Chosen By My Mate's Father-in-law
Chapter 50: Nicola’s

Chapter 50: Chapter 50: Nicola’s

Adrenaline and fury were still pumping through Gareth as he stared down at Elliot.

“I’ll be keeping a close eye on you from now on,” Gareth snarled. “If you so much as step a toe out of line, I’ll take away your Alpha title. I’m sure you heard what happened to Bryson. I can ruin your life just as easily.”

Elliot was still on the ground, clutching at his throat and gasping for air. But he managed to suck in enough breath to answer the Lycan King.

“I swear I won’t betray...Isabella,” he wheezed. “I never have...and never will.”

But as Gareth stared into the younger man’s eyes, he noticed a flicker of anger. Especially when Elliot’s eyes darkened with fury as he glanced at Jasmine.

The Lycan King knew this wasn’t over. He knew the both of them were fated mates, but he was still missing a few pieces of the puzzle. He needed to watch Elliot and Jasmine closely, for Isabella’s benefit.

“Get out of my sight,” Gareth growled. “And make sure that there isn’t a trace of Jasmine’s scent the next time I see you, or there will be hell to pay.”

All Elliot could do was nod, scramble off the ground, and sulk away, still trying to catch his breath.

After he was gone, Gareth spun around to face Jasmine.

“What the hell were you thinking?” he demanded. “Was this all to show that you could still control him with your mate bond? Were you trying to prove that you still had some kind of power over him, even though he’s getting married to someone else?”

An image of the marks he spied on Jasmine’s neck during one of Michelle’s tutoring sessions jumped to the forefront of his mind. Did Elliot leave those marks on her beautiful skin?

Anger made his heart slam against his chest, and his teeth gritted at just the thought that Elliot had cheated on his daughter. And what about Jasmine? If she let him mark up her smooth skin while pretending to be his daughter’s friend, that didn’t make her any better than Elliot.

Meanwhile, Jasmine was standing across from him, perplexed by his questions. Did he really think that she had wanted Elliot to pin her against the wall and paw at her like she was a piece of meat?

“You can’t possibly think that Elliot’s advances were wanted,” Jasmine said, putting her hands on her hips. “I tried to get away from him, but I couldn’t.”

Gareth narrowed his eyes at her.

“Do you want to know why I find that hard to believe? Because each time that you and Elliot are in the same place, you somehow find your way back to each other. How can I not be suspicious of that, Jasmine?”

Her gorgeous blue eyes met his, and a jolt of surprise went down his spine when he saw a small amount of hurt in them.

“Well...” She raised her chin. “You can think what you want about me. Whatever I say won’t change your opinion. I have to go home now.”

As she turned to leave, Gareth automatically grabbed her arm, pulling her back to him.

As soon as his fingers wrapped around her skin, Jasmine’s heart pounded with surprise and exasperation. When Gareth pulled her against his muscular body, a small amount of attraction flowed through her.

But that didn’t mean she was any less pissed at being manhandled twice in one day.

“Why do Alphas think that they are allowed to just grab women whenever they feel like it?” she demanded. “This whole domineering act is getting old.”

Their bodies were pressed against each other, and Gareth’s mouth was close enough for them to kiss. With her heightened senses, she could hear his heart rapidly beating inside his chest. Jasmine’s mouth went dry as Gareth’s gray eyes stared down at her with anger, confusion, and desire.

Then, the slider door opened again, and both of them froze when Isabella walked outside. They turned just in time to see her stunned expression as she stared at their close embrace.

“Am I interrupting something?” Isabella asked with a sly grin.

Immediately, Gareth let go of Jasmine and stepped away from her.

“No, you’re not,” he told his oldest daughter and cleared his throat, trying to keep his gaze off of Jasmine. But that was hard when he could hear her quickened breath.

Isabella walked toward them. There was still a mischievous look in her eyes as she glanced between her father and Jasmine.

“I actually have some bad news,” she said.

Jasmine and Gareth shared a glance. Gareth wondered if his oldest daughter was suspicious of the red fingerprints on Elliot’s neck and the fact that he was out of breath.

“The head chef has burned the roast that he was planning to serve us tonight,” Isabella announced. “He’s going to start another, but dinner is now delayed by an hour.”

“That’s alright. Even trained culinary experts make mistakes,” Gareth replied with a shrug.

“That’s what I told him when he kept apologizing purposely,” Isabella added.

“Why don’t I give the kitchen a night off?” Gareth suggested. “We can all go out to dinner as a family.”

An excited grin bloomed across Isabella’s face. Gareth knew that his daughter loved eating out as a family, and after what just happened with Elliot, he wanted to make her happy any way he could.

“Ooh, can we go to Nicola’s?” Isabella asked lively. “It’s my favorite Italian restaurant. Their risotto is delicious.”

“Of course. We can go wherever you’d like,” Gareth answered, offering her a small smile.

“Would you like to come, Jasmine?” Isabella asked, turning to her.

“No, thank you.” She shook her head. “I have to get home.”

Gareth stared at Jasmine. He knew that she wouldn’t want to come because she wanted to avoid Elliot.

“You should come. It’s getting late, and you haven’t had dinner yet,” he told Jasmine. He wouldn’t let her get away this easily, after the stunt she pulled earlier. “I insist. My daughters love spending time with you.”

Isabella nodded in agreement.

Jasmine glanced down at her blue athletic top and black sweatpants. “I’d stick out like a sore thumb at a place like that. Just look at what I’m wearing.” She had never been to Nicola’s, but she knew that it was fancy and expensive.

“That’s a problem I can easily solve!” Isabella said with glee, clapping her hands. “You know that I love a makeover.”

Jasmine had no choice but to allow Isabella to take her hand and drag her away.

***

At Nicola’s, the five of them were waiting to be seated. Despite the tense events earlier, they had all cleaned up rather nicely.

Gareth noticed that Elliot was wearing a black turtleneck to conceal the red fingerprints on his neck. The younger man wouldn’t even meet his eyes. For once, Elliot was acting subdued and didn’t seem to have a lot to say. Gareth couldn’t help the smirk that crossed his face.

But Elliot didn’t hold his attention for long. Gareth’s eyes kept sliding back to Jasmine. She

looked stunning. Isabella had straightened Jasmine’s long, honey-colored hair so that it was hanging like a curtain down her back. Jasmine’s makeup was light, enhancing her delicate features instead of hiding them, which Gareth preferred. Her plump lips were painted a bright red color that perfectly matched her dress.

When Jasmine walked down the stairs of his house in that tight dress, Gareth’s mouth had gone completely dry. That silk red dress hugged her every curve. There was a slit up her thigh that revealed her toned, tan skin. The dress was low-cut and showcased the top of her round cleavage.

Even now, as he stared at Jasmine, Gareth couldn’t stop imagining those round breasts and hard nipples.

He cleared his throat and forced himself to look away from her tempting body.

It was going to be a long night.

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