling my heart shatter all over again.
I fought back tears, trying to act like I didn’t care. But inside, I was screaming. How many times would he break my heart before he was satisfied? I thought what we had was real, special. But maybe I was just another conquest on his leather couch.
So this was his idea of being sorry? He had even insisted I attend that party. Was it to humiliate me by flaunting another woman?
“Beauty and I were so disappointed you didn’t invite us to Clara’s party too,” the woman on Ryan’s lap whined in a nasal voice. “We could have had some fun too, Ryan, like we always do. Remember how wild things got at the after-party?”
The girls and I exchanged glances, all of us radiating the same emotions-hurt, anger, and betrayal.
Eleanor stood up abruptly, grabbing Nate by his jacket lapel.
“Come on, Nate, it’s getting late. We need to take the girls home,” she announced coldly. “Let’s go, ladies. These three can handle the bill.”
“We’re leaving too, Luke,” Kyle said, standing up with undisguised fury. “What a disappointment from all three of you, but you, Alpha Draven-you’re the absolute worst.”
We hurried out of the restaurant, ignoring their shouts for us to wait, that they could explain everything.
“How could they do this to us?” Ruby fumed as we rushed toward the elevator.
“Draven has some nerve,” Eleanor spat, jamming the elevator button repeatedly.
“Ladies, things aren’t exactly what they appear to be. You should talk to them first,” Nate attempted to reason with us, but our collective glare made him step back. “Sorry, forget I said anything.”
“Go home now, Nate.I’m taking the girls home, and we’ll talk later,” Eleanor commanded. “But you’d better not be defending those jerks.”
“The same goes for you, Luke,” Kyle added angrily.
“Come on, Kyle, I’ll drive you home too,” Eleanor said, pulling Kyle toward her car.
“Eleanor, we live together.We’re going to the same place. You don’t need to drive her,” Luke protested, running his hand through his hair in frustration.
We all piled into Eleanor’s car. As she dropped each of us off at our homes, they all tried to comfort me, but it was useless. How could I possibly be with Draven now? He had hurt me again, and this time the wound felt even deeper than before.
With Rory howling in anguish inside me, I wondered if Rory and I would ever heal from this betrayal.
Draven’s POV
What the hell just happened? One moment I was sitting beside Caroline, our fingers intertwined under the table, enjoying our dinner.The next moment, Ella Howard and her two friends appeared out of nowhere, destroying everything.
I was beyond pissed when Ella jumped on my lap and kissed me before I could stop her. But what really set me off was her bullshit about our “incredible passion” on my office couch during Clara’s party. Alaric was losing it inside me, furious at this threat to our mate bond.
The pain in Caroline’s eyes killed me. Everything we’d built, all that trust I’d worked so hard to get back, just went up in smoke. Worst part? I couldn’t even explain what happened because I honestly had no fucking clue. That whole night was a blank. I didn’t know if I was drunk or hungover, everything was just black.
“Caroline, wait! Let me explain!” I called out as she ran from the restaurant, tears streaming down her face.
Ella pressed herself against me, her voice deliberately loud enough for the whole restaurant to hear. “Baby, let her go. I can’t wait to ride you again tonight.”
“GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME!” I roared, using my Alpha command. The force of it made everyone in the restaurant freeze.
But it was too late. Caroline was already gone.
The moment the other girls ran after Caroline, Ryan, Joseph, and I leaped up, shoving these three bitches off our laps.
“Ow! Draven, why’d you do that?” Ella whined from the floor, reaching up. “Help me up, baby.”
I glared down at her, my lip curling in disgust. “I told you to stay the fuck away from me,” I growled, my Alpha power making my voice deadly.
Alaric wanted to rip into her, to show everyone this bitch meant nothing to us, to prove to our mate she was lying. But it was too late. Caroline was already gone, disappearing with Eleanor and the others.
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