"W-what?" Accidentally choked on the iced tea, Andin ended up coughing quite violently. Her hand reached for the napkin and she wiped her mouth.

"I am sorry." Piers patted her back, trying to help but unsure whether he should get her something to drink or soothe her. "I should not have said it like that."

Andin soon calmed herself. She leaned back against the back of her chair, her eyes narrowed as her gaze fixated on Piers. It was not every day that someone said something like this to her, let alone her boss's brother. Furthermore, she was pretty sure Piers got the gist that there was something going on between her and Sebastian especially since Sebastian had once mentioned her as his lover thus she could not quite comprehend why on earth Piers was telling her this now. They had not even known each other that long. "Please do explain yourself," she responded, her voice turned formal and business-like.

He ran his hand through his hair, grimacing. "Okay. I like you but I've done something terrible in the past. No matter what my reason was for doing what I did or whether it would justify my action or not, deep down I knew I should've done things differently. Anyway, even though I like you and still am attracted to you, I need to know whether there's something going on between you and my brother. I have to hear it directly from you."

Although she couldn't label what she and Sebastian had right now, she knew there definitely was something so she gave him the confirmation he asked for. "Yes. It's a bit complicated but to answer your question, yes, there is something going on between Sebastian and me."

There was sadness in those green eyes albeit only for a few seconds. "Okay. Great. I, um, wish you all the best. Thank you for confirming that for me."

"No worries," answered Andin curtly, unsure what to say. She reached for her iced tea and cast her gaze to the hand on her lap.

There was a deadly silence between them as they waited for Sebastian to come back. Thankfully he came back shortly after and soon they were on their way to the airport.

"I'm going to miss you," said Piers as he threw his arms around his brother and gave him a hug. "Call me or text me."

Sebastian laughed, shaking his head. "Dang, never know you're this needy," he teased his brother but once the laughter had faded away from his face, he answered truthfully, "I will. I'll text you once we land."

They hugged it out once again then Piers gave Andin a hearty smile. "It's nice to meet you, Andin. Stay in touch."

"Nice to meet you too." Andin gave him a polite smile, not really knowing what to say to his last sentence.

"You'll see her around if you're in D.C., Brother. Maybe you should come back sometime. We all miss you terribly."

Looking at Sebastian's eyes, Andin knew he really meant it.

"I will when I bring you that painting I made for your birthday."

Sebastian, despite being in his late twenties, blushed. His cheeks darkened as he waved his hand dismissively. "It's fine. You don't have to."

* * * * * * *

The flight passed in a dream for Andin. So much had happened since they flew into Sicily that she felt her whole life had been turned upside down. She stared blindly out of the window, the milky white cloud formations pierced with vivid blue reminding her of the orchards near the cottage, snow-white against the spring sky. Sebastian leaned back with his eyes closed. He too was as exhausted as her.

The plane landed smoothly on the ground. After going through the immigration checkpoint and then the arrival gate, they both had their baggage in their hands and walked side by side. His driver had waited for them at the front and rushed to carry their bags into the waiting car. Despite Andin telling him that she could grab a cab, he insisted on driving her home. 

He dropped her at her flat in the silence of a Sunday afternoon, the dark street was empty except for a milk bottle rolling across the pavement pursued by a small calico cat. She said a polite farewell and was about to grab her own baggage when Sebastian surprisingly followed her out of the car and helped her carry her bags upstairs.

"You know you don't have to do that," said Andin as she unlocked her front door and let him in.

He put her bag on the couch and her luggage on the floor next to it. "It is fine." He turned to her with a smile plastered on his face and leaned forward. She was about to take a step back, thinking he was going to start something that she was not sure she wanted to, only to realize that he was merely planting a small kiss on top of her head. "Get some rest, Miss Williams. I will see you tomorrow. Take half a day off, you need to get some rest."

"Thank you, Sir."

Sebastian looked at her for a moment in silence then turned around and walked out of her front door. Andin stared at the door for a long while before she took a deep breath and began to unpack her bags. A call from Damon came shortly after, welcoming her back and asking her if she wanted to have dinner at his place. She accepted the invitation gratefully, then ended the call. She grabbed her coat and purse then went outside to buy a bottle of wine to bring to the dinner at the corner ranch market at the end of her block.

At around seven-thirty she knocked on Damon and Tanner's flat. Tanner was the one to open the door and let her in. "Damon is in the kitchen, checking the chicken marsala." He lifted one eyebrow and then blinked. "You look terrible and if you don't believe me, he'll say the exact same thing."

"Well, hello to you too, Tanner." She rolled her eyes and took off her coat then hung it on the coat hanger by the door and handed the bottle of wine to him. "Here, I brought Sauvignon Blanc. I hope that goes well with the chicken." They walked into the kitchen where Damon was still busy trying to make everything perfect. "Hey there, Dee. This smells great."

Damon lifted his eyes to look at her. "You look horrible, Andin Mia Bella," he greeted, sounding appalled.

Tanner smirked. "See, told ya."

"Told her, what?" Damon looked at his husband, then at Andin curiously.

"I told her the exact same thing and said that you would say it too." Tanner shrugged, opening a drawer to get the plates and cutleries. "I was right."

"Fine. I do look horrid but it is simply because I had a long week." Andin asked for the cutleries and helped set the table. "I am so tired."

Damon stared at her, eyes like saucers. "How is it going with the dearest sexiest boss?"

"Fine," Andin answered curtly, not giving anything away.

"Oh, playing hide and seek, are we now?" Damon placed the chicken marsala on the table while Tanner came to get a bowl of mashed potato. "One look at you and I can tell that you shared his bed or at least coming close to that."

Andin gasped. She could not believe her friend could simply tell by looking at her. It made her wonder if perhaps this fact was written all over her face.

"Ha! That just confirms it." Damon laughed, earning a nudge on the ribcage from her."It confirms nothing."

Once his laughter had died down, he sat at the table next to her and held her hand. "How do you feel?"

"I'm fine."

"Honey, you don't sound fine. Did you guys have a fight or something?"

"'Or something' might be the answer." She took a deep breath and then let it out.

Damon turned to Tanner, clicking his tone. "Grab the glasses. We are opening that bottle of wine now." Then once the obedient Tanner had produced one glass of white wine, Damon pushed it onto the table towards Andin. "Have a drink, Darling. You look like you desperately need it."

"His family called him saying that his brother had an accident and that he needed to go and check up on him so we drove down there and got into an accident. We ended up staying at his brother's empty cabin and basically emptied his fridge." Andin shifted her gaze to the food on the table, then drank half of her glass of wine quickly. "So what do we have for dinner?"

"That is what is known as the tip of the iceberg," Tanner commented then took a sip of the white wine.

Andin looked puzzled. "What?"

Damon was the one to explain his boyfriend's remark. "Your story, Andin. You are not telling us all about it. It is what you left out that really matters, isn't it? From the way you looked right now, it seemed that something big happened in Italy."

Her face twisted as she sighed. "You have warned me, Dee. I should have listened to you."

Damon looked hard at her. "Do you mean he finally got to you?"

"Well, I guess you could say that." Under her friend's stare, she flushed. "I gave in. I could not fight it any longer. I did not care about the repercussions and simply went with my heart. And I—" As she could not bring herself to say it, all she could do was simply shake her head.

"You what, Darling?"

"I am hopelessly in love with him and there is no future in it," she finally admitted. Hearing this out loud only solidified her feelings for him.

Damon made a compassionate face. "Andin Mia Bella, I saw it coming but still, I am sorry. Was he being difficult? Was he acting like a jerk?"

"No." Andin broke into a peal of laughter "That is the thing, he was not. He was being very gentle and kind and sweet and I don't know. I don't know what I am going to do."

"It is really simple then." Damon shrugged. "Date him and if everything goes well, you might end up marrying him for life. He could be your soulmate, you know."

"Or," said Tanner, jumping into the conversation, "If he is good in bed, you should continue hooking up with him. No strings attached so no one can call you a gold digger or something."

"Oh, please!" Damon slapped Tanner's arm, shaking his head. "Don't listen to him, Darling. He is clearly demented. Everyone who knows you know that you are not a gold digger. Plus marriage is still a long way to go."

She gave a dry laugh. "Not necessarily true."

"Oh dear, did he propose?" Damon gasped, putting both of his hands on his mouth. "Before or after the devil's tango?"

Tanner, on the other hand, folded his arms and shook his head. "Damn. You must be good in bed for him to propose right away."

Andin narrowed her eyes at his comment and said, "Before."

"Damn." Tanner whistled.

"But, Dee." She swallowed hard and squeezed his hand as if she was seeking some kind of emotional support from her best friend. "He did not believe in love. He said it was just a nice wrapping for desire and lust."

"Okay, I don't agree with that." Surprisingly, it was coming from Tanner who had not been very supportive thus far. "Love is real. It is either he is too childish to believe that or his heart has been broken before."

"I think a little bit of both," answered Andin with a sigh.

Damon rubbed her shoulder sympathetically. "Well, what are you going to do about him?"

"What else?" She shrugged one shoulder. "I have submitted my resignation letter so I only have about two months before I leave him for good."

"I suppose you are right. I just don't know where you will find another job that pays so well." Damon sighed. "But we could always find a cheaper flat."

Andin blinked. "You are going to move to a new place should I move?"

"Of course! Did you need to ask?" Damon gave her a wink while Tanner was shrugging — he would follow wherever Damon go anyway.

"Thank you, Dee!" She went and gave him a hug.

"I just want you to think through your relationship with Sebastian," said Damon after they pulled away. "Sex can complicate things but it can only also bring two people closer."

"Ugh, I do not even want to talk about the sex." Andin was about to reach for the glass of wine again when Damon took the glass out of her reach.

"No, no, no, Missy! You can not drink on an empty stomach. Let's eat before my amazing cooking gets cold."

After dinner, Andin stayed for a while and watched a rom-com that was playing on the television. Recalling that tomorrow was Monday and she would need to work, she went back to her own flat at around eleven. Damon kept telling her that things would be okay but she was not sure and at the moment, she was simply too tired of giving it a hard thought.

Once she was in her own flat, she kicked off her sandals. In her bedroom, she undressed like a robot and fell into bed. Sleep came as a blessed relief. She was not sure how long she had been asleep when her cell phone rang and woke her up. She reached for her phone in the dark and accidentally hit herself on the forehead. "Ow, dang. Hello?"

"Did I wake you up?"

She blinked. Once. Twice. "Tian?"

"Yeah."

"What is it? What's wrong?"

His soft laughter filled her ear. So rare it poured through her and woke her up inside. "Do I only call you whenever something is wrong?"

"Yes," she answered truthfully. "Or if you need me to do something for you."

"Damn. I must be a terrible boyfriend."

"You're not my boyfriend."

"Yet." He let out a chuckle.

She licked her lips. "For real though, what is it?"

"Why? Can't I call you just because I miss your voice?"

Andin put her phone aside and looked at the glowing numbers on top of her screen. "Do you know what time it is?"

There was a pause and then, "Two thirty-five"

"Where are you now?"

"Inside my car. In front of your building."

She sat right up and pushed the cover aside. "You're joking. Please tell me you're joking."

"Nope."

"Wait, why?" She swung her legs over the side of her bed. "How are your ribs? Does it still hurt?" She recalled that when they had had an accident a few days ago, the steering wheel had bruised his ribs. They had gone to a clinic there in Italy but after dropping her at her flat today, he was supposed to get it checked again in the hospital.

"Like a son of a bitch." He took a sharp breath. "You should come down and kiss it better."

"Right now?"

"Yeah."

"I'm not dressed."

"At all?"

Through the darkness, she glanced down at her extra-large Disney Princess Belle T-shirt. "Not wearing a damn thing."

She heard him clearing his throat. "Put on a coat. I promise I won't look."

Andin bit her lips to keep her from smiling. "Looking is not what gets us into trouble."

His voice was deep, low, and sexy when he said, "But you like trouble. And apparently, so do I."

Her smile slipped through. "What kind of trouble were you thinking we should get into?"

"The kind that has you naked and in my bed. Since you are already naked, maybe you should just come on down and go the rest of the way."

She shouldn't. Really shouldn't. "That would be inappropriate, Sir."

"Oh, very, Miss Williams."

"And you don't regret what happened the other night?"

"Nope. Not yet, but I have got a few twisted positions with your name on 'em. I figure that after tonight, we'll be filled with enough shame and regret to last a while."

"It sounds like you have been thinking about me," she teased.

"A lot."

She had thought about him too even though she knew she should not have yet she could not help herself. And while he might not regret what had happened, she should or at least, she should think about it through. Yet at this very moment, listening to his voice and knowing he was parked outside wanting her, she did not feel anything but a hot curl of lust tugging at the pit of her stomach. "Me too," she answered just above a whisper.

"Then what do you say, Miss Williams, are you going to come downstairs?"

Without giving it any thought at all, she said, "I'll grab my coat."

* * * * * * *

A/N: does anyone like where this is heading? ;))