Chapter 175
Gideon’s POV
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I jactically flew to the base of the stairs, putting as much space between Susanne and myself as physically possible. She had been trying to kiss me. I had been sure of it, even if I didn’t have any hard evidence about it.
Right now, she was still standing on the stair, three above me now, staring down at me with a pout on her lips. She frowned for a moment, before her coy smile returned.
“I’m sorry, I must have surprised you” Slowly, she started to walk down the stairs, coming near me again. “That wasn’t my intention at all.”
I was pretty sure I knew her intention, but for now, I was keeping my mouth firmly shut about it. To say it aloud, and to be wrong, would be an insult. To make an insult against a princess, I might as well have been committing a crime.
“Maybe I haven’t been clear enough. I know you men can sometimes be oblivious to the desires of us women.”
“I’m really not sure this is necessary, I think I understand, but 1, uh, I’m not –”
“You don’t have to pretend. Your ex isn’t here right now, Alpha Gideon.” She put a little purr on the title. My stomach churned with disgust. “Allow me to be as clear as possible.”
“I would prefer if you didn’t,” I said, taking another step back, into the hallway now.
She stepped off the stairs and followed me, trying to close the distance.
Reading body language did not appear to be her strong suit. Nor was listening, apparently.
But maybe that was the problem with princesses. Maybe they were so used to being told yes all the time, to being served, that they had no idea how to read disinterest or hear the word no.
She closed the distance once more, placing her hand on my chest. “I am interested in you. Physically. Romantically. Sexually, I desire you, Gideon.”
It was as I feared,
Susanne, I supposed, was fine. She was a beautiful woman, she had wealth and power. But I didn’t know anything about her other than that. She also had no way of knowing much about me, other than my appearance.
She wanted to skip over the entire getting to know each other phase to jump straight into bed together. Maybe with another man, this might have worked.
But I had different standards than that. Besides, my heart was already spoken for. Even if Claire wasn’t sure what she wanted, 1 had to be true to my own feelings. I cared about Claire and would not betray those feelings. Certainly not for one night of pleasure or whatever else Susanne was promising.
She was a princess though, so I needed to move carefully here. To upset her would only cause more problems for me than I could handle. I had only just made a tentative truce with the King, her father. To upset her, was to upset him.
I had to be cautious.
“I’m flattered,” I said. “For you to take interest in me is a great compliment.”
She grinned wider.
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Chapter 175
“But,” I said.
That grin froze.
“I’m sorry. You seem like a nice girl,” I said, though I wasn’t sure that was true. “But I’m just not interested”
Susanne’s eyes turned to ice as she slowly retracted her hand. “Your lingering feelings for your ex stand in your way of happiness. She doesn’t want you, Alpha Gideon. Why do you deny yourself happiness for her sake? Why not just give into me?”
“No,” I said, and frankly didn’t feel the need to give her any more information than I already had. I was being kind here, but I still had my pride. If she continued to push, she would find that I was a brick wall. Her insistence only made my will ever stronger. “Accept my no.”
“I won’t,” she snapped back. “I will win you no matter what you say.”
“You are wasting your time,” I said.
“That is my choice,” she said. With that, she turned and walked away.
I wished that this would be the end of this conversation, but I knew, with dread, that it wouldn’t be.
Claire’s POV
I stood in the living room with Victoria and George. This time, Victoria was presenting me with an antique book that belonged to my family’s library, something that had been passed down through the ages. It was a great honor to receive it.
“Thank you,” I said. “I will treasure this, and make certain that it stays in the family. When my children are old enough, I will pass it down to them.”
“That’s all we can ask for,” Victoria said with a too–tight smile.
“You are a part of this family now,” George said. “A part of our legacy.”
A moment later, he was called away by his Beta.
No sooner had he stepped out of the room, then Victoria’s smile slipped clean off her face.
“I don’t care what the blood test showed, you will never be my daughter.”
Her coldness froze me to the spot. I knew now, with certainty, that I hadn’t imagined her coldness before. She was so kind in front of George that I had been willing to accept that maybe I had amplified her harshness in my own head. There was no mistaking this. This was no delusion.
She looked at me like she hated me, like I was the lowest of the low. Dirt under her heel. Gum stuck to her shoe.
“I don’t want anything from you or your family,” I tried to tell her, but it seemed to be no use. She still didn’t believe me. Like with Susanne, I didn’t think I could say anything that would actually convince her.
“You will never be welcome here so long as I still live,” Victoria said.
“Please,” I said. “Take the book back. I don’t need it.”
At that exact moment, George returned to the room. “What’s this?”
“Oh, dear, you have to keep it,” Victoria said, her demeanor changing in a flash, like a light switch being flipped. “You don’t
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Chapter 175
want to insult me, do you?”
“No, L…”
“Keep it, Claire,” George insisted. “It is yours.”
I pulled the book against me and crossed my arms over it, holding it close.
George was warm, but Victoria was faking it. Even as she smiled, I saw the daggers in her eyes.
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This place was not safe for me or my children. I realized that suddenly like a vat of cold water had been upended over my head.
I couldn’t stay here. But where would I go?
I didn’t think I should go back to Ivan’s, given the awkwardness between us. Perhaps, with my identity now revealed. I could return to my second home in Ivan’s pack?
I wasn’t sure, but I had to make up my mind, and fast. This house wasn’t safe anymore.
I wanted to speak with Gideon about this as quickly as I could, so I excused myself from the pair and rushed upstairs to his room, hoping he would be inside. It was getting late now, with the kids already in bed. Perhaps he was reading.
I knocked on the door, and my hope swelled as I heard movement inside.
But then the door opened.
Susanne stood there wearing see–through red lace negligee.
