Chapter 39
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Sebastian
T he trip to Mexico was more than I’d anticipated. And because it all seemed to be on track with me not having to go up on the auction block, with the bonus of enjoying Darcy in my life, I honestly couldn’t be happier. I felt more alive than I had felt in a very long time.
Casting away all pretenses, I don’t think I’d ever felt this way, even when Melissa was still alive. It was easy to see now why Mark walked out on his wedding day and why my youngest brother, John, walked away from our entire family structure and heritage after graduating high school to pursue his own life.
What a liberating feeling to be organically happy.
“I think we should just buy a small place out here on the beach somewhere and never return,” I told Darcy, running my index finger down the center of her back while we sat on the beach, watching Jake and Spencer surfing the waves as if they were training to compete in a surf competition.
She rubbed the last of the sunblock on her shoulders and glanced over at me. “I’m sure your parents would most definitely let that fly and move on without issue,” she teased, and I heard Jim chuckle.
“You won’t find it as amusing as you do right now, Mitchell,” I said, looking over at where he was working on his laptop in a lounge chair. Avery was laying out next to him, most likely sound asleep under the umbrella that shaded them from the sun. “When I refuse to return to the madness that I’ve been a slave to all my life, you’ll have to explain to your wife why that winery went under after all.”
He smirked and glanced over at me, “This shit is born and bred into you. You wouldn’t last a month out here, living life like your future bride could.”
“That’s the damn truth,” Darcy added with a laugh.
“You all sell me too short,” I defended myself. “I could easily shut it all off and fall off the map to keep this particular peace in my life.”
“Keep telling yourself that,” Jim said, and I heard Avery laughing.
“Just because you can’t,” I eyed his laptop, “doesn’t mean I can’t. You don’t see my laptop out here while I enjoy my lady and the hot Mexican sun, do you?”
“No, but that’s because you’re in the beginning stages of young love, my friend,” Jim said. “Once the reality of life sinks in, that will change.”
“What the hell does that mean?” Avery’s head popped up from where she’d been lying on her stomach.
He pointed to his wife and looked at me in amusement, “You see? The reality of life.”
“Right, and your reality seems to have fucked you at the moment,” I said, hearing Darcy and Avery both softly laugh.
“Speaking of which,” Avery said, turning and sitting up to recline in her lounge chair, “ your reality will be fucked if Jim loses that winery.” She glanced past me to where Darcy was sitting, “So, if your loving man wants to lose himself to the shores of Mexico, he can do so after the winery is up and running, and everything is smooth sailing from there.”
“You make a fair point,” Darcy said. “If I stay in Mexico and start having babies, my parents will pack up and move overnight, abandoning everything with that place so they don’t miss a second with their grandkids.”
I should’ve probably been terrified to hear her say such a thing, but I wasn’t. I think the heat and the sun were starting to fuck with my brain. That, coupled with three nights of amazing and mind-blowing sex with this woman, had transformed my body chemistry, apparently. It’s a good thing no one was taking me seriously because even though all of this sounded intriguing, I knew I’d sober up from it all sooner or later.
“There you have it,” Jim said. “My wife and yours have laid out your future for you. Welcome to reality.”
“Meh,” I shrugged it off, taking a sip of water. “Reality is whatever I want it to be.”
“Ah,” Darcy picked up on that immediately. “And what if your reality is different than mine? Then what?”
“I would manage to convince you that my reality is more intriguing than yours,” I answered. “Don’t worry. My reality only includes your happiness, love.”
“But if your reality only includes my happiness, then that means you’ll honor my reality.”
“Now we’re onto something,” Avery said with a laugh. “What are you going to do, big talker? You’ve said it yourself: Darcy’s reality is what you’ll do because her reality makes her happy.”
“Well, no,” I said, concentrating, “not necessarily.”
“Tell us then, big shot,” Jim said, “because you’re a man like I am, and we both love to have control. Now you say you know what’s best for your woman’s happiness, as I figured you would, only to find that your ideas may not equal what Darcy wants.”
“Damn, this shit is complicated,” I answered truthfully.
“Don’t you dare say it’s because women are complicated,” Darcy told Jim.
“Well, I wouldn’t say it that way,” Jim countered, “but it is well-known that women are more complex than men.” He held up a hand in both directions to stop Darcy and his wife from retaliating, “Before you both unleash on me, it’s not a bad thing.”
“I wasn’t going to say it was,” Darcy spoke before Avery.
“I was,” Avery answered her husband.
“I know you were,” Jim chuckled, then looked at me. “Anyway, the jet will be ready in four hours. Are you two flying commercial again, or will you fly back with the rest of us?”
“I’m honestly not looking forward to our return,” I said. This week had zipped by faster than my feelings had developed for Darcy, and I wasn’t ready for reality.
“I’ll be damned,” Darcy said with a laugh. “You really seem like you don’t want to go back.”
“I don’t,” I said with a roll of my eyes. “I received a text from my brother John, who lives in LA.”
“I know who he is,” Darcy said with an amused chuckle. “We met on Jake’s yacht, remember? I also know he’s the brother who managed to get away with marrying a woman beneath his station . You, however, will be a completely different problem for the Aster family.”
“That is the truth,” Jim said with a laugh. “Have you talked with your father about all of this yet? In person, that is. Not on the phone?”
“I feel so sorry for you and your brothers,” Avery said after I exhaled in frustration in response to Jim asking that question.
“What do you think?” I said dryly.
“I think you’ve got a world of shit to face when you return,” Jim answered.
“Well, I’m pretty sure they flew home this morning. So, that leads me to believe that Darcy’s parents ran them out of there,” I looked at Darcy. “No offense, but my parents are unreasonable people, and your parents share a way of living that is worlds away from their comfort zone.”
“I know how your parents and my parents are,” Darcy said, more serious compared to the lighthearted conversation we’d been having. “I’d be shocked to learn that your parents were still at the estate with mine after one night there. What did John text you, anyway? There seems to be a reason you’re afraid to return to the States.”
“John told me that he could tell just through texting that I was finally living my life and happy. He said not to let anything fuck that up because I deserve it,” I shrugged, remembering the text coming through, knowing that John was the only person besides Natalia who knew I was faking the relationship with Darcy.
I think John was picking up that my texts were not like me at all and that I was falling for Darcy. I’d texted him that I was aware I’d done all this to avoid our parents bullshit, but I ended up seeing what a fantastic person Darcy was turning out to be. I also told him I was proud of him for choosing himself over the family, and that alone must’ve given away the changes I’d felt.
“He got that from texting you about how Mexico was with your fiancée?” Jim questioned with an edge of humor in his voice.
“Well, I can’t stop telling him how happy I am. Trust me, no one knows better than my baby brother that I don’t talk like that.” I looked over at Darcy, “I couldn’t fake that with John and get away with it if I tried.”
She smiled as Jake and Spencer walked out of the water with their boards.
“Well, Jake is correct. Hang onto your love and your happiness while you have it because you will need it when you return,” Jim said as he stood. Avery and Darcy began gathering their things to leave the beach, knowing we needed to be packed up and out of here soon. “And I’m sorry to burst your bubble, but the business I was handling moments ago was your father. He’s arranged a meeting with me in two days at the winery.”
As Darcy and Avery agreed that Ashley was right to stay in the room and pack while we all lounged, surfed, and soaked up the last of Mexico’s beautiful beaches, I felt my stomach tighten into a knot.
Fuck! I should’ve known my parents wouldn’t leave until after I returned. I was a crucial part of my family’s business, and they needed to protect their investment. They didn’t spend my whole life grooming me to be the perfect heir just to let me run off. My father needed to see if my relationship with Darcy was an excuse for me to get out of that auction like the rest of these men believed until they saw that I’d genuinely fallen for the woman.
Which I had, and that was something my father was about to see.
How the fuck did I manage to back myself into this corner? It didn’t matter whether my father was pissed and believed the fake relationship lie before I fell for Darcy because I didn’t care who it affected when we started this thing. Now, I wouldn’t allow her to fall victim to their prejudice and bigotry.
What I needed to do now was to screw my head on straight and prepare to match my parents’ anger when they saw through me and realized I’d found happiness with this woman. I would protect her and my happiness at any cost.
I had to keep focused on that because when we drove up to the winery where they’d waited all week for me to return, hell would be waiting for me in the form of Sebastian III and Margot Aster.