Chapter 61: Drunken Confessions–1
Chapter 61: Drunken Confessions
(Connor’s POV)
The rich aroma of aged whiskey mingled with expensive cigar smoke as I settled into my chair at Quinn’s estate. The familiar weight of playing cards in my hands felt
almost foreign after weeks of barely leaving Olivia’s side.
“Gentlemen, shall we begin?” Gabriel Andrews asked, his voice carrying its usual
measured calm.
Quinn shuffled the deck with practiced flair, his movements unnecessarily showy. “I still can’t believe you actually showed up tonight, Rivers.”
I merely raised an eyebrow in response. Since Olivia had started working at Moonlaw
Legal Services and moved into her apartment across from Riverdale University, I’d
made it a point to see her almost daily. After the silver dagger wound I’d taken
protecting her during our engagement ceremony, I’d become even more reluctant to
let her out of my sight.
Tonight was different. She had a work dinner with her colleagues, and I’d finally
accepted Quinn’s persistent invitation.
“Deal the cards,” I said simply, taking a sip of my whiskey.
Quinn’s lips curled into that familiar mischievous grin that always preceded trouble.
“Wow, the moon must be rising from the west. Why isn’t our Alpha Rivers picking up
his little Liv tonight?”
He dealt the cards with dramatic flair, his smirk growing wider. “Got abandoned?
Since when is a work dinner more important than you?”
His tone was deliberately provocative, though careful not to cross the line that would truly anger me. Still, I felt my patience wearing thin.
“Abandoned?” I fixed him with a cold stare, my ice–blue eyes narrowing slightly. “She
might be out now, but won’t she still come back home to me afterward?”
I allowed myself a small, cutting smile. “What about you, Quinn? Picking up your
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Chapter 61: Drunken Conf.
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girlfriend later?”
The barb hit its mark. Everyone knew Quinn was perpetually single despite his
constant flirtations. His face flushed red, teeth gritting visibly.
“Andrews, look at him!” Quinn tried to drag Gabriel into the fray. “Is this how an Alpha
treats his friends? You’re single too, don’t you feel insulted?”
Gabriel cleared his throat calmly, arranging his cards. “Sorry, I’m actually seeing
someone now.”
Quinn’s jaw dropped comically, momentarily forgetting my earlier jab. “What? Since
when? Who is it? Parker family? Thompson clan?”
He rattled off two of Riverdale’s most influential families, naturally assuming Gabriel’s
girlfriend must be from our elite circle.
Gabriel exhaled a plume of cigar smoke, his expression neutral. “Just an ordinary girl
from a small town.”
Quinn blinked rapidly, disbelief written across his face. “An ordinary girl? You sure your family would approve?”
Gabriel shrugged indifferently, studying his cards. “I’m just enjoying her company, not getting married. Doesn’t matter what they think.”
Quinn snickered, shaking his head as he discarded two cards. “Aren’t you afraid she’ll try to cling on when you want to break it off?”
Gabriel laughed carelessly, revealing a coldness beneath his composed exterior that I hadn’t noticed before. “Give her a couple of luxury items, some cash. If I want her
gone, she won’t even get to see me again.”
“True,” Quinn mused, shuffling the remaining deck with practiced ease. “For people in our circle, if you don’t want someone to come close, they simply can’t.”
I glanced at Gabriel, noting the casual cruelty in his words. “Just don’t get too deep yourself and regret it later.”
My voice carried a weight of experience that silenced them both momentarily. I knew better than most the value of a true mate- something I’d nearly lost through my own
foolishness with Olivia.
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Quinn’s eyes brightened with his insatiable appetite for gossip. “So, what does she look like? Bring her to the next gathering for us to see.”
Gabriel’s expression darkened slightly. “No need. We’re not from the same world.”
Quinn shrugged, accepting the boundary. “Fair enough.”
We continued playing in relative silence. I found myself checking my phone repeatedly, waiting for a message from Olivia. She’d promised to text when her dinner ended.
Instead, my screen lit up with a message from Miles Bennett: “Heard you’ve got problems… with your performance?”
I felt my face instantly harden, lips stiffening as I read the cryptic text. What the hell
was this about?
Quinn, with his uncanny ability to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, glanced at my screen and burst into raucous laughter. “Hahahaha! No way! You can’t rise to the
occasion? Hahahaha!”
My icy glare silenced him mid–laugh, his expression shifting from amusement to
caution in an instant. “What the hell is going on?” he asked, suddenly serious.
I stood abruptly, my chair scraping against the hardwood floor. “I’m leaving.”
Quinn’s mischievous grin returned as he nudged Gabriel with a look that clearly said,
Follow him, let’s watch the drama unfold.
Twenty minutes later, we pushed through the crowded entrance of Moonlight Club.
The bass–heavy music pounded through the air as we made our way inside.
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