Alaric’s POV:

At first, Clarissa didn’t say anything. I watched her, hands still tucked in my pockets, as she strutted toward her desk, where I noticed the boxed wine sitting on it.

“You know, someone got me this,” she muttered, opening it up and pulling the bottle out of it. Clarissa uncorked it slowly, as if my fury wasn’t filling the fucking room. “A friend from back in high school. You probably wouldn’t know him.”

She raised her gaze to mine as her lips twitched. ...