I sit up so I can listen. Their voices are muffled. I quickly get dressed and head to the door and out into the hallway.
“Well, what was she doing here?” I hear Bart ask.
“Looking for something,” Sebastian replies.
“Like what? Where was she?”
“My office. I’ll show you the drawer she was in.” I hear them walk down the hallway and into Sebastian’s office.
I wonder how long Bart has been dealing with Helena’s bullshit. He’s been with Sebastian for a while, but I don’t think she’s done anything like this for years. Although I could be wrong. I slink down to sit on the top step as I wait for them to finish.
What was that bitch doing here?
I get a memory of her hiding something behind her back. Damn it, why didn’t I grab it from her? What was it?
Their voices become loud again as they walk toward the front door.
“You tell me now,” Bart says. “If there are any skeletons you are hiding, anything that you could think of that she could dig up, I need to know.”
“No. Nothing new,” Sebastian replies.
“It’s okay if there is, but I need to know now so that I can act before the story hits.”
Shit.
I can’t sit here and pretend like there’s not something he should know. It’s only a matter of time before Helena works out who I am. Bart is my boss. He deserves the truth.
I stand and walk down the stairs. Sebastian glances up and sees me, his face falls.
Bart looks up, startled, and he frowns. “April?” I give him an awkward smile, and his eyes flicker to Sebastian in question. His eyes come back to me. “What happened to you?”
“I had an altercation with a kitchen countertop,” I say. “There is something you should know, Bart.”
Bart raises his eyebrow, already knowing what it is and seemingly unimpressed. “Go on…”
“I was here when Helena broke in. She didn’t know who I was, and I pretended to be the cleaner.”
He exhales heavily.
“I chased her, tripped and hit the kitchen counter. I ended up in hospital. The police are coming over this afternoon for questioning.”
He puts his hands in his suit pockets, and his eyes drift to Sebastian for clarification.
I glance over to see Sebastian is glaring at me with a thermonuclear anger.
Huh?
“Do you have something to tell me?” Bart asks, looking between us.
Sebastian twists his lips, and his unimpressed eyes hold mine.
“Yes,” I reply. “I’ve been seeing Sebastian on a personal level for a while. We met years ago and have recently reconnected.” I shrug nervously. “We are… together.”
“You didn’t think to tell me this before you started?” he snaps.
“With due respect, I didn’t realize we would be working with Sebastian.” My eyes flicker between the two of them. “I’m resigning from your team, effective immediately. I’m going back to my normal duties.”
Sebastian’s jaw clenches as he glares at me. “You don’t need to resign.”
“Yes, she does,” Bart interrupts. “You think I need this publicity nightmare? The Deputy Prime Minister is sleeping with his legal counsel. For fuck’s sake, what are you two thinking?” He sighs. “I should have been told.”
“I’m telling you now,” I hit back. “And for the record, we are dating, so you need to get over it and handle Helena.”
“I’m really disappointed, April. I didn’t think you were the type to sleep with a client. This will not look good on your resume.”
“Watch your fucking mouth,” Sebastian barks. “She isn’t sleeping with a client. You heard her. We’re together. And she’s right! You just fucking worry about Helena.”
I bite my lip to hide my smile. Hope runs through me.
“What am I supposed to say when the story breaks about you two?” he retorts.
“There is no story,” I reply sharply. “I don’t work for him now. I’m just a regular lawyer that he’s dating. There is no headline story here anymore, Bart. What you need to work out is what the hell Helena took from this house.”
“Are you really going to give up the opportunity of a lifetime?” Bart asks me.
“I would give up any job on Earth to be with him.” My eyes find Sebastian’s, and his brow furrows.
It’s true, I would.
I have.
“Fine.” Bart rolls his eyes and makes for the door. “I’ll be in touch.” The door slams on his way out.
“Are you serious?” Sebastian growls.
Huh? He’s angry?
My face falls.
“How dare you?” He turns and marches into the kitchen. I run after him like a puppy.
“W-what do you mean?” I stammer.
“You didn’t think to discuss this with me before you blurt it out to the fucking world?”
I open my mouth to say something, but no words come out.
“Is this your master plan?” he yells. “Railroad me into a relationship?”
“What?”
“We have never discussed coming out about us. And you resigned from your fucking job. What the hell was that?” he cries. “Are you deaf, dumb, or just plain stupid?”
My eyes bulge as I put my hands on my hips. “Listen here, you asshole,” I growl. “I don’t know who the fuck you think you are, but I will tell my boss the truth. And for the record, we are in a fucking relationship, so you’d better grow the fuck up and appreciate it.”
“Or what?”
“Or you’ll see what fucking happens, that’s what?”
“Do not threaten me, April.”
“I’m sick of your childish bullshit, Sebastian.” I turn and march toward the stairs, and he follows me like a bull.
“What does that mean?”
I turn on him like the devil. “It means that you had better man up. Grow some balls and let yourself love me, or step the fuck back so that someone else can.”
He narrows his eyes. “Another threat?”
“That one’s a promise, asshole.”
“Stop calling me asshole.”
“Then stop acting like one!” I yell back. I take the stairs two at a time.
“You may as well go home!” he cries after me. “I will not be railroaded into anything, April. What next? You demand I marry you?”
My anger explodes.
I get to the top of the stairs and see his runners sitting in the hall. I pick one up and hurl it down at him. He ducks out of the way, deflecting it to the side. It hits the wall with a thud. “I’ll go home when I’m good and ready and not a minute before!” I shout. Nobody makes me angrier than this fucking stupid man.
Ouch, yelling hurts. I put my hand over my eye.
“What?” he yells.
“You’re hurting my eye!” I cry.
“Well, you’re hurting my fucking brain!”
“Impossible, you don’t have one.” I march up the hall and into his bedroom, and I slam the door hard.
I flop onto the bed in disgust. Adrenaline is pumping through my body.
Fuck you, asshole.
I snuggle into my pillow. It’s dark, and I glance over to see the clock. 8:00 p. m.
Shit, I’ve been asleep for hours.
I laid here and listened to Sebastian slamming things around downstairs for a while, and then I must have drifted off. The house is silent now, and I wonder if he is over his tantrum yet?
I get up and go to the bathroom. I wash my hands and go back to bed.
I pick up my phone and text my mom and my sister Eliza. I scroll through Instagram for a while before the bedroom door opens and Sebastian comes into view.
His eyes find mine, and without saying anything, he walks into his wardrobe.
I roll my eyes. Great, now he’s sulking and getting dressed to go out.
I lie still, waiting for his next tantrum He is the last word freak. He won’t let this go.
I know he won’t.
He’s right, though. I should have discussed this with him first, but in my defense, I was just being honest.
Sebastian walks out of the wardrobe completely naked and leans against the doorframe. My eyes drop down to see that he’s rock hard.