TEMPORARY MATES PERMANENT CRAVINGS novel Chapter 342

Three hundred and forty two

Wesley POV

The silence after Barbara and her parents left was deafening, like a bomb about to explode. It was clear Barbara had won my parents over, Mom especially.

Mom assured Barbara’s mother, Gwen, that she’d get to the root of the matter, while Anita held Barbara’s hard as they headed downstairs. I wondered what rubbish Barbara was filling Anita’s head with.

Dad stared at me as though, if he looked hard enough, whatever lie they thought I was hiding would crawl out of

“Blame me all you want,” I said. “I don’t care anymore. Nobody is willing to listen to me.”

“Son, this is not the time to be passive-aggressive,” he said. “I never said I wouldn’t believe you. It’s unlike you to lie. But you brought her home yourself and said you were interested in her, even after your mom and I asked if you were sure.”

I stayed silent, staring straight ahead.

His gaze shifted between me and Charlie, who stood there quietly.

“Do you have any evidence? Anything to prove what you’re saying? Did you record anything? Sign something?”

I didn’t respond.

“If you didn’t, the public will have a hard time believing you, Wesley, and that will make you look even worse.”

“I told Grandma Cassidy weeks before the gala,” I mumbled.

“Your nanny?” Mom said, her voice sharp. “Of all people, you told your nanny before your own parents? Before Charlie, who is supposedly your closest friend? Do you understand how that sounds, especially when Cassidy is willing to cover for you?”

I said nothing. There was nothing I could say that would make her believe me.

“I really hope you’re telling the truth, for your sake,” she said. “Because if you’re not, Wesley, I don’t know how I’ll get past the disappointment.”

She had said all this within an hour, and it was starting to sound like a broken record. Isabella’s name kept weaving into every complaint: how she fired Emerald because of her, how she took Isabella in after seeing a helpless single mother with a son who was burning up. And now this. She was connecting it all as though I had anything to do with those things.

“If you had at least told Charlie…”

“Mom, please stop.” I cut her off. “This same Charlie is acting like he has no idea what I’m capable of. Why do you think I told him nothing?”

Charlie looked up, his mouth pressed into a tight line.

“You knew I would have stopped you if you’d told me,” he said. “Besides, this isn’t just about you. It’s about Barbara, whom you’re about to turn into a caricature in the public eye.”

Something cold settled in my chest, pressing down on everything I wanted to say. It had taken years to learn that restraint. The first time my wolf emerged, it had turned on me. Anger had nearly cost me everything, and ever since, I had taught myself that silence was safer than letting it loose where it could do damage so I remained

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silent.

Dad wore a faint smile.

“Wesley, I know you’re simmering with rage. But you need to talk. Explain yourself and this deal with Isabella.”

My frown deepened.

“I’m serious about her.” I fell silent.

“Do you even know her?” Mom snapped. “You don’t choose someone just because they appeal to you.”

“Your mom is right,” Dad said. “You know better than most that things aren’t always what they seem. Remember what happened with me and my first mate? Look what that cost me.”

“Dad, Isabella is nothing like your cultish mate.”

He chuckled.

“You don’t know that. You only know what she’s shown you. For starters, I hear she has a kid. Who’s the father?”

I felt my anger rise again, quiet but banked beneath everything I forced down.

“I know her, Dad,” I said. “I know enough.”

“Well, I hope you’re right. Because right now, son, you don’t have a single thing to support what you’re claiming. And everyone else believes Barbara’s tears far more than they believe your word.”

“That’s on them,” I said. “I’m going to be with Isabella, and that’s final.”

Mom and Dad exchanged a glance. I knew that look well. It was the look they gave me whenever I wanted something and refused to change my mind.

Emma waited outside Anita’s door while I came up. I was fed up with the back and forth, but I felt a little sorry for Emma. It was clear she wasn’t sure whose side she was on.

“She’s got her AirPods in,” Emma said as we peeped through Anita’s ajar door. “Fair warning.”

I sighed. She gave my hand a small squeeze, her own form of encouragement.

We went in together.

Anita sprawled on the bed, one leg hanging off the edge. She noticed us but didn’t look up from her phone. Music leaked faintly from her AirPods.

“Get out,” she said, meaning every word.

Emma crossed to her and removed one AirPod.

“At least hear him out,” she said.

Anita shook her head. “Whatever he’s about to say is going in one ear and straight out the other.”

“Anita, I’m sorry,” I said. “And I mean it.”

“I mean it too,” she snapped. “I don’t want to talk to you. You irritate me.”

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“I get that.” I kept my distance. “I didn’t mean to hurt you. I wasn’t even thinking about what it would do to you. I know that’s an excuse.”

“Glad you’re telling yourself that.”

She sat up.

“What makes you think there’s ärrything to redeem you from this mess you’re dragging everyone into? You’re not just a coward. You’re a liar who wants everyone to believe your relationship with Barbara was fake the whole time, And now that you look like the bad guy, you expect me to feel sorry for you?”

“I’m not asking you to feel sorry for me.”

“Good. Because I don’t. And for the record, I believe Barbara.”

“Fair enough,” I said. “But you could at least give me the benefit of the doubt.”

She scoffed.

“This isn’t about doubt, Wesley.” Her voice cracked on my name. “This isn’t even about Isabella. This is you and me. You’re my only sibling, and we’re supposed to have each other’s backs. We’ve kept worse things between us. Things that could’ve torn us apart if either of us had told Mom and Dad. And we never did. Not once. And now you couldn’t even tell me you liked a girl.”

“I know.”

“Do you?” she snapped. “You have no idea what it feels like to find out my own brother let me walk around thinking there was a chance while he was already fucking her.”

“Language,” Emma said, trying to lighten the mood.

Anita glared at her, then continued.

I had nothing to say. She was right.

Emma sat beside Anita and looked at me.

“You’ve heard her,” she said as Anita picked up her AirPod. “Just give her time. You can’t force this to fix itself in one conversation.”

I nodded.

Emma sighed. “She cared about Isabella, Wes. Genuinely. When Isabella was accused of stealing, Anita stepped in for her. She barely knew her at the time, but she got her transferred out of your mom’s department to accounting. Then she made me give some of my things to Isabella and even bought her new clothes, including the dress she wore to the gala.”

That last part hit me. I had no idea.

“I’ll give Isabella some of the blame too,” Emma said, “but you should’ve said something, Wesley. You shouldn’t have let it get this far. What were you thinking? That she’d clap when you told her you and Isabella were an item?”

I remained silent.

“I saw your car outside that restaurant. I saw your silhouette at the table before I even walked in,” she said. “I told myself it wasn’t you because it didn’t make sense. Why would it be? Then I asked you directly, and you denied it. You lied, Wesley, and that doesn’t sit right.”

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