“So?” I said.
Sebastian took a deep breath, staring at the ground. He seemed to be composing his thoughts. Then he looked at me, full in the face.
That blue stare never got any less intense. I held it, determined not to be talked into anything.
“Finola,” he began. “Since the moment I saw you in that parking garage, I knew you were the one for me. It blew my mind. It also pissed me off royally, because I don’t like to be vulnerable to another person’s whims. I never wanted to be dependent on someone else for happiness.” He adjusted his feet, then stood firmly again. “But there it is. I fell heavily for you. Now you’re leaving and I will just have to pay the price. It’s not like I didn’t know I was under your spell, but still. Really not what I had planned, that’s for sure.”
I watched him, saying nothing. But the words “I fell heavily for you” reverberated around my heart.
“If you want to go home, or go to your Mum’s side, I will move heaven and earth to get you there. And if you never want to see me again, I will respect your wishes. I’ll go to my grave regretting every fucking second I spent on this earth without you, but I’ll do it. I’ll do it for you.”
Tears formed in the corners of my eyes. I blinked them away.
“But if you want to take a chance on fate, or love, or whatever you want to call it, then I’m your man. Not just that, but I’ll do anything to keep you safe and make you happy. Anything. Name it.”
A tear rolled down my nose. I was crying way too frequently today.
“Isabel is not my wife in the way you think. We were childhood friends and we had an arrangement to please our families. I can’t say we haven’t slept together, because we have, years and years ago. It’s not what you want to hear. But it was long before we were married. We were young and reckless. I’m telling you the truth. Isabel and I are not even slightly in love and we never have been. Ever. We haven’t consummated our marriage. We never will.”
My headache thudded ever harder. I felt slightly sick.
“Now I want you to come with me back to the house and think about what I’ve said the whole way there. Then when we’re all together in the sitting room again, you can tell us your decision. And I swear on all that is sacred and magical, I will abide by your decision.”
We set off back to the house, Sebastian leading me at top speed by the hand. Again, I had to trot along to keep up with his pace.
Just outside the door, he stopped.
“I can’t stand the thought of letting you go,” he said, looking deathly serious.
“Sebastian,” I said, softly. “You’re married. Marriage means something to me. Even if it doesn’t to you.”
He opened the door and we walked in. Lucas, Rufus and Isabel turned expectantly to us.
“Well?” Rufus said. “Are you coming with us, Finola?”
I looked at them all in turn. Sebastian stared at me, an intense look on his face.
The path I chose now would affect me for the rest of my life. I knew that only too well.
All eyes were on me.
“I’ve made my decision,” I said.
Part III
Captured
19
I took a deep breath.
Sebastian left my side and stood with his back to the window, hands clasped behind him. His blue eyes drilled into me from eight feet away.
Rufus, Isabel and Lucas stared at me too. Nobody moved an inch.
They were all waiting for the same thing. My decision.
I swallowed, self-conscious for a second.
“Okay,” I said. “You’ve offered me a choice, Sebastian. To go with you all, or to say goodbye and fly in your helicopter to Ireland to see my adopted family.”
Sebastian’s handsome face looked tense. I had his full attention.
My voice cracked a little. “I’d really like to go to Ireland to see my Mum.”
Sebastian turned away and looked out of the window, fists balled at his sides. Isabel looked round at Rufus, her eyebrows raised in perfect arches.
I cleared my throat. “But you people really need the helicopter. You have no good options here. I don’t like the thought of taking it, if that means you’ll have to drive instead. Not when we know there are some seriously dangerous people out there. Air travel has to be safer than the road. Right?”
Sebastian turned back to me again. “That is not a consideration, Finola. Take it. We’ll be fine.”
My head ached insistently again. “No, wait. Listen. I have a way round this.”
The room fell eerily quiet. I wondered if everyone in the room could hear the pounding of my heart.
“So here’s my idea. We all fly to Ireland in the helicopter. Then I can go see my adoptive parents. You guys can get a hotel for the night, maybe. Then make a plan to go somewhere safe, when you have all your stuff in order. Everyone gets what they need. What do you think?”
I heaved a huge sigh. It was better now that they were looking at each other and not at me any more. My cheeks were burning.
“We’d need a passport to get into Ireland though, right? I don’t have it with me!” Lucas looked worried.
Shit. I didn’t have mine either. Why didn’t I think of that?
Rufus gave a wry smile. “Sebastian is a Very Important Person, for the purposes of British and Irish border control. You’ll find little things like passports suddenly become a lot less important when you’re a billionaire, or an aristocrat. Or both. Or, crucially, when you’re accompanying either one.”
Lucas was amazed. “What? We don’t need paperwork? Because of this dude here?”
“I’m surprised you haven’t traveled overseas with your cousin before, Lucas.”
“I have! But I never noticed any special treatment.”
“I don’t usually demand special treatment,” Sebastian cut in. “However, on this occasion, it seems we have no choice. I’ll pull whatever strings I need to. What’s your view on Finola’s plan, Rufus?”
Rufus shrugged. “It could give us the breathing space we need to recall one of the Pallida Fortis private jets. That will take twenty-four hours at least.”
“Yeah, where are all the bank’s planes, Rufus?” Lucas leaned forward. “Are none of the fleet nearby?”
“Not right now. I’m afraid the nearest aircraft is in Monaco. Even if it could be sent straight over, it would take far too long to get to Cornwall. The others are all over the world. Ideally, we’ll leave within the hour.”
Sebastian checked his watch. “So Finola’s plan is worth considering.”
“I believe so, yes.”
“Then that’s settled. We’ll head to Dublin. Her parents are forty minutes away from there by car.” He gestured to someone at the door. “You out there. Stop lurking and come in.”
Dennis had been peeping through the gap. It looked as though he couldn’t leave until he was officially dismissed. He stepped back into the sitting room. “Sir?”
“Please arrange for bags to be packed immediately for Miss Malley and for me. Basic supplies only. We’ll need enough for, say, five days. If we find we need anything else, we’ll just have to buy it in Dublin. We’re traveling by helicopter, so use the lightest luggage, please.”
“Right away, sir.”
Dennis vanished.
Sebastian had clicked into action mode. He was a natural leader. I could see how easy he must find it to command an entire investment bank.
Of course, he was an expert at taking charge in the bedroom too. My skin tingled automatically at the memory of his touch.
A wave of sadness hit me. It was all over. So we were so-called fated mates? That idea crumbled to dust the minute his wife walked in. His gorgeous and very real wife.
But there was no time to dwell on it. This was a life-and-death situation. If we didn’t get out of here, at least one of us - Sebastian - would be in big trouble. He may have kept me in the dark about his marriage, but he didn’t deserve that.
Rufus went to p
repare the helicopter with one of Sebastian’s technical staff. Lucas slung his backpack on the floor by the door and draped himself across a sofa, opposite Isabel.
“You brought some stuff with you, did you, Izzy?”
“Well, I left my overnight bag in the main hallway. I expect one of Sebastian’s lads will pop it onto the helicopter for me.”
Evidently, Isabel was ready for anything. An emergency getaway to a country she had no intention of visiting an hour earlier? No problem!
How did people like her get to be so poised and worldly? No matter what, I couldn’t imagine ever being so in control of life.
These days, it felt like life was something that just happened to me. It just took place, all around me, while I was busy scrabbling to make a living, or trying to work out what the hell I should be doing. I couldn’t be less like this graceful blonde with the crystalline upper class accent.
Fierce pride burned inside me when I thought of how privileged their lives were, compared to mine.
They weren’t better than me. They were just lucky. But thanks to an accident of birth, they had no idea what it was to be ordinary people, working their butts off just to keep body and soul together.
The bottom line was obvious. These people were not my people.
How could we relate to one another at all?
Sebastian was born to control other people’s lives. Isabel’s elite accent and manner proved she was from the same social background.
If I was born to anything, it was a life of hard work and very little to show for it. I was constantly broke. My bills were huge. My savings were close to zero.
I didn’t even know my own birth parents.
Envy of Isabel enveloped me for a moment, dark and sour.
A young guy in a one-piece flight suit and shades entered the room.
“Mr Harley-Jones? The helicopter is ready for you now.”
Rufus followed the engineer, calling out “Five minutes, people” as he left.
Sebastian loomed over me suddenly, as tall and broad as an oak tree. His clothes seemed barely up to the job of containing his hefty form.
As always, close proximity to him made my stomach flip over. I had to remind myself that it wasn’t okay any more. His ripped physique wasn’t mine to ogle. He couldn’t ever be mine if he was married. Even if he wasn’t taking his vows as seriously as he should.
“May I speak with you for a moment, Finola?”
“Is that a good idea?”
“Yeah, I’d say so.” His blue eyes blazed down at me.
You can do this, Finola, I told myself. You left Wayne because he had no respect for you. You can walk away from this guy too.
The wrenching knot in my stomach betrayed my real feelings. I couldn’t stand the thought of letting him go.
20
Sebastian’s requests were never easy to refuse.
I followed him to the far end of the room, a good twenty feet away from the sofas where we’d all sat. He paused beside a large antique globe, placed in front of a watercolor painting of the house.
“Glad you decided we’d all travel together,” he said, idly swiping the globe so it spun on its axis.
“It’s not a vacation. We’re running for our lives. What else could I do?”
He looked content as he twirled the miniature world in his hands. Smiling, like things were all okay again.
That prodded my anger awake again.
“You know why I said we should all take the helicopter together? Safety. Like I said, I didn’t want anybody to be in danger.”
“Yes, that’s… commendable.”
He looked way too relaxed for my liking.
I shook my head in disbelief. “Why are you smiling like that?”
“Because you make me smile. You light up my life like a Disneyland parade, Finola Malley. Hadn’t you noticed?”
I stood tall, arms crossed. “Gosh. Shouldn’t you should be saying all this to your wife?”
He sighed.“I wish I could find the words to explain this properly. Let me try again. Isabel and I do not have a real marriage. We are only married on paper.”
“Paper, wood, cotton, it’s all the same to me. You’re married.”
He looked genuinely baffled.
“I don’t understand why this is such a big deal now you know the two of us aren’t a real couple. If I were divorced, would you be this angry?”
“No! Because you wouldn’t be married.” I spread the word out slowly. “You’re m-a-r-r-i-e-d.”
My tone had become childish now, but somehow I couldn’t help myself.
He frowned at me, bemused.
“Think about it, though, Finola. If I were divorced, it would mean I used to be in love with someone else. Right? Well, I have never been in love with Isabel. I’d never been in love with anyone, until…” He stopped, the grin sliding off his face as he realized what he’d said.
He said until.
He’d never been in love until… what? Until… whom?
Was he talking about being in love with me?
June bugs danced a tango in my stomach.
“Are you trying to tell me something, Sebastian?” I folded my arms, refusing to make it easy on him.
He stared down at me, as though he had suddenly lost the power of speech and was searching frantically for it. Then he seemed to catch himself.
The moment was lost. He’d blown it.
I shook my head, disappointed but hiding it.
“For someone so big and bold, you can be a real coward when it counts,” I said.
This hit home. He looked astonished, then enraged.
“Damn it, Finola. We have a good time together, don’t we?” he said. “Perhaps it’s been a bumpy ride so far, but-“
“Bumpy?” I stared at him in disbelief. “A bumpy ride? Since I met you, Sebastian Chase, I’ve lived through an attempted kidnapping, an assault, car theft and then an actual kidnapping. Now I’m on the run again. What the hell?”
“You’re not saying I kidnapped you? I brought you here to keep you safe!”
“Did I have any real choice in the matter? Nope. And the only reason I had to run for cover is because you put me in the line of fire.”
He looked taken aback and miserable.
“See, this is why I tried to walk away from you on that Saturday morning. I deeply regret that you’ve had to endure all that because of me.”
I laughed mirthlessly. “Yeah. You and me both, buddy.”
“Look, Isabel and I already started the process of having the marriage annulled.” His eyes were suddenly grave. “Finola, I meant everything I said. I never lied to you about Isabel. I just hadn’t raised the subject yet, because it’s so insignificant to you and me. To us. And I’m not taken. Ask her yourself. She’s a friend. I’m all yours.”
I shook my head sadly.
“You know what? This whole whirlwind affair has just been off-the-scale crazy. I don’t think I can handle the drama any more, Sebastian.”
He turned to the painting on the wall, rubbing his face and eyes with both hands, clearly working hard to keep his cool.
Then he swung back to me.
“No, Finola,” he said. “I’m not letting that pass. This is bullshit. We are fated mates and you know it. There’s no way in the world you would’ve done any of the things you did with me if you hadn’t felt it too.”
My head pounded. “Why not? Maybe I just wanted some meaningless fun with a hot guy. You know?” I glanced down at his vast chest. “You’re pretty okay looking, for a banker. Right place, right time. Get it?”
“Meaningless fun?” The words exploded out of him.
I lowered my voice to an indignant hiss. “How much meaning can there be in sex with a married man? When he hasn’t even thought to mention he’s married in the first place?”
He grasped my waist hard in both hands and stared down at me, eyes aflame. I shoved his hands off, but he pushed them back again.
I let him. It would�
�ve been better to stick to my guns. But God, I loved the feeling of him holding me firmly like that.
Every piece of me was desperate to kiss him. But I fought that as hard as I could.
I pursed my lips in as disapproving a way as possible.“You think you’re irresistible, don’t you?”
“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”
His eyes danced over me from lips to cleavage and back again. Electricity buzzed up and down my veins. He only had to put his arms round me and my body cried out for him. Our faces were mere inches apart.
I could feel my resolve weakening. Stay strong, I told myself.
With all the willpower I had, I edged him back with my fingertips.
“The things you said didn’t fix everything. I don’t want you to think traveling together means we’re cool. We’re not cool.”
“No. I’m well aware of that,” he said, glaring down at my body with hunger in his eyes. “Things are far from cool right now.”
A slight smirk played across his beautiful mouth.
Who the hell did he think he was? I fought a compulsion to grab him by the throat and kiss the attitude right off him.
“You don’t get to call all the shots, mister,” I hissed. “Once we’re out of here, you’ll go your way and I’ll go mine. I don’t have amnesia. You’re married. You let me find out by accident. How many times do I have to point this out?”
“Married in name only. Holy shit, Finola. If you’d climb down off the moral high ground for a moment, I could explain the whole thing.”
“You can’t explain away a marriage certificate, Sebastian.”
“Try me.”
He pulled me so close, our noses were almost touching. The atmosphere around us seemed to crackle and fizz.
Weariness hit me.
“It’s such a waste,” I muttered. “I didn’t want it to end up this way.”
Sebastian’s voice sank to a impossibly deep bass rumble. “Then don’t let it.”
His arms circled me and he tugged me forward so I almost fell against him. He smelled so good. I wanted to drink in his scent, and his beauty, and the way his colossal frame felt pressed against me, and never let him go.
Tiger Billionaire: The Whole Story (BBW Paranormal Tiger Shifter Romance Box Set) Page 13