Enter two new baddies. Sebastian, WTH?
Celine kept herself busy with training horses and joining the stable hands in the back-breaking work of maintaining the ranch. Every day, she woke before dawn and at night she crashed into her bed too exhausted to dream. Did it stop her from thinking about Sebastian, Phillip, and Chanel? No, but it did stop her from dwelling on it.Today Sebastian was due to show up and she wanted to make sure she was ready. So, she came to the office to look at the staffing schedule when she heard Rachel on the phone. “I’m sorry I can’t reach him. Let me try his daughter. Okay. Okay. Hold on, let me write that down. Okay. We’ll be in touch.”It was early so Celine went to the kitchen and poured two cups of coffee, then her phone rang. It was Rachel. She didn’t know she was there. Celine laughed and walked into the reception area with the coffee expecting to surprise Rachel and make her giggle. But Rachel was not smiling. Something was wrong.“Rachel, are you okay? What happened.”, Celine asked and han
Collette went back to school and wouldn’t be back until Christmas break which left Celine alone with Dad, who was avoiding her. How the man could do that given they lived and worked together, was truly an accomplishment, and it was starting to make her mad. All she wanted was for him to show her how the finances for the business worked. He was hiding something, and Celine was determined to find out what it was.She started with the bank. When Mom died, they put Celine on all the business accounts which meant she had access to everything. So, she called the bank and with one easy conversation, had access to all the accounts. But what she saw did not make a whole lot of sense. There were a lot of cash deposits and withdrawals and there was no way to know what her dad was using the money for.Another mystery was the monthly withdrawals of large amounts of money from places she did not recognize. When she called the bank, they told her they were for loans that her dad had taken out using t
The sexual tension left the tack room like oxygen being air vac’d on a breached spaceship and Sebastian’s face changed so abruptly that Celine went from embarrassed surprise to guilty concern for the tragedy she saw on the handsome man’s face.“Oh. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to. I didn’t know…I don’t know why I said that.”, Celine said lamely. Upon seeing his pain, she forgot her resentments or their gap in status and stroked away the frown and the pinched eyebrows, cooing consoling nonsense. She would do anything to take back what she had said. Even though she was more curious than ever to know what happened.Sebastian took her hands in his and created a little distance between them. “The answer to that question is for another time.”, he said and sighed.Then his face underwent another transition, and his eyes squinted, and his lips smirked. Now what, Celine wondered and felt like she was on an emotional rollercoaster ride with all his mood changes. Sebastian still had her hands, and he
For weeks, Celine had been aware of her dad’s schedule and could have ambushed him anytime she wanted, but she kept hoping he would do the right thing and come to her by himself. But the business was in such a state that Celine could not indulge him anymore. So, she set her alarm for four in the morning and waited in the kitchen with a cup of coffee to keep her company. She heard him before she saw him and had a horrible thought. What if she startled him so much that he had a heart attack? He was in his fifties after all. So, she called out to him. “Dad?”, Celine said.The funny thing about sitting quietly with nothing to do was, your hearing improved so she heard him when he sighed and knew how long it took him to start walking again. It hurt her feelings that he wanted to avoid her this much, but she knew it was not her he was avoiding, but the problem.“Yes, kitten.”, Dad said. “Why are you sitting in here so early in the morning?”, he asked then hummed when he saw the fresh pot of
Celine was surprised to see that Sebastian lived in one of the suites at his New York City flagship hotel and not some fancy penthouse in Midtown Manhattan on Billionaire Row. She was even more astonished to see the décor was warm and colorful and that his home was a modest fifteen hundred square feet with two bedrooms and an office. The only perk she saw befitting his wealth was the view. All the outward-facing walls were floor-to-ceiling windows and had a spectacular view of Central Park which was particularly colorful this time of year.Soon after arriving, and settling Celine into the guest bedroom, Sebastian excused himself to work in his office. She had never seen this side of Sebastian and hearing his commanding voice from behind the door of his office was a big turn-on. She liked hearing his voice in the background as she went about her day, a lot.Nervous about moving around Sebastian’s home, Celine mainly stuck to the room she had been given and was in constant communication
“Do you remember the day I left to go back to New York? I left the day before school started because I wanted to stay with you until the last minute. Do you remember?”, Sebastian asked. She could see slivers of grey as he peeked between his lashes at her.“I remember.”, Celine said. “You were going to call me after you got settled in. I chased your fancy car to the highway.” She looked down at his fingers picking apart the individual threads in the carpet between their feet.Sebastian smiled. “I remember that too.”, he said taking her hand and playing with her fingers. His fingers were icy.“That day I was distracted. I remember thinking that the driver wasn’t my normal driver, but I had been gone all summer, and staff changes were a normal part of my life. So, I didn’t think anything of it.”, Sebastian said, and Celine’s stomach sank, and her throat started to ache.Sebastian kept his eyes focused on their fingers and continued. “It was a three-hour drive from your house to mine and
It’s not like she had never kissed Sebastian before, but that was ten years ago, and she was pretty sure that they had both been each other’s first kiss. Now, Sebastian was all man, and he had not spent the last ten years abstaining from sex because—good God!First of all, he liked to talk. Nothing like Phillip who only spoke to give commands. Sebastian liked to talk about how he felt, and how good she felt, and he moaned when he liked something. And the man’s temperature ran hot so kissing him was like swallowing lava cake fresh from the oven.They of course started on the floor with soft tender kisses. But she was bent over at an odd angle so before there was even any tongue, he had pulled her onto his lap bridal style. He was a large man, thick and muscular, and he lifted her with ease.As he dipped down giving her hot kisses, he began licking and sucking her bottom lip and moaning and talking and it was not long before she was squirming to straddle him so she could get better acces
The sun shone onto the large windows in the guestroom Celine was sleeping in, but the blackout curtains and controlled temperatures ensured Celine’s circadian rhythm did not register it was morning. So, she slept well past her usual wake-up time. Which was why when her phone rang at eight in the morning, she was still asleep.Tangled in the bedding, Celine struggled to find and silence the horrendous ear-piercing noise and when she did, she looked at the screen and saw it was her father. So instead of throwing the phone like she wanted to, she answered it.She put her ear to the phone, “Hello?”, Celine said. But before her father could answer there was, what sounded like, a shotgun loading and then discharging. For a second, she thought things had gone very badly with the reporters. “Dad. What’s going on? Dad.”, she yelled into the receiver.There was shuffling, and then, “Celine. Guess what we are doing?”, Dad, asked.Celine sat up and her head spun. She put a trembling hand to her fo
The door to Sebastian’s office was violently pulled open, and in strode a scowling, red-faced Sebastian with Kevin on his heels. He took one look at Celine sitting on the couch but did not stop until he got to his desk, where he splayed both hands on his desk and leaned forward. “What are you doing here?”Okay. The board meeting did not go well. She knew better than to respond to his snarky question and raised one eyebrow at Kevin, who mimicked a man hanging from a noose behind Sebastian’s back. Shit. What went wrong? Gale Hospitality was over-performing; the hotels and vacation destinations were booked solid and were bringing money in hand over fist.Was it because he had not secured the German hotels? That was because Sebastian needed Heidi Wolf. Gale Hospitality had a weak presence in Germany, and he needed the Wolf family’s established business lines and relationships. So, he was negotiating a partnership.However, a group of executives led by Yuri was undermining the deal. They
A throbbing, dull ache in her hip roused her early that morning, and she woke to the press of Sebastian’s body curled around her back. This was precisely why she did not want to sleep in a bed with him. She sighed happily. She loved everything about it—being his little spoon, warm and cozy, feeling his morning wood pressed against her backside. God, his smell. It robbed her of her reason.If things were different, she would be rubbing her ass against him and enticing him with morning sex. The kind where neither of them was awake as they fused, languidly chasing their climax. Fully waking mid-orgasm, screaming, then clenching and finally shuddering—good morning.Instead, Celine basked in his arms, fantasizing, and when that got old, she got curious and wanted to face him so she could watch him sleep. See his unguarded gentle features and maybe touch him without waking him. She hadn’t forgotten their fight or his harsh words, but it didn’t seem to matter when they were like this.She tu
She was seated at the table next to Sebastian like they were the reigning King and Queen of Gale Hospitality. At Sebastian’s right sat Heidi, followed by Sophia and John. To Celine’s left was the elderly couple whose daughter was her doppelganger. Directly across was Yuri and his date. The rest of the table was filled with people she did not know.Oddly, Jameson was at the next table over with Grace and her family instead of at their table with his family. What was that about? Were they a couple now? Was he the father of Grace’s baby? She tucked that thought away for later, but her gut was telling her she was right.“Where does your family originally come from, dear.” Mrs. Volkov asked, interrupting Celine’s musings.She tried to remember the stories her grandparents told her about their family. At the time, she had been bored and uninterested in the old-timey photographs of people who were long dead. “My father’s family was from somewhere in France. My mother’s was from Britain.“No
She saw red, and if it weren’t for Yuri guiding her around tables by the elbow, she would have marched over, grabbed Sebastian by the ear, and dragged him off like a naughty child. At least, that was what she fantasized about doing. How could he? It was supposed to be her by his side, not some…some…other woman. Why had he deviated from their plan, and why hadn’t he told her? He probably forgot all about her.Yuri got Celine a glass of Pinot Grigio and a whiskey for himself and sat in Sebastian’s seat to keep Celine company. She found out that Yuri was from Moscow and knew Sebastian from university. She hadn’t told him who she was, but he knew. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to guess. If their publicity or the seating arrangement hadn’t given her away, her watching Sebastian and the scarlet-haired harlot did.Yuri inclined his head toward Sebastian and asked, “Is that who you came with?”She sighed and sipped her wine. Celine was on her third glass and was a teensy-weensy bit tipsy
As soon as they arrived at the hotel, Sebastian was called away to attend impromptu meetings, which left Celine to go to the suite without him. She wandered around, picking things up and putting things down. It was a pretty space with a nice view of the city. It had a small kitchen, and she cracked open a cold bottle of water that she found in the fridge.She wondered what she would do between now and the event and was looking at a menu of services that the spa offered when the bellhop arrived with their luggage. “Where should I put this, ma’am.” Celine snorted. Ma’am, she thought, this guy was probably the same age as she was.“Put these,” she pointed to Sebastian’s luggage, “in the master suite, and these,” she pointed to her luggage, “in the other bedroom.”Celine reached for the spa menu when the bellhop said, “There is only one bedroom in this suite.”Her fingers froze. One bedroom? She needed clarification. “Excuse me?” she asked.“Do you want me to put both sets in the bedroom?
The street outside Sebastian’s penthouse was packed with the hustle and bustle of New Yorkers getting off work. Usually, she liked to spend rush hour seated by a window with a nice cup of coffee, watching the flow of people go by. Far better than joining in the crush of humanity that made her pulse pound and her chest constrict. But today, avoiding what chased her outweighed her fear of crowds, and she looked forward to the obscurity of losing herself in a sea of people. Stepping off the landing, she merged into the current of bodies and let them carry her in the direction of her hotel and hoped one would notice her shame or the hot tears she reluctantly shed.At least, that was the plan. She hadn’t counted on Sebastian’s determination not to let her escape. She screamed when hands grasped her from behind and turned her around. She caught a brief look at his face and saw anger in his eyes. Then he crushed her against his body, encircled her with his arms, and held her while she sobbe
As soon as Celine saw the two gorgeous men stepping out of the elevator, she realized what Kim was up to and had to fight the urge to turn and run. She wanted no part of Kim’s revenge hookup because that was what this was. Kim was implementing the classic strategy of what’s good for the goose is good for the gander.However, Celine would be lying if she said she wasn’t tempted to see Sebastian and Matteo’s faces when they saw the two drop-dead hotties that had just walked into Sebastian’s penthouse. Maybe there was some merit to Kim’s plan…No, nope, just no. A nice bath and a text message update on the paternity test were what she needed, not a demonstration of large predator mating competitions.Unfortunately, it was too late to run because they were here, and Kim was exchanging cheek kisses. “Hello. Coucou, comment tu vas ?” One of Kim’s hidden talents was that she spoke fluent French, and always had her pick of French hotties. Kim was going nuclear, poor Matteo.One of the men had h
They say, “Money can’t buy you love.” but it does buy same-day results of a paternity test, especially if you have a phlebotomist waiting in the hall outside the courtroom to draw blood and a medical courier at the ready to transport your samples directly to a reputable private lab. A lab that was being paid to expedite the paternity test as soon as the biological samples were received.And that was precisely what happened minutes after Grace said, “I’ll take the deal.”Sophia yelled, “What deal.” The Judge beamed at Grace. The bailiff gallantly helped Grace down from the stand, and Jameson looked like a genie had just told him, ‘Of course, you can wish four more wishes.’It was complete chaos as they followed Grace and Sebastian out of the courtroom, and Celine couldn’t believe their plan had worked. But she saw it with her own eyes, and there was no doubt about it. Grace was submitting to a blood draw right there in the hall, behind a portable privacy screen.The next thing Celine kn
After Sebastian’s lawyers finished, Celine thought all there was left to do was watch the death throes of Grace’s case. They had a recording of Grace threatening blackmail, for god’s sake. They should be watching the closing credits on this fiasco of fake paternity, but that was not how the law worked. There were always special circumstances or loopholes to get around or to delay a decision, and all Grace needed was a delay.When Grace’s attorneys began their case to quash the court order for the paternity test, they didn’t even bother to rebut the horrible things she said on the recording. Instead, they argued that Grace had a religious or moral objection to the paternity test.Grace’s attorney painted a picture of her as a devout Orthodox Christian from a family with a long, illustrious history with the Greek Orthodox Church on her mother’s side. In Orthodox culture, there is a lot of emphasis on family reputation and privacy, especially for families with ties to the church and thei