[Lucien’s POV]

I gulped down the remaining glass of Martell and proceeded to open the next bottle, when Celeste reached out her hand to stop me from drinking.

“Enough already. What’s this? Your fourth bottle?” she inquired, with an element of distaste in her voice.

I snapped her hand off mine and proceeded to open the bottle. “Fifth, and no, I am not stopping when I haven’t gotten drunk yet. I need to get drunk till I can barely keep my eyes open, fall asleep and forget about the ache in my heart for a little while,” I said, drinking it directly from the bottle, already feeling too weak in...