I want to tell him the truth. I don’t want there to be any secrets between us, ever, but what if he hates me? I could hardly blame him.
“What is this?” I whisper instead. Sebastian kisses me lightly.
“What do you want it to be?”
“Everything,” I answer before thinking. I blush, wincing as I expect him to reject me, to tell me that this is nothing more than a fling, but instead he strokes my face with a tenderness that makes my heart ache.
“Then I’m glad we’re on the same page, because I have no intention of letting you go now that I have got you,” he says seriously. “I meant it when I said you’re mine.”
He kisses me again, and I feel a rush of love. Because I love him. And I know that I could never betray him.
Even if it means losing any chance of ever having a career in this city.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Sebastian
I wake up the next morning with the biggest grin on my face, roll over and reach for Rose only to realize she isn’t there. Then I hear the sound of the shower running and I lie back on the pillows contentedly.
Last night was amazing, everything that I’ve been fantasizing about all week and more. At last, she’s mine and I have no intention of letting her go.
Next to me my phone buzzes and, still half asleep, I reached for it and clicked on the screen before I see that it’s not my phone it’s Rose’s. A message from someone named Adrian flashes on the screen.
Call me. I need to know what you’ve got on New York’s favorite Billionaire Bachelor...or not. I’m relying on you, Rose.
I feel myself go cold all over. What the fuck? Who is she? Because if that message is anything to go by she’s no cleaner.
Then I remember her telling me her real ambition, and I realize exactly what she is. A journalist.
I find my own phone and do a quick Google search which confirms the fear now churning in my stomach. This has all been a set up. The Witness, the sort of tabloid news that I detest, is run by an editor named Adrian...and employs a young reporter named Rose. I don’t have to look any further to know it's her. Shaking with a mixture of anger, disappointment and sheer shock, I get up and pull on my underwear just as Rose comes out of the shower, her succulent body wrapped in a small towel. I avert my eyes quickly.
“Get dressed,” I snap.
“Are we going for breakfast?”
“No,” I reply shortly. “We’re going home.”
I look at her then, and the hurt and confusion on her beautiful face is like a stab to my heart, but I have to harden it. She’s a fake.
“Is something wrong?”
I toss her phone across the bed to her.
“You should ask your editor that. I didn’t mean to read your message, but I’m glad I did.”
Her eyes go wide as she grabs her phone and checks it. I see the way she winces as she sees the message and when she looks at me her eyes are full of guilt. Any tiny hope I had that this is some kind of mistake withers inside me.
Rose sits down on the bed and puts her head in her hands.
“I was going to tell you,” she says quietly.
“When?” I snap, telling myself not to fall for her tears. “Before or after you broke your story on me?” I’m about to say she has nothing on me then I remember that I told her all about my background and my sister, and my stomach sinks even more. It’s not the kind of scandal that a rag magazine like the Witness would usually go for, but I know it will still be a hot story, if only because I’ve always managed to remain so elusive as far as the press is concerned.
She raises her head and her eyes are full of tears, pleading with me.
“Sebastian, please, you have to believe me.”
“Believe you? Are you insane? You have done nothing but lie to me!”
I turn away from her as the boiling anger gives way to hurt and the sense of betrayal washes over me. The pain is almost more than I can bear.
“I trusted you,” I say bitterly. “I opened up to you in a way I never have to anyone, least of all a woman that I’ve only just met. I told you about my sister...and it was all fake. Were you lying about being a virgin too?”
“No!” I hear her jump to her feet behind me and her voice cracks on a sob. “Sebastian, I know this looks terrible, but please just listen to me for five minutes, please? I promise you this isn’t what you think.”
Cursing myself for the weakness she seems to bring out in me, I turn around slowly, doing my best to keep my face impassive and my tone cool. “Go on. You’ve got five minutes.”
“Okay.” She takes a deep breath and wipes her eyes roughly. The tears look genuine, but then she’s clearly a very good actress. “You’re right...I am a journalist. I went undercover as a cleaner because my editor commissioned me to get a story on you. Because you’re so private, he figured there had to be something. But then I got to know you...none of this has been fake, please, please you have to believe that.”
“Then why continue?” I ask bitterly.
“I’m not. I made my mind up when you took me for dinner. I’ve been stalling with Adrian because he’s already told me he will fire me if I don’t get him a story, and I need my pay this week so I can at least pay my rent for the month...but I promise you, with every breath in my body, I wasn’t going to write the story.”
I want to believe her, I do. But how can I? If she had only told me herself...
“I was going to tell you tomorrow,” she says as though reading my thoughts. “I know I should have told you before all this...but I just wanted one night with you. I know it was selfish, but I was so scared of losing you when I’ve only just found you.” She’s crying again and her words are coming out in a rush. “I shouldn’t have let it carry on...but I’ve never felt like this about a man before, I’ve never met anyone like you. I was expecting some sleazy, cold-hearted CEO and instead you’re the most amazing man I’ve ever met. I’ve completely fallen in love with you...so I decided it was worth losing my job, even if all I ever got with you was the one night.” Rose sits back down on the bed looking dejected. “My God, this is such a mess.”
I stare at her for a few moments, processing everything she’s just told me. She already had her story the night I took her to dinner, I realize. If she was going to use it she would have filed it straight away. The passion that I felt from her last night was real, and now that the initial shock of this discovery has worn off, I know it.
“Say that again,” I demand. She frowns at me.
“Which part?”
“The part where you tell me that you have completely fallen in love with the most amazing men you’ve ever met.”
“You’re laughing at me,” she sniffs, wiping her eyes again. I walk over to her and sit down on the bed next to her.
“Aren’t you angry?” she asks.
“Yes,” I admit. “But I also feel the same way...that you’re the most amazing woman I’ve ever met and I’ve completely fallen in love with you too.”
She stares at me for a few moments and I see the hope flare in her eyes.
“Then...I haven’t lost you?”
“Not a chance. But I need you to tell me the truth about everything, right now. And if you ever lie to me again, it’s over.”
She nods and takes a deep breath, then she tells me all about herself, from her small town upbringing to dreaming of being a big city writer to the terrible treatment she’s had from Adrian, and the way he’s been hanging her hopes for a career over her head. I believe her when she tells me that she had already decided to sacrifice her job and dreams rather than betray me, and it makes me fall for her even more. She finishes and there’s a pregnant pause, before I put my arm around her and pull her to me, overcome by a wave of protectiveness.
“I’m going to kill Adrian,” I growl. She looks at me and winces.
“There’s something else, isn't there?”
She nods. And then she tells me about Mike.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
We arrive back in the city Monday morning, and the minute we start to near the offices of the Witness I feel Sebastian stiffen next to me and I start to feel nervous. The fact that he’s determined to fight in my corner is a huge turn on, but I really wouldn’t want to be Adrian or Mike right now.
As soon as I told Sebastian about Mike, he went very, very quiet. And I could sense how angry he was. But then he seemed to shelve it, and we got on with the weekend which consisted mostly of making passionate love, eating and talking. I’ve never been so open with anyone and I will certainly never lie to him again. I’ve well and truly given my heart to him and I know that there is no going back now.
Sebastian follows me into the office and I go straight to Adrian’s door. I raise my hand to knock, but Sebastian simply opens it and walks in. Shrugging, I follow. Adrian looks up in annoyance, then goes pale as he sees who it is. He looks from me to Sebastian and back to me again, confusion in his eyes.
“Can I help you?” he says to Sebastian, in an overly nice tone. I can hear the fear underneath.
“Yeah, you can. You can tell me what possessed you to waste the talents of Rose here by sending her to spy on me to dig up gossip that doesn’t exist. Are you really so desperate for readers?”
Adrian goes from pale to purple. “Whatever she’s been telling you-” he begins, jerking his head in my direction. But Sebastian cuts him off, his voice quiet but with an unmistakable ring of danger in his tone.
“She? You mean, Rose?”
“Yes, Rose,” Adrian says impatiently. “She’s a total wild card. I can assure you, whatever she’s been doing it hasn’t been with my approval.”
“You liar!” I yell, shaking with anger at the sheer cheek of the man. Not to mention his hypocrisy and cowardice. How could I ever have aspired to work under him? He is everything that Sebastian detests in journalists and I can see how he gives the profession a bad name.
I spin to face Sebastian, ready to protest my case, but I need not have worried. He raises a sardonic eyebrow at Adrian, clearly not believing a word he says.
“Really, Adrian? You think that’s an adequate defense? You would have to be spectacularly incompetent as an editor if that were the case.”
Adrian opens his mouth and closes it again like a fish out of water and indeed, I think he’s realizing just how out of his depth he is here. He changes tactic, spreading his hands on his desk in a placating gesture.
“Mr. Adams, forgive me if you feel there has been any improper conduct here. But going undercover is a typical reporting tactic, and we wanted only to serve our readers by giving them a look into the world of their favorite billionaire CEO. You must understand how interested people are in you. This was a human interest story. It could have done great things for your profile.”
Adrian gives Sebastian a smarmy, if slightly shaky, grin, carefully avoiding looking at me as he feeds his lies. Sebastian just laughs, though there is absolutely no humor in his voice, and I see the hope fade from Adrian’s eyes. He knows he’s not going to get away with this.
I’m not expecting Sebastian’s next words however.
“Thank you for your concern about my ‘profile.’ It’s really very touching.” His voice drips sarcasm. “I’ve just taken my own steps to raise my profile...my business profile, that is. I’ve just bought the Witness and my first actions as the new director is to fire the editor...that’s you, Adrian. You have approximately ten minutes to clear your desk.”
“You can’t do that!” Adrian exclaims.
“I just did,” Sebastian replies calmly, checking his watch. “You now have nine minutes.”
“B-But...you can’t just fire me. I’ll sue you.”
Sebastian places his hands flat on the desk and leans forward over Adrian before saying in a reasonable voice, “Then I will make sure that Rose takes you to court for workplace harassment and bullying. And I will make sure she wins. I can afford a very good legal team. If I were you, I would keep my reputation – what I have – intact and run along quietly.”
Adrian goes bright red and swallows visibly, his mouth set in a tight line. He is practically bursting at the seams with indignation, and I could almost feel sorry for him if he wasn’t such a jerk. Almost.
“Fine,” he spits out, defeated. Sebastian nods pleasantly, holds his hand out to me, and we leave. When we emerge out onto the street, I burst into exhilarated laughter as it occurs to me that I’m finally free of my demanding boss.
“Do you have an idea who you will replace him with?” I ask, my head whirring with possibilities of what the Witness could become. Sebastian nods and looks at me intently.
“You. Who else?”
“What!” He’s joking, surely? But his expression shows me that he is completely serious. I carry on walking, shocked, and we walk the next few blocks in silence.
“Okay...you’re not pleased,” he says, momentarily sounding so dejected that it makes my heart hurt.
“It’s a lovely gesture,” I say, stopping in the street and turning to face him, vaguely aware of the fact that it has started to rain lightly, a fine mist of drops falling on my face as I look up at him.
“But?”
“Honestly? It would be such a wonderful opportunity...but it wouldn’t feel right. I would always know that I didn’t really earn it. I know you can probably buy and sell this entire city, but I have to make my own career. My own way. Or it won’t ever really be mine.”
Sebastian stares at me and I’m worried that I’ve hurt his feelings, but then his face splits in a wide grin. He pulls me into him and kisses me hungrily as the rain starts to fall in earnest. We ignore it, along with the beeps of passing cars as we kiss in the street. Finally he pulls away, the same grin still on his handsome face.
“You’re perfect Rose, do you know that?” he tells me, and I feel myself go warm inside at his approval.
We get into a cab for the rest of the journey back to his offices, and I'm still reeling from the kiss as we catch the elevator to the top floor where his office is. And, of course, Mike’s. There was a definite poetic justice to the confrontation with Adrian, but this one I’m not looking forward to. I consider waiting for him outside but discard the thought as soon as I have it. I'm his woman. I should be by his side. After all, he’s stood by me when it would have been understandable if he had never wanted to see me again.
If Adrian’s face when we walked in was a picture, then Mike’s is an entire art gallery. He looks from Sebastian to me and back again as though he is expecting us to turn out to be a mirage.
“Good morning Mike.” Sebastian’s voice is clipped and cold.
“What’s this about?” Mike doesn’t bother with niceties.
Neither does Sebastian.
“You tried to blackmail Rose into having sex with you, you fucking asshole,” Sebastian snarls. Mike looks shocked, and it’s not entirely an act.
“You can’t believe a word she says!” he bursts out. “She’s been conning us all! She isn’t even really a maid. She’s a reporter, undercover, trying to do a story on us...on you. Whatever she’s told you is to try and cover her own ass.”
Sebastian shakes his head and sounds almost exasperated.
“Honestly Mike, I was expecting you to do better than this. Obviously, I know that, or I would hardly know about the rest, would I? And whatever Rose has done, I would say it pales into comparison to your actions, don’t you? What you said to her constitutes sexual harassment. You’re fired.”
Mikes blanks rapidly. “Oh no,” he says. “You’re not doing that. I’ll-”
“Sue me,” Sebastian finishes for him. “I’ve already heard that once today. You can try, but I don’t think you will get very far. It’s blatant gross misconduct.”
“You’ve only got her word for it,” Mike points out, sounding triumphant. “You have to at least open an investigation and suspend me on full pay.”
“Thanks for the masterclass on employment law,” Sebastian
says with a mock yawn. “Incredibly helpful. The decision is yours Mike. If you don’t wish to go quietly...well, I’ve just bought the Witness. It would be a shame if the next full page feature was one on you and your conduct with female staff.”
Mike jumps to his feet, glaring at Sebastian with an obvious threat in his eyes. I realize that he is nearly as big and bulky as Sebastian himself, although not so defined. He walks round from behind his desk and jabs his finger in Sebastian’s face.
“Are you for real?” he growls. “You’re firing me over some slut reporter?”
I see Sebastian’s hands clench into fists at his sides.
“What the fuck did you call her?”
“Oh come on,” Mike scoffs. “All this for some girl? She’s not worth it. Let’s go for brunch and talk about this.”
“There’s nothing to talk about. Get your shit and get out.”
Mike’s eyes search Sebastian’s face and I see the realization dawn that his boss is serious. He looks at me with hatred in his eyes.
“You little bitch,” he snarls and starts towards me. The malevolence in his eyes is so palpable that I flinch and take a step backwards, but Sebastian grabs his arm.
“Leave her alone.”
Mike wrenches his arm free and takes a swing at Sebastian, and I scream as I see his fist sailing through the air, on target to connect with Sebastian’s jaw. But in a swift movement that is so fast it becomes a blur, Sebastian sidesteps it and instead punches Mike clean on the nose. I hear the sickening crunch of bone as blood pours out of his nose. He yelps in pain and runs out of the office, clutching his face.
I turn to Sebastian, who is shaking out his hand and looking at me apologetically.
“Rose, I’m so sorry. I didn’t plan for that to happen. I didn’t want you to see that.”
“It’s fine,” I say, shaking my head. I’m just relieved he didn’t get hurt, although my worry was clearly misplaced as he can clearly look after himself.
I somehow know that he will always look after me too.
He closes the gap between us and cups my face in his hand, staring into my eyes, his own dark and unreadable even though they shine with emotion.
His Undercover Maid: An Instalove Possessive Romance (A Man Who Knows What He Wants Book 190) Page 7
