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The hours tick past. I watch TV shows on my phone to kill the time, but eventually, as midnight rolls around, I decide to go find him.
The house is dark. Trudy and Richard have clearly turned in for the night, so I tiptoe through the dim hallways, not wanting to disturb anyone. I head downstairs, and wander, until I see a light coming from under a doorway at the far end of the hall.
Peeking inside, I find a library. Sebastian is sitting in an armchair by the fireplace, gazing into the flickering flames.
I pause. I’ve never seen him like this before—alone, with his own thoughts. The usual cool and reserved way he holds himself is gone. He looks almostvulnerable.
I feel a strange tightness in my chest, but quickly push it aside. I don’t have any pity for the man.This is myopportunity. Because if he’s feeling emotional for some reason right now, it’s my chance to get beneath his walls.
I push open the door and walk inside.
17
SEBASTIAN
I shouldn’t have come here.
I’m not sure why I did. My mother is always inviting me, and I always find an excuse.. I’m busy enough, running the Wolfe Capital empire, and I see her from time to time in London, so it’s not as if she can say I’m avoiding her.
But here, in the house my father built… It’s hard for me to keep the memories at bay.
Memories, andguilt.
Maybe I thought bringing Avery here would make it easier, that I would be calmed by her sunny presence and sinful curves. But even though I know she’s waiting for me upstairs, laying in my bed, ready for another sensual lesson, I linger here by the fire.
I can’t see her like this. Off-balance, distracted.Weak.
I take another swallow of my whisky, staring into the fire. This used to be a home, a place of safety and comfort. Now, it feels like it’s haunted, with dark secrets lurking down every corridor.
Secrets that can never, ever be brought into the light.
There’s a creak in the doorway, and I look up to see Avery venturing into the room. “Are you OK?” she asks, watching me with those wide eyes. She’s wrapped in a thin robe, her hair falling loose around her shoulders, and a sleepy expression on her face. She looks beautiful, like a precious thing that my dirty hands don’t deserve to even touch.
It makes me want to possess her even more. Prove that nothing can stop me from taking what I want, even if I’m not fit to taste her sweetness.
“Come here,” I beckon, and she does what I say, obediently crossing the room to me. I pull her onto my lap, and she tenses a moment, before gingerly curling against me, resting her head against my shoulder.
I take a deep breath, breathing in the light, lemon scent of her shampoo. Like sunshine. Avery slowly relaxes in my arms, and I feel a curious sense of peace. Odd. I’ve made the girl moan, and gasp, and come screaming my name, my face between her legs and my fingers buried in her tight cunt…. But this feels more intimate than any of it.
When was the last time I simply held someone?
We sit there in silence for a moment, just watching the fire. Avery doesn’t try to make me talk, and for that, I’m glad.
Somehow, holding her is enough to keep the memories at bay.
“My father had this house built for us,” I find myself telling her.
Avery twists in my lap, so she’s looking up at me.
“I told you, he was from a humble background,” I continue quietly. “He’d always dreamed of having a big, impressive house one day. So when the company took off, he started looking. He planned to buy a big stately manor from some aristocrats, but they took their house off the market rather than sell it to him.”
“Why?” Avery asks, frowning.
“Because they were old money, and we weren’t.” I give a twisted smile at the memory. “That’s when Dad realized, he could never buy his way into the upper classes here, no matter how many millions he made.”
“So what happened?”
“He said, fuck them all.”
