Alpha's Regret: The Seventh Time was Forever

Chapter 761: Chapter 761 – If you didn’t love her.

Indeed, Damon had changed. Before, he used to be a law-abiding CEO, measured and controlled, a man who moved through boardrooms with quiet precision and never let emotion crack the surface.

But after his time at the pack, there was a side of him he could no longer hide, especially when something he claimed felt threatened. That restless energy simmered in him constantly, ready to rise the moment Quinn was involved.

Quinn’s phone started ringing, the sound sharp and insistent in the tense silence between them. She looked at Damon, her face pale, eyes wide with a mixture of fear and helplessness. ”It’s my dad.”

”Don’t answer it,” Damon said and took her by the arm. His grip was gentle but firm, the kind that left no space for argument. The warmth of his hand against her skin sent a confusing rush through her, part comfort, part ache.

Once they settled in the car, Quinn noticed he had turned away from the familiar streets of her neighborhood. The houses and corners she had known her whole life fell away behind them, and a tight knot of anxiety formed in her chest. ”Damon, where are you taking me?”

”To my penthouse. It’s not like you’ve never been there before.”

In the past, Quinn would have felt a rush of excitement, her heart fluttering wildly at the idea of being brought to his home, of what it might mean. Now she only felt bitter, the taste of it thick and heavy on her tongue.

Every memory of the place felt tainted by everything that had happened since. ”Tell me why you broke my engagement.”

Damon shrugged as he pressed the accelerator, the engine growling low under them. His jaw was set, eyes fixed on the road. ”You didn’t look like you wanted to marry him. Or am I wrong?”

Quinn stared out the window while her phone kept ringing, her father’s name flashing over and over on the screen like an accusation she could not escape. Her throat tightened.

”You made it clear you don’t want me, said I wasn’t your type. You also said you’re leaving soon. How am I supposed to live in the mess you’ve made for me? Everyone’s watching. My father’s reputation is on the line. And you just... stepped in and tore everything apart like it was nothing.”

Damon drew a deep breath and kept driving, his knuckles white around the steering wheel. The tension in his shoulders was visible. He was not ready to make promises when she still did not know the other side of him, when the truth of what he was sat between them like a wall he had built with his own hands.

Every word he wanted to say felt trapped behind that wall. ”Your life was already a mess, Quinn. I’m just helping you clean it up. You can stay at my penthouse and work at my company if you really need a job. As for your father’s loan, don’t worry about it. I’ll handle it.”

As he spoke, his own phone rang. He was just pulling up in front of the penthouse when he answered, voice cool and clipped, though the muscle in his jaw jumped. ”Mr. Grande, are you calling to ask about Quinn, or are you going to lecture me?”

The question left the middle-aged man quiet for a long moment. The silence on the other end stretched thin and uncomfortable. ”Damon, I didn’t believe it when I heard it was you.”

”You believe it now. Quinn is safe with me. I’ll see you tomorrow to talk about that loan. And I mean it, she’s safe.”

”Alright, Damon. Take good care of Quinn.”

Another car pulled in just as he ended the call. Kael stepped out, his presence solid and familiar, the kind that made the air feel heavier. Quinn’s confusion only grew. ”Who is that?” she asked, voice small. Damon only ever allowed her or his cleaners into the penthouse, guarding his privacy like a fortress no one else was allowed to enter.

”He’s a good friend of mine. You’ll be seeing him often.” Damon walked around to open her door at the same time Kael came closer. ”Damon.” Kael’s gaze settled on the woman beside him, curious and assessing, lingering a second too long. ”Hi, I’m Kael.”

”She’s Quinn,” Damon answered quickly, his tone sharp enough to shut down further questions. Something quiet and heavy passed between the two men that Quinn could not read, but she felt it settle in the air. ”I’ve got some reports to finish, so I’ll be in my room. Don’t order takeout for me. I already ate with Pete.”

Damon led Quinn into his room. Everything looked exactly as it used to, the familiar scent of him wrapping around her like a memory she could not escape, the same sheets, the same wide view of the city through the floor-to-ceiling windows.

She had shared that bed with him countless times, yet he had never touched her beyond a careful distance, always pulling back before things went too far. The ache of that distance lived in her chest even now. ”Your clothes are still in the closet. I’m going to shower,” Damon said casually and started toward the bathroom.

That was when Quinn exploded. Everything she had been holding in, the confusion, the bitterness, the longing, the fear, burst out of her at once, her voice cracking under the weight of it.

”Damon, what is this? Are you going to tell me where you went last time and where you’re planning to go again? You can’t just drag me here, fix my father’s loan, act like nothing happened, and then disappear again. I can’t keep living in this limbo with you.”

Damon froze mid-step, his back still to her. For a long second he did not move. Then he turned around slowly, something heavy and raw moving through his eyes. The careful control he usually wore had cracked. ”If you want, you could come with me.”

Quinn’s heart warmed, a small, fragile flicker of light cutting through the darkness of everything that had happened. Hope and fear tangled together so tightly she could barely breathe. ”Where?”

”It’s a surprise,” he said with a smile that softened the hard lines of his face, though something vulnerable still lingered underneath. Quinn lowered her head, emotion thick in her throat, her voice barely steady. ”Damon, thanks for the help, but if—”

Damon’s lips covered hers before she could finish the sentence, warm and sure, stealing the rest of the words from her mouth.

The kiss was brief, yet it said everything he could not put into language, a promise he was not ready to speak out loud, a confession still locked behind his teeth.

When he pulled back, his forehead rested against hers for a second, his breath uneven. ”Quinn, I love you, but there are things you need to know about me first. Things that could change everything.”

Quinn nodded, eyes shining with unshed tears. ”Okay. So when are you going to tell me? I already know everything about you anyway. Or at least I thought I did.”

Damon smiled, though the expression did not fully reach his eyes. A shadow still lingered there, deep and stubborn. ”We’ll see about that. And don’t worry. I’ll tell you everything on the trip, not here. I need you to see it for yourself.”

In the days that followed, Quinn stayed at Damon’s side. He took her everywhere he went, just like before, and the two of them slipped back into the old rhythm they had once known. Coffee in the mornings, quiet drives, the easy silence that used to feel like home. Yet underneath it all, the tension never fully left. Within a week the loan was cleared, and the Grandes were back on their feet, the heavy weight finally lifted from their shoulders.

Relief mixed with a strange new pressure as people began to watch them differently.

Quinn’s father was so excited he asked Damon, voice bright with hope and open expectation, ”So when are you two getting married? You wouldn’t help us this much if you didn’t love her. Everyone can see it.”