Chapter 21 The Mountain Cabin #2
He shrugs. “I could never have a garage of my own in Harmony Heights so I turned this spare garage into one. This is where I build my bikes. When the pressures are too much… I ride up here, throw myself into the work, and only come back down to Harmony Heights when I’ve got my head on straight.”
I think about it for a moment. “So… sometimes, when it’s like you’ve fallen off the face of the plant, this is where you are?”
Not banging other women, but working on his bike?
I don’t add that part. I don’t have to.
His grin takes on a wicked edge. “Did you miss me, love?”
I fight hard to force back my flush. “I know this is only a marriage of convenience. I don’t have any right to be jealous or to wonder where you are when you’re not there.”
He shakes his head. “One of these days, Annaliese, you’ll figure it out.
Until then, I’ll make this clear: next time I need to disappear?
You’ll be right there with me. I’ve never brought anyone up to this cabin to see my workshop before…
but you? I hope you like the mountain air.
We’ll be spending a lot of time up here. ”
Leaving me with that, Sebastien carries our bags inside, and for a moment, it feels unreal. Like that afternoon by the waterfall, it’s just us. No Order. No judging eyes. No threats or danger or Used shooting me nasty looks because they want my husband…
I exhale, then trail behind him into the cabin garage. He flicks a switch, revealing a half-assembled motorcycle.
“See? This is where I come to work. To breathe.”
I run my fingers along the cool metal of the bike. “You… built this?”
I knew he built his main bike. He told me all about that. But to see one in this state really hammers that message home.
He shrugs, but there’s pride hidden in the gesture.
“Working on it. To be honest, when I’ ‘fell off the face of the planet’, like you said, it’s because I needed some distance.
I stayed away from you because I was so damn desperate to have you.
I really needed to get my head on straight.
Didn’t want to push you.” He glances at me, voice dropping.
“But the time for pretending is over. After tonight… I hope you see that, too.”
I’m not sure what he means. If it’s because of Eric or how we ran away together… it doesn’t matter. Heat pools low in my stomach regardless.
I clear my throat, purposely changing the subject before I melt. “Do you still want to be a mechanic?”
He sees through my switch immediately. Of course he does. Sebastien is a whole lot more intuitive than he wants the outside world to believe, but he’s kind enough to let me have the dodge.
“For now,” he murmurs, brushing his fingers over my arm, “I want to be your husband.”
My breath catches. He grins, then says, “Come on, love. Let’s head into the main cabin. I think it’s time we have a little chat.”
For a second, I want to turn and bolt. Running seems like a fucking amazing idea, but where would I go?
Sebastien has the keys, and I have no idea where I am.
Besides, he’s right. There are so many things we’ve been keeping from each other, and no matter what this is, it’s time we get it all out in the open.
So I follow him through his workshop, into the kitchen of the cabin, before he guides me to a cozy living room.
There are two large couches, a small table between them, and a dim fireplace to the side.
I could just see myself enjoying this space.
Curled up with a book on one of the couches, the flames flickering around me, setting the ambiance… but that’s not tonight.
Tonight is about something different, and I brace myself for it as Sebastien sets down our luggage before dropping down on one of the couches. He gestures at me, and I perch down on the other. My knees lock together, fingers twisted as I wait for Sebastien to speak.
And when he does, I try not to shudder.
“Okay. I think it’s time. So why don’t you tell me about Eric.”
My throat closes. “Sebastien—”
“And if you do, I’ll tell you about Julie.”
That stops me cold.
He doesn’t look away when he says her name. Doesn’t flinch. Doesn’t soften it, either.
Julie. Since I’ve been involved with Sebastien, I’ve heard whispers. Rumors. I couldn’t bring myself to ask Miranda to see what they could be referring to. I guess, in a way, I didn’t want to get confirmation on what I already expected.
But then even Eric threw her in his face tonight. It’s not bad enough you ruined one life…
“Who was she?” I asked.
““Her name was Julie. Julie Madden.” He sighs, leaning back in his seat. “It was four years ago. I was even more determined than not to have anything to do with the Order, and when I met Julie, she didn’t seem to have any connections. And I… I didn’t look too hard.
Shit, I didn’t want to look that hard. She was so sweet.
So loving. She made me feel like I wasn’t the big screw-up that everyone thought I was. ”
I can’t help myself. “You’re not—”
“And you wonder why I love you? No one ever stands up for me, Annaliese. No one except my bros, and they know that I’m screw-up and accept me anyway.
I worked hard at it. I need you to understand.
They wanted me to be the black sheep, and I played the part.
But when I met Julie… I thought… maybe. Maybe there was someone who loved me for me, chose me, not because I was a Reynolds, but because I was Bas. I was Sebastien.”
Something tells me that that wasn’t the case. I stay quiet, though I have to bite my tongue not to remind him that to me, he is Sebastien.
It’s okay. He already knows it.
His eyes are warm as he looks at me, even as he lets out a hollow laugh.
“Turns out I was way wrong. Not only did Julie target me specifically for my last name, but she’d already had a fling with Alexandre before he cast her aside.
I tried so hard to shield her from the Order, to keep her out of that life, even he didn’t know I was falling for his ex lover.
But that wasn’t even the worst part. Julie was gunning for us because she was already married to an Owed in Jack’s inner circle.
Another arranged marriage. She hated him, but he refused to let her leave him, so she thought someone with my rank…
my pedigree,” he spits out, “would be able to save her. Only I didn’t. I couldn’t.”
Oh, no. “What happened to her?”
“She jumped,” is his wry response. “Isn’t that what always happens in the Order?
It finally came out. We were caught together, and her husband found out.
Oh, they say that she jumped to save face after cheating on her husband, but I think you’ve been involved with the Order long enough to know that…
our women? They don’t jump. They get pushed.
I’ve heard that before. Rumors ran that the wife of the former King had a similar ‘accident’. It’s easier to call it suicide than what it really is: murder. And Sebastien lost his Julie to the same fate.
“It was my fault. If I hadn’t loved her… or if I loved her enough to save her despite her admitting she never cared about me… she wouldn’t have fallen.” His expression is back to being flat. “After that, I stuck to one-night stands and the Used. I couldn’t risk falling in love again… until you.”
My heart jumps. That’s the second time he’s said something like that tonight. The first time, I purposely ignored it. But now? On the heels of his confession?
I decide that, before he can convince himself he cares for me, he needs to hear mine.
He wants to know about Eric? I tell him.
I tell him everything. All of the years I spent with him, and the manipulation… the threats… how I was so sure I loved him, but I was nothing more than a toy to the man who ruled my life for so long…
Sebastien doesn’t interrupt. He just lets me talk, listening as my voice starts out shaky, becomes firm throughout my story, before finally growing weak again as I tell him, “So that’s that.
And I understand if that’s enough to make you want to end the contract.
I didn’t… I couldn’t tell you about him until now.
But I put in that termination clause, about how we could end our marriage of convenience if either of us hid anything important.
I understand you better now that I know about Julie, but I understand if Eric—”
Sebastien snorts. Actually snorts. “You can be serious, Annaliese. I can’t end it. Even if I wanted to, it’s just not possible.”
I don’t understand. “Why not?”
“Because there is no contract.”