Billionaire Temptations: Rich, Ruthless & Obsessed

Chapter 23

Chapter Twenty-Three

Sebastian

Standing there, I watched the door close. She was gone, and suddenly, my place felt empty, or was it my life? An empty feeling had always resided in me from when I could remember being a small child. Her words replayed over and over in my head. “Life is lost without love.” I didn’t know what love was. How could I? I’d never received it, and I never gave it. I had once again hurt her. Just like I knew I would. I should’ve stayed away, but when I saw her playing the guitar on the street and her sweet voice singing that song, everything I thought I had pushed away came rushing back. Just like it did the first time I saw her after our one night together.

Two weeks passed. I didn’t contact her, and she didn’t try to contact me. Anger made itself a comfortable place inside me. I couldn’t focus, I couldn’t think, and I certainly couldn’t have sex. I didn’t want to have sex with anyone but her. She somehow left her mark on me, like an imprint on my soul. Sitting at the bar with Eli, we kicked back some drinks. He was the only person in the world who truly knew me, and that was because we had been friends since we were ten years old.

“I think it’s time we had a talk, Sebastian.”

“About what?”

“These past couple of weeks, you’ve been different. Different than I’ve ever seen you before.”

“How?” I shot him a look.

“You haven’t been going into the office as much. You’ve been sleeping in later than you ever have. You don’t listen when people talk to you. It’s like you’re in another world, and you’re way more of an asshole now than before. Damien told me that he asked you the other day what was wrong, and you nearly castrated him.”

I threw back my bourbon. “I’m tired of people asking me what the hell is wrong. Nothing is wrong!”

“Chloe is what’s wrong. Man, come on. I know you’re thinking she could be the one, and it scares the fuck out of you.”

Rolling my eyes, I signaled the bartender for another drink.

“I don’t believe in ‘the one.’”

“Really? You’ve dated countless women over the years, and not one has ever gotten to you like Chloe. If you want to see her again, you’re going to have to open up to her.”

“I don’t have to do anything. I make my own rules about my life, and you know it.” I pointed my finger at him.

“I know, but maybe now it’s time to let the fucking rules go. Damnit, Sebastian, you’re thirty years old. Are you really going to live the rest of your life like this? Shit, even Maura is worried about you.”

“You can tell Maura that I’m fine.”

“You say you don’t believe in the one, yet you wouldn’t sign a multi-million-dollar deal because of some Venus thing, which you got from Chloe. All I’m saying is that you need to let go of the past. You beat it. We beat it. The only reason I’m working for your dumb ass is because someone needs to look after you.”

“You’re working for me because I pay you incredibly well.”

“That too.” He smiled. “Listen, man, you’re happy when she’s around. Why can’t you, for once in your life, accept some happiness? Don’t you think it’s about time?”

I glanced over at him for a moment and then looked straight ahead as I finished my drink.

“She’s good for you.”

“Really? And you know what’s good for me? She’s different, and she lives in another world. Do you know that she talks to a homeless man and buys him food? She knows his damn life story.”

“What’s wrong with that? She’s a friendly person who apparently doesn’t judge people. She doesn’t seem to be into materialistic things, so you know right there she wasn’t seeing you for your money.”

“We’re from two different worlds, Eli.”

“You might want to rethink that because it wasn’t that long ago you were pretty much homeless yourself. You’ve only been in “this” world for the past nine years. Maybe it’s you who lives in a different world, not her.”

I clenched my jaw. “I’m done talking about her. It could never work, and I would ultimately destroy her. She’d want things from me I could never give. Sure, I could give her all the riches of the world, but deep down, I could never give her what she truly needs or wants.”

Eli sighed as he finished his drink. “Whatever, my friend. You really need to go talk to someone, or you really need to get your head out of your ass. You’ve never tried giving anything of yourself to anyone, so you don’t know shit. Let’s go. I’m taking you home.”

Chloe

It had been three weeks since I’d heard from Sebastian. I tried my hardest not to think about him, but it was impossible. My feelings for him, even though he was a total douchebag, were strong, and I missed him. I threw myself into my work, attended my mother’s yoga classes at night, and meditated just about every day. I did anything and everything just to keep my mind off of him.

Walking down the street on my way to the grocery store, I stopped when I saw Willie leaning up against the brick of Barnes and Noble.

“Hey, Willie.” I smiled.

“Chloe. Haven’t seen you in a while. Where you been?”

“Around. How are you?”

“Same.” He grinned. He patted the empty space next to him. “Sit down.”

Sitting on the cement, Indian style, I began to play with a small stone that was in front of me.

“What’s wrong? You seem sad. You’re never sad.”

“Tomorrow’s my birthday, and I was hoping to celebrate it with someone, but unfortunately, we aren’t seeing each other anymore. Not that we were really seeing each other, I guess. We were having a lot of sex.”

“So then, what’s the problem? If you were having a lot of sex, it had to be good.”

I smiled. “It was, but he won’t tell me anything about his past. No matter how hard I try to get him to open up to me, he won’t. He wants to know everything about me, yet he refuses to tell me anything about himself.”

“Where did you meet this guy?”

“Now there’s a story.” I grinned. “We met at a hotel bar in London, and we had sex. He was my sex with a stranger in a foreign country. We didn’t even know each other’s names. I was planning on sneaking out in the morning before he woke up, but he beat me to it. When I moved back to New York, we saw each other again. I didn’t know he lived here.”

“Wow. That’s some crazy shit. What are the odds?”

“I know, right?” I held the stone tightly in my hand. “We hooked up again and again, and I thought maybe we had something. I guess I was wrong. He told me to accept that he would never tell me anything about him, and if I didn’t, I could leave. So I did, and I haven’t spoken to him since.”

“Wow. He just let you leave and never tried to contact you?”

“Yep. That’s why I’m a little sad right now. But I’ll be okay.”

“If you want my advice, darling, it’s his loss, not yours. You deserve better than that.”

“Thanks, Willie.” I stood up. “I’m heading over to the store. Any requests?”

“No. You’ve done enough for me already.”

“Nah, don’t be silly. I’ll pick you up something good.” I smiled. “I’ll see you later.”