Chapter Four #2
After we were done eating and everyone was more than ready to leave the awkwardness behind, we gathered near the entrance to say goodbye. That’s when a guy stepped out of the restaurant and gave me the most obvious once-over known to man. Spanish men were the boldest fucking flirts on earth.
I snorted a laugh—just at the audacity—which he apparently took as interest. He nodded like he wanted me to follow. I shook my head, and that should’ve been the end of it. But when I looked up, Sebastian was staring straight at me.
Of course he’d seen it.
And of course he wasn’t jealous—just amused.
I leaned closer and whispered, “What?”
“Nothing,” he said too quickly.
We were far enough from the others to talk without being overheard.
“Don’t give me that,” I pressed.
Sebastian stepped closer. “I like seeing you comfortable with yourself,” he said softly. “It’s a good look on you, darling.”
And fuck—my heart kicked into a sprint.
Heat crawled up my neck as he stepped back again.
Fucking Sebastian.
They walked away, Luca beside him—not holding hands, but their shoulders brushed now and then. They didn’t look all that close. Comfortable, maybe. But not the way we’d been. Behind closed doors, anyway.
“That wasn’t so bad, was it?” Henry asked at my side.
“No.” My eyes were still on them. “Not so bad.”
Because the truth was, I still knew Sebastian. I knew what interest looked like on his face. I knew what his heated looks meant—what they felt like. And I’d seen them today too.
Not a single one had been aimed at his boyfriend.
A smile tugged at my lips as we made our way back to Henry’s apartment.
Game on.
A soft rap sounded at my door, and Henry poked his head through the opening. “Babe, you busy?”
I rolled onto my stomach on the bed, shut my laptop, and slid it aside. “Nah, what’s up?”
He stepped in, bypassing my still mostly unpacked luggage, and sat at the foot of the bed, eyeing the suitcase for a second before shrugging. “You know these open, don’t you?”
My stomach tightened. “I’m moving out soon. I just need to find a new place.”
I still hadn’t told Henry what was going on with my finances—or my dad.
I kept hoping I’d fix it before he ever had to know, but I still hadn’t been able to reach my father.
And things were getting bleaker by the day.
My landlord had already sold my apartment to someone else, and I’d lied to Henry and said it was a plumbing issue.
I fucking hated it. Henny was the last person on earth who deserved to be lied to.
“You want my realtor to look at it?” he offered.
“I have a couple of places I’m looking at this week.” More affordable ones, because God knows I wasn’t going to be affording Langley prices anytime soon.
Henry nodded, then scratched the back of his head. “Or you could just stay…”
“Stay?”
“The place is big enough, E. You don’t have to move out. Plus, the company is nice…” He gave me a giddy, hopeful grin. “We can be roomies.”
I chuckled. “You don’t have to do that. You need your own place to frolic in. I’ll just get in the way.”
“You won’t—I’ll frolic quietly. Promise.”
“You don’t do anything quietly.”
“Fair. Then I’ll ask you to join.” He winked.
I shoved his shoulder, earning a laugh.
“I’m kidding—about the threesome, not about the moving in. At least think about it. Keep it on your list of possibilities when you look at places.”
My stomach rolled again. “Maybe.” Another lie. I definitely couldn’t afford this place either.
“You know I’d be the best roommate ever. Keep you fed, drunk, comfortable. I’ll fluff your pajamas and warm your bed for you.”
I snorted. “Have you ever had a roommate before?”
“I grew up with my brothers—”
“Not the same. But just out of curiosity… did you fluff Oli’s pajamas for him?”
“Obviously.” Henry bumped my shoulder with his, grinning. “Speaking of which, how are you feeling? After yesterday’s introductions?”
I sighed. “I’m fine, Henny.”
“Really?”
I met his gaze and turned onto my side to face him. “I thought we had a rule.”
“Yeah, I know.” He rolled his eyes and mirrored my pose. “But we’re all coexisting now, and I know this can’t be easy for you. I’m just checking in.”
“We are, which is why it’s more important than ever that we pretend Ash isn’t my ex and your brother. You can’t get in the middle.”
“I’m not, I swear. And I want that too. I’m fucking Switzerland right now, baby. You two can deal with whatever on your own—just don’t ask me to pick a side.”
“I’d never do that to you.”
“Let’s just avoid the scenario.”
“Fine.”
We held each other’s gaze for a beat.
“But you can still tell me if you feel sad…” he added.
I rolled onto my back with a huff. “I’m not sad over your brother being in a relationship. I’m pissed I didn’t see it coming, and I’m pissed that I’m pissed about that. But I’m over it. End of story.”
“You didn’t sound very over it yesterday…”
“Well,” I said, pushing upright, “fuck off.”
Henry laughed as I stood. He folded his arms behind his head, giving me that unimpressed, I-know-your-bullshit look. “If I were getting in the middle—which I am not—I’d say he didn’t look very over it either.”
“But you’re not.”
“You’re right, I’m not,” he said breezily. “So what I’m actually saying is that you can tell me if you’re sad over the sky being blue or whatever—so we don’t have to say the thing we both know we’re actually talking about.”
I blinked.
“That Ash is the sky, and blue is that he has a boyfriend—”
“Henny,” I warned, lifting a finger.
“Yes, babe?”
I dragged my palm down my face and let out a slow breath.
Silence settled between us as I stared at the ceiling. He didn’t push. Didn’t fill the space. Just gave me the opening and trusted me to step through it.
I lasted all of three seconds.
“So he moved on,” I said. “Good for him. Seriously. Good for him.”
Henry didn’t react—just watched me with quiet patience, like he’d known this was exactly where we’d end up.
“That’s what people do, right? They move on. They date emotionally available adults with stable lives and matching shoes and shit.”
The tension crept in, and the words slipped out before I could stop them. “I just don’t fucking get him.”
Henry’s brows lifted slightly, his lips twitching as he fought a smile. “Get who?”
“Luca,” I said. “Did you see him? The fundraiser, the gala, the opera house charity circuit… he looks like he belongs in a perfume ad, not next to your brother.”
He pressed his lips together, clearly enjoying this.
“He’s not even Ash’s type.”
“Oh?” Henry said carefully. “And what is Ash’s type?”
I opened my mouth.
Closed it.
“You know…” I said.
Henry waited.
Heat crawled up my neck as I waved a hand through the air, very much not pointing at myself. “Short.”
Henry stared at me for half a second, eyes going wide before he lost it—full-body laughter, doubled over, wheezing, absolutely no loyalty whatsoever.
“Fuck you,” I snapped again, grabbing a pillow and throwing it at him. “You know I’m right.”
He caught it, still laughing. “I can’t believe you went there.”
“Whatever,” I muttered. “He can have his fashion-house boyfriend. I don’t care.”
Henry bit the inside of his cheek, trying and failing to look neutral. His eyes were soft, though. Gentle. He knew exactly what I was doing and was kind enough not to say it out loud.
“Okay.” He pushed up from the bed and clapped his hands once. “New plan, roomie. You’re coming with me.”
“To where?”
“Site. Raúl’s meeting us. His cousin too.” He wiggled his fingers in the air. “Distraction therapy.”
I grabbed my phone. “Fine.” Because sitting here thinking about the things I wasn’t supposed to be thinking about was starting to feel like a losing game. “He better be hot.”
“That’s the word around town.”
I rolled my shoulders, surprised to find some of the pressure gone. Nothing had changed, but saying it out loud had made it feel… less like it was swallowing me whole.
We walked the five minutes it took to get there, this time without Henry badgering me about Sebastian—just him rambling about his plans. I tried my best to steer him away from talking about traveling together for the weekend to check out other clubs.
I had enough saved to last me through the year, but that was assuming I was paying rent and, you know, surviving.
Not going on trips with Henry and his Olympic-level drinking habit.
Even if he got half his drinks comped, he also loved buying rounds for the whole damn place—and I couldn’t let him pay for everything.
That wasn’t how friendships worked. That wasn’t how anything worked.
I was supposed to be able to handle my life on my own. And I’d been so fucking close, too. I checked my phone again—calls, emails, all of it—and still nothing. And every hour that passed without hearing from him made this whole situation feel a little more fucked.
The place still looked rough, but most of the heavy structural stuff was cleared out so they could start on the basics: floors, plumbing, the bones of it all.
I wandered around, trailing behind Henny, when Raúl walked in with his cousin—and yeah… they hadn’t been lying. The guy was built. Rough around the edges in a hot way. Not exactly the kind of guy I went for, but sure, fuckable.
“Holy fuck, can you believe the men in this country?” Henry asked, tugging at his shirt like he needed fresh air. “I swear everybody is fucking hawt.”
I sucked in a laugh as they approached, and we all went through introductions. Mateo—that was the cousin—pulled a stack of papers from a bag, spread them across the floor, and immediately launched into a structural breakdown with Henry.
I stepped aside to give them space.
Raúl followed. “Did you start classes already?”
“Tomorrow officially.”
“That’s a great time—starting fresh,” he said fondly. “I remember how ambitious we were back then.”
“We?”
“Ash and me.”
Right. Wharton friends. It felt weird meeting someone who’d actually known Sebastian in that world. I’d gotten so used to thinking of him as a loner, in spite of how charming he could be, that I couldn’t even properly imagine him being my age and social.
“He still is,” I said.
Raúl huffed a laugh and shrugged. “Sure. Not like before, but yes—he’s still very much about carving out his future in a spectacular manner.”
“Why not like before?”
“He’s softer around the edges now,” he said, glancing at Henry and Mateo still deep in discussion. “He’s changed a lot these last couple of years. I couldn’t believe it when he moved here. That he left his empire for a lesser title.”
“Lesser?”
He looked back at me. “Because he was CEO before.”
I frowned. “And now?”
“He’s the CFO of VistaReal.”
Seriously? That was somehow even more shocking than the boyfriend part. Sebastian actually stepped back? While starting his own company? That didn’t fit. At all.
Raúl studied me for a moment, something like hesitation flickering across his face. “I assumed you knew… with everything that’s been going on, there are more eyes on him. Articles.”
My pulse stumbled at that word—articles. “Knew what?”
He tilted his head slightly, as if reconsidering. “It’s been… a demanding month,” he said instead. “Nothing he won’t outmaneuver.”
Curiosity clawed up my throat, and I was about to push for more when Henry’s laugh cut between us—loud and bright.
Raúl and I both looked over.
Huh…
Henry was standing, brushing invisible soot off his clothes like he’d just survived a mild explosion, very pointedly not looking at Mateo—who was smiling at him. Not a big grin, just… interested.
Raúl clicked his tongue and muttered a quiet string of Spanish curses before stalking toward them. Henry shook Mateo’s hand way too fast, mumbled something, and immediately beelined for me before Raúl could open his mouth. He grabbed my arm and steered me off without so much as a backward glance.
“What just happened?” I asked, looking over my shoulder.
Mateo shrugged at whatever Raúl was saying—Raúl looked half-pissed, Mateo looked unbothered—and then Mateo’s eyes drifted right to Henry’s retreating back. Lingering.
“Nothing,” Henry said. “Meeting’s over.”
“What did he say?” I grinned. “You’re all flushed.”
Henry pressed his lips together, still walking. “That I had a great smile.”
My eyebrows shot up. “You do have a dreamy smile.”
“The dreamiest,” he said, nodding solemnly. “One of my most attractive features.”
“And you love when people point that out.”
“Yes.”
“But not right now.”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“He might be my employee,” he said. “That’s unprofessional.”
I scoffed. “Oh, come on. I’ve seen you flirt with every single one of your employees for years—”
“Excuse me? I am not a sexual harassment lawsuit waiting to happen. I’m not Adrian.”
“You know you’re a flirt, Henny. A respectful one, but a flirt.” I nudged him. “So what was that?”
He shook his head. And for the briefest second, the humor drained from his face. Something tight flashed there, something I almost didn’t catch before his usual easy smile slipped back into place. “He’s just really not my type.”
I stared at him, baffled, but he tugged on my arm again, ending the conversation. I glanced back at the de la Vega cousins—just in time to catch Mateo’s gaze still fixed firmly on Henry’s back, soft and intent.
Later that night, curiosity won.
I looked Luca up first. It felt safer somehow, like I was skirting the edge instead of stepping straight into the fire. The images loaded quickly. Event photos. Magazine shots. A few runway-adjacent appearances that made it painfully obvious he moved in circles far removed from mine.
Then I saw it—a photo of him and Sebastian at some gala, standing too close to be accidental.
They were turned toward each other, Luca smiling, Sebastian’s familiar half-smirk in place.
It made bile rise in my throat. That single image felt more intimate than anything I had witnessed the day before.
I shoved those feelings into a small box and kept going, searching Sebastian’s name.
The results multiplied instantly—interviews, features, market analyses, business journals—all of them recent, and none of them had anything to do with his private life.
My eyes fixed on one title, and my throat went instantly dry.
Langley Executive Faces Mounting Pressure Amid State Investigation
I read it again, like the words might rearrange themselves into something less dire.
They didn’t.