Chapter 43
1741words
"It's wrong for the restaurant to have given away William's number this way." I said looking at Sebastian, "and he might have ignored you if it weren't for you, including your father." I added, looking at the elderly man.
Sebastian had gotten William's number and had asked his father to apologize to him. William has great respect for the elderly, and I had great respect for William, and that was the only reason I sat across from the both of them in a restaurant close to my company after work hours. I was simply being courteous, but I was also very impatient.
"My son went too far, Ember and I'm truly sorry for any form of discomfort and displeasure his behavior must have caused you."
"discomfort and displeasure isn't even half of it. He slandered me, and dragged my name through the mud, to get payback for a situation he started in the first place. What sane person behaves in this manner?" I asked and discovered that the entire ordeal still greatly pained me.
"I know. I know. But I-"
"with all due respect, sir, I'm afraid you don't know. If my father hadn't done all his best to get good lawyers who would deal with this case appropriately, I would still be labeled a gold digger until this day. Let me not get started on the little act, his cousin pulled on national television."
"you're right, I don't know. Tell me what I can do to make it up to you."
"There isn't anything you can do to make it up to me." I said, and began to get up, "I believe I've given you a good chunk of my time, so make sure you have a good evening." I said and began to turn away.
Sebastian's father called after me when we got outside, and I started to hear footsteps trailing after me. By the time I turned away, they were mere inches away,
"please. Please, for the love of God Ember, find a way to take the dirt off his name."
"like he found a way to take the dirt off me?" I asked cooly,
"for heaven's sake, boy!" his father said, and smacked his head, "suck in your pride and apologize to the woman, maybe then she'll change her mind." his father said and smacked his head once again,
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Sebastian called, and I would have erupted in laughter, but that wasn't going to help how cold I was trying to seem.
" thank you for this apology, and for attempting to put your son in his place, but I'll have to get home now. I've had a very long day." I said and turned away.
PARIS's POV
"What the hell are you doing in my pack land, Sebastian?" I drawled when I saw the damned boy on my stroll to the stables.
I watched as he shifted from side to side and dwindled his thumbs,
"I trust you're up to date with the whole situation with Ember?"
I raised a brow, "The one where you slandered her, but got served more than you can chew? Definitely."
He pressed his lips together and ran a hand over his hair, "Well, about the part where I got more than I can chew, I wanted to seek your help."
"my help? What exactly do you expect me to do?"
"I don't know if you can help me to speak with Ember to take away the lawsuits at the very least."
"and not give you the chance to learn what it is to take responsibility? No, I don't think I should do that to you."
"But Alpha Paris-"
"I will not help you!" I thundered, and watched him stagger backwards, "and that's my final word." I said and walked away from him.
I don't know if Sebastian later met Kate for help, but to be honest I don't care. But I did, however, have a couple of things to question Kate about the whole thing. It had been on my mind since the interview, and it was only now I felt comfortable to talk about it.
"Sebastian was here earlier," she said when she walked into my room later that day and sat in my bed.
"I saw him," I said as I took off my boots.
"What did he want?" she asked carefully, and I paused in the act of taking off my shirt to look at her,
"What do you think, Kate? The boy is looking for a way out of the hole he dug himself. And I can bet he came to you with the same plight."
Kate shrugged, "he did. Of course, he did, I'm family."
"family." I said and nodded, "Is family the same reason he defamed her in the first place?"
She pressed her lips together and shook her head, "I believe I fail to understand just what it is you're asking me, Paris?"
"then I'll reconstruct that question. Did you in any way push him to defame her in the first place? Are you in any way a reason why this whole thing even started?"
I watched her rise, and her expression changed into surprise, and then hurt, "why would I even be a party to any of this? According to Ember's statement, he heard my name on her lips and insisted that she was badmouthing me. How was I even to know that she would be attending a restaurant he worked at in the first place? Are you also trying to say I pushed her toward that restaurant?"
"I simply asked a question, Kate," I said, and started to take off my shirt. She had taken the role of the victim, and it was impossible to speak to her when she got this way. However, this was also the reason for me to believe that she was hiding something.
There were many ways to discover what it was. But this conversation would not be one of the many.
"It's one hell of a question, Paris. It tells me that you have a lot going on in your head. One of them is a possibility that I connived with my cousin to drag Ember down."
"you don't particularly like her."
"Is it because of what I said in the interview? You know that wasn't an impossible situation."
"There's the interview, among other things."
"I don't particularly like her, yes. How could I, when she only tries to take you from me? But I don't hate to the point of defaming her. Or working to do so. You're misunderstanding this whole thing."
"Maybe," I said, to simply end the conversation that wasn't going anywhere.
"I didn't come here to fight with you. I came so I could be with you. I miss you." she said and walked toward me.
I sighed and turned away from her,
"Not tonight, Kate. I'm busy." I said and walked into the bathroom, my head full of many thoughts.
the very next day, before the house woke, I was out of the house and met with my omega, a good distance away from the house
"what's up?" he asked,
"I need a private investigator," I said and stared off into the far distance,
"That can be arranged. May I know who we are investigating."
"Kate," I said bluntly,
"Kate?" he asked, stupefied, and I nodded,
"I need to know her every move. Her in, and her out. Who she's with, who she's seeing publicly, and privately. Everything."
"I can get you a guy. But do you want to talk about why you're doing this?"
I turned to him, and when I did, my eyes burned,
"I'm tired of being toyed with."
Ember's POV
"It's because I respect you, that's why I heard either of them out in the first place," I said with a pot and reached for my iced tea.
"I just wanted to give the elderly man a chance. I'm sorry." William said and reached over to cover my hand with his...
We had met up after work, and it was then I realized how very displeased I was with encountering Sebastian and his father.
"It's fine. Just don't fix me up for more dates with elderly men." I said and sighed and found him watching me with a smile,
"I won't make such a mistake ever again."
"Please," I said and turned up my hand to squeeze his.
" Are you done with your meal?" he asked pointing to my plate that still had some food in it I reached over to pat my belly,
" hate wasting food this way, but yes, I suppose I'm done here."
"ready to go."
"might have loved to spend more time with you, but I'm wiped out," I said, and began to stand,
"So am I," he said, and stood, and we walked toward the door together.
William had chosen a restaurant that was only a few blocks close to my house so that I wouldn't have to stay too long on the road before heading home.
Yes, William was very thoughtful like that.
"Have a goodnight, Em," William said and reached out to hug me.
"you too." I said, hugging him back, and smiled when I pulled away, "Because my house Is closer, and yours is another twenty minutes, I'm going to give you a head start. Get in your damn car."
"What?" he asked chuckling and shaking my head,
"get in. I'm not driving off till I know you're safe in our car." I said, tugging his arm toward his car and had him laughing,
"This should actually be the other way round, but fine," he said. He unlocked the door, got in his car, started the engine, and waved at me with a wide smile before pulling out of the curb.
I watched him go, laughing at myself, and the trajectory of how friendship. It really was a safe place for me. And I was too lost in this thought as I headed back to my car. I was way too distracted by thoughts of William, that I didn't sense the presence behind me until I felt a sharp prick piercing my arm,
"What the" but I was unable to complete the statement or even react, as numbness filled my arm and traveled through my whole body. Unable to fight its effects. I fell to the ground, and I blacked out.
