by Lexi Aurora
He growled in frustration, running his hands through his hair.
“That’s not what this is,” he said.
“Sure seems like it, Sebastian.”
“And you? What’s your part in this?” he asked. “The shaving, the shower—coming with me on this trip. Why?”
I didn’t answer him. Again, I couldn’t find the words.
“I don’t even like you,” I said softly, more to convince myself than him. He gave a sardonic laugh.
“I’m going for a walk.” he said. “Maybe you can figure things out.”
“What is there to figure out?”
“Why you are so adamant about denying the fact that you want—this—as bad as I do.”
“Sex?” I asked.
“Sex, yes. And everything else.”
“Everything else,” I repeated slowly.
“Yes,” he said. “The whole waking up next to each other, bringing you breakfast in bed, kissing your eyelids as you fall asleep thing. Everything else. I want everything from you.”
I didn’t respond to him again, speechless at his words. I opened my mouth to speak but they wouldn’t come out. I sighed as he turned to leave, closing the door behind him before I could say anything else.
Chapter 15: Sebastian
I paused on the other side of the door after I closed it, closing my eyes, trying to decide whether or not to go back in. I decided not to—I didn’t want Eve to see my anger and frustration with her. Instead, I went downstairs and outside to the massive back patio, where I found Joseph leaning against the railing drinking a glass of red wine.
“It’s late,” I said. “Did you just get in?”
“Yeah. Thought I’d have a drink before I headed to bed.”
“Listen, Joseph—I’m so sorry about your father.”
“It’s fine,” he said, his face an unreadable mask. “Time heals. I’ll get through it.”
“I know,” I said to him. He turned to look at me then.
“I was told you brought Eve.”
“I did,” I said.
“Are the two of you getting serious?” he asked.
“I guess we are,” I lied, with a twinge of pain in my chest when I thought about the reality of the situation.
“I’m surprised you brought her here,” Joseph said. “Most people don’t bring a plus one.”
“I—she—”
“I get it. She’s beautiful. She’s funny.”
“She’s perfect,” I said, and this time I wasn’t lying.
“Do you think you’re in love with her?”
Something tensed inside of me contemplating the question, the feeling that was always there every time I looked into Eve’s eyes or touched her soft skin.
“Yes,” I said. “I am.”
“You need to keep her safe, then,” Joseph warned. I looked over at him to see that there was a grave look on his face.
“What do you mean?”
“From them,” Joseph said, nodding toward the house.
“I know. I will.”
“I’m serious, Sebastian,” Joseph said. “We can’t have her getting too close. You need to be adamant with her that she can’t go looking around.”
I snorted.
“That’s just going to encourage her to look around,” I said. “You don’t know Eve.”
“You have to make it clear,” Joseph said. “What we’re doing here is not some jewelry theft empire. It’s deeper than that.”
“I know,” I said to him, sighing. “I’ll keep her out of the way. When do we meet?”
“We haven’t decided yet.”
“Let me know when you do,” I said to him. “I’ll make sure Eve is out of the way.”
“Good,” said Joseph. “I get the feeling she’s too curious for her own good.”
“What does that mean?”
“Just a vibe,” he said vaguely, downing the rest of his wine. “Goodnight, Sebastian.”
“Night,” I said, watching as he went inside. I followed shortly after him, going back up to the room. I was surprised to find the door wide open. I went inside and saw that it was empty—Eve wasn’t there, but the room had been searched through. Both suitcases were open with clothing flung all over the floor. I went to the bathroom and peered in.
“Eve?” I asked, knowing she wasn’t there. There was no answer. I hurried out of the room, cursing the fact that the mansion was so big. I didn’t know where to begin searching for her. I started on the fourth floor, going around, listening in every room. I wished I could open the doors to look inside, but I knew that over half of them would be occupied. I heard nothing in most rooms but walked by them anyway, knowing it was futile. I gave up after the fourth floor, going downstairs to the first floor and into the kitchen. I didn’t find her there, either. I went outside then and searched all around the house.
“Eve!” I called out. “Where the hell are you?”
There was no answer. I didn’t know what to do—I started walking down the path that we’d been through before, shouting her name. I heard a noise in the trees and swiveled around to see Eve standing there in her nightgown.
“What are you doing?” I asked her.
“I just wanted to go for a walk,” she said.
“In the middle of the night?”
“We’re on an island. I’m safe.”
“You’re not safe. You could get lost, or someone—”
“Someone what?” she asked when I cut myself off.
“Anything could happen out here, okay? You can’t just go wandering off.”
“I can do what I want, Sebastian. I’m not here to follow your orders.”
I laughed. “Are we starting this up again?”
“Starting what up?”
“You being belligerent.”
“I’m not belligerent,” she said. “I just don’t—”
“You don’t even like me.”
“Right,” she said softly. I stared at her and couldn’t help but grin at the look on her face, showing me so much more about how she was feeling than her words ever could. I almost took her into my arms, kissed her, told her how I really felt, but instead I just watched as she turned away from me and headed silently back toward the house.
“Wait,” I said to her before we went inside. She shot me an impatient, irritated look.
“What?” she asked.
“The room—it was wide open. Someone went through our things. Was it you?”
“Why would I go through your luggage?”
“You are investigating me,” I pointed out. She stared at me for a moment with ice in her gaze. Then she turned around again and led the way back into the house and to the elevator. I followed her inside and she stood as far away from me as she could. I couldn’t help but chuckle.
“What are you laughing at?” she snapped.
“You’re angry? Why?”
“Because—”
She paused, looking away from me.
“You always have something to say, Eve, until you’re faced with something you’re afraid of.”
“I’m not afraid of anything. And if I was afraid of anything, it’d be you.”
“What does that mean?” I asked her.
“It means I literally found you covered in blood with a knife in your hands standing over a dead man. But I’m not afraid of you. Because I’m not afraid of anything.”
“Not even your feel—”
The elevator opened then and she rushed forward into the hall, then into our room. She was inside and locked in the bathroom before I even made it to the door.
“Eve,” I said. “You can’t stay in there all night.”
“Yes, I can,” she said. “I’ll sleep in the bathtub.”
I laughed. “You seriously think you’re going to sleep in the bathtub?”
“Yes,” she said simply. I sighed in utter exasperation at her stubbornness.
“Listen, come out here, sleep in the bed. I’ll sleep on the floor.”
“Nope,” she said.
“Oh my god,” I said. “Okay.”
“Okay,” she said. I laughed again and went over to the bed, getting back into it, trying for at least a half hour to fall asleep. It was cold in the room from the heavy air-conditioning—and I knew that it’d be even colder in the bathroom. I couldn’t stop thinking of Eve in there shivering.
“Hey,” I said, getting up and going to the door. “Let me bring you the blanket.”
“I’m fine,” she said, but her voice was quiet and shaky.
“Okay,” I said. “I’m going to leave the blanket and pillows folded up for you outside. Grab it whenever you want.”
“You don’t have to—”
“I’m just going to leave it outside the door,” I said to her. “That’s all.”
“Okay,” she said, then paused before telling me thank you.
“You’re welcome,” I said to her. “Come back to bed at anytime.”
She didn’t respond to that. I went and laid in bed under the thin sheet, shivering in the cool air. I fell asleep quickly knowing that at least she was warm, but woke up just a few hours later to her sighing, standing beside the bed and looking down at me. I opened my eyes and looked up at her.
“Hi,” I said.
“You’re freezing,” she said.
“No, I’m—”
“Just hush,” she said, climbing into bed next to me, giving me half of the blanket. She stayed at least a foot apart from me, but the tension left her body as she fell asleep. I watched her for a moment, her peaceful face, and wished that I could bring that feeling to her.
Chapter 16: Eve
I woke up the next morning to find the bed empty, and saw the bathroom door cracked, steam pouring out of it from Sebastian’s shower. I couldn’t help but remember our own shower, his hard body, the way he looked at me but didn’t touch me. I thought about his words, too, that he wanted everything from me, and grew irritated all over again knowing how far he would go to get what he wanted. I had thought about it over and over in the tub the night before, simmered with it until I grew too angry to think. Part of me wanted to think he was genuine, but I knew Sebastian—he had always been charming, popular, and in the tabloids, he was with a different woman every night. Sebastian and men like him didn’t fall in love, least of all with women like me, who refused to fall for his bullshit and let him use me as a toy. He was one hell of an actor, but I knew in my gut that’s all it was.
He got out of the shower and came from the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist, water dripping down his shoulders and over his chest. He met my eye and I glanced away from him, instead, looking at our things scattered all over the floor. I groaned when I remembered what he had said about someone breaking into the room, making me wish for things to be normal and easy for once. I knew better, though, and got out of bed to start searching through my things.
“Is anything missing?” he asked. I looked around the room, scanning for my bag.
“My purse is gone,” I said to him. “Seriously? A house full of billionaires and one of them stole my knock-off purse?”
“What was in it?” he asked.
“I don’t know, a wallet. Gum. My notebook.”
“Your notebook,” he said. “What do you use that for?”
“Notes,” I said dryly. He chuckled and shook his head, grabbing his clothes from his suitcase and going back into the bathroom. He came out dressed, watching as I slipped past him into the bathroom to get ready for the day. I got in the shower and let the water soothe my skin, closing my eyes and meditating until there was a knock on the door.
“We need to go downstairs,” he said impatiently. “Are you almost done?”
I ignored his words and continued to rinse off. I heard him make a low noise of frustration and I smiled to myself, knowing that I’d gotten under his skin. I took a few long minutes to finish up and when I got out, I took my time drying off and getting dressed before I left the bathroom.
“You are so irritating,” he said. “Stubborn girl.”
“And you’re impatient.”
He said nothing, but gave a grunt of annoyance and turned, tying his shoes.
“Can we go now?” he asked. I met his eye for the first time that morning and found myself hung there for a moment, lost in the way he looked at me. For a moment, it seemed like he was almost being genuine. There was a flicker of something other than desire there, but I didn’t want to think about it.
“Yes,” I said to him. He left the room, holding the door open for me as I followed him out. We went silently to the elevator, and inside, he waited in the back corner while I stayed in front near the controls. Before the door opened, though, he linked his arm with mine. I was about to pull away when he leaned in to me.
“Make this convincing,” he said softly, and for an instant his lips brushed the spot just below my ear. It made me shiver with longing and pull away from him. I paused so that he could go in front of me, and I followed him into a large dining room filled with people—at least thirty people sitting at tables or standing around, drinking mimosas. All of them were well-dressed, and when we walked in, most of the eyes in the room turned to us. There were waves and greetings, as well as appraising eyes on me. Jeremy approached us, thrusting two mimosas into our hands.
“Champagne all night and day,” Jeremy said, toasting us. I sipped the sweet liquid and smiled at him while he led us over to a round table with a gorgeous centerpiece made of what looked like real gemstones, glittering inside of a glass vase. Sebastian sat down next to me and I pulled my chair away from him slightly, unable to take the feeling of his leg pressed to mine. He shot me an annoyed look that I hoped everyone missed, and even as he looked irritated his face spread into his characteristic charming smile as he tore his eyes away from mine.
“So how are you this morning, Seb?”
“Good,” Sebastian said. “I mean—”
“As good as you can be,” Jeremy said. “So what are you doing here? I thought—”
“Let’s talk about that in private,” Sebastian said. Jeremy gave him a nod. Two other people joined our table, and one of them struck me as soon as I saw her. She was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen, with long dark waves and olive skin, big, almond-shaped brown eyes and full red lips. I noticed how her eyes immediately settled on Sebastian, and saw the interest there that I recognized so well. I tried not to let it make me tense as I sat beside him but I couldn’t really help it, especially not when I saw him smile at her out of the corner of my eye.
“Hey, Marie,” he said. “How are you?”
“Perfect, as usual,” she said in a soft, lilting voice. “Just doing my thing. How are you, Sebastian?”
“I’m fine,” he said. “I’m sure you heard about Eddy—”
“Oh, of course,” she said, her hand fluttering to her chest. “I’m so sorry. I know you loved your brother.”
“I did,” Sebastian said. For the first time, the woman’s eyes darted to me. She looked me over for a long moment, then turned her gaze back to Sebastian.
“Is this your—friend?” she asked him.
“She’s my—”
“I’m his date,” I said to her.
“Oh,” she said. “I never would have guessed that.”
“Why not?” I asked her.
“You’re sitting so far apart. And you haven’t looked at each other once.”
“I didn’t sleep well last night,” Sebastian said quickly. “It’s fine.”
“You sure you two weren’t fighting?” she asked, her voice a little too eager for my taste.
“No,” I said to her stiffly. She gave a little laugh.
“It’s just that I’m used to seeing Sebastian being so passionate about the women he’s with.”
“How many mimosas have you had, Marie?” Jeremy asked with a grin. She giggled, downing the rest of the one she was holding.
“As many as I want,” she said, standing up. “Anyway, it’s nice to
see you, Sebastian. Nice to meet you...”
“Eve,” I supplied.
“Eve,” she said. “That’s pretty. It’s nice to meet you. I hope the two of you can settle what’s going on between you right now. You’re an adorable—”
“Go get another drink,” Jeremy said, cutting her off, waving her away. “You’re making them uncomfortable.”
“So sorry,” she said in a cheerful voice, and bounded away to the bar. I sat there filled with tension and irritation. I glanced at Sebastian, whose eyes held mine for a moment before I stood up and excused myself. I waited for Marie to leave the bar before going up myself to order another drink. I felt someone slide up behind me, an arm around my waist, and knew it was Sebastian just from the feeling of his skin, the smell of his cologne. I almost shivered away from him but didn’t, only trembled when he kissed the back of my neck.
“Kiss me,” he said.
“Sebastian—”
“It’s just for show,” he said, turning me around with his hands. “Kiss me.”
“Okay,” I said, licking my lips, leaning in to give him a soft peck on his mouth, intending to pull away. He brought his hands to my face and held me close to him, slowly sucking my bottom lip, then the top, taking his time before my lips parted, allowing him to slip his tongue into my mouth. It was completely unnecessary to let him go so deep, but I didn’t care as I started to kiss him back. Jeremy cleared his throat behind us, and Sebastian and I reluctantly pulled apart.
“So I guess you’ve made up?” he asked with a joking smile on his face.
“We’re fine,” Sebastian said, slipping his hand into mine, bringing it up to kiss my fingers.
“Listen, it’s about time to go,” Jeremy said. “You ready?”
“Yes,” Sebastian said, turning his gaze to mine. I was still a little dazed by the kiss, and had to pause for a second to comprehend his words.
“Let me talk to Eve for a moment,” he said. Jeremy nodded and disappeared as most of the group filed out.
“Eve, I need you to go back upstairs to the room and stay there, okay?”
I snorted. “Excuse me?”
“You can’t wander around while we’re doing this. You need to stay put. Otherwise, you could get hurt.”
