One Night in London (14 page)

“Hello, Sebastian. Do you have your signing pen ready?” Ed smiled as he set the contracts in front of me.

“You’ve made the right decision to become a capital investor in our company,” John spoke as he took a seat.

Looking over the contracts, my unsettled feeling didn’t diminish. What the fuck was going on? “Gentlemen, excuse me for a moment.” Pulling my phone from my pocket, I sent a text message to Chloe.

“Good morning. Are we still in that Venus thing?”

“You mean a Venus retrograde? Yes. For about another four weeks. Why?”

“Just wondering. So now wouldn’t be a good time to make a major business investment?”

“No. Not a good time at all.”

“Thank you. I’ll see you later.”

“You’re welcome. Do you want to tell me what all this is about?”

“Later.”

Walking back into the conference room, I took a seat across from Ed and John.

“I’m sorry, gentlemen, but I’m not signing any contracts at this time.”

“WHAT?!” Ed shouted.

“Sebastian,” Damien spoke.

“I’ll look this over again in about a month. Until then, I won’t be investing in your company. I’m sorry. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have other work to do.”

Getting up from my chair, I buttoned my suit coat and walked out.
Fuck
. I prayed to God that I made the right decision. Damien followed me into my office.

“What the fuck, Sebastian? What the hell are you thinking? We worked months on that deal. Do you know how much money you just cost us?”

Taking a seat at my desk, I arched my brow at him.

“Us? This is my company and I make every damn decision about it. Don’t you ever forget that.” I pointed at him. “Right now isn’t the right time to invest in that company.”

“And how do you know that?”

“I’m going with my instincts. You need to trust me on this, Damien. Have I ever steered off course where this company is concerned?”

He sat there shaking his head with a look of anger on his face. Getting up from his seat, he pointed at me before walking out the door.

“You better hope your instincts are right. You’ve been off ever since that girl walked into your life.”

Rolling my eyes, I leaned back in my chair. He was right where Chloe was concerned. I had been off. It seemed like my whole life had been turned upside down ever since that one night in London.

Chloe

I
nervously walked around the gallery, watching, staring, and hearing the whispers of the people who came to the exhibition. Connor and Ellery were standing in front of the sculptures talking to Oliver and Liam Wyatt. There was no reason to be nervous, but I was. I think I was more nervous for Caden. Looking at my watch, I wondered where Sienna was. Suddenly, I felt two arms wrap around my waist from behind.

“Hello, gorgeous.”

Turning my head, I gasped when I saw Sam staring at me.

“Oh my God. What are you doing here?”

“When I landed in Boston, I couldn’t get on that next plane. I just couldn’t do it. I already missed her too much.”

“Aw. Where is Sienna?”

“She’s in the bathroom. She told me to come up and surprise you.”

“Well, I’m glad you did.” I placed my hand on his chest.

“SURPRISE!” Sienna smiled as she held out her arms.

Hugging her tightly, I could tell she was happy that Sam was back.

“This is a great surprise, right?” I whispered in her ear.

“Yes. It sure is. I’ll fill you in on all the details later. For now, I’m going to check out that sexy artwork over there.”

She hooked her arm in Sam’s and the two of them walked over to the display.

“I thought he went back to England.” I heard Sebastian’s voice behind me.

When I turned around, the butterflies awoke in my belly as if they were happy to see him.

“He never made it out of Boston. He came back.”

“I see. How are you?” He smiled.

“Nervous, but good.”

Placing his hand on my shoulder, he spoke, “Don’t be nervous. It looks like everyone is enjoying the exhibition. I will admit that I am curious to see what the artist has done.”

“Then follow me.” I smiled as I held out my arm to him and led him over to the display. “Well?” I asked.

“It definitely is erotic, that’s for sure.

“You like it, though, right?”

“Yes. It’s very expressive.”

“Exactly!” I smiled.

“He does photography too?” Sebastian asked as he stared at the beautiful naked girl in the stiletto heels with the pouty mouth.

“Yes.” I laughed. “Do you like her?” I nudged his shoulder.

“Who me? She’s not my type.” He winked.

I wanted to ask him what his type was, but I refrained for fear he’d get angry.

“Hello, Sebastian.” Ellery smiled.

“Hello, Ellery. You’re looking as lovely as ever.” He kissed her cheek.

“Thank you. If you don’t mind, I’m going to steal Chloe away for a moment.”

“I don’t mind at all.”

When I walked away with Ellery, she led me downstairs.

“Richard Borne is very interested in purchasing almost half the display. He wants a couple paintings, five photographs, and two sculptures.”

“What’s he going to do with all that?”

“Apparently, he has a,” she held her fingers up, “room that they would be perfect in.”

“Ah. I bet it’s a very special room.” I smiled.

“Ew!” she shrieked. “Him and that room. The thought.” She laughed. “Go ahead and talk to Mr. Borne and find out exactly which pieces he wants and put sold stickers on them.”

“I’m on it. Caden will be very happy.”

“So will Connor.”

Walking back up the stairs, I went into my office and pulled the sold stickers from my desk and found Mr. Borne. The exhibition was well received and Caden sold almost every piece of artwork. Standing there staring at the wall that was devoid of all but three paintings, I felt a hand softly touch my back.

“The exhibition went well,” Sebastian spoke. “I told you that you had nothing to worry about.”

“It did. Didn’t it? I’m really happy for Caden.”

“If you’re ready, we can head to my penthouse for dinner.”

“I’m more than ready. I’m starving. Just let me grab my purse.”

Grabbing my purse from my office, I left the gallery in the hands of Gregory to close up and Sebastian and I headed to his penthouse.

****

“W
ow,” I spoke in awe as I looked around his forty-five-hundred-square-foot penthouse. The light beige walls and light oak flooring made the space look even bigger.

“So what do you think of my stuffy penthouse?” The corners of his mouth curved upwards.

“Okay. So I was wrong. It’s very light and airy. No dark wood floors, no dark trim, but I was right about the beige walls.”

“Everyone has beige walls.” He chuckled.

“Mr. Bennett, dinner is ready.”

“Thank you, Karina.”

It was apparent that Sebastian wasn’t going to introduce me to the hired help. So I introduced myself.

“Hi.” I smiled as I held out my hand. “I’m Chloe.”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Karina.”

“Nice to meet you too, Karina.” I narrowed my eye at Sebastian.

I followed him out onto the patio, where a table, next to an outdoor fireplace sat.

“I thought it would be nice to dine out here. Of course, if you get cold, we can move inside.”

“No. This is fine.” I smiled.

We took our seats and Sebastian picked up the bottle of wine and poured some into our glasses.

“So, are you going to tell me what that text was about earlier today?”

He sighed as he brought the glass up to his lips.

“I was supposed to sign the contracts to become a capital investor in a company I had been dealing with for the past several months. It was a multi-million-dollar deal and I got to thinking about how much I lost in Vegas.”

“Go on.” I smiled.

“It’s not a big deal, Chloe. I just thought that maybe this deal wasn’t supposed to happen right now, so I didn’t sign the contracts. Needless to say, they were not happy.”

“That’s too bad for them. You did the right thing.” I winked before sipping my wine.

We talked mostly about the exhibition, my job, Sienna and Sam, and nothing personally about him. So I decided to turn it into a game.

“I want to play a game.”

“Oh.” His eyebrow arched. “What kind of game?”

“A personal game. It’s a great way to get to know each other. I’ll start.”

I could tell by the expression on his face that he was on the fence about it.

“My favorite color is yellow.” I pointed at him.

“Black.”

“My favorite food is chicken.” I pointed at him.

“Lobster.

“My favorite kind of flower is the gerbera daisy.” I pointed at him.

“You don’t like roses?” He cocked his head.

“Yes. Answer the question.”

“Orchids.”

“Really?” I smiled.

“If I had to pick one favorite flower, it would be them.”

“I was sixteen when I lost my virginity.” I pointed at him.

“Fifteen.” He smiled.

“With who?” I cocked my head.

“Doesn’t matter.”

“I was homeschooled until the age of ten.” I pointed at him.

He didn’t say anything and got up from his seat. “That was fun, but I think we should go inside now.”

“What’s wrong?” I asked as I grabbed my glass and followed him inside.

“Nothing. I want to make something very clear to you. My past and childhood are off limits.”

“I don’t understand.” I frowned.

He ran his hand through his hair. “I don’t talk about my past to anyone, including you.”

“But why?” I asked in a soft voice as I stepped closer to him.

“Because I don’t.” His voice was authoritative and harsh. “If you can’t respect that, then maybe you should leave.”

“You can talk to me, Sebastian.”

As I went to place my hand on his arm, he backed away.

“No, Chloe, I can’t and I won’t.”

“How am I supposed to get to know you if you won’t open up to me?”

“You know enough. Leave it at that. It’s not like you need to know anymore.”

“You’re right.” I looked down. “I know enough. You have so much hatred in your heart and I feel sorry for you. But I know somewhere in there you have more good. I’ve seen it and I’ve experienced it.” I grabbed my purse and as I was about to walk out the door, I turned and looked at him. “Life is lost without love, Sebastian, and I hope someday you find it.”

Sebastian

S
tanding there, I watched the door close. She was gone and, suddenly, my place felt empty, or was it my life? An empty feeling always resided in me from the time I could remember when I was a small child. Her words replayed over and over in my head. “Life is lost without love.” I didn’t know what love was. How could I? I’d never received it and I never gave it. I had once again hurt her. Just like I knew I would. I should’ve stayed away, but when I saw her on the street, playing the guitar, and her sweet voice sang that song, everything that I thought I had pushed away came rushing back. Just like it did the first time I saw her after our one night together.

Two weeks had passed. I didn’t contact her and she didn’t try to contact me. Anger made itself a comfortable place inside me. I couldn’t focus, I couldn’t think, and I certainly couldn’t have sex. I didn’t want to have sex with anyone but her. She somehow left her mark on me, like an imprint on my soul. Sitting at the bar with Eli, we kicked back some drinks. He was the only person in the world who truly knew me and that was because we had been friends since we were ten years old.

“I think it’s time we had a talk, Sebastian.”

“About what?”

“These past couple of weeks, you’ve been different. Different than I’ve ever seen you before.”

“How?” I shot him a look.

“You haven’t been going into the office as much. You’ve been sleeping in later than you ever have. You don’t listen when people talk to you. It’s like you’re in another world and you’re way more of an asshole now than before. Damien told me that he asked you the other day what was wrong and you nearly castrated him.”

I threw back my bourbon. “I’m tired of people asking me what the hell is wrong. Nothing is wrong!”

“Chloe is what’s wrong. Man, come on. I know you’re thinking she could be the one and it scares the fuck out of you.”

Rolling my eyes, I signaled the bartender for another drink.

“I don’t believe in ‘the one.’”

“Really? Because you’ve dated countless women over the years and not one of them has ever gotten to you like Chloe has. If you want to see her again, you’re going to have to open up to her.”

“I don’t have to do anything. I make my own rules about my life and you know it.” I pointed my finger at him.

“I know, but maybe now it’s time to let the fucking rules go. Damnit, Sebastian, you’re thirty years old. Are you really going to live the rest of your life like this? Shit, even Maura is worried about you.”

“You can tell Maura that I’m fine.”

“You say you don’t believe in the one, yet you wouldn’t sign a multi-million-dollar deal because of some Venus thing, which, by the way, you got from Chloe. All I’m saying is that you need to let go of the past. You beat it. We beat it. The only reason I’m working for your dumb ass is because someone needs to look after you.”

“You’re working for me because I pay you incredibly well.”

“That too.” He smiled. “Listen, man, you’re happy when she’s around. Why can’t you, for once in your life, accept some happiness? Don’t you think it’s about time?”

I glanced over at him for a moment and then looked straight ahead as I finished my drink.

“She’s good for you.”

“Really? And you know what’s good for me? She’s different and she lives in another world. Do you know that she talks to a homeless man and buys him food? She knows his damn life story.”

“What’s wrong with that? She’s a friendly person who apparently doesn’t judge people. She doesn’t seem to be into materialistic things, so you know right there she wasn’t seeing you for your money.”

“We’re from two different worlds, Eli.”