Chapter Six #3
“And I did. I didn’t tell anybody we were talking again.” My eyes stayed on the hem of my shorts. “It felt… normal. We went out for lunch, chatted. Neutral topics only. Then he started mentioning he was having a hard time.”
Sebastian shifted closer, his posture going just a touch rigid.
“He got a big settlement with the divorce, but my mom’s family funds everything. He told me he’d had a couple of bad investments and that he knew a good one that would definitely work this time…”
“Does your dad not work?”
“Kinda. He used to. Then he started consulting. If I’m being totally honest, I never really asked after he moved out. I figured he was still doing that.”
“So you loaned him the money?”
I nodded. “At first. It wasn’t much. And as soon as I did, he’d drop it, and we’d go back to normal.
But every time he asked, it was more. And it was…
insistent. Like the conversation couldn’t move forward until I said yes.
I just wanted it to stop because every time he asked, it felt like everything between us was about to break again.
” I swallowed hard. “Around March, he asked about a big one—I said no. But he said he was having a hard time covering expenses, so I thought, why not help with that? I could give him access to the funds, and then he’d use what he needed and stop asking. ”
The rock in my stomach slammed down hard. I had been so stupid. He hadn’t even asked for it. I was the one who offered it.
Fucking idiot.
“And when I did, everything went back to normal. Everything was easy again. That was months ago, Ash. Months.”
“What happened?”
“The payment for my place here got declined, so I called the bank. They told me the account had been cleared out. It’s all gone.”
Sebastian’s breathing was the only sound between us.
“They said since the person was co-authorized, they can’t open an investigation.
And I tried calling him after that—” The words rushed out of me like I couldn’t get them out fast enough.
“He didn’t answer his phone for almost two weeks—fucking weeks—then he finally did today, and he admitted it.
Told me I didn’t need it anyway, that I’d be fine.
That he’d send me the return on the investment, and I’m really fucking sure that’s a lie.
It’s fucking gone, and—” my voice cracked, “—and he had the gall to say he was proud of me.”
“Why?” Sebastian asked quietly.
“Because I had been smart enough to associate myself with all of you. Oli. Henny. And… you. Because that meant I didn’t need my trust anymore.”
Sebastian’s breath left him in one long exhale. “That’s not your fault, darling. None of it is.”
“How can it not be? I was the idiot who offered him the access. He was just using me this whole time, and I didn’t even realize it.”
“Not your fault.” Sebastian’s hand slid down to my shoulder. “Do you think anybody has an easy time saying no to someone they love? Especially when they’re in need?”
“Charlotte said no.”
“You haven’t talked to your sister about this. You don’t know how things were for her.”
“I know she didn’t lose everything.” I swallowed the knot in my throat as best I could. “What am I supposed to do now?”
Sebastian tilted his head, the faintest smile adorning his mouth. His palm cupped the side of my neck. “You’re going to fight your way out of it, like you always do.” His fingers tightened on my nape. “You’re tough as nails, remember?”
I shook my head, eyes squeezing shut, but he followed the movement with his hand, keeping that steady pressure.
“Yes. You are.”
“It’s not fair.”
“No.” His forehead dipped toward mine, not touching, just close enough that I felt his breath.
“It isn’t. But you can’t drown yourself in that thought.
” His thumb stroked the line of my jaw again.
“Can I try to help? I know you don’t want me to make the problem just go away—that’s not what this is. I promise.”
I stared into his dark eyes, his face inches from mine. “Okay.”
“Stay here with Henny. Talk to him about this—tell him everything—and stay.”
“Ash, I can’t just—”
He tightened his grip on my nape again, gentle but impossible to ignore.
His other hand rose to cradle the side of my face, thumb brushing the salt from my cheek.
“Henry loves you,” he said softly. “And he’ll do anything for the people he loves.
He’ll want to be there for you because you’re in a tight spot.
If he were in the same one, would you ask him to move out? ”
My eyes lifted to meet his again, and I shook my head.
“Exactly. So talk to him. Take one weight off your shoulders.”
I took a deep breath, still fighting it. I couldn’t just live off Henry. It wasn’t fair.
Sebastian’s fingers skimmed the back of my neck. “Now,” he said, “for the next part. Can you work a job around your schedule?”
“Maybe. Depends on the work.”
He hesitated. It was brief—anyone else might have missed it—but I saw the shift in him. The calculation behind his eyes.
Then he said, “You can come work at VistaReal.”
I froze. Working with him meant stepping into the middle of a fire he was already trying to contain. I couldn't do that to him.
Sebastian watched me carefully, like he already knew where my mind had gone. “I know,” he said. “The timing isn’t ideal. But it would give you income. Structure. Breather space while you figure things out.”
I shook my head slightly. “Ash—”
“You wouldn’t be working for me directly,” he added. “And if it ever felt uncomfortable, you’d walk away. No questions asked. No hard feelings.”
“You have enough on your plate,” I said. “I’m not adding myself to the list.”
His whole face softened. “Darling, you’re not a problem to solve.”
My eyes burned again, and I blinked hard.
“You’d just be letting me help.” He rolled his lips as he thought something through and added quickly, “And let me get someone to figure out where the money went.”
“No—Ash, I don’t want this to turn into a thing.”
“Quietly,” he said, voice dropping. “Let me look into it quietly. I can’t promise you’ll get any of it back. Actually, there’s a very big chance you won’t. But let me look, okay? No legal pursuit. No police. Just my guy.”
A dry laugh escaped me. “You sound like a mobster.”
His lips curved into a small smile. “Whatever works for you.”
I sat with it for a moment, forcing myself to look at the offer for what it was—not a rescue, not a favor, but a way to keep my feet under me.
“Okay.” I swallowed. “Let me think about the job. But the rest of it…” My shoulders sagged. “…okay.”
“You’ve got this.” His fingers carded through my hair. “This isn’t bigger than you. You’re a force, darling. This is just a little roadblock you’ll look back on in a couple of years and smile at how you conquered it.”
My eyes welled again. “I’m so fucking pissed.”
“I’m sorry he did that to you. Nobody deserves to be betrayed like that. Especially not by your father. But he’s the one losing here.”
“Say that to my bank account—”
“He doesn’t have you,” he said, and the argument died in my throat. “There’s no bigger loss in this life than not having you in it. Trust me, I’d be the leading authority on the subject.”
That… completely disarmed me.
We stared at each other. I got lost in the depths of his eyes, in the warmth radiating off him, and a quiet understanding settled into place.
He wasn’t trying to control this.
He wasn’t trying to own the problem or make it disappear.
He wasn’t telling me who to be or what to feel.
He was standing beside me—seeing me—and believing I could survive it.
Something in my chest cracked open—something I’d buried years ago because it hurt too much to carry.
He was still looking at me like that. That hadn’t changed. The intensity. The way he focused on me like I was the only thing in the room. For the first time since everything fell apart between us, I didn’t feel like something temporary in his life.
I felt his.
My pulse stumbled.
I want him back. I want him to be mine again.
I wanted to feel his skin and the shape of his lips and his weight over me.
I wanted all of it.
My insides went weak for him all over again.
There was no more lying to myself about this—about how much he still meant to me.
Having him here again sent something blazing through me, consuming every rational thought.
He was so close, our eyes still locked, and I swore I could feel his hands on the bare skin of my back, feel his breath ghosting against my mouth—the heat of him searing through the space between us, turning my world into an inferno of need.
I’d never felt this way about anybody. Not since him, and there was no after him. Not for me.
His hands were still on my face, his soft lips parted just slightly, and his thumb swept across my cheek.
My hands acted without permission, sliding up the warm line of his neck, finding the gap in his shirt.
That small stretch of skin that had been teasing me for weeks felt even better than I remembered.
Sebastian didn’t flinch. He leaned into it—into me. Our faces were only a breath apart.
“Thank you, Ash,” I said into the space between us. “For believing in me so much.”
“Always, my darling.”
My tongue darted over my lip, and his gaze flicked down, fireworks bursting behind my ribs.
Kiss me. Please, just fucking kiss me.
He softened into it, his forehead coming to rest on mine, his nose brushing gently over my own. My fingers dug into his skin, and he hummed, pleased. It felt like we’d gone back in time, like the rest of the world had vanished. Just us, nothing stopping us from falling back into the comfort of it.
His lips hovered a breath away from mine, my body already arching into him—
And the sound of the door opening shattered the spell.
“Hey! Heads up,” Henry called from the doorway.
Sebastian and I jerked apart, our hands dropping, but our eyes stayed locked. His were a little wide.
“Ash is—” Henry stopped short when he saw us, still on the kitchen floor. “Here.” His gaze bounced between us before settling on my face. “Are you okay?”
I was probably still flushed and tear-streaked. I dragged my hands down my face and straightened. Pull it together. “No, actually,” I said. “Do you think we could talk?”
Henry’s attention sharpened, the surprise draining from his expression.
Sebastian shifted beside me and rose first, offering a hand. I took it, letting him pull me up.
“What’s this about?” Henry asked.
My eyes drifted to Sebastian. He gave me a tiny smile as his hand landed on the small of my back, giving me a bit of courage.
“My housing situation,” I said, drawing in a breath. “And my dad.”
“Okay.” Henry nodded once, already turning toward the living room. “Let’s talk.”
Sebastian and I lingered a second behind him, both of us still reeling from whatever the hell had almost happened.
“Thanks,” I said again.
“Don’t mention it.” His expression softened into something closer to the Sebastian I knew. “I’ll leave you two to it.”
“Ash,” I said before he turned. “Could you stay a little longer?”
He paused.
“I mean, it’s fine if you’re busy,” I added quickly. “But you can stay—for the talk… and after? Maybe figure out the job. It’s not every day you get a CFO volunteering to help sort out your entire life.”
A quiet huff left him, almost a laugh. He hesitated—long enough to make my chest tighten.
“Sure,” he said at last. “I’ll just make a call.”
Relief slipped into my smile. “Thanks.”
Sebastian felt like magic in that moment. After one of the most overwhelmingly horrible calls of my life, he had somehow breathed calm into me.
That didn’t just happen.
What we had wasn’t chance. It wasn’t something that could exist with just anybody.
We were bigger than everything else.
I knew we were.
The rest of the fucking world was just going to have to deal with the fact that we were meant to be.
Sebastian was meant to be mine.