He Loves Me Right, Finally novel Chapter 72

Chapter 72 Don’t Get Any Ideas

Finished

Noah had never been the type to back down from a provocation, and Adriel’s gaze hit him like a lit match dropped into dry tinder,

He was already gearing up to start something when Wynette caught it.

She turned to Adriel and said with a quiet warmth, “Thank you for today. Lunch is on me next time.”

“You’ve got things to handle?” Adriel replied, tilting his head toward the exit. “Don’t let me keep you.”

The moment the words left his mouth, Wynette’s gaze shifted between the two men.

They weren’t actually going to throw punches the second I walked away, were they? She hesitated, weighing whether she should just take Adriel with her and sidestep the whole situation entirely.

Adriel seemed to read her mind without any effort.

“Relax,” he said, his tone easy and unbothered. “I don’t waste energy on people like him.”

Wynette blinked, mildly startled that he’d read her so cleanly.

But between his reassurance and the weight of Noah’s accusing stare still pressing against her skin, she had zero desire to linger.

She gave a small nod, deliberately refused to spare Noah so much as a glance, and turned to leave.

Noah forgot all about Adriel the moment Wynette started walking away.

He pulled his attention back and moved to follow her. Adriel stepped directly into his path.

Noah sidestepped. Adriel mirrored him.

“Get out of my way.” His gaze darkened.

Noah moved again. Adriel moved again.

By the time Noah realized what was happening, Wynette had vanished completely from sight.

He whipped around and fixed Adriel with a look of pure, seething fury, drawing back his fist.

Adriel shifted aside with a calm, almost lazy precision.

Noah’s punch connected with nothing, and the momentum sent him stumbling forward, barely catching himself before he went down.

The humiliation of it made everything worse.

Noah steadied himself, his stare going cold and sharp. “When did you and Wynette hook–”

“Watch your mouth.” Adriel’s voice came out low and even, almost conversational, which somehow made it more cutting. “If you’re going to say something without proof, you’d better first ask yourself whether you

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Chapter 72 Don’t Get Any Ideas

have what it takes to deal with the fallout.”

Finished

He looked at Noah with something that wasn’t quite contempt, but was close enough to sting. “I hold grudges. This is my territory. I have more than enough to bury whatever’s left of your reputation, and I genuinely wouldn’t mind doing it.”

Adriel’s eyes went cold as midwinter.

That single sentence extinguished every last spark of Noah’s bravado.

Noah finally remembered. Rainmist House was a Gallagher Group property.

If he’d actually landed that punch, Adriel could’ve had him dealt with before he made it to the parking lot.

Noah swallowed it all down, the rage and the wounded pride, and said nothing.

He was still glaring, though. He couldn’t help that.

Adriel paid him roughly as much attention as he would pay a fly.

He tilted his head with a mild curiosity that bordered on condescending. “Wondering how Wynette and I got close?”

The moment Wynette’s name was in his mouth, something about Adriel’s bearing shifted, barely perceptible but real. The cold fell back by a fraction.

Noah said nothing, but his expression did plenty of speaking on its own.

“You have yourself to thank for that, actually,” Adriel said.

Noah’s eyes narrowed.

What’s that supposed to mean?

Adriel’s mouth curved into something that wasn’t quite a smile. “If you hadn’t stood Wynette up at the courthouse for Lorelei, I never would’ve run into her outside and had reason to talk to her.”

Of course, it hadn’t been a coincidence at all.

Adriel had been there deliberately, positioned and waiting specifically for Wynette.

And when Noah had failed to show, Adriel had been the one to step forward and offer to be the person she needed that day.

But he kept all of that to himself.

Noah would never be entitled to know.

Some things were simply not his to have.

Adriel had the distinct, fleeting urge to pull out the marriage license and drop it in front of Noah like a verdict. He wanted to watch that man’s face when he realized the woman he’d been too careless to hold onto had been worth waiting for.

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