THE SPITEFUL BRIDE: Marry To Rival's Son novel Chapter 108

<Chapter Thirty-One: World Domination

Chapter Thirty-One: World Domination

Ezra

Two hours and forty minutes in the gym, plus another thirty minutes in a cold shower, and I was finally able to sit down at my desk and distract myself with work.

Anything to stop thinking about the woman upstairs.

But Joy’s whispered words in the hallway had been sobering. I didn’t want Joy or her mother to feel like they were unwelcome, or that I was angry or unhappy about them being in my home. So, at dinner time, I put on a clean shirt and a friendly smile, and went upstairs to help Kristen to the dining room. But I found the guest room empty. The bed was neatly made, the curtains were open

to the setting sun.

Even though the room was empty, her scent lingered, and my wolf stirred restlessly.

poked my head into the master bedroom suspiciously. I was half afraid I might find her sleeping in my bed like some misplaced Goldilocks. If Goldilocks had dark hair and a bum ankle.

I was relieved that my bed was untouched, and there were no sounds coming from my bathroom.

Mrs. Farley must have helped her down the stairs while I was busy working. Although Mrs. Farley was an Omega, she was strong enough to assist Kristen.

Why then did I feel so irritated that my housekeeper had taken on the task? I should be relieved that I didn’t have to put my hands on the woman again.

I followed the heavy scent of garlic and Italian spices back to the dining room, and found Kristen already sitting at the table, reading something on her phone. She was wearing a pair of baby-blue pajamas that consisted of a lacy camisole that dipped into a low v between her breasts, and shorts that left her legs exposed. I deliberately looked away from those legs.

I did not fancy another cold shower.

When I told Mrs. Farley to get Kristen some comfortable lounge wear, I had been thinking of yoga pants and a T-shirt, not sexy pajamas.

“Hey,” I said, sliding into my usual seat at the table. I frowned, as I noticed there were only two place settings. “Where are the kids?”

Kristen looked up from her phone, and her cheeks turned an appealing shade of pink. “Um, I guess they are having a private dinner,” she said, placing the phone face down on the table. “I was told that adults are not invited.”

<Chapter Thirty-One World Domination

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“Huh,” I said, scratching the back of my neck. “Kids. Do you think they are up to something?

She shrugged and smiled, a genuine smile that dimpled her cheeks a little.

She was really gorgeous when she smiled.

“Probably plotting world domination.”

“Probably,” I agreed.

I noticed there were utility candles set in the middle of the table, plus some wilting flowers that looked like they had been plucked out of one of the professionally landscaped beds in front of the building. Pansies and petunias and some other white flower I didn’t know the name of Mrs. Farley came in, carrying plates piled high with pasta, savory sauce and meatballs.

“What’s with this?” I asked, gesturing to the flowers as she set the plates down on the place mats.

“Oh, the kids wanted to decorate,” she said breezily. “Isn’t that sweet?”

“Huh,” I said, again. Maybe decorating the table for dinner was something Kristen did at her house. It wasn’t something we usually bothered with, unless we were having a formal dinner party.

Mrs. Farley left again, and returned a moment later carrying a platter of cheesy garlic bread, and a lighter. She winked at me as she set the bread down and leaned over the table to light the utility candles. “They worked so hard,” she said in a grandmotherly-way. “We wouldn’t want to disappoint

them, now, would we?”

“Uh…”

“Well, enjoy your dinner. Call me if you need anything!” said Mrs. Farley. She grinned and backed out of the dining room. She hit the light switch on her way out. It wasn’t quite dark outside yet, so the candles didn’t really make any difference in the dusk-lit room.

“What the…?” I started to get up to turn the lights back on, but Kristen reached out a hand and laid it over my forearm.

“It’s fine,” she said with a girlish giggle. “Let’s just eat.”

I let my weight fall back into the chair. “This is silly,” I grumbled.

What was even sillier than eating by candlelight in a solar-powered home was the fact that I let a pint-sized human woman convince me to do it with merely a light touch on my arm and a few softly spoken words.

Ezra Falcon, mighty alpha, I chided myself sarcastically.

I picked up my fork and twirled it in the pasta while I watched her out of the corner of my eye. She

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daintily cut off a little slice of a meatball and put it in her mouth. When she got a little sauce on her lip, her tongue darted out to lick it away.

She had a really sweet mouth, with full lips. I wondered what they would taste like.

I quickly looked back down at my plate. I scrambled to think of something neutral to say.

“Um, how is your ankle feeling now?”

“It’s a little better,” she said, picking up her water glass. She hid her lips behind the rim of the glass. The pink in her cheeks flushed a little darker. “I think the bath helped. A lot. Thank you for that.”

“Oh, sure. No problem. Any time.”

She choked a little on the water she was sipping. She cleared her throat and went back to cutting

her meatball into tiny pieces.

“I’ll have to go into the office tomorrow, but Mrs. Farley will be here to help you with anything you need.” Even as the words left my mouth, I already felt a weird pang of regret that I would have to spend the day away from her.

“That’s fine. Mr. Spirko brought me my things from the house. I have plenty of work to keep myself

busy.”

“I heard you are a fashion designer?” I asked.

She dipped her head. “Sort of.”

“What do you mean, sort of?”

She stirred her fork around in the pasta. “I’ve done some work here and there, providing custom designs for other boutiques.”

“Then, by definition, you are a designer.”

She sighed. “I’m trying to start my own business. I need a more reliable income, especially now…. with the divorce and everything.” She looked up and offered me a weak, half smile. “I need something more substantial than ghost-designing.”

Fashion was not my forte. I wore tailored suits because that was the only way I could get a suit to fit my body. Werewolf-proportioned clothing wasn’t sold in the local men’s department. But I really didn’t care what the color or design was. Everything in my closet matched, so it was a no-brainer to get dressed in the morning. Still I asked, “Can you show me some of your designs?”

“Um… Okay.” She set aside her fork and picked up her phone. She tapped a few buttons and opened a file of images, and slid it across the table. “I mostly just do the concept and design drawings.”

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