Chapter 20
Chapter Twenty
Sebastian
“We’re almost to my home,” I say, turning to an unmoving Willow.
She doesn’t acknowledge my comment, nor does she look at me. She’s been giving me the silent treatment since we left the hotel in Vegas, and it annoys me more than I’m willing to admit.
“I guess I should say our home.” I chuckle slightly, but still, she doesn’t look at me. “Do you need me to get you anything from the store? Any particular food you like to eat? Any items you may need? Toothpaste? A toothbrush?”
Still, she says nothing, and I sigh.
I miss our conversations and banter. I miss her looking at me with light in her eyes.
I miss the way she used to touch me. I wonder if I should have waited longer to tell her the truth.
As soon as I dropped the bomb, everything between us changed, which shouldn’t have surprised me, and it didn’t.
What surprised me was the fact that I still felt so unsure about everything.
We step out of the elevator onto the 110th floor, and she follows me down the carpeted hallway to my penthouse apartment.
“We’re here,” I say. “Home sweet home.”
No smile from her, though I suppose I can’t blame her.
I don’t know why I thought she’d want anything to do with me after what I’d done.
But knowing and accepting were two different things.
I hadn’t expected that I would feel this annoyed by her reaction toward me.
I’d rather deal with an angry Willow than a cold one.
I open the door and step aside, ushering her in.
She avoids eye contact as she shuffles into my abode, and I watch her eyes widen as she takes in my luxurious space.
I look at it objectively, through her eyes—the Italian Carrara marble floors, the onyx waterfall that separates the grand kitchen from the dining room, the large twelve-seater oak table, then the giant fireplace in the living room and the oversized couch, the floor-to-ceiling windows that look down upon the streets of New York, and the pieces of art that decorate the walls. Original Van Goghs and Rembrandts.
“Mr. Laurence, welcome home.” My housekeeper, Janice, hurries to the front. A polite smile rests on her face as she looks over at Willow.
“Janice, this is Willow. She’ll need a room. She’ll be staying with us.”
“Certainly, Mr. Laurence.” She nods.
“You’re not going to introduce me as your loving wife?” Willow finally speaks, turning to me. Her blue eyes challenge mine before she looks to Janice. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m so sorry that you have to work for my darling husband.”
“Enough.” I keep my voice pleasant, but I have to admit—I’m impressed by her gumption. She almost made me laugh. “Janice, Willow and I were married in Vegas.”
“Oh.” The impartial facade on Janice’s face drops as shock overtakes her features.
“Do you want her to be in your room then, Mr. Laurence, or—”
“No way,” Willow says quickly. “I’d like my own room, please.”
“It was a bit of a whirlwind of a relationship,” I explain. “We would like separate rooms at this time.”
“We would like separate rooms for all time,” Willow adds, her fiery glare boring into me. She’s glaring at me, but there’s still fire there. I have no doubt that if she could breathe fire onto me, I’d be burning in that moment.
“Do you like the place?” I ask her. She turns away from me and doesn’t speak.
There’s a knock on the door then, and I frown.
“Janice, show Willow to her room, and I’ll get it.
” I wait for them to disappear down the hallway before I open the door.
I don’t need Willow going off on any new guest I have.
I am surprised to see Louisa standing there.
“Hey,” she says, a glint in her eyes as she looks me over. “Can we talk?”
“Step inside.” I open the door wider and usher her in.
Louisa is dressed in a short black skirt and tight top. A bottle is clinched in her grip.
“What are you doing here, Louisa?”
“I heard you were back.”
“What do you mean you heard I was back? I literally just arrived about five minutes ago.”
“Yeah, well, I’m friends with your doorman, and I’ve been needing to talk to you, so I figured I’d just come over. I have champagne here, so if you want us to—”
“I don’t want any champagne. What information do you have for me?
” I cross my arms over chest, refusing to let her bully her way in without telling me what she’s found.
I’m fed up of her acting like this is an equal relationship between us.
I’m starting to feel I’ve allowed her to feel too comfortable.
“I have bank account statements and receipts for all the money that Willow has been spending.”
“Bank account statements?” I ask her. “What are you talking about?”
“Well, you told me that you wanted as much information as possible, so I’ve been doing more research. And she really appears to be going through her money quickly.”
I press my lips together. “I see.”
I think about the bank account statement that Willow had shown me on her phone, and I grow angry. She was still lying to me.
“You look stressed out, Sebastian.” Louisa steps forward and presses her hand against my chest. “Want me to give you a massage, or…”
“No.”
“You want some champagne?”
“I’m not interested in drinking right now.”
“You can drink it or you can lick it.” Her tone is teasing now.
“Sorry, what do you mean?”
“If you pour it over my naked body, then you can lick it off me.”
I stare at her for a few moments. I’m about to lose it.
What the fuck is her problem. She’s growing increasingly desperate and sexual toward me and it reminds me of when we first met.
She couldn’t still be expecting something to happen between us, could she?
“What is going on, Louisa? I don’t understand why you’re—”
“I’m just trying to figure out if this is ever going to go anywhere, Sebastian.”
“If what is ever going to go anywhere?” She looks mad for a few moments and then her face crumples and I see a tinge of bitterness in her eyes.
“Look, we met when we were younger, and we had a moment. I know your cousin died, which clearly affected you, but I’ve been here for you all these years. I just want to know if this is ever going to happen between us.” I can’t believe what I’m hearing. There’s no way she’s being serious right now.
“Louisa, I don’t know what you’re talking about. I have things to do right now, and I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”
“The doorman told me that you came back with a woman,” she says. “Who is it?” She steps forward, her eyes a fire, her tone demanding and I realize that she needs to be put in her place. I’m just not sure if this is the right time.
“I don’t think that’s any of your business.”
“Is it Willow?” She stares at me, her expression hardening.
“It may or may not be Willow.”
“What are you doing with her, Sebastian?”
“I’m making sure that she pays for what she’s done to Sergio,” I say.
“Oh.” Her expression changes slightly, and she lets out a sharp laugh. “And does she know this?”
“Know what?” I frown.
“That you’re Sergio’s brother.”
“She does.”
“What did she say?”
“She said that he called himself Clark Kent. She said that he didn’t give her any money, but I know she’s lying.”
Louisa nods slowly. “Of course she would deny it. She’s not going to just admit it now.
She’s a cold-hearted bitch.” Even though I’m a willing participant in this conversation, a part of me feels shame.
I hate hearing Louisa talk about Willow like that.
A part of me feels like I’m betraying Willow, even though I know that’s a stupid feeling.
“She deserves to pay, Sebastian,” Louisa continues. “For what she’s done. For how she betrayed Sergio.”
“She will pay,” I say. “Don’t you worry about that.”
“I’m glad.” Louisa takes a step closer to me, her eyes narrowing. She runs her fingers through her hair, pouts her lips, and stares at me.
“I truly believe that people need to pay for using others,” she says, her voice breaking. “There’s nothing worse than when someone hurts someone else. You just can’t play with someone’s heart and get away with it.”
“I agree,” I say. “You can’t do that.”
“Yeah.” She laughs bitterly. “I’ll leave the champagne for you. You can drink it when you feel like you have time.”
“Thank you. I appreciate all your hard work.” I think for a moment. “Please send me all the paperwork you’ve gathered on this. I want to look into a few things.” Her eyes flash for a moment and there’s an annoyed expression on her face.
“I’ll have to get it all together.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. I guess I’m the best employee you’ve ever had.”
“I appreciate you going above and beyond,” I say again.
“Yeah, I’m sure you do. You have a good evening, Sebastian.”
“You too, Louisa.”
“You know what? I will. Thank you.” And with that, she sashays out the door.
I should probably fire her. It’s obvious she wants something sexual to happen and it’s never going to happen. Never. And I don’t know how many more times I can tell her that.
I’m beyond uncomfortable. It’s starting to feel like she’s obsessed with me.
I quickly dismiss the thought. She’s always been a hard worker, and I know she likes to have fun sexually.
The woman has been in a lot of relationships with many different people, as she’s told me.
She’s even offered me threesomes with other women in the company. It seems to be something she enjoys.
I run my fingers through my hair and let out a deep sigh. I don’t want to think about this now. There are too many other things to worry about. So much else to contemplate.
Like what I’m going to do with Willow.
I’d handed her a contract—one I expected her to sign—that said she would have to do anything I wanted.
And when I’d had it written up, there were so many deep and dark things I’d wanted her to do.
I wanted to humiliate her, to embarrass her.
But now, I don’t know if I can go through with any of them.
Because even though I hate her for what she did to Sergio, there’s still a part of me that cares about her. A part of me who doesn’t want to see her hurting any more than she already does.
And there’s another part of me I don’t even want to acknowledge, one that’s questioning everything.
One that’s wondering if I’m any better than her.
I tell myself I’m doing it for my brother.
I tell myself I’m doing it for love. I tell myself I’m doing it to make her pay for all the deception she’s shown toward him.
But still, in the back of my mind, it doesn’t feel right.