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I’m not sure under what scenario he thought that conversation would take place, but the rumbling in my stomach said the point was mute.
“Steer her around to the pool. Call the chef and tell him to send breakfast to the patio.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Lilly swatting at the drone as Jared used it to urge her towards the pool. Okay. It was harassment by drone, but it was funny.
I was certain she’d make me pay for it anyway. She had not, and would not, ever let me get away with toying with her that way.
I stopped by my office to check the phone. One, –to delay my punishment. Two, –to give the chef time to arrange breakfast and three, to check my phone.
As usual, Gabriel and I hadn’t parted in the best of ways. But I kept underestimating him. He never responded the way I thought he would. Time and time again, I adjusted my plan or threw it the hell out the window altogether.
I took the phone I needed out of the locked drawer in my desk.
Nothing. No texts. No missed calls.
I tossed it angrily back into the drawer, shoved my hands into my pockets and stared moodily out the window.
What the fuck did I have to do to really piss that man off? To get under his skin the way he’d been under mine for the last decade? I drew a deep breath, reminding myself that I was the one with the hidden agenda. Gabriel had been remarkably patient considering the shit I’d done the past several months.
Why the hell had he kept turning a blind eye to the worst of it? Not because he owed me. Not because of some damn project that would benefit both of us without us ever having to face the other again.
I had to get into his mind, slip into his psyche. What was Gabriel’s motivation? Why would he let me get away with the stunts I’d pulled?
There was Lilly, of course. He was...protecting her? Sheltering her? Had she asked him to go easy on me, so he was really giving in to his spoiled sister’s wishes?
That theory tasted bad, like flat soda or sour milk. Barely digestible. Gabriel wasn’t that weak or foolish.
I only entertained that theory because it’s what I was doing with my sister. Suzanne had kept her secrets, but she asked for one thing: for the father of her child to live to one day know that hewasa father. It was another reason for me to hate that man. He took one person I loved away from me, then helped bring another into my world.
Lilly or no Lilly—Gabriel and I were now bonded for life.
Fucking shit.
It was the first time since Suzanne had revealed her pregnancy that I’d given the matter that much thought. My initial concerns were for her and only her. When she told me she was keeping the baby, I had mixed emotions, but I knew my sister and I knew there was no other viable option for her. At the time, she had no desire to tell Gabriel that he’d be a father in about seven months. She hadn’t gotten that far in planning her future and was still in shock herself.
That’s why she had to leave. She needed time and space and... things I couldn’t give her. It was better that way. Watching her struggle would have made me go back on my word. So, I let her go with all the love and money she was willing to accept.
And I was left again to bear the burdens of my family’s secrets.
But that’s what I did. That’s who I was. Sebastian Fucking St. Valentine. Bearer of secrets and king of my world.
Lately, I felt more and more like something was missing from my world. In the last twenty-four hours, I’d felt more human than I had in years.
And it was all her fault.
Lilly Fucking Calegari.
I needed to see her, wanted to hear how pissed off she was at me for having her run with a drone. Hell, I even looked forward to having statuary thrown at me because all those emotions were real; were honest. Nothing hidden. Nothing fake. Raw emotions that defied the will of the people experiencing them.
We were a pair of fools heading for meltdown.
Breakfast waited by the pool, growing colder as the minutes passed.
“Where the hell is she?” I growled into the phone at Jared.
“She’s not by the pool?”
“No, she’s not fucking by the pool. If she were, would I be calling you?”
