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I just hate how it feels like I’m back where I belong.
6
AVERY
I wishI could say I spent the night awake with shame and regret, but I slept like a baby, alone in my king-sized bed. To my relief, Sebastian seems perfectly happy to keep separate rooms.
It gives me the illusion I still have some boundaries, after he crossed them all so thoroughly—and deliciously—last night. I want to believe that I’m keeping the much-needed emotional distance between us, but in the aftermath of every intimate encounter, I feel like the lines get even more blurred.
Is it worth it?
I take my time in the shower, scrubbing every inch of my body clean that he touched, but still somehow, I feel the burning imprint of his touch.
He’s right. I’m going to feel him for days.
When I finally get downstairs, it’s mid-morning and Sebastian is nowhere to be seen. I pass the dining room, which has been cleaned, leaving behind no evidence of what happened last night.
If only my conscience was so easy to reset.
I’m just grabbing a bowl of cereal from the kitchen when my phone lights up with a text. Sebastian.
‘Tonight?’ the message says. ‘I’d like you there.’
There’s an invitation attached, to some fancy looking event, celebrating his mother’s wedding anniversary… with Richard.
Talk about keeping it in the family. At least she didn’t have to change her last name.
‘Sure’, I text back. The last time I saw Richard at their place in the country, I got some seriously shady vibes. Plus, there seems to be plenty of friction between him and Sebastian.
There’s no way I’m missing this opportunity to dig a little deeper into the Wolfe family history.
Sebastian’s reply comes immediately.‘Pick you up at 7pm.’
I tuck my phone away, feeling pleased. My recovery is over, I’m feeling back to my old self again. That means it’s time to take my investigations to the next level.
So, I pull my old decoy trip to the spa—having Sebastian’s driver drop me at a chic location, then continuing on foot to the branch of the British Library that I’ve been using for my research activities.
It’s been a while since I was here, but the clerk recognizes me as I approach the desk.
“Well, hello there,” she smiles. “Back for more? I thought you must have completed your research paper. It’s been a couple of weeks since you came in.”
“Just a small break,” I lie cheerfully. “But I’m ready to get back to it.”
The clerk books me into a study carrel and computer, where I can look into the archives. By now, I’ve gotten pretty good at navigating their system, and I can pick up where I left off with research into Sebastian’s business. It’s been my primary focus until now because work seems to be the thing that he cares about the most: If I can find a way to hurt him there, it will cut the deepest.
At least, that’s what I thought.
But my conversation with Nero is at the forefront of my mind. The car accident, the one that killed his father and injured Scarlett… It was so long ago, Sebastian was just a boy and not even involved, I didn’t think it would be relevant.
But now?
I’m willing to try anything.
I put aside my notes about Wolfe Capital and start to search for news reports about the crash, instead. I expect to have to filter through thousands of results, since Patrick Wolfe was already a big deal in the finance world, but as I click through, it looks like there’s hardly anything to find, just brief news reports, stating the bare facts. A funeral announcement. A press release about a scholarship fund, established in his name.
That’s it?
I open up one of the few newspaper stories I can find.
