AllFreeNovel
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The confession came out of nowhere, and he was pretty sure it wasn’t because of the alcohol. The nth drink did nothing to his system. The wine did nothing to his system, not when he had drunk it all his life and could down bottles upon bottles without batting an eyelash. But something about the snacks and the not-so-polished atmosphere forced him to let go of the rigidity of his world until he was letting loose and just eating the fried, oily goods and downing whatever was placed in front of him.
“Legal? Legal to what…oh.”
A sour expression came and had him toasting his glass with her. “I agree to whatever you have in mind.”
“It’s disgusting. I would not have tolerated that with kind words.”
“I didn’t have kind words for him. But I didn’t want to hurt my mother, either. She’s the mediator in the family.”
“Who sided with your father.”
It made bile swim in his gut, but he swallowed it. “They love each other. See what I mean about love?”
“It clouds judgment and makes people blind.”
“Your boy, Archie. His father…”
“Is gone. No one worthy of discussion.”
“Let’s talk about him, anyway.”
She grimaced and glowered, but neither worked on him as he waited her out. Finally, she sighed. So did he.
“I’m sorry. I’m intruding on your privacy. If you don’t want to talk about it—”
“Oh, shut it, Edmund,” she cut in but said it with a whisper of laughter. “You want to know.”
“I want to know,” he agreed plainly.
Now she grinned, a swift movement that dazzled. He gripped his glass as the smile hit him, but then she sobered and brooded.
“He was handsome. Charming. He rivaled Billy with his sweet talking but sounded more sincere. He gave me all kinds of stuff at the start of us seeing each other; flowers, pieces of jewelry, clothes. I liked the flowers but didn’t care much for the rest. He talked about a future and I believed it…told me we were fated and I was so sure he was my mate. It was impossible to believe otherwise when he made me feel so loved.”
“Love bombing. Let me guess. It stopped.”
“Not initially. We were each other’s firsts, and we couldn’t get enough of each other.” Her cheeks turned pink, a lovely color that didn’t sit well with the story she was weaving. “Then the clan wanted to get to know him and talk about responsibilities. He was charming to them, too, but was distant. I assumed he was nervous. Then I got pregnant.”
“And that was it?”
She shrugged, unaffected. He tried to check for undertones, but either it was hidden well or she had already moved on. “Yes. He’s not in the city. If he is, then he’s good at laying low, because none of my kin has ever seen him again.”
“See? Love. Shit. Not worth the heartbreak and all the drama.”
Alexa smirked. “You just said shit.”
He blinked, registered what he said, and frowned at his glass. The color was different.
“This is beer. Not wine.”
“Uh-huh. You switched. Not me.”
He peeked at the brand and winced. “It’s your cousin’s beer, isn’t it? Billy’s.”
“And Angelo’s,” she confirmed. “I figured you like it since you drank the last few glasses faster.”
Edmund scanned the barrel at the front bar with mugs lined up to be filled and couldn’t help inwardly saluting Billy’s success outside of the clan. With much reluctance, he nodded.
“It’s delicious. That hint of blood but without being offensive.”
