Never Mistake a Queen for a Lapdog novel Chapter 962

Especially when she was the one in his arms. The one woman he could never resist.

Noreen was quiet for a long moment before she spoke. "Claire always said that someone who didn't cherish me in the past won't cherish me in the future. Once they have me, they’ll care even less."

The roaring heat in Seth’s veins turned to ice in a fraction of a second. He lifted his head, his dark eyes brimming with heavy remorse. He knew exactly why she felt this way—he was the one who had shattered her trust. That was why she walked on eggshells around him, terrified that everything between them was just a fragile illusion.

He picked up her hand and pressed a deeply reverent kiss to her knuckles. "I'm so sorry. I know I hurt you."

"I will never force you into anything. If you're scared I'll take you for granted once I have you, then keep me waiting. You can string me along for the rest of my life if you want to."

It was past ten o'clock by the time Noreen got home. Seth had driven her back.

When she walked through the door, Claire was lounging on the couch, playing with Beau. Seeing Noreen, she asked, "Did you eat dinner?"

"I did."

"Perfect, because I didn't cook." Claire pulled the kitten into her lap and playfully rubbed his belly. The little stray had gotten so used to her affection that he didn't even hiss anymore, just purred lazily.

"I have to fly to Northcrest next week for a commercial shoot, so I won't be around to be your personal chef. Maybe you should ask Bianca to come back and help out."

Noreen thought about it. "Never mind. Bianca seems to be enjoying her time off right now. Don't worry about my dinners. Sophia Cole is at the office, she won't let me starve."

"True."

Even without Sophia, she had a billionaire lapdog at her beck and call. She definitely wasn't going to go hungry.

"What happened to your neck? It's all red," Claire pointed out when Noreen leaned over to pet Beau.

Noreen froze. "Oh. Probably a mosquito bite."

To her surprise, the second Gavin walked into the room, he was already profusely apologizing.

"I am so incredibly sorry, Ms. Gilmore! We need to halt the Lynch Properties project immediately. It's completely dead in the water!"

Noreen frowned. "What happened?"

Gavin didn't even pause to take a sip of water. He wiped a sheen of sweat from his forehead with a tissue. "I just got off the phone with some inside sources. Their financials are a complete disaster. The tax authorities raided their offices overnight and froze all their accounts. The official ruling should be out in a few days, but Quinn Lynch is already behind bars."

Just mentioning the man’s name made Gavin turn red with anger. "I only invested in his company because he saved my wife's life years ago. I thought I was returning a favor! I didn't realize it was a massive setup. He orchestrated the whole thing just to get my wife on his side so she'd pressure me into funding him!"

Lynch Properties bankrupt overnight?

Wasn't that a little too fast?