by Marian Tee
Serenity started chewing on her lip as she thought of all the what-ifs that could happen, and she was so lost in her thoughts that she was completely taken by surprise when the door to the dining room flew open and Shane came rushing in.
“He’s coming, Mother!” Shane’s voice was breathless with excitement.
“Who?” Melanie demanded as she jumped to her feet.
“Willem!”
Serenity froze.
“I invited him to dinner, and I was expecting we’d go out, but he told me he was in the mood for something home-cooked so I told him we could come here.” As if suddenly remembering there was someone else in the room, Shane swung around to face Serenity. “And you.” Warning sharpened her voice as she said, “I have no idea what made Willem fire you, but whatever it is – don’t you dare cause any trouble tonight. You better be on your best behavior or I’ll make your life hell.”
Chapter Three
“Thank you for letting me join you even at such short notice,” Willem murmured to his host while his bodyguards filed inside the dining room and did their best to blend with the beige walls. Security had ramped up since someone with a vendetta against the de Konigh family had attacked one of his cousins, and since it was by the order of the queen herself, even Willem was not excused.
His security team, however, appeared only to impress Shane’s mother, who tittered at the sight of them before gushing, “You know you’re always welcome here.”
“And of course,” Shane said breezily, “you know my dear half-sister Serenity.”
His arm still around Shane’s waist, Willem turned towards Serenity’s direction.
Ah.
The Serenity that stared at him was a paler and thinner version of the one he knew, but she was still as exquisitely beautiful as ever. Her salmon-colored sweater was a loose semi-crop, and he imagined that she only had to raise her arms a little to bare her undoubtedly flat tummy and tiny waist.
Her denim shorts were no better. They were just as loose and androgynously styled, and while it should have made Serenity look mannish, the knee-length shorts had just ended up making her legs look longer and shapelier.
His body stirred in awareness even as his jaw clenched hard at the thought of Serenity dressed like this outside her home. Did she want to attract attention now? Was that who she had become after leaving his employ?
Forcing his gaze back to her face, he managed a nod, saying curtly, “Serenity.”
“Sir.” Her tone was bland, her face expressionless, and anger simmered inside him even though Willem had no fucking idea who he was angry with. Was he furious with Serenity, for daring to look like she had moved on, or with himself, for realizing that a nineteen year old seemed to be better at coping with their—
With their what, Willem asked himself savagely. Goddammit, he was acting like he hadn’t yet recovered from a painful breakup when he had been the one to push her away.
“Are you okay, darling?” Shane touched his arm in puzzlement.
Serenity’s heart lurched as she watched the billionaire place a comforting hand on top of her sister’s.
“I’m sorry,” she heard Willem murmur. His voice was polite but warm. A tone, she realized dully, he had never used with her. Humiliation burned her cheeks at the thought. She must have been crazy, must have been so delusional, to think that Willem de Konigh actually loved her back.
And it was as if the billionaire was unconsciously driven to prove this as well.
It started when Willem claimed the seat next to Serenity, which caused her feelings to seesaw between elation and shock, until she heard the billionaire explain charmingly, “Because I’d like to see your beautiful face when we talk.”
Shane had blushed and laughed, but she had nonetheless taken the seat across Willem, which then forced Melanie to sit in isolation at the head of the table, with only Serenity on one side and an empty chair on the other.
Throughout dinner, Willem kept the conversation going, exerting all effort to dazzle Shane and Melanie as he alternately flirted with one and charmed the other. Serenity, he paid only the barest of attention, and by doing so he had unknowingly convinced the other women that Serenity’s resignation was indeed a sham.
When Willem paused to take a sip of his wine, Melanie said with a smile, “We should really do this more often.”
Willem smiled back. “It would be my pleasure.”
As the billionaire spoke, his hooded gaze rested lazily on Shane, which made Melanie’s daughter blush beautifully.
Serenity saw the same thing, too, and her heart lurched yet again.
If Serenity had been a little older, a little more experienced, she would have realized that everything the billionaire said and did was for her benefit.
But because she was not – because she was young and innocent and Willem de Konigh was her first love, the idea of deception did not occur to Serenity at all.
Instead, she saw the way Willem stared at her half-sister, and she thought exactly what he wanted her to think. She felt exactly what he wanted her to feel.
And she found herself breaking bit by bit.
She listened to them exchange banter with wit and grace and thought, ‘I could never be like her.’
She watched them stare at each other, flirting with their eyes, seducing with a mere curve of their lips, and the truth could have not been more obvious. Her half-sister and the billionaire knew each other in a way that Serenity did not – and would never – know Willem.
And her heart broke even more.
Beside Serenity, Willem tried not to frown as he watched Shane pour herself another glass of wine. He had known her long enough to know that she was well past her limit, and as such was liable to do or say anything now.
And as soon as the thought occurred, it was as if he had jinxed himself, with Shane suddenly saying with a laugh, “Do you remember the first time you came here, darling?”
Willem stiffened, and so did the girl beside him.
When the billionaire glanced at Melanie, she had no trouble interpreting his look and said right away, “Shane, my dear, I think…”
But her daughter carried on, saying in a singsong voice, “I promise you, Willem, you were the only man I gave head to here in my mother’s house.”
Serenity sucked her breath in. Had she…had she heard Shane right? Was she saying what Serenity thought she said?
The first night Willem had come to Melanie’s home…was also the first time she and the billionaire had met, wasn’t it?
“You’re that special, darling,” Shane slurred. Success had gone to her head with the way the Dutch billionaire had spent the entire dinner flirting with her. For Shane, it meant that her patience was finally being rewarded and that Willem had made his mind up to marry her.
So she had drunk wine to celebrate, deliberately ignoring the fact that once she started drinking, she was unable to stop.
Looking at Willem, she purred, “For you, I didn’t even think twice. I just went down on my knees—”
Jumping to her feet, Melanie hurried to her daughter as she tried to hush Shane, “I think you’ve had too much to drink.”
Shane laughingly waved her mother away. “Oh, don’t be such a prude. I told you about it that very night. That’s why I went to your room first thing after he left.”
Serenity whitened. She remembered that night perfectly, and Shane had been in her mother’s room.
“And, oh, how you delighted me with the size of—”
“Sweetheart, please, you really need to keep this private.”
Serenity could feel Willem looking at her, but she could not, for the life of her, meet his eyes. She was numb with shock, and she hated herself for it. In the back of her mind, Serenity had always known that the billionaire and her half-sister couldn’t have enjoyed a platonic relationship.
Even so, she had foolishly blocked such thoughts from her mind. She had stubbornly clung to the fantasy that they only enjoyed each other’s company o
utside the bedroom.
But now, that fantasy was forever shattered.
And she just couldn’t take it anymore.
Serenity started to stand.
But Willem stopped her.
His hand finding hers under the table, concealed by the royal blue linen, and not letting go.
Stay.
Pain and pleasure ripped into her at the feel of his hand, but then she heard Shane start to speak again. Just the sound of her sister’s voice was devastating, and her words turned Serenity’s sweetest memories of meeting Willem for the first time into something excruciatingly vulgar.
She remembered Willem reaching out to ruffle her hair.
Was it the same hand he used to hold her sister’s head while Shane had given him a blowjob?
The thought was crucifying, and Serenity tried to tug her hand out of his hold, desperate to run away from the reality of Shane’s words.
But his grip only tightened.
Please.
She tugged harder even as she struggled not to cry. She knew she was being foolish. She knew she was acting every bit the nineteen-year-old she was, but she couldn’t help it.
She had needed to believe that Willem and her sister didn’t have that kind of relationship. But now, she had no choice. Shane had shoved the truth in her face, and now there was no escaping the pain.
In front of them, Melanie was futilely trying to quiet Shane, who insisted on talking about the length of Willem’s cock.
Tears burned Serenity’s eyes, and she tried harder to pull her hand away. She needed to go. She just needed to go.
But the billionaire wouldn’t let her.
His hold was unbreakable.
Don’t go.
His thumb slowly moved across her knuckles.
I’m sorry.
Back and forth his thumb moved, an apology for every stroke, mending and breaking her heart at the same time.
Oh, how she still loved him, and it hurt.
Dimly, she heard Melanie struggling to get Shane up and Willem ordering a pair of his bodyguards to help her stepmother. Poor Shane, she thought dully, drunk on a night that Willem might have begun thinking of proposing to her.
Because that was what this was about, wasn’t it? For all she knew, that might have been why the billionaire had been unable to return her feelings. It wasn’t because he didn’t love Serenity. Maybe it was because he was already in love with Shane.
As soon as Melanie managed to usher Shane out of the dining room, Willem nodded at the rest of his security team in dismissal. “Guard the door and let me know in advance if either or both of them are about to return.”
“Ja, meneer.”
His bodyguards filed out of the room, and only when they were completely alone did Willem allow himself to glance at the girl beside him. She was absolutely still in her seat, her face pale, her back straight, and her eyes resolutely focused on the wall opposite them.
“Serenity.”
She didn’t look at him.
“Say something.” His tone was as harsh and tight as his grip on her hand under the table. He knew he should let her go now…but he could not.
But still, she was silent.
Cursing silently, Willem released her hand to cup her face and forcibly make Serenity look at him.
Their eyes clashed, and this time he cursed out loud. The pain in her blue gaze was too much, and even as he hated her for making him feel he was in the wrong when he was not, he hated himself more for even caring.
“You can’t blame me for something that happened before I met you,” Willem heard himself snarl.
But still, she didn’t speak.
“You were a child then,” he said harshly. “A fourteen-year-old child! How the fuck would I have known that you’d grow up to—” He didn’t allow himself to continue and, cursing again, he released his hold on her face.
“I never lied about Shane and me,” he bit out.
She only stared at him in answer, and just when he thought she would keep giving him the cold shoulder, he heard her say, “I know that.” Her voice was low but tremulous, and her face seemed to have whitened even more.
“I’ve always known it,” Serenity whispered. “But it doesn’t make it hurt less.” And as soon as she uttered the words, she knew then. The hurt wouldn’t go away for as long as she could see Willem.
She jerked to her feet, muttering under her breath, “I have to go.”
Willem stood up abruptly as well. “Where are you going?”
She didn’t answer, only turning around to walk away, but the billionaire swiftly held her back, his fingers wrapping tightly around one wrist.
“Let me go.” She didn’t look at him as she spoke.
His grip tightened. “We need to talk.”
She shook her head vehemently. “There’s nothing to talk about.”
“There’s everything—”
She whirled around, crying out, “I just want to forget you, okay?” She no longer cared if Melanie or Shane could hear her. She no longer cared about lying. She just wanted things to be over so it would stop hurting.
“I want to move on.” She was hysterical in her pain, and she could no longer stop herself from talking. “I want to forget I ever fell in love with a heartless bastard like you.”
A muscle started ticking in his jaw.
“I want to start fresh, find someone else—”
Willem’s blue eyes turned icy.
If Serenity had been in her right mind, she would have known what that gaze meant. But she wasn’t.
“Someone who will welcome my love and kiss me back—”
Willem heard nothing else.
He only had to hear Serenity talk about another man kissing her, and his vision had gone completely black.
He hauled her to him, and as she stumbled against his chest with a shocked gasp, he drove his fingers through her hair, gripped her head back, and slammed his mouth down on hers.
“If you ever dare kiss someone else,” he rasped against her lips, “I’ll probably strangle you.”
Her eyes were wide on his as he spoke, and when she parted her lips to answer him, Willem didn’t give her a chance to say a single word by driving his tongue deep into her mouth.
Passion exploded between them, and a shudder racked his body as he heard Serenity whimper in a mixture of shock and confusion.
For one moment, Willem was unable to move as well, his mind reeling at the sheer intensity of the kiss.
But then Serenity whimpered again, and he was no longer able to control himself.
His fingers tightened its grip on her head as he thrust his tongue in and out of her sweet, warm mouth. His other hand moved down, stroking her back until he reached one plump cheek. Squeezing her bottom hard, Willem used it to push her closer to him—
His erect and throbbing cock came into contact with her soft pussy.
Serenity moaned against his lips, and he kissed her harder even as he started grinding his cock against her sex. He knew he should stop, but he couldn’t. He knew he was making it worse, but he no longer cared.
All that mattered was to make the kiss last forever—
Someone knocked on the door.
“Mrs. Raleigh is on her way back, meneer.”
Serenity’s senses swam as the billionaire slowly lifted his mouth from hers, could only stare and follow him like a limp doll as he guided her back to her seat and took his place next to hers on the table.
“Tomorrow,” he said tersely under his breath. “I want you in my office at eight in the morning.”
Chapter Four
Monday: Where are you?
Tuesday: Answer your phone.
Wednesday: Name any date, time, and place. We need to talk.
A scowl marred Willem’s forehead as he scrolled up to read his previous messages to Serenity for the past three days. Even now, it galled him how difficult it had been to limit himself to a single call and message for each day.
Droppin
g his phone back on his desk, Willem picked up his spoon and began to enjoy his soup. Or at least he tried to, but lately, everything tasted bland to his tongue. He surveyed his dining hall, a vast space decorated in rich luxury that spoke of the family’s old and respected history as one of Europe’s most powerful clans.
Whoever he married would have to be comfortable with this kind of setting, Willem thought. He tried to imagine Shane seated next to him on the twenty-foot table, glamorous and worldly, her conversation certain to be as sophisticated as the guests’, and it felt like the right and dutiful thing to do.
But then an unbidden image of Serenity came to his mind, of her soft, peaceful beauty and her quiet ways. She would never seek to dazzle like her half-sister did. Instead, she would just be herself, and that, too, felt right. But more than that, thinking about Serenity next to him made Willem...
He pushed his chair back and stood up, leaving the rest of his plate untouched. He walked away, intent on driving all thoughts out with more work. But even with the skies changing colors outside the windows of his private library, the word that he had tried to escape remained in his mind.
Happy.
It was what Serenity made him feel, and he hated himself and her for it.
Taking his phone out, he placed a call to Shane, knowing there was only one way to end this insanity.
****
Willow: Are you okay?
Serenity: Yes, Mrs. M. I am okay.
Willow: Now I know why Willem hates it when you call him Mr. De Konigh. You have this knack of making a person feel like they’re sixty.
Serenity scowled at her friend’s reply. She had explicitly warned her newly married friend not to mention the Dutch billionaire’s name.
Serenity: That is below the belt, and especially for someone who should be a respectable figure of society, considering your marriage to Stavros Manolis.