Page 108 of Taming Grumpy Dr. Beast

“Not,” Jess said, her arms wrapped around her middle.

Mrs. Sulton’s eyes narrowed. “This is what I get for giving you free rein, Jessamine.” She pointed at Mr. Sulton. “I blame you, and your coddling. She thinks she can get away with lying to us.”

“Mom, Dad, the two of you were forcing me to marry someone I despise. It was the only way to get you to leave me alone.”

“I wish I could say I’m surprised, Jaxon. You always were a disappointment.” My father said with a scowl on his lips. He wrapped his arm around my mother who stood there shaking her head at me.

“Do you think I even care what you think of me?” As I said those words, I realized how true they were.

“What will our friends think?” The tips of my mother’s fingers rubbed at her forehead. Her whining grated on my nerves.

“I don’t give a fuck what your friends think,” I growled so loudly I felt it to my bones.

Mrs. Sulton’s angry-laced tone infused the space. The air in the room charged by her palpable anger. “That settles it. You are getting married, Jessamine. You’re arranged marriage is back on. He can pick you up first thing tomorrow. A Justice of the Peace can perform the ceremony for all I care.”

Fuck me. I needed to go after Lily, but I also couldn’t let my friend be passed off to a man that she loathed. Her assessment wasn’t wrong. There was something about the guy that had my gut yelling out warnings when he was near. And Mrs. Sulton’s very over-the-top push to marry her daughter off had me feeling uneasy. She was the type to demand an extravagant society wedding, not a Justice of the Peace. Jess had every right to be cautious. Something felt off about it all.

“Absolutely fucking not,” I roared. “Do not think for one minute you control her.”

“Really?” Her mother narrowed her gaze, staring triumphantly at Jess. “Where will you go, Jess, if we cut off your trust fund? You tried it once before and look at how that turned out. You came crawling back to us, unable to survive on your own.”

“I came back because my circumstances changed.” Jess hissed at her mother, her eyes cut to Alden in a glare.

“Jess isn’t going anywhere. She’ll stay here with me.” I pointed at her mom. “You can’t hurt her anymore.”

It hadn’t escaped my notice that Alden had his hand on Jess’s lower back.

“I’ll be okay, Jax. Go talk to Lily. Smooth things over. We can chat later.” Jess let out a shaky breath and leaned into Alden. This time, he wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

He gave me a nod. I knew it meant he’d watch over Jess and keep her safe. She’d explain the rest to me later.

I pointed at the four other adults in the room. “I want all of you out of here by tomorrow morning. If you linger a minute past 8:00 a.m., I’ll call the police and have you arrested for trespassing.”

Knowing Jess was safe, I took off in a run. Lily had to be in either her bedroom or the library. I figured I’d try the bedroom first. I’d only gotten to the top of the second floor when Ms. Ketill came running up the stairs behind me, out of breath.

“There you are! I’ve been looking for you!””

“I need to find Lily. Did you see her come up here?”

“No, she just left with Paul.”

“What do you mean, she left?” I stood frozen in place.

“She’d gone to tell you about the emergency with her father. She needed to get home to see him right away.”

Shit!I slumped down on the top step, my head in my hands. Without Paul, I had no way out of here. The three hundred guests milling around blocked my car. It would take me hours to coordinate a path for my car so I could follow her.

Ms. Ketill sat down next to me and patted my shoulder. “It’ll be all right. You two will figure it out.”

She hadn’t seen Lily’s face. The utter look of betrayal haunted me. I feared she’d never return after what had to feel like the ultimate deception. It certainly sounded like one.

“She left this for you.”

I lifted my head, noticing the brightly wrapped package with my name written on the envelope on top. It was the little heart penned next to my name that stabbed at me.

“What is it?”

“Open it, you dolt, and find out.”