After Betrayal - I Married a Handsome Tycoon-Chapter 29: Crematorium

It had only been two days, but Shane Jennings looked even more haggard.

But the man had the assets for it. Even when haggard, he was still a cut above the rest.

He didn’t look slovenly at all. On the contrary, there was a certain air about him that made one’s heart ache for him.

Unfortunately, Moira Sloan was perceptive but unsentimental. When it came to things that were no longer hers—even if they once had been, and even if she hadn’t entirely forgotten them—she refused to let her emotions stir.

As Moira Sloan finished speaking, Shane Jennings’s jaw tensed. He maintained his dignified air, not losing his composure. After a moment, he pulled out an invitation and held it out to her.

The moment she saw the invitation, Moira Sloan laughed.

It was an enchanting, mocking laugh. "For me?"

Shane Jennings said, "We said back then that even if we didn’t end up together, we’d still be friends."

The mockery at the corners of Moira Sloan’s mouth deepened. "Shane Jennings, what gives you the confidence to think that after we broke up—especially since you were the one who wronged me—I should have to invest my feelings, lose, and then turn around and pay to wish you happiness?"

Shane Jennings was speechless.

Moira Sloan had always been sharp-tongued.

Growing up, her personal philosophy had always boiled down to one thing: If you leave me alone, I’ll leave you alone. If you cross me, I’ll give you some leeway. If you cross me again, I’ll tear you out by the roots.

When Shane Jennings broke up with her, she saved his face. After a seven-year relationship, and out of consideration for his status, she hadn’t cried or made a scene. She simply withdrew in silence.

Now he was coming to her time and again, disrupting her life. Getting cussed out and mocked by her was exactly what he deserved.

He was practically begging for a slap in the face; not obliging him would be poor hospitality.

A brief silence descended after Moira Sloan finished speaking.

Just as Shane Jennings’s expression stiffened and he was about to retract the invitation, a large hand reached out and plucked it from his grasp. "When’s the date set?"

Connor Quinn had returned, carrying a brand-new microwave.

His voice was deep and carried a natural chill, causing even Shane Jennings—a man seasoned by years in the business world—to falter for a moment. The man’s presence was too powerful.

Moira Sloan hadn’t expected Connor Quinn, who she thought had left, to turn back either. Her eyelid twitched involuntarily.

’What kind of dumpster fire is this?’

When Shane Jennings didn’t answer, Connor Quinn’s gaze shifted to him.

The two men locked eyes, the hostility between them palpable.

After a good seven or eight seconds, it was Shane Jennings who broke first. "And you are...?"

Connor Quinn extended a hand. "Hello. I’m Connor Quinn, Moira’s boyfriend."

Hearing Connor Quinn introduce himself with the word ’boyfriend’ felt like a fishbone lodged in Shane Jennings’s throat, and a bitter taste rose in its wake.

The woman he had loved for seven years was now another man’s girlfriend. One could only imagine how that felt.

The two men shook hands, their grip brief and firm. Connor Quinn then asked Shane Jennings in a low voice, "Care to come in and sit for a while?"

He was clearly taking the stance of the man of the house.

Ordinarily, Shane Jennings should have left right then. But, as if possessed, he did something out of character for the first time in his thirty-plus years of life. "Would it be convenient?"

Connor Quinn eyed him. It takes a man to know a man, and he could see the other’s unwillingness to concede. "It is."

A moment later, the three of them were inside. With a smile nowhere on her face, Moira Sloan went to the fridge for a beer. Just as she cracked it open, Connor Quinn strode over, took the bottle from her, and replaced it with a glass of juice.

Moira Sloan turned to him, her face stony. Connor Quinn met her gaze without flinching. "I just squeezed it."

Just now...

It was such an ordinary phrase, but between the two of them, it was laced with intimacy.

Moira Sloan tilted her head, staring at him without a word, the juice untouched in her hand. From behind, Connor Quinn gently wrapped an arm around her waist, lowered his head, and murmured in her ear, "You agreed to let me into your bed. Wasn’t it so I could help you with this act?"

Moira Sloan pressed her lips together.

Connor Quinn said, "Don’t pay the price and get nothing in return."

Moira Sloan retorted, "You talk too much."

"I’ll go heat up the food," Connor Quinn said.

Connor Quinn headed to the kitchen as if he’d done it a hundred times, leaving Moira Sloan and Shane Jennings alone in the living room.

Shane Jennings had never been to Moira Sloan’s place in Everwood County. His first time here was after they had broken up.

As Shane Jennings surveyed the room’s furnishings with dark eyes, Moira Sloan walked over, set the juice Connor Quinn had given her down in front of him, and asked, "Drink?"

Shane Jennings looked up at the sound of her voice. "Did you buy this place yourself?"

Moira Sloan snorted. "No."

"Rented?" Shane Jennings asked.

A corner of Moira Sloan’s lip twitched. "Not that either. It’s..."

"This house was her parents’ marital home."

Connor Quinn’s sudden interjection silenced the living room.

Connor Quinn strode out from the kitchen, placed a freshly made glass of juice in front of Shane Jennings, took the glass Moira had offered him, and pressed it back into her hand.

After completing this series of actions, Connor Quinn’s cold gaze landed on Shane Jennings. "Moira should have told you about this place."

Shane Jennings clenched his jaw, his breath catching in his throat.