Page 125 of Sweet Temptation

CHAPTERTHIRTY-TWO

Iwandered the carnival, checking out the different stands as I waited for my mom to text me back. It took her a while, and when she finally got back to me, it was to say that she and Matthew were just finishing up ice-skating. They were planning to go to the jack-o’-lantern village next, and she suggested I meet them there.

My eyebrows lifted, and I scanned the text message again to check I’d read it correctly. Ice-skating and a candlelit pumpkin village? It almost sounded like they were on a date. A date I was totally going to gate-crash if I met up with them like I had planned. I might have considered leaving them alone, but I did want to spend some time with my mom tonight.

I’d seen the jack-o-lantern village when I’d first arrived at the carnival. It was positioned at the edge of the forest on the other side of the makeshift parking lot that had been set up in one of the fields. There was a path that followed alongside the driveway to reach it, but cutting through the parking lot would take half the time, so that’s the route I took.

It seemed so much quieter among the cars as the sounds of the carnival became muted in the distance. I wasn’t sure why they’d set up the pumpkin carvings so far from the rest of the event, but I was guessing it was to create a spooky atmosphere. The carnival was so loud and bright it would probably ruin the creepy glow of the candlelit pumpkins.

I was almost to the other end of the parking lot and could see the entrance to the village of jack-o'-lanterns up ahead when a man came around the side of one of the cars. He’d appeared out of nowhere, and we almost collided.

“Sorry!” I gasped as I stumbled back to avoid plowing into him.

The man grunted in response, and as I lifted my eyes to look at his face, I froze. I was looking into the cruel green eyes of Noah’s grandfather.

“Watch where you’re going,” he barked. My heart was in my throat as he looked down at me. He didn’t seem to recognize me at first, but then something in his eyes flared. His expression turned dark, and his upper lip seemed to curl as he eyed my waitress costume.

“Ah, Matthew LaFleur’s bastard daughter,” he said.

The blood drained from my face at his words. “Excuse me?” I choked out. I couldn’t believe he’d called me that. Who the hell did this guy think he was?

“I was hoping never to see your face again,” he continued. “But now that I’ve had the misfortune of running into you, I’ve got a message for your father.”

He was either oblivious to the fact he’d insulted me or, more likely, he simply did not care. I was still too stunned to move or speak.

“Tell LaFleur to back down. If he thinks I’m going to sit back and do nothing while he throws another lawsuit at me, he’s got another thing coming.”

"I—I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

"Of course, you don’t.” He pointed a finger at me and stepped closer, towering over me. “Just tell your father. Make sure he understands that he isn’t the only one with the power to make other people’s lives difficult. You tell him that if he continues to try and take me down with legal action, I will make your life at Weybridge Academy extremely unpleasant.”

I took a step back from him, giving myself a bit of space to breathe, and managed to stammer out a response. “Are you threatening me?”

“It’s just a friendly warning.” A slow, hateful smile formed on his lips. “You’ll know when I’m threatening you, girl.”

“Grandfather!”

I turned as Noah stormed up behind me. His hair was still wet from being dunked in the tank at the soccer team’s booth, and he pushed the damp strands that hung across his face aside as he came to stand between his grandfather and me.

“What are you doing?” Noah growled at his grandfather. He hadn’t so much as looked my way, but it was clear he’d overheard William’s threats. “Is this why you wanted me to meet you out here? So, I could watch you threaten Isobel?”

His body was practically shaking in anger, and it seemed like William had finally pushed his grandson too far. Was Noah actually going to fight for me? For us?

William’s eyes narrowed as he looked between Noah and me. A vein seemed to pulse in his forehead as his gaze eventually settled on his grandson. “How could you still have a soft spot for this LaFleur girl after everything that we’ve been through because of them?”

My heart was racing as I looked at Noah. I wasn’t sure what would be worse—if Noah declared his love for me or said I didn’t matter to him at all. William was clearly trying to elicit an emotional response from him, and Noah looked torn as he returned his grandfather’s hard stare.

Only a handful of seconds passed, but they stretched out painfully long as I waited for Noah to say something—anything. When he finally released a breath, all the fight seemed to leave his body with it.

“I don’t,” he muttered.

It was the right thing for Noah to say. We were over, and it wasn’t worth messing up his relationship with his grandfather because of me. It still hurt. I stupidly thought he’d finally grown strong enough to stand up to William.

“You told me you were over her,” William replied, clearly not satisfied with Noah’s answer. “Were you lying to me?”

Noah straightened as he stared his grandfather down. "I wasn’t lying.”

“I. Don’t. Believe. You.”

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