CHAPTER 82: CHAPTER 82 DRAMA ALERT

Caroline’s POV

We walked into Bella Vita, Ruby’s pick for Italian, and damn if Jax and his crew didn’t steal the show. Five guys who looked like they belonged on magazine covers, Jax with leather jacket, two guys in fitted t-shirts that showed off their gym time, and the other two giving off that dangerous but clean-cut vibe. Every woman in the place was pretending not to stare, and failing badly.

The guys broke into huge grins when they saw us, all standing to greet us. There was Jax with his usual crew, Dominic, Wesley, Theo, and Paul.

"Ladies, you’re absolutely breathtaking! And that includes you too, Ruby," Dominic said, greeting each of us with light kisses on our cheeks.

We settled in at their table, and after placing our orders, I found myself relaxing for the first time all day. These guys were genuinely fun company. We were all laughing at Theo’s ridiculous jokes when I felt Jax’s warm hand touch mine. He leaned in close to my ear, his voice dropping to a seductive whisper.

"Don’t look now, beautiful, but those idiots who’ve been hassling you just walked in," he murmured.

Dominic had also noticed Draven, Ryan, and Joseph’s arrival. He casually moved closer to Eleanor, just as Wesley did with Ruby.

Then Jax spoke loud enough for our approaching "visitors" to hear,"Ladies, when are you going to do us the honor of accepting one of our proper invitations? This lunch doesn’t really count since you all have to rush back to work soon."

"Never! And you should stop asking." Draven’s deep voice growled out, the Alpha tone making every wolf in the room tense up..

"And who exactly do you think you are to answer for us?" Eleanor snapped back, her eyes flashing dangerously.

"I’m Caroline’s mate and your Alpha’s business partner, Eleanor. By the way, do Alpha Gerald and your mate Nate know you’re here?" Draven snapped, clearly annoyed.

Eleanor rolled her eyes with a scowl.

I felt Rory bristle inside me at his claim. How dare he call me his mate after what he’d done?

"Gentlemen, why all the hostility?" Dominic attempted to diffuse the tension. "Join us for lunch. Let’s enjoy some pleasant conversation among friends. Waiter, please..."

The waiter quickly added more places at the table, and everyone sat down. But despite their outwardly friendly demeanor, Jax and his friends expertly prevented Draven, Ryan, and Joseph from getting any direct conversation with us. Theo and Paul immediately engaged them in business talk about the local pack territories, while the others continued showering Eleanor, Ruby, and me with attention.

"Carrie, Ruby mentioned you have a son. I’d absolutely love to meet him sometime," Jax said, steering our conversation to something personal that made Draven’s head snap in our direction.

"What’s your angle here, Jax?" Draven abandoned his conversation with Joseph and turned to Jax with a dangerous gleam in his violet eyes. "You’re not going anywhere near Liam. He’s just a cub, and you won’t use him to try to get to Caroline. Don’t even think about approaching my boy!"

Draven’s possessive tone made both me and Rory bristle with anger.

"What gives you the right?" I snapped, my anger boiling over. "He’s my son. I decide who he spends time with!"

"I’m confused here," Jax said, looking between us with a puzzled expression. "Are you the father, Draven?"

"Yes."

"No."

We blurted out at the same time, leaving an uncomfortable silence around the table.

"No, Jax, he is not my son’s father," I clarified, shooting Draven a warning glare. Who does he think he is, trying to make decisions about my child?

"I may not be his biological father," Draven’s Alpha voice sent chills down my spine, "but I will be his legal father soon enough. As soon as Caroline agrees to be my mate officially, I’ll claim Liam as my son. So back off, Jax." His wolf eyes burned through as he spoke.

Everyone at the table fell silent, staring at us with wide eyes. I was speechless. Marriage? Claim Liam? Was he out of his mind?

"That’s if Carrie agrees to marry you," Jax shot back, keeping his cool even as tension crackled between them.

"Oh, she will," Draven’s voice held such arrogance I wanted to drench him with my water.

"From what I hear, you two aren’t even together anymore,"Jax continued provoking him. "Don’t know why, but she seems pretty pissed at you."

"We’ll work things out. Don’t concern yourself," Draven’s smile was all teeth and threat.

"Both of you, knock it off. Leave my son out of this. You’d better stop right now," I said, shutting down their argument.

"I apologize, Carrie. Didn’t mean to upset you," Jax’s tone softened genuinely. "I just really like kids."

"How about we calm down and enjoy some dessert?" Wesley jumped in, cutting through the tension. "Tell me, Firecracker, what dessert would you like? Tiramisu with hot sauce?" he winked at Ruby.

"Watch how familiar you’re getting. She has a name," Ryan snapped.

"It’s the familiarity of someone who’s known Firecracker since she was in pigtails, my friend," Wesley replied smoothly.

"You know me so well, Wes!" Ruby seized the opportunity. "I’ll take tiramisu with hot sauce and extra espresso," she concluded, giving Wesley a sweet smile that made Ryan visibly tense.

"And what about you, gorgeous?" Dominic asked Eleanor in a seductive tone.

"She prefers strawberry cheesecake with fresh berries. And she’s also quite fond of her mate, who wouldn’t appreciate how she’s spending her lunch break," Draven answered before Eleanor could speak.

"Your turn, Carrie. What’s your favorite dessert?" Jax asked me with a charming smile.

Before I could answer, a waiter placed a slice of rich chocolate cake in front of me. Draven reached across, grabbed a piece with his fork, and brought it to my lips, leaving me little choice but to accept it or make an even bigger scene.

"My mate loves chocolate cake," Draven told Jax with a triumphant smile before taking a piece for himself. "We always share dessert," he added before offering me another bite.

Jax kept smiling, but his eyes went cold. Meanwhile, Draven was putting on a show, sharing his cake with me, obviously trying to make it look like we were a thing.

"Remember the first time we shared chocolate cake?" Draven whispered, his lips brushing my ear as he offered me the last bite.

"Oh yeah, I remember perfectly. The same fucking couch where you screwed that fake bitch, right after telling me you loved me," I spat out, my voice tight with hurt and rage. "Girls, I think we’re done with lunch."

Eleanor and Ruby stood immediately, recognizing my need to escape before I lost control completely.

"Gentlemen, thank you so much for lunch," Eleanor said with perfect poise. "Please forgive our hasty departure, but our Alpha is right here and might not appreciate us being late," she added with delicious irony.

"The pleasure was all ours," Dominic replied."It was wonderful sharing a meal with such lovely company."

"Jax, thank you so much for meeting us," I said,grateful for their help with our plan despite how it had evolved.

"I should be thanking you, Carrie," Jax replied, standing to bid us farewell. "We can walk you ladies back to the office. It’ll just take a moment to settle the bill."

"They’re already running late. They can’t wait," Joseph interjected with obvious displeasure.

As we left, I heard Jax telling Draven he’d really messed things up.

Once outside and a safe distance away, the three of us burst into laughter, the tension finally breaking.

"Oh my goddess, did you see Joseph’s face? He looked ready to shift right there in the restaurant!" Eleanor was laughing so hard tears streamed down her cheeks.

"Even worse was Ryan, watching Ruby like she might disappear if he blinked!" I added, laughing despite the emotional exhaustion I felt.

"I was worried about my brother though," Ruby admitted. "I thought Alpha Draven was going to challenge him right there over the table!" Her comment made us laugh even harder. "Carrie, I hope you’re not upset that I mentioned Liam to Jax."

"Not at all, Ruby. I don’t hide my son; he’s the best part of my life," I assured her with a smile.

"Jax really does love kids," Ruby said thoughtfully. "His dream is to have cubs of his own someday. But from what I gathered, Draven seems to have a special bond with Liam, right?"

"He does," I admitted, looking at the ground as Rory whined softly inside me. "I don’t even understand how they became so attached to each other so quickly. And now that Draven and I are... well, whatever we are... I don’t know what to do about Liam because Draven keeps showing up at our house to see him, and Liam asks about him constantly."

"Try not to worry about that now," Eleanor advised. "Hey, since you and Draven are on the outs, and Ruby and I are unattached, why don’t we plan a night out with Jax and his friends? It could be fun!" she suggested enthusiastically.

"Wait, can Kyle and I come too?" Eleanor asked, eyebrows raised.

"Of course! Theo and Paul would love it!" Ruby laughed.

"So what’s the deal between you and Wesley?" I asked Ruby curiously.

"We grew up together. After I turned sixteen, he started seeing me differently, not just as his friend’s baby sister. But I don’t feel any sparks, even though he’s hot and super protective," Ruby explained.

"But now you’re with hottie Ryan..." Melissa teased with a smirk.

"Yeah, and I wanted to scratch that bitch’s eyes out for sitting in his lap," Ruby growled. "I knew we were done, but damn, that man is fine!"

We all cracked up. Back at the office, we got back to work, feeling pretty smug about how we played Joseph, Draven, and Ryan.