Chapter 69 MISSIVE FROM THE ALPHA KING (1)
GALLAHAN’S POV
My eyes never strayed from Willa’s side profile as she loudly read the missive from Dad in a clear and enchanting voice.
I was barely registering the words she was saying, too preoccupied in taking in the sight of her, as if I was trying to ingrain her likeness in the forefront of my mind and the back of my eyelids.
“Han?” She called out as she waved the letter in front of me.
“Uh, yes?” I replied dumbly as I took the damn letter from her while pretending I wasn’t heating up in embarrassment over being caught staring like a lovesick fool.
“Are you going?”
I blinked, not quite following our conversation. “Going where?”
Willa sighed exasperatedly. “Were you even listening, Gallahan?”
I grinned, my entire body relaxing as I answered, “Not really. You were too distracting.”
She rolled her eyes at me, and my mind responded by traitorously flashing an image of her doing the same but out of pure pleasure I would give her.
I quickly exiled the thought, mentally berating myself for the vulgarity my own head produced about the mother of my children while I was in their presence.
Next to me, Willa huffed, clearly not buying my sweet talk. “Oh, shut up, Gallahan.”
“Is that all you’ve got?” I goaded playfully. “Where did the feisty woman who throttled me in the maze and threatened to slice my neck open?”
“No hostility allowed, remember?” She chuckled. “We are supposed to provide an affectionate environment for the twins.”
“Right. Of course.” I agreed, carrying a note of saccharine-like sarcasm in my voice. “And telling me to shut up is affectionate… I didn’t know the definition of the word affectionate has drastically changed.”
Willa hummed thoughtfully before retorting, “Or perhaps you aren’t just familiar with my own brand of affection.”
“You know… I’m not opposed to experiencing it to be more familiar with it. So?” I nudged her arm lightly, the simple contact sending a jolt of warmth all over my veins. “Will you shower me with your own brand of affection?”
She sputtered as the prettiest tint of pink spread on her cheeks. She looked away, staring at the window I had opened earlier as she put in the effort to keep a nonchalant facade.
Oh, I could do this all day and never get tired of seeing her blush and get flustered because of me and only me.
“Nah,” she finally said after a moment of falter. “I don’t give out my affection that generously to others.”
“Are you saying I have to earn it?”
She shrugged.
“Are you challenging me?”
She shrugged once again.
“You are, aren’t you?”
The accusatory tone that was imbued into my words somehow managed to draw out a verbal response from her. But I still failed to win over her entire attention back to me.
“Believe what you want to believe, Mr. Wick.”
“Oh, I deeply believe you are challenging me. And if there is one thing you must know, Miss Alfiero, that is I don’t back down from challenges.”
For a second or two, Willa didn’t say anything, leaving the conversation hanging.
Thankfully, I didn't have to overthink if I had once again ended up putting my foot in the mouth. Because Willa looked down at Gillian, tucking her closer to her and wryly drawled, “Is that so?”
Her response was clearly a challenge, given how it dripped with amusement, as if she thought it was an utter joke that she would ever learn to love me.
“Hm. So watch out, Miss Alfiero,” I warned, shedding off the playful lilt of my voice and hoping she would take notice that I was speaking candidly and meant every word. “You’ll be head over heels with me before you even know what has gotten into you.”
But she didn’t seem like she was taking me seriously. Because she let out an airy scoff, her lips curling at the ends into a smile. “Cocky…”
She then suddenly veered our conversation to another topic, nearly giving me a whiplash.
“But seriously... What are you going to do?”
It took me a moment to remember what we had been talking about before we unconsciously fell into a playful and mildly flirtatious banter.
“About the letter?”
“With your father,” she corrected, shooting me a fleeting side-way glance. “He wants you to head back to Moonshire immediately. He seemed intent on having you return no matter what.”
“Yeah, well… He would just need to wait. I will finish the nesting with you before I even begin to think about my Dad and what the hell he wants.”
“He knows, doesn’t he?”
The sudden softness in her voice, matched with its subtle defensive inflection, made me pause. I regarded her for a moment or two, before proceeding with our conversation with mindful tact.
“About what?”
Again, she stole a furtive side-way glance. “About Cal and Gil.”
“No,” I answered quickly. But I ended up adding, “Probably. I don’t know. I haven’t told him. Zee and Mal probably did, though. I don’t really care. Why? What makes you think that?”
“I don’t know. He just…”
Willa began twisting and pulling her fingers, making me frown. Then, as if I was on autopilot, my hand reached out to hers and slotted our fingers perfectly together.
Like a teenage boy with his first love, I quietly marvelled at how we just seemed to fit. As if the spaces between her fingers were mine to complete.
Willa seemed to still from the innocent contact, but one reassuring squeeze was all it took for her to relax and speak again.
“He sounded unhappy and concerned in his letter. I just don’t think it’s pure coincidence that he would suddenly send an official missive after you found out about the twins. And he said he has heard things about you. So maybe it has something to do about you suddenly having children. Maybe he doesn’t believe it.”