Man Seeks Woman 2, Man Seeks Wife (14 page)

“Where’s
Sebastian?” I asked him then turned to Rosa. “I guess he’s not
here?”

Rosa shook her
head in what looked like exasperation and turned back towards the
kitchen, clearly finished with ranting and raving at me, thank God.
I looked to Ralph with my brows raised.

The big man
came in and closed the door behind him then moved to where I stood.
His big shoulders were tense and set, same with his jaw.
“Sebastian’s been delayed for a bit.”

“Oh where,” I
asked. Ralph cleared his throat. Damn, he was lying to me and he
was shit at it. “Spit it out, Ralph.”

Rubbing his
eyes with his knuckles, Ralph shook his head. “I said I didn’t want
to do this, especially not to you but would he listen?” he growled.
I think he was talking to himself rather than me.

“Ralph?”

“Sorry.” He
blew out a breath. “Sebastian has been held up and asked that I
keep you here until he gets home.”

That was
strange as it was but what I wanted to know was if he wasn’t here,
then where was he and why did Ralph feel the need to lie to me
about it?

I crossed my
arms over my chest as I felt my anger beginning to kick in. “Where
is he, Ralph?”

Ralph looked
down at me, his jaw working as his eyes scanned my face, obviously
debating about telling me the truth. “Hospital,”

My brows
pulled together. “Hospital, why?” had he had an accident at work, a
car accident or was he just ill? Then come to think of it, he was
fine this morning when he said goodbye to me and got off to work.
“I don’t understand.”

“He’s not
ill.” Ralph said quickly and took my elbow, leading me down to the
kitchen where Rosa was cooking up a storm. There were pots and pans
all over the show along with ingredients. The place looked like a
bomb had hit it. “Sit.” He pulled out a stall and pushed me into
it.

I wriggled on
the stool, not wanting to sit there at all but I did. I pushed my
fringe from my face and blew out a breath. “Now, Ralph, tell me why
Sebastian has you lying to me over him being at the hospital.
What’s going on?”

“Tell her
truth.” Rosa said quietly when Ralph decided to take his time.

“Yes.” I
nodded and agreed with the Spanish woman. “Tell me the truth.”

Because if he
didn’t, I was ready to grab one of the pots Rosa was using and bang
him over the head with it and demand to be told what the hell was
going on.

Ralph sighed
heavily and his whole body seemed to slump with the truth. “Naomi
has gone into labour and called Sebastian. He’s at the hospital
with her now.”

Whoosh!

A feeling very
similar to an ice cold bucket of water being thrown over you,
washed through me. It chilled me instantly right down to my bones.
I wanted the truth of where Sebastian was but I wasn’t expecting
that. Damn, the bitch was still around and Sebastian was still in
contact with her?

Wow.

“And he didn’t
think to call me and let me know?” I asked quietly, my mind was
spinning. My head began to pound in time with my heartbeat. Little
by little, the sound in the kitchen seemed to mute to nothing but
white fuzz as the pound and bang of my blood pressure built and
built.

Bang, bang,
bang.
The vein in my head pulsed with pain and pressure.
Unsteadily, I slipped off the stall and stood up straight. On shaky
legs, I walked over to the balcony doors and slid them open.
Immediately, the cold, wintery night air blasted at me sending a
shiver through my body.

My fingers
gripped the steel banister and my breath came out in pants as I
scanned the darkened London landscape, watching the red and white
lights below me moving around on their way to wherever they were
going. My eyes moved over buildings, my mind naming them silently
in the back of my head. My eyes latched onto the hospital roof I
could see across the distance, wondering if that was the hospital
that Sebastian was in right now with
her.

The thought
made me laugh for some reason. I laughed out loud, laughed until I
bent over and doubled over with mirth. Sliding down the white
painted balcony wall, I let my butt hit the ice cold floor before
my laughter turned into silence and the situation permeated my
mind. The truth like little ants worked its way through my
mind.

Shit!

The truth was
whether I chose to accept it or not was that Sebastian could meet
his child for the first time tonight and he didn’t want me knowing
the truth. He’d purposely told Ralph to lie to me, to deceive me.
Me, the woman that he declared he loved, that was his one and
only.

He wanted
Ralph to lie to me.

Of course, I
didn’t believe when Sebastian had told me the first time about the
baby, that the said baby was his but still, no-one knew the truth
until paternity was proved and I guess that was coming tonight.

Tonight,
tonight the night that Sebastian had planned for me to spend with
him, with him in the place that we were last together. We were
supposed to be spending the night together, here, in his home.

God, this was
a mess.

What did I do?
Did I stay here and rant and rave at Ralph for lying? Did I call
Sebastian and give him what for? Or did I wait and bide my time?
What the fuck did I do?

The door slid
open and the big man stepped out. He stopped just outside the
glass, his hands splaying out against the thick plate. “I hate it
out here.” He said eventually.

I looked up at
the handsome black man, seeing the tightness around his eyes and
the grimace written across his lips. “Why’s that, its beautiful.”
and it was. London at night was something else especially this high
up.

Ralph huffed
out a strained laugh. “Because I’m shit scared of heights, that’s
why.”

“Ahh,” I
nodded in understanding and let out a soft breath as my eyes
closed. I listened to the hum of the air around me and the subtle
bibs and engines of London transport moving around below me. My
breathing was almost silent, along with Ralph’s.

“He doesn’t
mean to hurt you, you know.”

My eyes opened
as a shiver wracked through me. “Who said anything about hurting
me, Ralph?”

Ralph glared
down at me. “Don’t bullshit me, Victoria. I know you’re hurting
right about now and I told him you would feel like that but he
thinks he knows better when he knows fuck all. I love Sebastian
like a brother even though he’s my boss. Me and him.” he sighed and
shook his head. His big hands rubbed together to keep warm. “We
been through some shit together over the years but I never thought
him this stupid.”

“He’s not
stupid.” And Sebastian wasn’t. He just thought in his weird own way
that his way was the right way when sometimes, it was so fucking
wrong, it was in the complete other direction. “To be honest, I
forgot about Naomi and her pregnancy and well, I guess I shouldn’t
have because if I hadn’t, now wouldn’t be such a shock,
perhaps?”

Well, that was
a semi lie. I hadn’t forgotten about Naomi and the baby, I’d just
pushed her from my mind, kind of neglected to accept it I
guess.

“Oh Sebastian
hasn’t forgotten whilst you’ve been gone.” He shook his head. His
jaw tightened and hardened as his eyes scanned the landscape.
“Naomi hasn’t let him forget. She’s been at him like a fly around a
cow’s arsehole. There were times when I wanted to strangle the
woman myself and that’s saying something because I object to
violence against women but...”

“Then why did
he have you lie to me?” I asked quietly. “Why didn’t he just call
me or text me even or hell, just told me the truth rather than me
having to drag the fucking truth from you?”

“Because
Sebastian doesn’t want to hurt you, that’s why. He thinks
mentioning anything to do with Naomi in front of you would be
enough to have you running for the hills and that’s the last thing
he wants. He’s finally got you back. You’re the woman who stole his
heart, stole him and now, there’s a risk of her leaving, of her
running away because of something that wasn’t his fault. No.” Ralph
clenched his fists in front of him, his lips thinning. “He didn’t
want to risk that. Not you, not again,”

“He risked it
lying to me, Ralph.” I said in pure exasperation. Didn’t he or
Sebastian get that?

“I know.” The
man admitted almost silently but I heard it.

“What do I
do?” I asked after the silence fell like an uncomfortable, stifling
blanket between us.

Ralph turned
and kneeled down so he was face to face with me. He grabbed my
hands in his big paws and held them tight. “I ask you on behalf of
myself and my idiot of a boss that you stay here and hear him out
when he gets home. I saw what he looked like when I left the
hospital and I know he’s going to need you when he gets here.
Seeing you gone,” He shook his head again. “It won’t be good for
him. Just hear him out, be there for him Victoria, Please.”

That’s
bullshit.

I stopped
outside Sebastian’s office door taking a deep breath, trying to
control the rage and anger pulsing through me. For hours I’d sat
like a prick waiting for him to come home and had he? No.

Now, it was
near on three o’clock in the morning and he’d just strolled through
the door. I’d listened from my perch in the living room as he came
through his front door and headed straight to his office where he’d
shut himself away.

Like I was
going to allow him to do that,

I wanted
answers damn it. I think he owed me that much.

Blowing out a
breath, I pushed the handle down and watched the door swing open. I
leaned against the doorframe and crossed my trembling arms over my
chest. My teeth even chattered with the anger coursing through my
body. My nails bless them, had taken a battering tonight. They were
effectively chewed down to petty stubs and the carpet in the living
room, forget it. I was sure the expensive thing had tram lines worn
into it for how many times I’d paced back and fourth.

“I’m not a
nice person to be around at this particular moment, Victoria.”
Sebastian said from the back of his office where he stood behind
the small bar, pouring a whole glass worth of what looked like
scotch. He hadn’t even bothered to look up at me.

The shirt that
he had left my place this morning wearing was creased and opened to
at least mid chest. The tie was long gone, along with the band for
his hair.

I snorted as
the door swung back. I uncrossed my arms and caught the hardwood
against my palm, stopping it where it was. “Neither am I.” And I
fucking well wasn’t. I was pissed beyond belief.

“I think you
should turn around and go back to bed.”

Clenching my
teeth, I marched over to the prick and slammed my hand down on the
bar. The sting actually made me feel good. “You think I should go
back to bed, do you?” I sneered, shouting in his face. “I haven’t
been to fucking bed, Sebastian and do you know why I haven’t?” I
asked then didn’t wait for an answer from him as I carried on.
“I’ve been waiting here like a lemon for you to get your arse home
from the hospital.” His head snapped up at that point, his eyes
widened before he blinked and the mask he’d been wearing snapped
back into place. “Oh yeah,” I nodded in quick jabs. “Ralph told me
where you’ve been and what you’ve been doing.”

“Then you
would know right now is not a good time.” He said lethally as he
gulped down the rich alcohol then refilled the glass immediately
afterwards. If he carried on like that, he’d be legless in no
time.

“For who,”

“Me of
course,”

I laughed
bitterly as I shook my head and moved away from him. “You are so
fucking arrogant, it’s not even funny. What about me?”

Oh yeah, I’d
only been waiting for going on eight hours for him and I hadn’t
even received one text message or phone call, nothing. It was like
I’d been forgotten about. I was the woman that he was supposed to
love, the woman that he wanted and needed and yet, I felt like I’d
been pushed aside and for what? For her, again!

Story of my
fucking life,

“What about
you?” he thundered. The glass in his hand flew across the room and
smashed into smithereens when it hit the wall. The drips and run of
the drink soiled the wall as it cascaded down bit by bit, pooling
against the skirting and floor.

“What about
me?” I screeched and moved back into his space. My finger jabbed
against my own chest as I stared into his light blue eyes that held
so much of his own anger and hurt and many other things that I
really shouldn’t give a damn about but I did. “I’m supposed to be
your number one or whatever. I’m supposed to mean so much to you
that you can’t live without me and yet here I sat like a prick all
fucking night.” I screamed, throwing my arms up in the air.
“Waiting like a sap for you to give me something, to tell me
something but what the fuck did I get? Nothing, that’s what you
gave me, Sebastian. Nothing,”

It was déjà vu
all over again.

“What did you
want me to tell you? What do you want to hear?”

Oh my God, was
he stupid or something?

“I wanted to
know whether the man that I love was a Dad or not.” I gritted out,
feeling my heart begin to sink the further we went on. I scrubbed
my hands up and down my face, feeling my shoulders drop under the
tension of the night and in the room.

“I don’t
know.” He answered but not for a long time.

My eyes
followed him as he moved around his office, his gaze flitting over
the shelves lined with books and awards in frames and
certificates.

“You don’t
know what?” I was confused.

Sebastian
sighed heavily and rubbed at his eyes with his knuckles. His
shoulders were stern with tension, his body rigid and stiff. “I
don’t know if baby Leo is mine.”