“Finished already?” he asked.
“It went the wrong way. The place needs cleaning so there’s no trace.”
“Very well.”
He hung up, and I placed my phone back in my pocket. One of the good things about being back in the Organisation was that, if one needed the other, we were there, and Soran’s services were free—unlike the last time I’d used them, which had gotten me into this entire mess in the first place.
23
Aria
“Hey, Logan,” I said as I stepped into his car.
I’d become accustomed to Logan being my personal driver as Sebastian was hardly about these days. It had been two weeks since we’d had that dinner at his dad’s, which ended with Sebastian nearly punching him. He’d been more closed off and distant since then. I didn’t know everything he’d gone through growing up because he’d never told me, but he needed to find a way to deal with it, or he’d never be able to move on from the past.
Other than work, I think I saw him for three full days all in all over the last two weeks. Even then, sometimes he wasn’t at the office when he was meant to be. Things were … strained, and no matter how hard I tried, I was struggling to pull him back to me.
“Hey, how was work?” Logan asked as he pulled away.
“Same as usual. Sebastian locked himself in the office and then disappeared. Caspian wondered where he went.” I shrugged.
“I could not do corporate. Think I’d die.” He chuckled.
“It’s not too bad. It’s not what I wanted to do when I was younger, but as you know, life doesn’t always go to plan.” I shifted in the seat.
“What did you want to do?”
“I wanted to be a social worker.”
It had always been at the back of my mind, but when I moved back, my focus was to start over and get myself sorted. Getting the job at Luxe Corp was the start of that. Maybe it was the absence of Sebastian, or I’d finally realised I could do anything I wanted to now. Either way, I was ready.
“I think you’d be a great one.”
“Thank you. What about you? Was the army always your life plan?”
“I used to do boxing before I enlisted. It helped channel all that anger I had with the foster care system. Looking back now, I know they were only there to help me.”
“Do you not box now?”
“Sebastian and I spar now and then. I like to keep him on his toes.” He looked over and smiled.
“I’ve heard him down in his gym at times, hitting the bag.” I laughed.
Traffic didn’t look too bad tonight, which was a good thing. I couldn’t wait to get home and curl up on the sofa with a glass of wine and a film. Sebastian would probably be out, and if I were being honest, I felt relieved about that. He was mostly on his phone when we were together anyway.
I waved goodbye to Logan and stepped into the house, flinging my shoes off in the foyer. I’d pick them up later. Rightnow, the wine was calling me. As I reached the kitchen, I jumped.
Sebastian was here.
He stood by the table that dinner had been laid out on.
“Hey, Nyx.”
“What are you doing here?” I blurted out.
He screwed up his face. “What do you mean, what am I doing here? I live here.”
“Sorry.” I stepped into the kitchen, meeting him. “That came out wrong. I thought you’d be out again.”
