But she was engaged to Scott. And though it wasn’t her fault for his betrayal, I was mad at her all the same. And there were plenty of other reasons to be mad at her, like for sending me on one ridiculous task to another at her whim and treating me like I was less than her. Besides, being angry gave me something to barter with tomorrow when she discovered she had just as much (if not more) reason to be angry at me.
“This isn’t the best time to talk about it, K.” Like I had with Henry, I moved to step around her.
And like Henry, she blocked my path. “Tess, please, please, please. I can’t do this if you’re mad.”
“You can’t do what? Be social? Be engaged?” My voice had crept louder than I’d meant it to. I pulled it down when I went on. “I think you’re doing just fine on your own.”
I started around her, then changed my mind, suddenly needing to say more. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
Huh, maybe I was more hurt about being left out than I’d initially thought.
“It just happened!”
“It just happened. Like today you woke up and decided ‘I’m getting married, and oh yeah, I even have an engagement ring hidden in one of my designer purses.’”
She made a sound of exasperation. “Okay, part of it happened a few months ago, but today was the day I decided to say yes. I didn’t know if I wanted to. That’s why I had to go away. To figure it all out.”
That didn’t help. Because even if Scott hadn’t been officially engaged when he was with me, he certainly couldn’t have forgotten he’d proposed to a woman not that long ago. A woman who he knew very well was my boss.
“You could have talked to me about it,” I said, trying to stay focused on what her secrets said about my relationship with her rather than my relationship with Scott. “I could have helped. You said you can’t do anything without me. If you really relied on me like you pretend, you would have explained what was going on.”
Nope. None of this was helping. I was just getting more mad.
Actually, it was helping me feel less guilty about my deceit. More vindicated in going behind her back because fuck her.
And fuck Scott Sebastian.
This time when I stepped around her, she grabbed my arm. “Where are you going? Are you leaving? Please don’t leave!”
At least she was aware enough to consider that was an option.
I almost changed my mind again and told her that I was.
But the DRF. But Tey.
“I’m leaving this conversation, and I’m leaving this party. I’m going upstairs to take a bath and a handful of Advil. Anything more you want to say can be said tomorrow.”
She seemed buoyed by the fact that I wasn’t leaving her house. “We can talk tonight! I’ll come by your room after everyone’s gone.”
There was no way I had energy for this tonight.
“No way. Not tonight. I’m tired. I’ve had a long week. After my bath, I’m going to bed.” Where I’d likely cry myself to sleep.
Her face fell, but she conceded. “Tomorrow then. I’m sorry. I’m really sorry.”
I pulled away and beelined for the stairs, her final apology ringing in my ears.
I believed her too.
But it wasn’t nearly enough to make me feel any less shattered. Tears pricked at the corner of my eyes. Soon. I could let them fall soon. Just had to get to…
A firm hand wrapped around my arm and dragged me into the butler’s pantry. “We need to talk,” Scott said.
I was hurt. I was heartbroken. But my primary emotion at the sight of him was rage. “You’re fucking engaged!” Despite the shot of warmth that seared through my body at his touch, I pushed him off of me like he had a disease.
“You’re her assistant,” he said with equal venom.
“Don’t even pretend like that’s the same level of deceit.” I recalled all the times he’d specifically lied and saw now how he’d managed to step around the truth at every turn. I am not currently obligated to anyone in any way, he’d said the first night we were together. Has she ever mentioned me? he’d asked when I’d asked how close he was to Kendra. There you go, he’d said when I’d told him she barely spoke about him at all.
God, I was an idiot. Such a big fucking idiot.
“Some people would very much say it is the same level of deceit,” he said, digging his heels in on the You Lied More claim. “They might even say lying to get the support of a billion-dollar company is worse.”
When he put it that way, my lie was bad.
But for it to be worse, it meant that corporations came before people, and I didn’t agree with that at all. “If you’re one of those people, you are not who I thought you were.”
It hadn’t really bore saying. I obviously didn’t know him at all.
Or maybe it had borne saying because it made him clamp his mouth shut and take on a guilty frown.
With his anger reined in, mine didn’t exactly dissipate, but it spread out and thinned so that I could better feel what was underneath it—humiliation, heartbreak, guilt.
“My lie is helping people.” I didn’t know if I was justifying to him or myself.
“It’s helpful to sneak around behind your boss’s back? Kendra had no idea we’d met, Tess. Why wouldn’t she know that you’re working with us? And she said you never pitched.” His eyes flashed as he thought of something. “Wait. If she doesn’t know about your pitch—Jesus, Tess, do not tell me this isn’t a legit deal.”
If he was only considering this now, it had to mean he was feeling thrown too. “It is legit! Of course it is. Your company is the one drawing up the contracts. Anyone could be a liaison between you and the DRF. I could have said I was from anywhere, and the deal would still be good. I only said I was with Conscience Connect because it gave me credibility. Well, and because I do actually work for CC, just not in that capacity.”
Now that I’d started, it all rushed out. “But I’ve been ready to pitch for a long time, and no one knows the DRF like I do; at least, Kendra doesn’t. I knew you would be a perfect fit with them, and I suggested she pitch to you, but she didn’t want us to go to you for it. She wouldn’t even let me suggest it without jumping all over me.”
“Because of me,” he said quietly, sinking back against the counter behind him.
I sank against the counter opposite him. “Then she left town, and I met Brett, and he told me you were looking for an organization to promote, and I wasn’t looking for it, but I saw the opportunity to show what I could do and to help the DRF. And if she kills it all…” I could explain everything to her, and it might not help. She could decide she doesn’t care about keeping face with the DRF. Now that I understood her relationship with SIC, there was no way she was going to damage her relationship with them. Especially not if she could pin all the wasted time and energy on an employee gone rogue. “I really didn’t think this through.”
“I’ll take care of it.” It was the same voice he’d used in the conference room when he’d assured me his dad would sign the contracts.
I’d been as dubious that he had the authority then as I was now. “You can’t—”
He cut me off. “I can, and I will. The contracts will be signed. Kendra’s business savvy enough not to fight it, and my father will get behind it. You don’t need to worry. Whatever happens, I’ll make sure he does.”
I was still trying to make sense of his emphatic reassurance when he went on. “It makes sense more than ever that I support it now.”
My heart sank with the reminder of why it made sense. “You’re engaged.”
“Tess—” My name sounded as pained as I felt. Like he’d been shot with an arrow in the chest, and it was the sound he made as he went down.
Before he could go on, a woman I only recognized from my earlier internet stalking poked her head into the pantry. “There you are. The photographer wants to get a shot of you and Kendra together.”
Scott’s mother eyed me with a look that said she suspected we’d been fooli
ng around. “Really, Scott? Tonight?”
She almost made it sound like any other night she caught him cheating on his new fiancée would have been fine. It might have been humorous if the mood wasn’t so dire.
He straightened, then looked at his mother as if to say give me another minute. When she didn’t leave, he sighed and looked at me. “This isn’t over, Tess.”
I waited a beat after he left. Not because I cared if anyone saw us coming out of the pantry together because really, I couldn’t give a fuck. I waited because the rage had left when he had, and now I was crippled with the impulse to fall to the ground and weep.
Somehow I managed to stay standing.
Somehow I managed to slip out and make my way to the stairs.
Somehow I managed to make it to my room where I shut my door, put my back against it, sank to the floor, and sobbed.
Two
Scott
This can’t be happening.
I repeated the phrase over and over in my head as I followed my mother weaving through the crowd. There was no way any of this was happening. Soon I would wake up in my bed back in my apartment, Tessa at my side, and all of this would have been a nightmare.
Except it wasn’t a nightmare.
This really was my life. I really was in this fucking situation. I really was being drawn away from the woman that I most very definitely was falling for to go take pictures with my fiancée, a woman I most very definitely had not fallen for (and never would). And since the whole Montgomery dinner party—there were way too many people to be called a small gathering—had been thrust upon me with no notice, there was nothing I could do about it but smile and nod and pray that there was a chance that none of this was actually happening.
I really needed a drink.
I eyed a tray of champagne as a waiter approached, but before I could grab a glass, my mother pulled me down a hallway and into a powder room, shutting the door behind us.
“What the hell are you doing?” she asked, her brow furrowed as much as it could in its Botoxed state. It was her mad look, but only those closest to Margo Leahy Sebastian could identify it as such. To the rest of the world, I was sure she looked as polished and serene as always—her long (dyed) blonde hair perfectly coiffed, her (appropriately shaded) lipstick appearing as if it were just applied, her (plastically tightened) neck stretched high. No one would have any idea she was seething.
But I did.
Making my mother angry wasn’t a new thing for me. It didn’t even bother me anymore except that it was annoying. Particularly when I was already doing everything she and my father wanted me to do. I’d even driven out to the fucking country for tonight’s event without question, a mistake I sorely regretted at the moment. What else did she fucking want from me?
And why were we discussing it in the bathroom?
The seclusion meant I could unleash on her the way I’d wanted to since I first saw Kendra wearing the ring when I’d arrived, but I knew from experience it wasn’t worth it. Best to just oblige my mother and get it over with. “I thought you needed me for pics.”
“There are no pictures. There’s not even a photographer. I was rescuing you from yourself.”
My patience was gone. “I’m not in the mood for your riddles, Mom. What the fuck are you talking about?”
“Huddling in the pantry with a servant girl? Tonight of all nights.”
“Hold up.” I was more than annoyed now. I was bordering on livid. “First of all, Tess is not a servant—not that that fucking matters—but let’s get facts straight. She works with Kendra.”
For Kendra, rather. Which didn’t matter either. Her explanation as to why she’d pretended she had a higher position in the company than she did made sense. I knew better than anyone the tricks a person had to play, the deals they had to make, to get anywhere in this world. Still, it stung that I was the one who had been played.
It didn’t mean there wasn’t something real between us. There had to be. I felt it. There was no way it was one-sided.
“Of course she works for Kendra,” my mother said with an air of disgust.
Definitely livid now. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“Here’s some advice, Scott.” She reached out to straighten my tie, though it didn’t need straightening. “Keep your philandering away from your household. Much easier to keep it quiet that way, and no matter how your wife feels about you bedding other women, I guarantee she won’t appreciate you messing with her other relationships. You can have your sidepiece. On the side. Definitely not at your engagement announcement.”
And that was the second of all.
I swiped her hand away from my chest. “When did tonight turn into a fucking engagement announcement?” Her text had said dinner with the Montgomery family. That was all. I’d found the message waiting as soon as I’d checked my phone that morning, which hadn’t been until Tess had left.
Ah. This was why she’d hurried out, I realized now. Though, I had no idea why Kendra had needed Tess here unless she had somehow known it would torture me, which was probably not the reason she’d brought her.
Then again, when it came down to it, I knew very little about my wife-to-be and even less about her motives.
No, not my wife-to-be.
But she was wearing that ring.
Fuck! This can’t be how this happens.
“I told you who would be here. What did you expect? As soon as she was in public for the first time with that ring on, it was an announcement. Not officially, of course. We’ll have an official party later to make it formal, not out of necessity. The guests tonight are close family friends of the Montgomerys, so they may keep it hush for a bit, but the news is out now. It’s going to leak. You know how PR works.”
Yeah, I definitely knew how PR worked. I was already trying to figure out how the fuck I could bury the news before it got out because this engagement was not fucking happening.
With the uncanny way she had, my mother read my mind. “It’s already happened, Scott. You agreed to this.”
That was before.
Now, my life had been turned upside down, and if there was any fairness in this world, it should have made anything I’d agreed to previously null and void.
But I knew that wasn’t how the world worked. Not even for a Sebastian.
Especially not for a Sebastian.
It felt like hours until the guests had left for the night. My parents had retired before that, which was probably all well and good since I didn’t have the energy for them. What I needed was that drink I’d been after all evening.
Actually, what I needed was to talk to Tess.
But first, I had to talk to Kendra, and that would definitely require alcohol.
I found the caterers in the butler’s pantry dumping out glasses of champagne. I snagged one and poured it back, then guzzled down one more before heading out to find Kendra.
I found her leaning against the sofa, rolling her head from side to side as though this evening had been as hard on her as it had on me. I wasn’t willing to believe that could possibly be the case.
Behind her, Leila Montgomery was managing the caterer’s clean-up duties in that kind yet still overbearing way that she had. Martin was outside with a cigar. The rain had let up, but he clung to the windows, suggesting the air was still damp and cold.
If I hadn’t met Tess, would I have been out there with him, bonding?
I shuddered at the thought.
I had no interest in bonding with the Montgomerys because there was no way in hell they were going to be my family. Why had I ever thought that was the life I wanted? I could barely remember the man I’d been when I’d made that choice.
The man who I was now had to get myself out of it. “We need to talk.”
Kendra looked up at me with weary eyes. She hesitated a handful of seconds before sighing. “Okay, we can talk in my room.”
I would have preferred not to talk there, but I realized our options were
probably slim if I didn’t want the conversation to be overheard. While the guests had gone, the house was still full with the clean-up crew and Kendra’s parents and the three live-in students they were housing from China.
“Fine,” I said, loosening my tie even though I was sure it wasn’t the reason I felt like I was choking. “Lead the way.”
I’d only been to the Montgomerys’ house once before and never beyond the main floor. At the top of the staircase, I followed as she turned right but glanced down the hallway behind me, wondering which bedrooms were down there.
Correction, wondering which bedroom was Tessa’s.
“Your parents are here,” Kendra said as we passed a closed door. “In case you wanted to know.”
I didn’t, but that was helpful.
We passed one more closed door before she came to one that she opened. She went straight for her bed, where she sat down in a heap and looked at me expectantly.
I shut the door behind me and didn’t bother looking for a place to sit before launching in. “What the fuck, Kendra?”
“What?” She seemed as irritated with me as I had been when my mother had thrown the question at me earlier.
Fuck her. She had no right to be irritated. I was the one with that right at the moment. “Don’t you dare act like you don’t know what I’m talking about. You just show up out of nowhere and tell the world we’re engaged without even a conversation with me? Doesn’t that seem a little presumptuous?”
She gave me a pointed look. “Because we are engaged. Did you forget?”
Actually, we weren’t. Not the last time we spoke. “What I remember is you leaving the discussion saying you needed time to decide.”
“And now I’ve decided.” She turned her head so she could take out her earring, the large stone that backed up her engagement claim catching in the room’s light.
That fucking ring. It was so big it was gaudy. Leave it to my mother to select something so pretentious.
I ran my hand over my face and forced myself to speak more calmly than I felt. “That was three fucking months ago.” All right, it was barely calmer, but I felt pretty fucking enraged. At least my volume was controlled. “You left without a word. And when I reached out a couple weeks ago to ask what the fuck, you not only didn’t respond, but you flat out disappeared.”
Man in Love Page 2
