Chapter 20
Chapter Twenty
Sebastian
I had avoided returning my father’s calls that came in the day after Darcy went out of her way to notify him about our relationship. Part of me was waiting for the call that the old man was in the hospital on life support after suffering a stroke or massive heart attack after Darcy’s call, but no more calls came after that day. That meant my father and mother did what they always did when they didn’t approve of our choices or behaviors—they avoided us and offered the silent treatment.
I’d never been on the receiving end of their silence because I was the star child—or, as most therapists referred to it in toxic and dysfunctional families, the Golden Child. I’d worked hard to dismiss everything I wanted in life so I wouldn’t be a burden to my parents, excelling in every way and making them proud of their eldest son.
So, the phone call I was about to make was sure to be one of the most harrowing. It probably would’ve been wise to call Mark or John first, since my brothers had found ways of navigating these conversations of letting our parents down easily, but I didn’t want to deal with them, too. And since both of my brothers were alive and well, it wasn’t going to kill me to get this conversation with my father out of the way.
“Hello, Sebastian,” my father said coldly, his tone filled with the disgust I knew he felt for me.
“Yes, hello,” I said, not knowing how to start this conversation. “Well, getting right to it. I’m told you’ve been made aware of my relationship.”
“There is no other reason your mother and I would take time out of our busy schedules to visit in three days.”
“That’s why I’m calling. There’s no reason for either of you to visit. It’s a simple relationship, and?—”
“I’m going to stop you right there,” he said in a tone that silenced me immediately. “The very fact that you do not wish for us to visit is alarming in and of itself. If this were a simple relationship, then the simple-minded woman you’ve chosen to enter a relationship with would not have called us, and you wouldn’t be trying to interfere with our attempt to find out what the hell is going on in Napa Valley.”
For some bizarre reason I could not explain, it irritated the shit out of me to listen to my dad insult Darcy. He didn’t know her, and it was fucking rude—and typical of my family—of him to say such a demeaning thing about someone he’d never met. Granted, I didn’t really know Darcy all that well, either, but I wouldn’t refer to her as simple-minded.
“All I’m saying is that it’s not worth a visit,” I snapped. “There is nothing serious about the relationship that would warrant you and Mother coming here and attempting to scare her off of any hopes and dreams of being part of our family.”
“I want to know what is going on with you, Sebastian. First, and understandably, you completely checked out on us after Melissa passed. I sent you out there hoping it might put some wind in your sails again, giving you an opportunity to readjust and live again. The first chance you get, you wind up in a relationship instead of doing the job that Mr. Mitchell and I expect for that failing business.”
“I’m doing just that. Being with Darcy has helped encourage the wind to fill my sails again. I imagined that you and Mother would be happy for me to walk amongst the living these days, not buried with my wife at Green-Wood cemetery.”
“That you are revitalized is something your mother and I are pleased about, so do not twist my words to mock me.”
“Stop pretending this situation is black and white,” I said. “The simple fact that you want my girlfriend to fix the family name by writing an article says more about our family than it does about me dating her.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“You know what it means.”
“Very well, then,” he snarled. “We wouldn’t have to stoop to the levels of tabloids to clean up our name within our circle of friends if you and your brothers could manage your dicks around women you know better than to associate with. It is bad enough that you boys entertain these women as friends, but that’s not enough for you ungrateful children. You won’t be happy until you’ve fucked them and brought the trash into our home.”
I immediately hung up the phone after that line of bullshit. My father never spoke to me in that manner. He was disgusted and repulsed by me, Darcy, and anyone else associated with this winery. I was shocked he hadn’t backed out of the business deal with Mitchell at this point.
I wondered if going through this fake relationship bullshit was worth it. I wasn’t going to sit around and be verbally assaulted by my father, and I sure as fuck wasn’t planning on being around while he was at the winery, sniffing around and insulting this place and family even more than I’d already done.
I needed to leave, and I planned to take the woman who’d put a smile on my face last night—something that’d given me the most peaceful sleep in far too long.
I had to think of something quick. I could hire a private helicopter to take us out of the area for the week my parents would be here, but I couldn’t leave Billy and Tina without first telling them not to take anything my parents said personally. I would press them to be themselves because the more uncomfortable my parents were while they were here, the quicker they would leave.
The winery would be okay while I was gone, too. I hadn’t felt this light in years, and I wasn’t going to have that ruined because my parents overreacted when it came to things their sons did outside of their wishes or control.
I owed them no excuses, but I would let them know that Darcy and I were going away for the week, so they might as well not waste their time visiting. Hopefully, it would end their trip before it started, but I highly doubted that would be the case.
Instead of calling my father back, I chose to send a simple and direct text:
Sebastian: Darcy and I won’t be here the week you and Mom plan to arrive. If we don’t see you before the charity event, I hope your stay is to your liking.
As expected, my dad didn’t respond, so I jumped in the shower, cleared my head, and made plans for Darcy and me to be gone for the next week. I had a feeling she and I would do better on a more casual level with me throwing business to the side for a while and doing what my father had hoped I would do when he sent me to live out here.
I wouldn’t leave if I thought this place needed my supervision, but I knew it would be fine. I needed to clear my head, and when Darcy was half-agreeable, I enjoyed how I felt in her presence. Maybe I was just ready to get out of this dark place in my life; regardless, something told me she was the answer.
Unlike what my parents thought, I knew this wasn’t a real relationship. We would just have fun like last night—nothing weird.
Maybe she could even learn enough about me for her article so I wouldn’t have to waste my time sitting down with her and Juniper to answer mundane questions about myself.
It was another win-win situation.
After my shower, I waltzed into the kitchen in full role-play mode, ready to pop this surprise on my fake girlfriend. Just as I’d hoped, she was having breakfast with her mom.
“Good morning, beautiful,” I said, offering her a wink.
She wore a simple V-neck t-shirt and khaki shorts, and I found her quite attractive with her hair pulled up in a messy bun.
“Good morning, handsome,” she said, her mood still pleasant as the night before.
“You two have stolen my heart,” Tina said wistfully.
“Don’t get too carried away, Mom,” Darcy said, obviously containing the responses from her mother, who I knew would be extremely let down once she learned we weren’t a couple anymore. “We’re just dating. We’re not even sharing the same room as you and Dad think.”
“Well, you are free to do whatever you want. No judgment here.”
“I was hoping you’d offer me that permission,” I smiled at Tina, “because I have plans to steal my little Hope Diamond away for the coming week.”
“Hope Diamond?” Darcy said, more irritated with a new pet name than the fact I just announced she and I would be leaving together.
“It’s what you are to me,” I sipped my freshly brewed cappuccino. “Something so rare and priceless that it belongs in a museum.”
“Right,” she said, her voice almost at a whisper.
“And while we’re on the subject, I must beg you to pack your bags and prepare to leave with me for the week. The helicopter arrives at the landing pad in three hours, and our surprise trip awaits.”
“What are you talking about?” Darcy finally gave me the response I was expecting.
“I’m still waiting to hear back from my brother and his wife, but Jim and some other friends are excited to go on a fun little trip.”
“Why are we leaving? Your parents will be here on Monday.”
“And today is Saturday. So, if we are gone for a solid week, they won’t be here when we return,” I smiled at her. “Trust me, after my phone conversation with my father this morning, I’m sure you’ll find numerous creative ways to thank me for this later.”
She arched a sexy eyebrow at me, knowing I was being a dipshit, but I assumed she knew it was best not to be subjected to my horribly rude parents.
“Won’t they miss you both?” Tina questioned.
I suddenly felt terrible that I wasn’t taking her with us, “Unless you have ways of working your charms on stiff, ultra-wealthy people who cannot stand the presence of anyone beneath them, I recommend that you and Mr. Burke plan a fun weeklong getaway with us. You both are invited.”
I couldn’t help it. Tina and Billy, though highly insane with their free-loving way of looking at life, didn’t need to be at the mercy of Margot and Sebastian Aster. Maybe if my parents arrived and only the chef were here to greet them, they’d leave.
Was I avoiding and escaping my parents? Absolutely. But I didn’t see it that way. I saw it as being smart and removing myself from toxicity that I had no desire to be around. I’d lived the last year of my life in darkness, and I wasn’t in the mood to welcome back the slightest sight of it into my life. I’d gotten a sliver of sunlight and felt desperate to hang onto it.
“Well, if we can handle your moodiness,” Tina finally dared to come clean with how I’d been making her feel, “then we can handle theirs.”
“I am sincerely sorry about my rudeness toward all of you,” I said as I looked directly at Darcy. “I hope you accept my deepest apologies.”
Darcy didn’t shy away from our locked gaze. Instead, her eyes narrowed as if wondering who possessed me this morning.
“Mom,” she looked at Tina, “maybe Sebastian’s right. Maybe you and Dad should come with us.”
“Not this time, honey. We won’t interfere with your trip while you both are enjoying the company of good friends. Your father and I welcome any opportunity to share good and wholesome love with others. When people are nasty, it’s usually because they’re covering up the pain inside. I’ll invite Margot to attend a couple of my wellness yoga sessions, and I know your father is excited to take Mr. Aster on tours of everything his son has been accomplishing.”
“I should love to be a fly on the wall as you attempt to convince my mother to do yoga,” I said with a laugh.
“Oh, honey, I’m sure she’ll try to bat the idea away like an annoying fly, but once she sees how joyous I am in my womanhood and sexuality, I’m sure she’ll want to know what the secret is.”
Darcy choked on her orange juice but recovered in a way that made me find her adorable, as I had been doing a lot lately.
“Mom, have you read any of the articles I write about the wealthy, or are you just lying about it to make me feel good?”
“Of course, I have, and the one thing I noticed about every one of them is that those people love to find their spiritual side.”
“You are a good soul to believe such a thing,” I said sincerely. I looked at Darcy, smiling at me with her blue eyes lighting up in a way that made me feel…soothed. “And you are a saint for writing that in your articles when you and I are both keenly aware that is merely a front.”
“Front or not,” Tina said with a newfound sense of confidence, “I have my hopes set high that when Margot Aster arrives, she will feel like she’s at an exotic spa while our husbands handle business.”
I sucked in a breath. “I’m truly a bit worried, Tina. I’m afraid my mother will not see this as anything other than a mission to get to the bottom of the place where she believes her son was brainwashed to go against his family’s wishes.”
“I will prove you wrong, and when you come back, she’ll be begging for a wedding date.”
I exchanged glances with Darcy, who didn’t seem as worried as I was about my mother raising hell for Tina while I snatched Darcy away from Margot’s ridicule.
“My mom has dealt with worse,” Darcy said, probably reading my mind from the concerned expression on my face. “However, I think the responsible thing for me to do is to stay here since I invited your parents to our home.”
“I understand that,” I answered, knowing Darcy started this entire mess but in no mood to point fingers. “Tina, I will have my pilot and the chopper on standby should you need to escape.”
Tina chuckled. “From the way you both seemed so concerned about this,” she looked from Darcy to me, “you might want to keep it on standby to rescue your mother.”
“True,” I laughed.
“You kids go and have a great time. I’m glad you’re going to take some personal time away from the winery to focus on my daughter. It’s beautiful when you show the woman you are falling for that she is worth more than money, if you know what I mean.”
“Thank you,” I said.
I was uneasy leaving the Burkes to deal with my parents, but I would make the best of this situation. My only concern now was how long Darcy and I would be able to get along before I started pissing her off again. Though, I didn’t think that would be a problem anymore. She seemed to be much calmer with my new demeanor, and I understood why. I wasn’t being a horrible dick to her and everyone else, and it felt quite nice.