Just My Hockey Roommate’s Filthy Desires by Esther Pen novel Chapter 313

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Chapter 313

JULIAN’S POV

The small room smelled of old damp wood, stale tobacco smoke, and cheap, warm whiskey.

I sat at the edge of a dirty, sagging mattress in the far corner of Gabriel’s hideout, staring down at my shaking hands.

My fingers were filthy, my nails were cracked and broken, and my skin was pale from days of hiding in dark, windowles rooms like a hunted animal.

A few months ago, I lived in a bright luxury penthouse with private servants, expensive tailored Italian suits, and a family name that made people clear the street for me.

Now, I was reduced to sitting on a broken frame in the worst part of the city, drinking cheap liquor from a clear glass bote just to stop my knees from knocking together.

Across the dusty concrete floor, Gabriel stood near a long wooden table. The bright blue light from four wide computer screens lit up his scarred face in stark, terrifying angles.

He did not move, he did not rest, and he barely seemed to breathe. He looked like a machine made of cold iron and old hatred, staring at maps of the city and lines of green text that moved fast across his screens.

I lifted the heavy glass bottle to my lips and took a big gulp. The dark liquid burned my throat and hurt my stomach, but I swallowed it down anyway, desperate for the artificial warmth.

“Put the bottle down, Julian,” Gabriel said without turning his head. His voice was quiet, raspy, and hard like cold stone. “A drunk man makes stupid mistakes, and stupid mistakes get people caught.”

“I don’t care,” I muttered, my speech slurred and slow as I slammed the heavy bottle onto the floor next to my dirty leather boots with a loud thud.

“I gave you the backdoors to Aria’s company servers this morning. I gave you the passwords my father’s private IT team built years ago. You promised those codes would help us take everything back. But all you do is sit here and look at screens.”

Gabriel turned around slowly. His dark eyes locked onto mine, sharp, unblinking, and entirely calm. He walked across the dusty concrete floor without making a single sound with his heavy tactical boots. He stopped right in front of me, looking down at me with absolute confidence.

“You think this is fast work, Julian?” Gabriel asked softly, bending down slightly so his face was close to mine. “You think taking down a man like Brandon Sterling is easy? He has millions of dollars, an army of trained guards, and eyes on every street corner. If we rush in like fools, his men will shoot us down before we even cross the street.”

“I just want what is mine,” I said, my voice rising as the cheap liquor made my blood feel hot and reckless. “I want Aria back. She belongs to me, Gabriel. Brandon stole her from me with his money, his threats, and his lies. Before he came into our lives, Aria and I were happy. We were supposed to get married. Our families were supposed to join together and rule this city.”

“And you will have her,” Gabriel said smoothly, his tone turning warm, encouraging, and full of absolute conviction. He put a heavy, strong hand on my trembling shoulder and squeezed it with reassuring force.

“That is why we are doing this. Brandon Sterling is a shadow holding her captive with his wealth and his guns. Aria is a smart woman, Julian. Right now, she stays with him because she thinks he is strong. But when we break his company, when we mess up her father’s supply chains, and when we show her that Brandon cannot even protect her father’s legacy, her eyes will finally open.”

I looked up into his scarred face, feeling a sudden, desperate rush of hope fill my chest. Every word he spoke sounded completely right to me. It made sense. It validated every single thing I had been telling myself in the dark.

“You really think she will see the truth?” I asked, my voice eager, my heart beating fast inside my ribs.

know she will,” Cabriel replied without a single second of hesitation. “She will realize that Brandon brought nothing but danger into her life. She will see that you are the only one who truly understands her father’s company, the only one who can help her rebuild what Brandon destroyed. You are going to be her savior, Julian. But you have to trust the plan.”

“I do trust it,” I said quickly, wiping my mouth with the damp sleeve of my jacket. “I want her to see that I am the one who can save her. I want Brandon to watch her walk away from him forever.”

“Then help me finish the setup, Gabriel said, giving my shoulder one last firm pat before stepping back toward his glowing computers.

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