41. CHAPTER 41
SEBASTIAN
I stepped outside the house, my fingers interlocked with Aria’s, the rain falling hard to the ground.
This was what she liked to call the grey season, where it only ever rained, and the sky always looked grey.
This would be us for the foreseeable future until spring hit us again.
I opened the car door for Aria before getting in.
Leaning over, I put her seatbelt on for her.
“You know I can do that myself?”
“Just let me look after you. Besides …” I started kissing her neck. “It gives me an excuse to do this.”
“You don’t need an excuse. You can do it whenever you want.”
“I think we should stay at home today.” I grazed my thumb over her lips, looking into her eyes.
“Yeah, because the CEO and his PA both being absent at the same time wouldn’t look suspicious. I swear, people in there already think something is going on.”
“So what? Fuck them, Nyx. Not one person would say a thing to me in there.”
“No, they may not say anything to you, but they’d look at me differently.”
I rested my hands on her cheeks and looked into her eyes. “If anyone ever says anything or looks at you in a way you don’t like, I will completely ruin them.”
I’d fucking destroy anyone who did that to her. I don’t care if it was at the office. I wouldn’t allow it.
She kissed my lips and nudged me. “You need to drive or we’ll be late.”
We were making our way through the office when I noticed the boardroom was full and stopped in my tracks, Aria turning to look at me.
“Was there a meeting booked this morning?”
She furrowed her brows. “No, there wasn’t.”
What were these stuffy suits up to?
I stormed over, forcefully pushing the doors open to find them all sitting there. They soon quietened down when they noticed me.
“Nice of you to join us,” Mr Kingsley said.
“There was no meeting booked.”
“Sit down, Sebastian.” He gestured to the chair.
I did so reluctantly. Who were they to decide this meeting without telling me? “We need to discuss your position.”
I leaned forward, resting my arms on the table.
“My position?”
“Yes. I did try to speak to you the other day, but—”
I interrupted him. “Let me get this straight.” I rose from my chair, my body tensing as I felt a burning in my stomach. “I double your capital within six months of running the place. Bring in a higher, exclusive clientele. And you want to discuss my position ?”
“Some of us have been … reflecting after the incident with the Langleys.”
I looked around at the table, the previous generation that had worked with my father. That remained loyal to him.
“Mr Kingsley, just because you see women as something beneath you and spend most of your time at those seedy clubs instead of at home with your wife, doesn’t mean we’re all like that.”
Heat spread across his face, his wrinkles starting to capture tiny sweat droplets. He tugged at his tie, probably trying to catch his breath. His eyes darted over everyone in the room. Half were in shock; the others looked like they already knew.
“You need to watch yourself,” he warned.
I let out a light laugh. “A man of your age should be careful in those places. You may end up having a heart attack. And we wouldn’t want that now, would we?” I flashed my smile at him.
Without another word, he stormed out.
“Anyone else want to question my position?”
Silence fell, a few looking around at each other uneasily, the air thick in the room.
“That’s settled, then. Now, fuck off.”
Once they had finally disappeared, I sank back down in my chair, scrubbing my hands over my face. Sometimes, I wondered why I’d agreed to my grandfather’s request. I should have let it fail, the way my dad failed me.
Aria made her way in as I sat there. I studied her every move until she reached me—and I pulled her into my lap.
“Are you ok?” she asked.
“Yeah, I’m fine. I’m sure they got the message.”
She brushed my hair back, and I wrapped my arms tightly around her waist.
“Do you know how beautiful you are?”
“I don’t think I’ve heard you say that before,” she teased.
I ran my hand through her hair, leaning in to kiss her.
“I don’t think we should be doing this in the boardroom,” she said in between kisses, trying to hide the smile on her face.
“They might learn something new.”
She pulled her lips away from mine as I felt her phone vibrate in my lap. She pulled it out of her pocket and looked at the screen. I felt her body stiffen.
Unknown caller
She clicked the side button, cutting it off. Her eyes lingered on the screen a little longer than normal, and sure enough, it started vibrating again.
“You can get that,” I told her, watching her face.
“No, it’s just a cold caller.” She pressed the side button, powering it off, and placed it back in her pocket. “I’d better get back to work,” she said, standing up.
“What’s the rush?”
“I’ve just got a lot to do,” she explained, bustling out of the room.
It felt like there was more to the phone call than she was telling me, but this time, I trusted she’d open up when she was ready.
I stood in my gym in front of the heavy bag, wrapping my hands quickly. I bounced on the balls of my feet and then threw the first punches. I went in fast and heavy, throwing all my weight into each one. My knuckles were burning as sweat dripped down my face, onto my bare chest.
I caught Hayden out of the corner of my eye and stepped back, my chest rising and falling heavily, resting my hands on my thighs, steadying my breathing.
Hayden leaned against the door-frame. “You good?”
I turned to face him, taking one last deep breath and unwrapping my hands.
“Yeah, I’m good,” I told him, stretching out my fists a few times.
“Where’s Aria?” he asked, raising his brow.
“She’s at hers,” I said, picking up the towel and flinging it over my shoulder. “Fancy a drink?”
After the ambush today, I needed some time to clear my head. There was a fog clouding my mind, unease creeping into it.
I sat with Hayden in a shisha bar on Edgware Road.
The lights were dim, tones of red and yellow covering the garden, Arabic music floating through in the background.
The orange from the heaters burned bright.
I brought the hose from the shisha up, the tip touching my lips, and I inhaled deeply.
The watermelon hit my lungs before I exhaled, the cloud of smoke surrounding us.
I took another hit, noticing the women on the table next to us looking over.
I slowly exhaled again, watching them. The old me would have been inviting them over, but things had changed.
“Are you going to tell me what's wrong?” Hayden asked, taking the hose from me.
I sipped on my drink, sitting back in the chair. “Those fucking board members thought it would be a good idea to ambush me at work today,” I told him.
I downed my drink, looking over at the bartender and lifting the glass. He acknowledged me with a salute.
“Shit, that kind of day,” Hayden said, exhaling the smoke. “What did they want?”
I ran my hand through my hair, pushing the loose bits back in place.
“They wanted to talk about my position, as if I hadn’t been making them more money since I pushed my dad out.”
He leaned back in the chair as the server brought my drink over, taking another toke of the shisha, the cloud escaping his mouth as he spoke. “What you going to do about them?”
“Not much I can do. You know the promise I made to my granddad. I can’t let the company fall apart.”
He passed the hose back, and I inhaled again.
“You’re better than that place. You know you’re wasted as a CEO. Just come back.”
I arched my brow at him, taking a hit of the shisha.
I wanted to be there more than anything.
My heart was torn—torn between the company, Aria, and the life I should be living.
That place was my life before; everything about it ran through my blood.
My body itched to be back in it, in the dark chaos calling to me, trying to lead me back home.
“You don’t need me, Hayden.”
I took another drag, exhaling the smoke as it clouded around us. Aria flickered through my mind. I needed to be better for her. She’d suffered enough with her life in Leeds. She didn’t need to be dragged into that world again.
But the darkness still called, and the devil still whispered, pulling me back to purgatory where the man I’d once been waited.
Waited to be set free.