Chapter 79

[Third-Person’s POV]

Alexander knew that he had inherited his lethal death glare from his grandmother. It was a look that could have been trademarked because when it was used everyone in the general vicinity knew that it meant things were about to go down.

It wasn’t often that Alexander was on the receiving end of such a look; however, he had a pretty good feeling that he was about to find out why his grandmother had chosen to pay him an unexpected visit.

“Why don’t you sit down?”

Wendy gave him a feigned look of surprise. “My, my. And here I thought you’d lost all of the manners I had instilled into you.”

She took a seat in one of the chairs across from him and leveled her gaze.

“I’m not going to draw this whole thing out because, frankly, I don’t wish to waste the remainder of my afternoon having to speak to you on this particular matter,” she said coldly.

Alexander raised his brows. Oh, yeah, Wendy was mad. Obscenely mad.

He sat back in his chair and nodded for her to go on and explain.

“I know that Rena left a mark on you.” Alexander parted his lips to speak but was immediately stopped by a pointed finger from the older woman. “Don’t interrupt.”

She cleared her throat and resumed. “Now, as I was saying. I know that your relationship with her has caused you to lock your mind and your heart away for many years. It gave you the drive you needed to become the Alpha you are today. But what you keep seeming to forget is that you’re no longer living in the past.”

Alexander’s feeling of puzzlement returned. He folded his arms over his chest. “I’m well aware of that.”

“Are you? Because it looks to me as though you’re doing everything in your power to push Evelyn out of your life.”

His confusion shifted to frustration. His feelings toward her have been nothing short of mind-numbingly aggravating for the last week. Anytime he considered approaching her, he was instantly reminded of the staggering encounter they shared back in the greenhouse.

“I’m aware of the confrontation the two of you had the other day,” Wendy remarked.

“It was a conversation,” he pointed out. “I’d hardly call it a ‘confrontation’.”

“Really? If that’s the case, then I’m afraid I’m going to have to bring your basic intelligence into question as well as your behavior. Evelyn told me about how you ‘confronted’ her in the greenhouse. You demanded that she never speak or be around Michael.”

Alexander scoffed. “Yes, a request that she blatantly refused to acknowledge.”

“She refused to do so because you failed to give her a proper explanation as to why,” Wendy huffed. “Honestly, when the hell have you ever done anything that was of you where you didn’t question it?”

Shit...She had a point.

Alexander knew that Evelyn was a strong, independent thinker. It had become one of the many things he learned to admire about her. Yet, what right did he have to be audaciously shocked when she had openly said no to him?

His brows furrowed into a grimace. “I’m trying to keep her safe.”

Wendy’s tone softened. “I know that, dear. All you needed to do was explain to her the situation in full.”

He fought back a sneer. “It’s not as though she would have believed me.”

She shook her head. “You know she would have if you would have just told her the truth. Instead, you left her confused and angry. And then to top it off, you’ve been purposely avoiding her for days, Alexander. I know that you are stubborn, but sometimes you can act like a real ass.”

In truth, did she seriously think that she was just going to come around to the idea of being ordered what to do?

No. So, why had I treated her like she was one of my guards?

That pained, devastated look she’d given him back then was burned into the side of his brain. She looked so confused and so hurt.

“Alexander, do you mean to tell me that you’re still unable to open up about your feelings? Even to your own wife?”

He stifled a snarl that threatened to tear from his chest. The whole matter was utterly mortifying.

“You know better than anyone that it’s not something I can easily do,” he muttered.

“Then it is a skill you must learn to master. For the sake of the future of your relationship, you must learn to let yourself be vulnerable around her,” she said sternly. “As of right now, Evelyn is convinced that your actions were out of some form of decency.”

“What do you mean?”

“I told Evelyn that you telling her to stay away from Michael was because you’re concerned for her safety. And I may have gone a step further and thrown out the idea of you, possibly, being jealous.”

Alexander bit down on his tongue hard. Jealous?!

“I am not jealous of Michael,” he spat.

Wendy arched her brow with skepticism. “I told you, I don’t have all day to debate this matter with you. All I’m going to say is that I know the staff have been talking and even they notice the way Michael treats Evelyn. Of course, it’s unsettling to know that he’s interested in your wife.”

“I didn’t like the way he looked at her. He acted as if he knew every hidden secret about her,” he said through clenched teeth.

The son of a bitch was practically undressing her at the fucking table during dinner.

“Evelyn doesn’t care for Michael. She only cares about you.”

He let out a long breath through his nose and rubbed a hand roughly down his face.

“Well, what do you propose that I do?” he asked.

“I don’t know. But you had better figure something out. I’m afraid that you’re on the line of losing her.”

An unsettling feeling crept down his spine. “What do you mean?”

“While you were having your pathetic pity party with yourself, you’ve managed to accomplish making Evelyn feel as though you hold no regard for her whatsoever. She feels completely at a loss with your relationship. Not only does she not know how to proceed with you, but I can tell that she’s truly debating whether or not to give up on the two of you as a couple entirely.”

The thought made Alexander's stomach sink. No. Of course, that wasn’t what he wanted. He’d let his own anger toward Michael get in the way of his real feelings for Evelyn.

I can’t lose her to something as stupid as my own personal issues.

He knew that Evelyn didn’t deserve to be treated the way she had been lately. Knowing that he’d continuously hurt her with his immature silence, caused his heart to ache.

“Where is she now?”

“She said she was heading to the market. There was quite a bit that she and I covered during our discussion,” she said.

Alexander got up from his desk with the intention of finding Oliver and heading over to the market to find Evelyn. However, he stopped when he heard the sharp word from his grandmother.

“There’s something else that you need to know. Before you go storming through the market, I advise you to keep in mind that Evelyn is in a very delicate place right now, mentally speaking. As nice as it is to see your willingness to try and save your marriage, you ought to know that in her mind, she genuinely believes you are the one who settled for her in the end.”

Fucking what?!