Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
Sebastian
W hat I liked most about my personality was that when I was put in a position to be defeated, I could always find a way to come out on top. It’s just who I was, and it was why my father had put me through this bullshit; he wanted me back in the swing of things, running the family empire alongside him, as always.
Sadly for my father, he’d put himself on a collision course with me by consenting to this bachelor auction. Because he’d chosen to be selfish, preferring that I help run his empire instead of giving me the time I needed to grieve, he was about to get a dose of nasty medicine after I made him believe Darcy and I had fallen madly in love.
Although I was in a dark place in my life, somehow, this was shaping up to be something I was looking forward to. It was strange how this fiasco had become more amusing than infuriating. Perhaps it was because I was putting Darcy in her place for fucking with my personal life, or maybe it was because I enjoyed her being the first woman I’d ever known to stand up to me. Most women couldn’t even look me in the eye, let alone declare full-on war like Darcy had. It humored me, and in some weird, twisted way, it turned me on.
It was a bit of a mind screw, being turned on watching her cute ass storm off to her room like a spoiled child because shit like that was notoriously intolerable to me. Yet here I was, admiring this absurdity.
While dinner with her parents promised to be amusing, the highlight of my and Darcy’s fake relationship would be the special dinner tomorrow night that I’d invited Jim and his wife to. If anything would make Darcy squirm out of her skin, it would be that.
I finished washing up and preparing for dinner. Since dinner would be taken inside this evening, I wore my signature cologne, which I knew was irresistible to women, knowing Darcy would be intoxicated by it. I planned to torture her with my enticing cologne and fake charm , rendering her utterly miserable every night as she stared at her bedroom ceiling, unable to sleep and wishing she’d never pulled her cute little stunt.
I had to admit it: this was the most alive I’d felt since my wife died…perhaps even before then.
I’d joined the family later than planned because my meetings with our marketing team had run longer than intended. But after a quick shower and the satisfaction that Darcy would be more than uncomfortable tonight, I forgave my tardiness.
“Hey, baby,” Darcy said, her eyes bright and expression filled with a radiant joy I’d never seen before. “You’re late.”
She scrunched her nose adorably and eyed her parents, who wore similarly vibrant expressions.
“Good evening, cupcake,” I said, using the most ridiculous pet name I could come up with, hoping to irritate her. I bent to kiss her cheek, and just before my lips touched her, she pulled her head away from their reach.
“Oh, no, you don’t,” she said in a playful tone that I would’ve never guessed she possessed in a million years. “No kissing in public, remember?”
“No,” I said with a smile of my own, sitting next to her and running the back of my fingers over her bare shoulder and up the side of her neck. “If that was a rule, we probably should’ve established that.”
Even though I saw my gesture create tiny goosebumps on her soft flesh, her eyes showed how much she wanted to punch me.
“You two are just as I imagined,” Tina said with a loud laugh and a quick clap of her hands. “So cute. I knew there was something more going on. And you, Darcy,” she eyed her daughter with a daring smile as Billy smiled brightly at the exchange, “I knew you had feelings for him from the way you’ve been behaving, acting like you didn’t like Sebastian.” She laughed, took a sip of her wine, and then gazed lovingly at both of us.
“How did you feel when Darcy told you she would only date you if you promised to move to California and live here with us permanently?”
I nearly choked on the wine I’d just taken a sip of before I recovered, then looked at Darcy with the best smile I could muster. “Why would you make up nonsense, cupcake?” I stared at her, knowing she was spewing bullshit just to get under my skin. “You know this whole thing was unexpected, and your fascination with me is even more shocking than this ridiculous story you fabricated about us for your parents?”
“He’s very shy about living here and intruding on you both,” she said, pulling her eyes from mine and standing firm on her nonsense about how we fell for each other. “But I told him it would be the only way I would date him.” I watched her, knowing there was a method behind this, and I waited for the new twist in this little game we were playing. She looked at me and smiled, “It’s interesting because I knew no one would believe how hard and fast we fell for each other, baby,” she said. “So, I had to prove to everyone that you were as in love with me as I am with you.”
“Well, I do hope this works out because?—”
“Oh, it will work out. It absolutely must work out. I would hate to think that your mother and father are going to come all the way out here next week only to find you weren’t serious at all about dating a woman of my status.”
I miraculously refrained from breaking my wine glass when I realized she might actually have had the audacity to call my parents and tell them about this charade. I was planning to do that. If I could feed them my narrative, I could control their reactions, responses, and any other bullshit that would come my way when they learned of this. I just hadn’t had the chance yet.
Fuck! There’s no way she had the balls, I thought, our eyes locked in a challenging gaze. Goddammit, Seb. She’s not afraid of you, so why would she be afraid of them?
“Wait,” Billy’s voice of excitement burst through my consciousness as I tried desperately to determine whether Darcy was calling my bluff. “You mean to tell me Mr. and Mrs. Aster will be here next week?”
“Yes!” Darcy said as if her dad had just won a million dollars for guessing correctly. “And the best part is that Sebastian will obviously be staying with me in my rooms, so …” she hung onto the word and stared at me daringly. “Well, let’s just say it’s a great thing you remodeled that entire wing of rooms you’re staying in.”
I smiled at her, knowing now that she was full of shit. “That’s interesting,” I said, glancing at Tina and Billy’s enamored grins, then looking back at Darcy after casually taking a sip of wine. “The Margot and Sebastian Aster that I know would never dare to intrude on your family by staying at the estate. In fact,” I mustered by best warm, fake smile for everyone at the table, “it would be below my mother’s standard to stay anywhere without a Michelin rating. Sadly, I don’t think we should get our hopes up for?—”
“You know, I thought that, too,” Darcy interrupted me, as she was known to do since the day I’d fucking met her. “But the strange thing was, they truly want to stay here with all of this. Your mother may not be amused, but your father was quite bubbly when he and I spoke on the phone.”
“ Bubbly ?” I questioned her with an expression of utter shock that I couldn’t hide. What the fuck had she done? “I must say, cupcake,” I plastered on that phony grin again, “many adjectives have been used to describe my father, but bubbly is not one of them. I assure you that you were not speaking to Sebastian Aster,” I said, feeling relief slide through me with the assurance that there was no way Darcy had spoken to my parents. She was full of it, but I did need to call them tonight to control that aspect of this sham.
“Hmm,” she said, seemingly searching for words. “Maybe he’s just really happy you’ve found happiness again?”
I felt my stomach churn slightly. “My father isn’t concerned about my happiness, trust me,” I stated that fact when I shouldn’t have.
“God forbid!” Billy gasped like I’d blasphemed everything holy. In his happy-go-lucky, easy-breezy world, being unconcerned with your child’s happiness was evidently a mortal sin. His reaction to my words was a staunch reminder that I was out of my element. This man cherished his family, and my dad saw his family as a means to an end—that end being the Aster Family legacy. For a split second, I envied Darcy for having a father who showered her with pure, unconditional love.
“Don’t worry, Dad. He’s joking,” she reassured Billy. “But, yes, Mr. Aster was a bit stiff on the phone when he first took my call.”
I watched Billy laugh, “Oh, honey, I’m sure he was, but I’m not surprised that he fell for how adorable you are.”
I am! I thought, watching this exchange play out, wondering if it was true or false.
“Neither am I,” Tina added.
I must’ve sat there shell-shocked, blinking more times than I could count, before I looked at Darcy, who was sighing like a cartoon character in love.
“Well,” she ran her hand over the top of my leg, “I think he’s just so happy to know his son is on the right track again. He’s been dreadfully worried about you.”
“Is that so?” I arched an eyebrow at her, removed her hand from my leg, and brought it to my lips for a kiss. Her internal cringe could’ve registered on the Richter Scale. “So, you are sure about this? They plan to come next week?”
“Yes,” she said, discreetly pulling her hand from mine.
“Well, if that is the case, there’s something I must do,” I glanced over at Tina and Billy, who looked like they were reveling in an adorable love story. If they only knew. “I must ask your permission tonight, Mr. Burke?—”
“Marriage?” Her mom interrupted, clasping a hand over her heart as Darcy sucked in a breath.
“Oh, I think that’s jumping the gun, lover,” Darcy said through gritted teeth.
“No, no,” I immediately stopped further comments from the romance factory on that idea. “We’re not quite there yet, but I wouldn’t feel right staying and sleeping in your daughter’s room—starting tonight—without your permission.”
“Tonight?” Darcy said with fear in her voice.
“What? Oh, don’t be silly. Darcy is an adult. We’re fine with it,” Billy said, waving his hands like he was shooing a fly. “And after Darcy told us that is how all this blossomed in the first place, why would you want to keep the relationship hidden and pretend you haven’t been staying in her room the whole time? I hope you haven’t been hiding it because of the room remodel we did for you; you don’t need to worry about that.”
“The remodel wasn’t for nothing, Dad,” Darcy smiled. “Margot is very particular, and it’s my hope that, if it is good enough for Sebastian, it’ll be good enough for his mom. We won’t know that answer until Monday when Mr. and Mrs. Aster arrive, will we?”
“I guess we won’t,” I answered, completely confused about what was happening.
I had no idea if Darcy was lying just to piss me off or what. All I knew was that my dad was not a bubbly man and nothing on earth could’ve tempted him to bring Margot Aster to this fleabag.
Right?
“Oh, also,” she said as I cut into the steak Antonio had served, “Mr. Juniper is excited to meet you. He said he cannot believe you’re willing to sit down with him and me for an exclusive interview about you. This is going to be huge. ”
I slowly chewed my steak and stared at her victorious smile, “Is that so?”
“It is,” she shook her head. “It’s crazy how you and I were just speaking about fate, life, and research for business the other night. It’s like everything is working together in a way I never believed possible.”
“Well, that will have to be put on hold, cupcake. We’ve got dinner plans and public events to run before we can sit down with Mr. Juniper,” I said, knowing what she was planning. She wanted my story now, so she didn’t risk losing it later.
“I think it’s so cute how you call her cupcake,” Tina said.
I glanced at Tina, then looked back to Darcy to ensure my tone and words were met with keen understanding.
“Well, your father was fine with it.”
“I’m sure he was,” I rolled my eyes.
“Why wouldn’t he be?” Darcy pressed.
“Because he doesn’t care to have his name?—”
“Oh, but he does,” she said too sweetly, causing concern.
“He does?” I returned flatly.
“Well, it’s mainly because your brother, Mark, has done a number on the family name. That’s why he’s willing to allow it, so everything gets all cleared up.” I froze while she turned to her parents, “Sadly, people are starting to judge the Aster family, and Margot is at her limits with it. I never thought I’d be so well received by the Aster family, but I really was. Sebastian’s father was happy to know that I could publish something that would make all the Asters and their lineage shine.” She looked at me, “Get them back on top? You know, like you’re helping my family get back on top?”
Mother fucker.
She wasn’t lying. She found a weak spot in my parents and pounced on the opportunity to take advantage of it.
“Right.”
Now, I was the one reduced to one-word responses, in shock about what would happen next.
“It’s like Sebastian said—your dad, of course,” she rubbed my leg briskly again and smiled, referring to my dad by his first name like they were friends, “with everything Mark is doing, and with you falling in love with a simple winery owner’s daughter in California, they need good press…” she paused and looked at her dad. “I’m sure Mr. Aster meant no disrespect when he put it to me that way, Dad.” She looked back at me, “I think he was just a little upset that he had to find out about our beautiful relationship from me and not you, ” she chuckled. “So, it came out harshly, but I understood why. He just wants to ensure both of his sons cease throwing all the one-percenters into hysterics and causing any further harm to the Aster family name and fortune, ” she said the word with wide eyes and excitement. “He’s pressing for this article to come out sooner than later.”
“Well, I’ll speak with him,” I said, not knowing what to expect from my dad now. “He will understand we don’t have time for silly articles when we must get this winery up and running.”
“Funny, he said something similar when I first told him about our relationship. Something along the lines of sending you out here for business and not fucking?”
My eyes widened.
“Don’t worry. My parents already know you’ve hardly been able to keep it in your pants since finding out how much I was in love with you.”
“What the hell are you doing?” I finally said, dropping the bullshit.
“You seem upset?” she feigned sadness.
“Will you both please excuse us?” I said, smiling.
I was thankful Tina and Billy were so in love with love that they didn’t see my mask slip.
“Go ahead. You two enjoy the rest of your night. Billy and I are going to join Ines and Antonio for a movie night with the kids.”
“Fantastic,” I said.
“Don’t get too loud,” her dad teased with a giggle, referring to our nonexistent sex life.
“Billy!” Tina swatted at her husband as they both laughed with the joy of a thousand children on Christmas Eve.
Darcy and I would have to establish some ground rules from here on out before we both regretted this. I was ninety percent sure that she’d contacted my parents, and it was going to take a considerable effort to piece that back together.
My amusement about this charade had quickly faded, putting me in damage control mode all because Darcy thought the best way to fuck with me was to snitch me out to my family. She didn’t realize it was the dumbest move she could’ve made.
She had no idea how dangerous the bear was that she’d poked.