Confessions in the dark

Chapter 14-The First crack

Sebastian

As I sat across from Ashley, I couldn’t help but stare.

For years, I’d kept relationships simple.

Casual.

Controlled.

Women came into my life knowing exactly what they were getting, and by daybreak, they were usually gone. No attachments. No expectations. No complications.

It had always suited me.

Until her.

I didn’t just want to take Ashley to bed.

I wanted her to stay.

That realization irritated me more than it should have.

After signing the contract, I expected her to leave almost immediately. Instead, she stayed.

So I gave her a tour.

We walked through the penthouse, and somehow our conversation moved from her classes to journalism, from California to New York, from the things she wanted from life to the things she was afraid of losing.

She had opinions about everything.

And she wasn’t afraid to give them.

That alone made her different.

She would become an asset to me.

Not simply because she was intelligent, but because she noticed things. She listened when people spoke. She watched their expressions. She caught details most people missed.

Those qualities would be useful.

Very useful.

But I also found myself paying attention to things that had nothing to do with business.

Her clothes.

The university T-shirt.

The worn jeans.

The sneakers.

Nothing expensive.

Nothing designed to impress anyone.

I wondered if she dressed that way because she preferred comfort or because money simply wasn’t something she had enough of.

Probably both.

She looked beautiful with her glasses.

But without them…

She was mesmerizing.

She was standing near one of the windows, talking about something I barely registered because I was watching her instead.

“Would you like prescription contacts?”

She stopped mid-sentence.

“What?”

I stepped closer.

“Prescription contacts.”

She looked confused.

“For what?”

I reached toward her face.

She didn’t move.

My fingers gently caught the frame of her glasses, and I slid them from her face.

Her hazel eyes met mine.

I held the glasses in my hand.

“You look amazing without them.”

Her expression softened.

“More confident.”

I tilted my head.

“Wouldn’t Sapphire have agreed?”

Something shifted in her eyes.

She looked almost vulnerable.

“Is that what you want?”

I smiled.

It was a genuine smile.

One I rarely gave anyone.

I lowered my head until our faces were only inches apart.

Close enough that my lips barely brushed against hers.

Not quite a kiss.

A promise of one.

“I want you to be as confident as you are when you’re Sapphire in your real life.”

Her breath caught.

I could see her trying to steady it.

I pulled away.

Then gently placed her glasses back onto her face.

She swallowed.

“I’ll consider it.”

We stood there in silence.

Just looking at one another.

There was something in her eyes I couldn’t quite name.

Curiosity.

Desire.

Fear.

Maybe all three.

Then her phone vibrated.

She looked down.

“Sorry. I have to take this.”

She walked away.

I watched her disappear toward the other side of the room.

What the hell was this woman doing to me?

Why wasn’t I taking her to bed right now?

I could.

She was attracted to me.

I knew it.

But would she say yes?

And more importantly, did I actually want her to?

The answer surprised me.

I wanted her to choose me.

Not because I paid her.

Not because I was her employer.

Not because I could give her things she couldn’t afford.

I wanted Ashley to want Sebastian.

Not the money.

Not the name.

Me.

She returned a few minutes later.

“Sorry. I have to go.”

“Everything all right?”

“School stuff.”

Of course.

Her education came first.

I walked her toward the elevator.

She stepped inside and turned toward me.

I had one more thing to give her.

“And Ashley…”

She looked up.

“Consider your tuition paid in full.”

Her eyes widened.

“Sebastian, I…”

The elevator doors began closing.

I watched the shock settle across her face before the doors finally shut.

I smiled.

That reaction was worth every dollar.

Now that one problem was out of the way, I could return my attention to the bigger ones.

New York.

The ports.

Dorian.

Something was wrong.

I could feel it.

One compromised port could become a chain reaction if I didn’t find the source quickly.

I didn’t trust Dorian as far as I could throw him.

The man had been around my family for too long, knew too much, and had survived too much.

Especially the night my father died.

There was something about that night I still hadn’t uncovered.

Something Dorian wasn’t telling me.

I walked back toward my office and picked up my phone.

“Book my flight to New York.”

My assistant answered immediately.

“Tonight, sir?”

“Tonight.”

“How long will you be staying?”

“Until I find out what the hell is happening at my ports.”

I ended the call.

I stood by the window again, looking down at the city.

Ashley had just stepped into my world.

And now I was leaving it temporarily.

Perhaps that was for the best.

Because the longer I stayed around her, the harder it became to remember that she was supposed to be my employee.

Not my weakness.

Not my temptation.

And certainly not the woman I found myself wanting beside me when the sun came up.

I had spent my entire life building an empire that no one could take from me.

I wasn’t about to let one woman become the thing that could bring it all down.

But as I looked at the elevator where she’d disappeared, I already knew the truth.

It might be too late.