A/N: Hello everyone! How's your weekend so far? Mine's going great so since I'm in a very good mood, I thought I'd post a new chapter for all of you.

I want to dedicate this to WeAreHurricane for being a big fan of this book and reaching out to me with cover ideas. She's a talented writer and cover maker so make sure to check out her page. 

Thank you once agian for all your support and keep on voting and commenting! And if you love this book, spread the word! =)

***

We left for the twin’s town house before noon.

I was nervous to attend the first family gathering with Sebastian but he assured me it would be very low-key. I changed outfits at least half a dozen times before deciding on a salmon-colored, long-sleeved baby doll dress paired with dark brown wool leggings and tan riding boots.

Sebastian was simply dressed in a chocolate brown cashmere sweater, dark jeans and a black wool long coat.

We carried out the dessert I made (the second batch I made because I gorged down the first one I made last night after sex), two bottles of champagne and one of sparkling apple juice which I brought along for myself.

Sebastian drove us this time, having given the staff the day off including most of his security team.

The twins’ place was a modern, white stone block house in a strip of fancy and unique townhouses in a revitalized area by Sidley Yard, Cobalt Bay’s oldest neighborhood that have successfully converted into an upscale melting pot of shopping, tourism and urban living.

Marcus met us by the door with a grin and how-are-yous. He gave me a quick, half-hug and Sebastian a clap on the shoulder before showing us in.

The main room was bright and airy from the large glass windows, the furniture all modernized and cheerful with their pops of color. 

“That smells wonderful,” I said, surprised that the smell of roasting turkey and vegetables in the air wasn’t causing my stomach to roil, as Marcus took the food and champagne bottles from us as we slipped off our coats and hung them inside the front closet. “Where is everybody?”

“Only me and the twins here so far,” Marcus said as we followed him past the living room and into the kitchen where both Lexie and Charlie were bent over the oven, basting a giant turkey from what I could see from across the room.

“Cassie! Seb!” Lexie greeted excitedly, discarding her oven mitts on the counter before skipping over to wrap me and her brother in a hug. She was dressed casually today as well in crisp and slim red slacks, an oatmeal-colored cable knit sweater, her short bob held back by a dark pink satin band. “I’m so glad you two decided to attend. Charlie is going to outdo himself this year, as he promised, and we’re all going to have a blast.”

I laughed and waved to Charlie who shut the oven close and pulled me for a quick hug. “If it’ll taste half as good as it smells, I’m sold. What can we do to help though?”

“I’ll get started on the corn pudding in a couple of hours and then the second dessert right after that,” Charlie said as he walked to the large, wall-sized refrigerator in the kitchen corner. “The rest of the dinner’s ready to go so we have time to have a bottle of beer, enjoy some snacks I’ve set aside and maybe shoot a few rounds of pool. How about that?”

“Hand me a beer and a pool stick,” Sebastian quipped, bringing out a few chuckles, before taking the bottle his brother offered.

“What will you have, Cass?” Charlie asked. “If you don’t want beer, Lexie can mix you up a cocktail.”

I shook my head. “I’ll have neither. But I could use a cup of tea if you could spare me any.”

Sebastian raised a brow at me curiously. “Tea? Didn’t you just have some twenty minutes ago? Right before we left the house?”

I fought the blush that crept to my cheeks and shrugged. “Yeah, so? I find I prefer tea now all the time. Besides, it was chilly outside.”

“Leave her alone, Seb,” Lexie scolded gently as she set a kettle over a pot. “You should be glad to have a girlfriend who isn’t a lush.”

Marcus laughed. “Yes, Vice. It’s easier that way—fewer instances where you’ll have to step in and rescue her before she does anything too crazy.”

“You’re always hovering like I would disgrace myself any minute,” Lexie retorted, sticking her tongue out at her boyfriend. “You should know that I could drink anyone under the table and still walk in six-inch high heels.”

Charlie laughed and nodded. “She’s not kidding. Lightweight isn’t a term linked often to Lexie.”

The conversation in the kitchen and then later at the rec room while playing a few rounds of pool was light, comfortable and fun. It was looking to be a promising start until the doorbell rang and Brenda arrived.

I stood quietly next to Sebastian as the twins came forward to give her an obligatory and perfunctory kiss on the cheek, followed by a polite greeting from Marcus and a mere nod from Sebastian.

Her cool gray eyes narrowed when she spotted me and I forced myself to give her a pleasant smile even as I inwardly bristled at her appraising look. In her navy blue sweater dress, she looked polished and younger than her years, clearly aging gracefully.

“What a surprise to see you here, Sebastian,” she said as we all moved back to the kitchen where Charlie had started with the second dessert he was making for dinner. “Especially with a plus one. I thought this was a family event.”

“It is,” Sebastian answered calmly, the arm he had around my shoulders tightening around me. “Cassandra is family—mine.”

Me and Baby Vice inside me.

Sebastian’s declaration warmed me inside but it did nothing for Brenda’s mood. 

“It’s for family, friends and special someones, Mom,” Lexie jumped in with a roll of her eyes. “No one said you couldn’t bring a date if you wanted to.”

Marcus’s mouth twitched up in the corner as he glanced at me, being the other outsider of this family, and I couldn’t help an honest smile this time.

Despite her statement, Brenda seemed to have no problem with Marcus dating her daughter. After all, he’s handsome, rich, well-connected and famous in his own right.

“I don’t speak for all my siblings but I for one would like to avoid meeting my mother’s boyfriend, if she had one,” Charlie declared with a grimace which caused Lexie to giggle and Sebastian to even smile slightly.

Brenda flushed. “I hate to remind you of your respectful manners, Charles, but they seem to be currently in the gutter.”

Charlie flashed her an irresistible grin. “Just sayin’, Mom. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“Don’t worry, Mom. I would love to meet him,” Lexie assured her with a wink. “I’ve picked up a few interrogation skills from you over the years. I’m sure I could scare him off in record time.”

“Alexandra!” Brenda snapped, glaring at her daughter.

Before she could say anything else, the doorbell rang again and Marcus rushed forward to open it.

“Jared! Hey, man!” Marcus greeted as he stepped aside to give way to a large man with a willowy woman by his side. He was a couple of inches shorter than Marcus but he had broad shoulders and massive arms, like a linebacker, and he had medium brown hair and gray eyes like Brenda.

He stepped towards our group and said hello to everyone. I seemed to be the only one who’s never met him and the woman with him.

“Hey, Seb,” he greeted Sebastian with a warm smile and a quick clap on the back just as the others left us to help out in the remainder of the dinner preparations.

“Jared,” Sebastian acknowledged before turning to the woman. “Michelle, how are you?”

“Very well, thank you,” Michelle replied, smiling brilliantly at him, without malice or interest. I liked her instantly. “Jared didn’t think you were coming but it’s great that you’re here.”

“I figured I’d show up this year so you all can’t turn us down next year when we invite you over for Thanksgiving,” Sebastian said with a grin before turning to me. “Jared, Michelle, I’d like you to meet Cassandra Collins. Darling, this is my stepbrother Jared and his fiancée Michelle Fournier. Jared’s an oncologist and Michelle’s a pediatric surgeon. They’re both my partners in the Saving Hope project.”

“It’s so nice to finally meet you, Cassandra.” Jared beamed at me before pleasantly startling me with a quick bear hug which prompted a small growl from Sebastian. He just laughed as he released me and let Michelle shake my hand. 

“Yes, it’s great to finally meet you,” she said, her blue eyes twinkling. “Sebastian couldn’t stop mentioning your name while we were working on the project. He was constantly like ‘Cassandra would like that there’s a playroom for the kids’, ‘Cassandra would appreciate that each family gets their own private suite so they don’t get separated’ or ‘Cassandra would think that’s a great color for a library’.”

Jared laughed as my cheeks burned and Sebastian groaned. “Michelle’s not kidding. We kept asking him who Cassandra was and why she was so absent considering her influence on the project and he would just glare at us and ignore our question.”

Michelle wiggled her brows mischievously. “Well, he didn’t tell Jared but he did spill one time to me and said that you were a girl he was trying to impress and that he just hoped to God you were actually paying attention.”

“I did see what the project was about and the building when it was featured in the news,” I said after finally managing to find my voice, shaky though it was. “I had no idea it had anything to do with me.”

“I know you spent a lot of time hanging out in the hospital when you were younger and your Mom was sick,” Sebastian murmured against my hair quietly, his hand squeezing mine. “I thought maybe we could help make hospitals a lot less scary to children, especially those who are going to be there a while.”

I looked up to him with a tremulous smile, a sweet mass gathering in my chest at the newest reassurance of how Sebastian was going to be with children. “Thank you, Sebastian. Maybe I can visit at some point.”

He smiled down at me. “I’ll take you whenever you like. I think you’ll be pleased with what we’ve done with it.”

“I’m certain you will, Cassandra,” Michelle said with a tender smile at us. “It all seemed like a vague but great idea when Sebastian cam to us with it but it has come a long way. Other than the facilities, we have a lot of volunteers who come in to do what they can to provide some kind of assistance to the patients and their families. We have a local artist who gives free art classes. There’s a young musician who comes in to play a few of her songs to the chidren. Charlie also comes in most Sundays with bare cupcakes and gets everyone to decorate them. Sometimes we just have kids who come in to keep the other kids company. If you want to join in at all, let me know. I’m sure we can organize something.”

“I will. I’d love to help,” I told Michelle with a quick squeeze of her hand. “Thank you.”

A couple of hours later, we were all gathered around the slate-based, glass-topped dining table decorated with large candles and tall crystal vases filled with cranberries, acorns and pine cones. There was a lot of food with Charlie’s giant roast turkey as the main feature along with wine and conversation around the table. Even with Brenda’s less hospitable behavior, I enjoyed myself, talking and laughing with everyone else. I didn’t eat much, discreetly sniffing the food first before taking a bite to keep myself from getting sick, and only sipped the glass of sparkling apple juice I’d sneaked out to the kitchen to pour for myself just as dinner was being set down on the table.

After dinner, we settled in the living room, talking around the glass-framed fireplace that burned beneath the massive white stone wall where a large painting hung, depicting whimsical, brightly colored koi fish swimming around. Lexie, who was apparently an advocate of everything local, said an anonymous local painter left it wrapped by their front porch four years ago when they moved into the town house from their condo. 

I had a strong suspicion who the anonymous donor was but said nothing.

I had just stepped out of the powder room when I ran into Brenda who was standing in the hallway, clearly waiting for me.

“You’re obviously more talented than I gave you credit for,” she said with a sneer, arching a brow at me. “You’ve got him talking Thanksgiving dinners together and holiday trips. I won’t be surprised if he starts spouting wedding plans pretty soon. You’ve got your hooks pretty deep into him.”

I glanced heavenward, absently praying for some divine intervention before I said something I’d seriously regret later on.

“Look, Brenda. I know you hate my guts and I’m perfectly fine with that as long as you mind your own business,” I replied while tightly reining in my temper. “Sebastian’s happiness is my primary goal. Yours is not even on my list so forgive me if I don’t care how you feel about the two of us.”

Her eyes narrowed, her shoulders squaring. “You think you’ve got everyone charmed but I know your kind, Cassandra. I don’t blame you. Sebastian is quite a catch. But he’s way out of your league. There’s nothing you can offer him beyond what’s between your legs.”

My hands clenched into fists. “You know, for someone who projects herself to be of better breeding, your behavior is appalling. If you’re worried about your money, don’t be. I don’t have anything to do with your allowance. Talk to Sebastian if you have a problem about it.”

Lips curling into a scowl, she glared at me. “My problem is that you’ve turned Sebastian into a completely different person. I preferred him when he was withdrawn and distant because it meant he didn’t poke his nose into everything. He didn’t ask questions, didn’t get involved, didn’t care what anyone did. Now, he takes an interest in everything!”

“Hmm,” I murmured, raising a brow. “That’s not a bad thing at all—unless you have something to hide.”

“Which you do, Brenda,” Sebastian’s deep voice sounded from the end of the hall and we both looked up to find him standing there, a grim expression on his face.

Brenda tensed, her face pale. “Sebastian, I... I was just...”

“I know about your young lover Luis,” Sebastian said as he walked up to us. “I know about the house you got him, the car, the school tuition. I know he’s promised to marry you as soon as he finishes law school even though he doesn’t know that you’re still married, that your husband’s still very much alive. I know about the secret trips you’ve taken together to the Dominican Republic, Florence, Bali and a few other ones.”

I watched as horror and fear crept on the older woman’s expression, her hands trembling as she looked up to her stepson who now stood in front of her, staring her down.

And in a moment of clarity, I understood Brenda’s behavior and felt a twinge of sympathy for her.

“Don’t hurt him,” she said in a thick voice, swallowing hard. “It’s all on me. He doesn’t know anything. I...”

I bit my lip as tears sparkled in Brenda’s gray eyes. “I... I love him, Sebastian. I’m sorry but I’ve never been this happy. Not even with your father—but then you already know that.”

I glanced at Sebastian, worried he was going to say or do something harsh in his anger at Brenda’s treatment of me but I was surprised when I saw that his expression had softened.

“I know,” he said, glancing at me and extending a hand which I clasped just as he gently pulled me to his side. “There’s no need to attack Cassandra because you don’t want to be discovered. I’ve known for a while now and you’d be surprised when I tell you that I completely understand.”

Brenda’s eyes widened in relief. “You do?”

Sebastian surprised us when he smiled. “The very person you’re trying to tear away from me is same one responsible for my perspective, Brenda. So don’t ever try to do anything stupid like that again.”

“I won’t,” the woman solemnly promised, glancing at me nervously. 

“We have to get back to the others,” he said as he put an arm around my shoulders and steered us back towards the other end of the hall. “And Brenda, I’ll get Stan to help you. We’ll find a way around the technicalities so Luis can fulfill his promise to you.”

The woman managed a wobbly smile. “Thank you.”

As we disappeared around the hall, I looked up to Sebastian and saw that he was still half-smiling.

“I didn’t expect your reaction about Brenda,” I told him as I steered us towards the kitchen to fill a glass of water for myself. 

He sat down on one of the bar stools by the breakfast bar and grabbed an apple from the fruit basket on the counter. “Brenda has nothing to do with what happened between my parents. She had never been any kind of mother to me but she gave me my siblings and that outweighs her indifference towards me. Besides, I figured if she’s busy being happy and in love, she won’t have time to make trouble for anyone, especially you.”

“Do you think her relationship with Luis is going to last?”

He shrugged and bit a chunk off the apple. He chewed for a bit before answering. “He’s young but seems serious and decent. I’ve never met him but I’ve had him investigated. Brenda won’t appreciate knowing that but I did it for hers and the family’s sake. He’s studying to be a lawyer. He’s poor but he doesn’t seem scummy.”

I laughed and walked around to where Sebastian sat, wrapping my arms around his waist. “Yes, scummy certainly wouldn’t do.”

He grinned and leaned down to kiss me softly and I relished the sweet taste of apples and wine in his mouth.

“You know, you constantly surprise me,” I murmured, looking up to him and smiling. “When we saw each other again after four years, I thought I knew you. I thought that you were exactly the same man you were before but I’ll tell you now that I was wrong.”

“I’m really still about the same, my love,” he said quietly, tucking a lock of hair behind my ear. “Just happier.”

“A lot of the old Sebastian is still there,” I said with a nod and a light kiss on his chin. “But you’re right. You’re happier and in turn, you’re better, kinder. I love you now more than I ever did before.”

“Enough to be mine forever?” he whispered, his warm green eyes seeking my face shyly. 

“I’m already yours forever.”

He bit his lip. “You know what I mean, Cassandra.”

I did. It was tempting to blurt it out now but there were things that needed settling first—like my job, the baby, my own newly discovered family—and there would be a right time to say yes to Sebastian, when he did get around to asking me again.

Instead of answering him, I stood on my toes and kissed him hard which he responded to with equal fervor.

“No sex allowed on the kitchen counter.”

We pulled away and looked up to find a grinning Lexie standing by the kitchen doorway carrying a couple of empty coffee mugs with Marcus right behind her.

“Charlie would lose his shit if you desecrate his kitchen.”

***

Monday came around and I got up early to get ready for my first day back at work since taking some time off after being hospitalized. I spent some time being sick in the washroom, throwing up a little while I was in the shower.

I headed out to the kitchen where Percy had prepared a hearty breakfast.

I wrinkled my nose at the smell of bacon and grabbed a freshly baked scone instead.

“Oh, good, you’re ready,” Sebastian said when he came into the kitchen with Jennison and Phil, also a member of his security staff. “I have a brunch meeting with Novak Charters and I’m going to head straight there so I can’t drop you off at the office. Phil will escort you.”

I shook my head as I filled a cup with hot water and plunged a tea bag in it. “Don’t worry about it. I can take one of the cars. If it weren’t chilly, I’d walk.”

Sebastian frowned. “Phil’s going to escort you, Cassandra. Not just to work but wherever you need to go. He’s brought in the new town car I ordered for you. Use it at your leisure and convenience.”

I blinked, the scone dropping from my hand into the plate. “Why did you get a new town car? You have four cars parked in the garage, Sebastian, and TVG is only a few minutes away. I don’t need to be chauffeured around.”

“You don’t think that after what happened to you in Saturday, I’d leave you unprotected, did you?” 

Seeing the determined knit of his brows, I knew he wasn’t going to indulge me on this. I understood his fear—being pregnant I even shared it—but I still preferred being consulted before decisions were made.

“With a warrant out for her, I don’t think Dana is going to try anything stupid,” I told him a steady voice, picking at the scone and popping bits of it into my mouth. “Rockford is a few blocks away, Sebastian, and it’s daylight when I arrive at and leave work. I’m sure I’ll be fine—”

“You’ll forgive me if I don’t take that chance, Cassandra,” he interjected firmly, taking the cup of coffee Percy handed him. “It’s not just Dana I’m concerned about. Anyone who wants to get to me will be an idiot not to realize that the surest way to do it will be through you. I can’t risk it. Please. Phil will be as discreet as possible. You’ll hardly notice him until he has to drive you.”

I glanced at the man who stood still next to Jennison without an expression.

This had nothing to do with Phil at all. I’ve known him since the first day I showed up at Cove Manor four years ago, when he combed the grounds with Jennison after my cousin Timothy abandoned me there. I had no problem with him. It was Sebastian’s overprotectiveness that felt a little suffocating.

“Sebastian...” I started but stopped immediately when he got up and grasped me by the shoulders. 

“If you don’t want me to go mad with worry, do this for me, please,” he pleaded gently. “I couldn’t bear it if anything happened to you.”

I studied his expression, the sincere concern etched all over it, and sighed loudly. “Alright. I concede. But once I’m in the building, I don’t want a shadow all the time. That will just creep everyone out. Is that clear?”

“You got that, Phil?” Sebastian asked over his shoulder, glancing at the guard.

“Crystal clear, sir,” the man answered with a nod at both of us.

I inwardly groaned. I had some visits scheduled with Dr. Lacey and now I had to figure out how to get Phil involved in my plans while preventing him from passing on everything to Sebastian before I could tell him about the baby.

Glancing at my watch, I gobbled up the last of the biscuit, chased it down with the rest of my tea. “Well, if you’re ready, we better go. I’ve missed a week of work. I have lots of catching up to do.”

Phil nodded and turned towards the door. “I’ll get the car ready.”

“Okay. I’ll be down in ten minutes.”

I headed to the master bathroom to brush my teeth, Sebastian right at my heels. 

“Thank you for doing this, baby,” he said as he wrapped his arms around me, his eyes catching mine in the mirror. “I just want you safe.”

I rinsed my mouth and returned my toothbrush back into the cup. “I don’t appreciate not getting a say in decisions that have something to do with me. I especially don’t like to be put on the spot in front of others where I’m bullied into agreeing. There’s a reason why tyranny isn’t so popular anymore these days.”

Sebastian sighed at my dismayed expression and pulled back. “I would’ve mentioned it earlier if it hadn’t just occurred to me this morning. I’ve already had a new town car purchased for you. I just decided to give you a full bodyguard instead of a mere chauffeur.”

I dabbed on some minty lip balm and raised a brow at him. “Once again, another decision you’ve made about me that I wasn’t consulted about. If I needed a car, I would’ve gotten myself one, Sebastian. I don’t need to be driven around different places. I’ve managed on my own for years—before and after you came along.”

“I just want to take care of you, alright?” he snapped, barely tamping down on his irritation. “I’ve always found it hard to understand why you’re so bloody obstinate about letting someone do it.”

It was tempting to dish something back at him but I was running late and the last thing I needed on a Monday morning was a big ugly fight with a man who was going to be positively surly about it all day. Besides, money was an old fight we’ve had and to rehash it right now was to open a can of worms.

I walked to the bedroom and picked up my purse, swinging it over my shoulder as I glanced back at Sebastian who followed me out. 

“I don’t mind your good intentions, Sebastian,” I said with a shake of my head. “I just sometimes wish that they didn’t manifest into outright commands.”

Something glimmered in Sebastian’s deep green eyes as he gazed at me, his lips parting as if to instantly launch his defense.

Instead, his expression became tender, his shoulders hunching slightly. 

“My love has made me selfish,” he said in a soft, husky voice, quoting Keats. “I cannot exist without you.”

And just like that, my temper floundered.

I smiled reluctantly and turned to go.

***

Tamara didn’t seem surprised as she sat and stared at me in thought later that day, after I managed to steal a few minutes with her to tell her of my tentative plans.

“And Sebastian doesn’t know about this yet?” she asked slowly, rubbing her chin. “If things continue the direction they’re heading right now, this may be a non-issue for you in the next few months.”

I pressed my lips tightly together. “I’m usually pragmatic. I like to act on what’s going on right now. I can’t trust to know what the future holds.”

Tamara studied me for another perturbing moment. “I’m asking as a friend when I say this but is everything alright, Cassie?”

I blinked. “Yes. Why? Do you think something’s wrong?”

“I’m not sure,” she answered, relaxing back in her chair and pursing her dark red lips. “I understand where you’re coming from, working in the same company owned by a man you’re personally involved with. I know you’re not always comfortable with the attention. It crossed my mind when I was deliberating hiring you, suspecting Sebastian’s motives, but you’re too good a candidate to pass up. Of course, I had no idea of the depth of your involvement. I had no idea the man was crazy about you. But still, I personally don’t think it’s that big an issue—not as your manager either. You don’t directly report to him. In fact, to be perfectly blunt, you’re several levels apart from him in the chain of command.”

“I know I am,” I answered quietly. 

I tried not to be frustrated. It was hard enough to care that Sebastian was my boss. It was harder to actively decide to work somewhere else when my six-month contract finished in two and a half months or so and talk to my manager about it. I hated to leave, after the company bent over backwards to get me on board but that reason alone was enough to remind me exactly why I was doing this.

“Tamara, look,” I started again, hoping to get it right this time. “I haven’t sent anything out. I just wanted to let you know my initial plans so that when the time and opportunity came, I don’t take you by surprise. I’ll talk to Sebastian about it as well. We’ll work it out.”

“He’s not going to be happy about that,” she said with a sigh. “He’ll think he pushed you out of the company when he tried so hard to get you in.”

I bit my lip. “I know that too. I just think that it’ll be healthier for us if I worked somewhere else. I’ll admit it’s hard to separate the boss and the man I love in Sebastian.”

Tamara smiled. “I think he’s having the same problem.”

He never said anything but I knew that Sebastian must be struggling sometimes to find a balance between his integrity and his feelings for me when he’s reminded that I work for him too. I wanted to save us both the trouble.

Besides, after my six-month-contract, I needed to consider taking a break from work with the baby coming along. Those were all plans I would need to make with Sebastian but while everything about that was up in the air, I wanted to give Tamara the courtesy of an early notice so that she could make the necessary preparations. As a senior analyst with a couple of successful projects under my belt after a few months, I had been quickly tagged on some major business deals and filling my spot was crucial. Besides, I had the mind to recommend Bradley for the job and if I could get Tamara on board with that, I could dedicate the remaining months of my contract working Bradley into those projects. 

“Alright,” Tamara said after a long stretch of thoughtful silence. “I hate losing you but I’m still grateful for the fine work you’ve done. I’ll need to maximize the time we’ve got left with you. If you’re up for that, then I’m good with helping you out and on your way to other things.”

I beamed at her. “Thank you, Tamara. For the next couple months, I’m yours to command.”

I was in better spirits for the rest of the day, having gotten Tamara’s support on my decision and even her agreement that Bradley would be a good candidate for the role. I just had to sit down with Bradley and figure out whether this was something he wanted to do as well. 

The rest of the office shared my good mood for an entirely different reason. 

It was the company Christmas party this coming Saturday and apparently, it was a big deal, being one of the few major functions where everyone was encouraged to dress up in their best party wear and have a good time. Each branch of the company all around the world held a Christmas party where it was applicable but the corporate offices apparently had the swankiest events, TVG’s headquarters in Cobalt Bay topping them all. 

RSVPs had been sent in weeks ago. I sent mine in just before our trip to Scarsdale and I got an email back saying I’d also been submitted as Sebastian’s plus one and to choose between that or my own request as an employee which would mean I could bring my own guest. I bristled again at Sebastian’s decisions and failure to notify me about them but I opted to accept coming as a guest so two spots could be freed up on the guest list. When I mentioned that to him, he just gave me sheepish smile and I decided to be practical. It would seem odd if we didn’t go together considering everyone knew we were together and we might as well enjoy the party together.

On Wednesday afternoon, after work, Phil drove Emma, Lexie and I around to go shopping for my dress and get our hair and nails done. Despite my initial reservations, Phil actually turned out to be pretty decent company. He wasn’t as tight-lipped as Jennison and he definitely mastered the skill of disappearing when I wanted him out of the way.

He made good on his word to make his presence discreet. He didn’t hover, much to my relief.

The girls raised their brow at my whole security escort but said nothing.

I also didn’t tell them about my pregnancy despite the temptation, vowing to only tell others after I’ve told Sebastian. I decided the weekend after the Christmas party might be a good time to do it.

When I got home that evening, Sebastian was still out with his friends, the other three Cobalt Bay billionaires, or CBBs, which is what I nicknamed them. I encouraged him to get out with them more so that he wasn’t spending all his free time with me and getting bored too quickly. Of course, he scoffed at my idea of him getting bored but he did get together with them tonight rather than wait around at home for me to finish my evening out with the girls.

I was just in my office—a bedroom Sebastian converted into a mini-library for me with high shelves crammed with books, a large white desk with a high-backed chair and a bright, cranberry-red chaise longue where I would normally stretch out to read, and a wall-sized view of the ocean beyond the city skyline—when Phil knocked to tell me that Timothy showed up and ask whether he was welcome or not.

Phil seemed to know he was my cousin although he looked like he wasn’t too keen on letting him see me.

Despite my surprise, I got up to my feet and told him to let him up into the penthouse.

“Hello, Cassie,” was Timothy’s sheepish greeting when Phil escorted him into the living room. 

I nodded at the bodyguard and he silently acknowledged and walked out of the room although I knew he was only going to be out in the hall, within earshot should I need him. 

“Hello, Timothy,” I greeted back, studying my cousin as he settled in one of the arm chairs I gestured him to.

It’s been two and a half years since I last saw him.

He hadn’t been home when I flew back to Bluefield after that summer four years ago and the most that I got out of him was one random phone call at Christmas asking how things were especially at the pawnshop. I told him it was being efficiently run and had become sufficient on its own, but that I had signed everything back to Sebastian. He just grunted an unintelligible reply, made some more small talk, and then finished our five-minute conversation. He showed up shortly after that, on campus, asking me to sit down with him for coffee. He looked older but not much different from how he’d been years ago. He asked about school, about Bluefield and talked a little about his travels in Europe. He evaded my questions mostly and just like our phone conversation, he was gone in a matter of minutes. He never seemed to stick long enough for me to confront him about his actions that summer four years ago.

This time, he showed his age a little more, his eyes tired and lined heavily at the corners. He was still tall and slim although he sported a soft, padded belly and slightly thinning hair. 

“How have you been, Timothy?” I asked as I sat down across him, just as Percy walked in to inquire if we wished for any snacks or refreshment. 

“I’m actually a little hungry,” he admitted, his cheeks flushing. “I wouldn’t mind a little bit to eat.”

Percy nodded with the solemn bow only a butler could manage. “I’ll bring up some club sandwiches and cookies shortly.”

With a satisfied grin on his face, Timothy turned back to me, studying me intently. I didn’t miss the spark of appreciation in his eyes which never failed to give me the creeps. 

“You look good, Cass,” he said. “Life with a billionaire must agree with you.”

I pursed my lips. “To what do I owe this surprise visit, Timothy? We haven’t spoken in a year and a half.”

“That damned Vice has his spies report every breath I take it’s become so fucking hard to get to you,” he muttered bitterly. 

I inwardly tensed at his admission but fought not to give anything away. “Yet here you are, waltzing into his own residence.”

He smiled broadly. “Well, he can’t ignore me forever. And you surely won’t turn me out so I waited until he was busy somewhere else. If he won’t listen to me, I know you will. You’ve always been a most biddable girl.”

“I wouldn’t say biddable. I was once gullible though,” I retorted sharply. “I was gullible enough to let you lure me into paying your debt with my virginity.”

He had the grace to wince but he gave a short laugh right after. “Oh, come on, Cass. I did you a favor. If I didn’t drop you off at his door, where would you be now? Surely not in one of the most luxurious residences in Cobalt Bay.”

My fists clenched. “That isn’t the point, Timothy, and you know it.”

“I know, I know,” he answered with a loud, weary sigh. “I’ve paid for it, don’t you worry. Sebastian had me hunted down and then exiled to Europe with a not-too-subtle threat to leave you alone which he only softened with a generous payment. He canceled my debt and sent me on my way with deep, heavy pockets and I’m too practical to look a horse gift in the mouth.”

A nasty, unsettling feeling shifted in my stomach but I restrained myself from saying anything until Timothy finished revealing all the information I needed to know.

I had my suspicions but I never really had an opportunity to verify them before.

“Europe was nice while it lasted,” my cousin continued, his eyes distant and dancing, clearly recalling enjoyable memories. “Then money started to run out.”

I sighed, wondering why I was mildly surprised at all. “It always does with you.”

Timothy leaned forward, his elbows braced over his knees. “So I thought, why not pay my cousin and her rich benefactor a visit? After all, Vice took away my home, the family business—”

“You drove the pawnshop to the ground and lost the house to your creditors,” I snapped at him, my temper flaring. “He paid for both of them therefore they are now his, as is right. He didn’t take away anything from you that you haven’t already lost.”

Timothy’s eyes narrowed and glinted calculatingly. “Well, there is that small matter of his taking away my cousin’s innocence when she was underaged and vulnerable. People probably wouldn’t look too kindly on Sebastian Vice having his perverse ways with a young, virginal girl.”

“You, snake,” I hissed, barely able to keep my fists from launching in his direction. “You’re the one who sold me like goods to take care of your debts. I bet people wouldn’t look kindly on human traffickers.”

“I could always just disappear. I have nothing to lose,” Timothy taunted. “But by the time I’m done, you would both be stained by the scandal. Unless we can negotiate more civil terms that require no public scandal about ambiguous possibilities of statutory rape.”

I jumped to my feet and hurled a cushion at him. “I was officially eighteen when it happened, you scumbag! You can blackmail us all you want but you wouldn’t win. Sebastian’s lawyers would eat you for breakfast!”

At my shrill shout, I barely registered the shuffling of feet down the hall just as Phil scrambled into the room, an intimidating scowl on his face. 

“I suggest you leave now, Mr. Pendley,” he warned, standing between me and my cousin. “Otherwise, I’ll have no choice but to forcibly remove you from the premises.”

Timothy glared at him, now getting up to his feet. “I won’t leave until I have settled matters with my cousin. Get out, you dog, and stay out of this conversation.”

I could see Phil’s shoulders bunching up and I nervously attempted to prevent a violent confrontation. “Phil, it’s okay. I was just... I—”

“Darling! I’m home!”

We all froze and stared at the door as Sebastian strode in with Jennison behind him and I swallowed hard at the way his face suddenly hardened into stone after spotting a visibly paling Timothy.

“What is this son of a bitch doing here?” Sebastian demanded, glancing at me, his expression furious. “Cassandra? What is—”

“He wants more money!” I spat out, my irritation at him igniting as well. “More than the fortune you’d spent on him to send him on his way and out of my path. Did you expect it to solve the problem, Sebastian? Only an idiot would think he’ll have enough and not come back for more!”

Sebastian swung his angry gaze back at Timothy who nervously backed up a step. “You were trying to extort more money from Cassandra?”

Timothy raised his hands in defense. “Look, Vice, I was just—”

“Didn’t I specifically instruct you to stay the hell away from her?” Sebastian seethed, advancing on Timothy and grabbing him by the collar. “I might add that I warned you the next time you come within ten feet of her, I would beat you into a bloody pulp and toss you out into the ocean?”

“Hey, stop it!” I stepped forward to intercept him but Jennison grabbed me by the elbow and pulled me back as if I were a child stepping out in front of a speeding car. In Sebastian’s case, it might be more like a charging bull.

“Look, I just need a little help, okay?” Timothy yelled although he was starting to sweat and tremble. “Leda is pregnant and her family cast her off. I can’t stay in Agrinio because her bastard father made sure no one would hire me. I can bring her to America but I don’t have any money here to support her.”

Timothy’s turmoil was clear on his face and despite his obvious fear of Sebastian, he stood his ground stubbornly.

“You should’ve stayed away from her then, knowing her father would never welcome a wastrel like you to their family,” Sebastian ground out as he shoved Timothy to the floor, pinning him down on the chest with a knee. “You should’ve wisely invested the money I gave you to get yourself a life instead of spending it on women, drinking and gambling. You do not deserve a penny more.”

“I’ll tell the world you took advantage of Cassie!” Timothy screamed at him, trying to writhe himself out from under Sebastian. “That she was your little teen prostitute—”

“Wrong answer!” 

I gasped at the impact of Sebastian’s fist on Timothy’s face and felt sickened at the sound of crunching bones and slapping flesh and the sight of blood, sweat and spit spewing all over the living room floor as the two men rolled around in a tangle of swinging arms and legs.

“Phil, get her out of here,” Jennison instructed curtly, shoving me not so gently at my bodyguard, before turning back to the brawl. He pressed on his ear piece and muttered something about Wells to come up before leaning forward to grab Sebastian’s shoulders. 

“No, I’m not leaving!” I pushed against Phil who was starting to haul me away with Percy who reappeared a few seconds ago with the food,just as two other suited guards came through the front door to help tear apart the brutes. “Let go of me so I can personally smack these two in the head!”

“Miss Cassie, please, don’t get in the way,” Phil pleaded, just as Percy grasped my arm to move me back further into the hall that led to the kitchen. “We’ll take care of this. Just stand back or you might get hurt.”

“Come on, dear, I’ll make you some tea,” Percy said as Phil released me to him before turning back to the living room. The old man led me down the hall, his strides short but quick, his hold on my arm secure. “It’s not good for the baby for you to get hurt so please, don’t fret about it.”

I stared at the aging butler and bit my lip. “You know?”

He gave me a kind smile. “It’s my job to anticipate the needs of everyone in this household, Miss Cassie. That’s the only way I can take care of all of you.”

Sighing in defeat, I followed Percy into the kitchen, wincing at the remaining sounds of the ruckus as I sat and waited for him to pour me a steaming mug of my favorite decaffeinated minty sage tea.

“I suppose despite his sheltered and privileged life, Sebastian isn’t ever going to give up some of his barbaric ways,” I muttered at Percy who joined me with a cup of his own and handing me a small plate of his famous dainty honey cake squares dusted with icing sugar. 

It had been the only thing I was craving constantly this last week or so.

“Mr. Vice is a tad bit protective, I’ll admit, but his heart is usually in the right place,” the butler, who was more like a doting friend to me since I moved into Rockford, said with somber nod of his head. “You’ve done much in keeping him grounded these last few years, actually. I’m certain fatherhood will soften him further.”

I knew the butler was loyal like many of Sebastian’s staff, having been in service to his family for decades, but like everyone else, he wasn’t prone to sugar-coat his employer’s flaws. They just all believed him to be so much more than a sum of his imperfections.

“Even with tonight’s performance, I’m inclined to agree with you, Percy,” I said with a small smile. “But it doesn’t mean he’ll get away with this scot-free.”

Twenty minutes later, after Percy and I finished our tea and two plates of honey cakes and the brawl was taken out of the penthouse, I went to my office bundled in a large cashmere wrap, an old Christmas present from Emma, and curled up in the massive chaise longue that seemed more like a bed.

I turned down the lights except for the small lamp that stood next to the chaise, providing some illumination on the book I was reading—or trying to read.

The food had improved my mood especially when I seemed to be in a constant state of craving lately, but I was still very annoyed about tonight’s revelations, not to mention the fistfight.

I tried to remember what Emma told me about a boy getting into a fistfight for you and decided that it wasn’t all that romantic or giddy when the boy was beating up the crap out of your sleazy cousin for breaking rules you didn’t know he’d set.

There was a soft knock on the door and I looked up just as Sebastian popped his head in.

I met his steady green gaze wordlessly and he hesitated a moment before walking into the room and closing the door behind him. 

As he came into the edges of the lamp’s illumination, I saw the small cut on his left brow and the bruise on his right cheek.

“I came to get you,” he offered when I still said nothing. “It’s time for bed—or if you still want to read, you can do it in bed.”

I could see him fidget with his hands that for a moment, he seemed like a little boy, uncomfortable with remorse and terrified of a chastisement he knew was coming. The fact that he was volunteering for me to read in bed—instead of having his wicked way with me like he did each night—was proof of that.

“I’ll sleep here,” I said quietly, putting away my book and pulling the covers over my shoulder. 

“Bloody hell you are!” he exclaimed, lunging forward and scooping me in his arms. “You’re sleeping nowhere else but in my arms.”

“Arms you were using just a little while ago to beat the daylights out of Timothy?” I snapped angrily although I gave up struggling in his arms in fear of getting dropped and hurting the baby. 

He paused mid-stride to scowl at me. “That ass was trying to extort money from you and you’re defending him?”

“I wasn’t defending him,” I retorted hotly. “I wasn’t going to give him any money either. I was going to talk to him instead because it’s not my habit to pay people off or pound them unconscious to do my bidding!”

He continued walking down the hall to the bedroom where he gently put me down on the bed. “I don’t respond well to threats directed at you. I’m sorry you had to see it but I’m not sorry for doing what I can to keep that sleazy cousin of yours out of your life.”

“Life? What life?” I demanded acidly. “So far, all I can see here is your great directorial masterpiece. Cue the sun!”

I took in a series of deep breaths to calm myself down while Sebastian stood by the foot of the bed, gazing down at me with an expression half-stubborn and half-longing.

I told myself to go easy on him—he’d sent Timothy off years ago, before we agreed that we were to make decisions together. The knowledge irritated the hell out of me, not because I was devoted to my cousin but because it reminded me of just how far he went in shaping my life as he pleased. It was the fact that he took the situation into his own hands again tonight, when I was right there dealing with it, that got me seething.

Take the higher road, Cass. Railing at him will get you nowhere. Talk it out, make him understand. He wants to make you happy. You just have to show him how.

Mollified a bit after my internal pep talk, I eased myself up against the headboard, relaxing as I slipped the covers over my legs. Sebastian remained in his spot, watching me with a palpable tension as if he was ready to spring at my slightest provocation.

“Do you think Timothy will follow on his threat?” I asked quietly. 

“No, of course not,” he answered with a scoff. “Other than that fact that his face is too swollen for him to be chattering up anytime soon, he’s too selfish to seek the hell that will come down on him if he actively courts my wrath.”

I sighed, bit my lip at the impulse to comment on just how ancient and barbaric he sounded. 

“Besides, he’s got nothing on us,” he continued, pacing slowly. “I hate to stain our beautiful memories with this but you were eighteen when I took you. It’ll be hard to prove exactly, sure, but so is his claim the other way around.”

“Are you going to give him money again?” 

He snorted. “No. You’re right. He’ll stay greedy if I do. He’s lucky I didn’t get him thrown into jail.”

I raised a brow. “You were the one who attacked him. If anyone’s going to jail, it’d be the both of you.”

His mouth tightened into a grim line. “I get testy around your cousin, okay?”

“What a monumental surprise,” I said dryly.

“I remember how cavalier he was about dropping you off at some stranger’s house as interest on a loan he was dragging out,” Sebastian rambled on, his voice rising and his green eyes flashing. “What if he decides to grab you and drop you off at some other stranger’s house for God knows what other debt he can’t pay?”

I shook my head. “I understand where you’re coming from, Sebastian, but I doubt that Timothy would resort to abducting a grown woman and hailing her off some other dragon’s high tower.”

He paused in his pacing and looked at me, his expression openly showing his turmoil. “I used to wonder what could’ve happened to you if it had been someone else. You could’ve been abused, mistreated, starved—God, I get sick just thinking of the ugly possibilities.”

My heart clenched at that raw admission and I understood the depth of Sebastian’s fears. 

Yes, he loved me like that.

It was a crushingly beautiful thing—like a magnificent tide that rearranges the shore.

“It’s not healthy to dwell on what-ifs, Sebastian,” I said gently. “I’m here with you and that’s all that matters.”

He finally sat on the edge of the bed, his head in his hands, his fingers anxiously tugging at his hair. “I know. But sometimes I worry that this all too perfect to be real. I have to make sure I don’t drive you away while also fight everyone else who tries to come between us.”

“Oh, Sebastian, don’t,” I said in a choked voice as I slipped down the bed to sit next to him. I rested my cheek against his arm, my hand sliding down cover his. “No one’s going to come between us. Stop being afraid.”

He turned his face to me and in the dim light of the room, I could see the wariness in his beautiful green eyes that for a moment looked so young and vulnerable. “I never used to be afraid. Now that I have everything I could ever want, I’m afraid to lose it all.”

“You won’t lose me if you don’t treat me like a possession you could misplace or get stolen,” I told him with a half-smile. “I’m here with you of my own volition, Sebastian, and no one else could decide that for me. You have to understand that.”

He briefly closed his eyes and nodded slowly.

“Now, can we go to bed?” I asked, moving back to free up his side of the bed.

He got up and tugged off his shirt and pants, walking towards the bathroom in black boxer briefs. “Tomorrow, we’ll drive in together. At least until I can decide on a replacement for Phil.”

I froze. “Why is Phil being replaced?”

He stopped his stride to the doorway and raised a confused brow at me. “Because I fired him for letting Timothy come in to see you. I had explicit instructions to keep him away from you but that didn’t happen tonight.”

His words doused me like ice cold water except that it left me stewing. “He came to ask me if I wanted to see him and I said yes. He was standing by the hall while we talked. You can’t fire him for that. Un-fire him!”

Whatever peace we’d just come to quickly got extinguished. 

“No! I will not tolerate incompetence!”

“And I will not tolerate your autocracy!” I shot back, spring up on the bed on my knees. “He’s a good guy who was doing his job and trying not to alienate me at the same time. You can’t dismiss someone just like that! He’s been in your service for years! I won’t accept it, Sebastian!”

His jaw clenched and I could see his struggle. “It’s too late for that. I already sent him away.”

I cried out in frustration and leapt off the bed, grabbing my cellphone to look for Phil’s number. “Then I’ll call him. It’s bad enough you beat up one guy tonight. To take away someone’s livelihood for having the decency to give me a choice is just too far over the line, Sebastian!”

“I’ve made up my mind, Cassandra!” He moved to grab the phone from me but I quickly dodged him.

“Well, change it back!” I yelled at him furiously. “I will not have Phil on my conscience. Do you know that he has an eight-year-old daughter, Laura, who competed in the martial arts junior tournament last year? Her mother’s dead and he has to leave her with his sister while he works. If he loses his job, how will he send her to school and those tournaments?”

“Cassandra...”

I stood my ground. “If you don’t call Phil and tell him you changed your mind, I will move out, Sebastian.”

At my declaration, he froze, the color draining out of his face. 

“You’re leaving me?” he rasped out, his eyes round and glistening.

I ignored the swift kick of guilt in my gut and forced my chin up. “No, just move out of here. I won’t live with you if you won’t be rational. We’ll be back where we started a few weeks ago.”

He straightened and blinked, anguish and disbelief plain on his face. “You’re leaving me. My God.”

“I’m not leaving you!” I snapped, starting to panic at his reaction. “I said I’d just move out.”

“Leaving me or moving out—it’s all the same to me,” he said in a choked voice, the pain bright in his green gaze. “They both mean you walking away from me.”

My heart twisted, torn between my anger and guilt for hurting him where he was especially vulnerable.

I finally burst into tears. “I don’t want to leave you, Sebastian. I couldn’t, anyway, no matter how angry you make me. But please, be reasonable about this. I’m not going to cost a man his job!”

He crossed the distance between us and drew me into his arms. “Alright, I’ll get Phil back. I’m sorry. I was just so angry. Please, don’t cry. Baby, hush. Please.”

My tears finally ebbed and he gently lifted my face to kiss me tenderly on the lips, his fingertips brushing across my sticky cheeks.

I caught his lower lip and gently nipped at it as my arms slid around his shoulders to haul myself up against him. 

He slowly laid me down the bed, his fingers sifting through my hair as he spread it out around me, his nearly naked muscular body sliding up over me as he kissed me harder and deeper, his fingers slipping under my old college shirt to cup my naked breasts.

I arched as his fingers caught my nipples, gasping as his rigid erection rubbed between my legs.

“I’m sorry for upsetting you, love,” he murmured as one hand slid under the waistband of my pink boxer shorts, yanking it along with the boyleg panties I had on. “I’ll make you feel so good.”

My fingers gripped his shoulders hard as the heel of his palm rubbed me where I was very sensitive, my legs squeezing together as he teased his way through the moist folds between them.

“You won’t ever leave me, baby, would you?” he rasped at my ear as he eased a finger inside me, thrusting through the slickness with a determined rhythm. “Tell me.”

“I won’t,” I managed through the gasps that choked me at the throat, my head flicking from side to side as tremors rode me down to my toes. “I can’t.”

“Promise me,” he urged, a second finger joining the first. He leaned down to catch a nipple between his teeth, his tongue brushing it inside the cage of his mouth. 

“I promise!” I cried out as I peaked, convulsing around his talented fingers, my heart pounding in my ears. 

He raised his head and despite the blissful haze that blurred my vision, I could see him smiling.

“Oh, Cassandra,” he cooed, slipping his fingers out of me, taking a small nip on the exposed part of my shoulder where the shirt slid down. “You’re beautiful and mine—all mine.”

I lost track of my thoughts just before I could even formulate them coherently because he slipped down past my waist and gently pushed my thighs apart, his mouth descending on me like a sexual storm of catastrophic proportions.

***

Virtue and Vice is wrapping up soon. There are only a couple of chapters left. But remember that this is the first book of the Cobalt Bay Billionaires Series. I currently have three other plots to do for the rest of the series plus two optional ones. You'll still see Cassie and Seb throughout those stories but they won't be the focus. I've only started writing the second one so it'll be a while for me to finish writing it offline. I want to finish it that way first before I post it. I have other books you can check out that I'd be still working on. I'm trying to pace myself with these projects so I can devote enough time and attention to them.

Anyway, till the next chapter. Please continue to vote and comment. You guys really keep me going.

XOXO! -Ninya