Page 7 of Abel

There was pain in her voice, a pain that made his wolf want to shrink away in shame.He opened his mouth and then stopped.Esme was right, he never listened to her.He never stopped with the hateful words and refused to just leave her alone.Deep inside he knew he was more of an asshole than Remus, and she was right.He needed to do this one thing, for her.

“Alright.I’ll go.I’m sorry.Goodnight.”

CHAPTER4

Passingthrough the lobby of The Chalice as the morning sun rose in the sky, Abel waved a quick hello to Melody behind the reception desk and headed into the ballroom.To his surprise, Mika stood leaning against the door and smiling.

“How are you today, Mr.Primis?”

“Well, I’d be better if you were a better psychic.”

She narrowed her golden eyes on him and smirked.“What did I tell you?”

“To have patience.”He growled.

“And what did you do?”

Abel blew out a breath and pushed his hair back.“I went to see her last night.”

Mika shook her head.“That is the opposite of being patient, but all is not lost.”

He snorted as his watch vibrated.He glanced at the screen, reading a text from his father.“Well, the old man just summoned me, so I’m sure today will be fantastic.”His tone dripped with sarcasm.

“Have a good meeting.I will see you around.”Mika smiled and vanished before his eyes.

Shaking his head, he turned to the elevator and headed to the Patriarch’s office.Groaning internally as he pushed open the heavy oak door.“You called?”

Adam regarded him coolly, before speaking.“You’re in a wonderful mood this morning.”

“Well, yeah.Last night wasn’t the best night of my life.”

“Did you see Esme?”

“Yes.”Abel sat in the chair opposite his father.“I saw her.She’s getting married, and you knew it and sent me in there completely unprepared.”

Adam nodded.“If I had told you beforehand, last night would have been an even bigger disaster.You needed to hear it from her, and she needed the closure of telling you.”

“Well, it sucked, so…thanks for that.”

“Did she give you an answer?”

Abel stared up at the ceiling, he didn’t give a damn about the bartending job.Esme was getting married, and that trumped everything in his mind.“She’ll come back to work after the wedding.”

“Good.I have another job for you.”

“Great,” he growled out dryly.“What now?”

Adam held up a cream-colored envelope with gold calligraphy decorating the front.“Here.”

Taking the envelope, Abel read his name across the satin-like paper.Opening it up, he pulled out an invitation.He read it, disbelieving what it said, and read it again.Hiis face burned red as anger boiled under his skin.“Lycaon sent me an invitation to his daughter’s fucking wedding?Is this a joke?“

“Not a joke.Keep reading.”

“He wants me to be her personal escort for the week leading up to the wedding.I mean, the man is insane, but this is cruelty beyond anything imaginable.”Abel tossed the invite on the desk and glared at the paper as if it had come to life to bite him.“I’m not doing it.There is no way in hell I am doing that.”

Adam stood up and turned his back to look out the window to the world below.“I understand it will be hard, but some things just have to be done.”He looked back at his son and sighed.“And this is one of those things.”

“Dad, you can’t be serious.”

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