The First Night
1553 Words
Sierra stared at the key in her palm long after Sebastian left her office.
It was small. Ordinary. Yet somehow it felt heavier than any legal document she had ever signed.
One key. One decision. One step back into the life she had spent three years trying to escape.
She turned it over between her fingers.
Come home with me.
Sebastian's words echoed in her head.
She should return it.
Instead, she slipped it into her handbag.
-----
By seven that evening, Sierra stood outside Sebastian's residence.
She had spent the entire afternoon telling herself she was only doing this because of the security threat.
Nothing more.
It wasn't about last night. It wasn't about the way Sebastian had looked at her. It wasn't about the fact that a part of her had missed this feeling of belonging somewhere.
Security opened the gates. Her car slowly entered the property.
Sebastian was waiting at the entrance. He walked toward her as she stepped out of the car.
“You came.”
Sierra adjusted the strap of her handbag.
"Temporarily.”
A faint smile appeared.
“I'll take that.”
“Don't look so pleased.”
“I've been waiting three years to see you walk through that gate again.”
Her heart tightened. She looked away.
“This is about security.”
“Of course.”
“And nothing else.”
“Of course.”
She narrowed her eyes.
“You're agreeing too easily.”
“Because I know you.”
He took her suitcase.
“I know you better than anyone.”
Sierra followed him inside.
The house felt strangely familiar. She had been here before. Three years ago, she had imagined spending her future here. Then she had walked away.
Sebastian stopped at the staircase.
“Your room is upstairs.”
“My room?”
He looked at her.
“Unless you changed your mind.”
“No.” She immediately regretted answering so quickly.
“Good.” He smiled.
---------
The guest room was beautiful. Too beautiful.
Sierra placed her suitcase beside the bed.
“I'll only be here until the security issue is resolved.”
“Fine.”
“And I'll pay for my own expenses.”
“You're impossible.”
“I've been told.”
Sebastian leaned against the doorframe. For a moment, neither spoke. Then his eyes moved to her lips.
Sierra noticed.
“Don't.”
"I didn't say anything.”
“You were thinking.”
“So were you.”
She looked away.
“This arrangement needs rules.”
Sebastian's eyebrow lifted.
“Rules?”
“Yes.”
“Go on.”
“First, we keep things professional.”
“Difficult, considering what happened last night.”
“Sebastian.”
He raised his hands.
“Fine.”
"Second, you don't come into my room.”
“Agreed.”
“Third, I don't want you interfering with my work.”
“Agreed.”
“Fourth—”
“You have a fourth?”
“Yes.”
She looked directly at him.
“We don't talk about what happened between us.”
Sebastian's expression changed.
“That one I can't agree to.”
“Why?”
“Because pretending it didn't happen won't make it disappear.”
“It needs to.” Sierra swallowed.
“No.” His voice was quiet. "But I won't pressure you.” He stepped away from the door.
“Good night, Sierra.”
She watched him leave. The door closed. Sierra exhaled. She had survived five minutes under the same roof as Sebastian.
That had to count for something.
-----------
Later that night, Sierra couldn't sleep. She walked downstairs for water. The house was quiet.
As she passed the study, she noticed light underneath the door.
She hesitated. Then knocked.
“Come in.”
Sebastian was sitting behind his desk, reading a file. He looked up.
“Can't sleep?”
“No.”
“Me neither.”
She walked inside.
“I wanted to ask you something.”
He closed the file.
“What?”
“The person who threatened me.”
His expression became serious.
“What about him?”
“You said you recognized him.”
“I do.”
“Who is he?”
Sebastian leaned back.
“I don't know his name.”
“But you know him.”
“I've seen him before.”
“Where?”
“Working for my father.”
Sierra went still.
“Your father?”
“Yes.”
“Sebastian, that's not possible.”
“Why?”
“Because the man who approached me three years ago knew things about your family.”
Sebastian's jaw tightened.
“What things?”
“Things only someone inside the Vale organization could have known.”
He stood.
“So someone inside my father's company forced you to leave me.”
“I think so.”
“Why?”
“I don't know.”
Sebastian walked toward a cabinet and pulled out another folder.
“I've been looking into the old records.”
He handed her a photograph.
Sierra stared at it.
The same man. The one who had threatened her three years ago.
Her fingers trembled.
“Where did you get this?”
“My father's old security records.”
She looked at Sebastian.
“Why would your father have a file on him?”
“That's what I'm trying to find out.”
Sierra's heart began pounding.
“Sebastian…”
He looked at her.
“There's something else.”
“What?”
“I found a payment.”
“To him?”
Sebastian nodded.
“Three years ago.”
Her stomach dropped.
“How much?”
She had spent three years believing she had sacrificed herself to protect Sebastian.
But what if she had been manipulated?
What if leaving him had been exactly what someone wanted?
“What if…” Her voice trembled. “What if I made the wrong choice?”
Sebastian stepped closer.
“You made the choice you thought would keep me safe.”
“I destroyed us.”
“No.”
He looked into her eyes.
“Someone else did.”
Sierra's eyes filled with tears.
Sebastian reached for her hand.
“Enough to make someone disappear.”
Silence filled the room.
Sierra stared at the photograph.
Three years. She had spent three years believing she had sacrificed herself to protect Sebastian.
But what if she had been manipulated?
What if leaving him had been exactly what someone wanted?
“What if…” Her voice trembled. “What if I made the wrong choice?”
Sebastian stepped closer.
“You made the choice you thought would keep me safe.”
“I destroyed us.”
“No.”
He looked into her eyes.
“Someone else did.”
Sierra's eyes filled with tears.
Sebastian reached for her hand.
This time, she didn't pull away.
“You don't have to carry this alone anymore,” he said.
She looked at their joined hands.
“I don't know how to stop.”
“Then don't.”
His thumb brushed gently across her knuckles.
“Just let me help.”
For three years, Sierra had survived by carrying everything alone.
Tonight, for the first time, she wondered what it would feel like to let someone carry half the weight.
She looked up at him.
“Why are you still so determined to save me?”
Sebastian's eyes softened.
“Because you saved me first.”
Her breath caught.
He leaned closer.
Sierra didn't move.
Their faces were inches apart.
Then suddenly, Sebastian kissed her. Not hurriedly. Not carelessly. Slowly, as though he wanted her to remember every second.
She slid her hands up his chest, feeling the warmth beneath his shirt as his arms settled around her.
The study disappeared. The documents on the desk no longer mattered.
There was only Sebastian.
He pulled her closer until there was no space between them.
His forehead is against hers. His voice saying her name.
She kissed him again, deeper this time, all the restraint of three years finally breaking.
Her back touched the edge of his desk.
His hands rest at her waist, holding her as though he was afraid she might disappear again.
And she wanted him to.
She wanted the version of the night where there were no rules. No threats. No consequences.
Only the two of them finally giving in to everything they had denied for three years.
His hands are now tracing the outline of her bare body with unbearable patience as she whispered his name.
They hurried toward the couch, neither willing to break the kiss. The restraint they'd fought to maintain was unraveling with every breath, replaced by a reckless, undeniable hunger. Sebastian pulled her closer, and Sierra surrendered to the heat between them, her hands gripping his shirt as though letting go might bring back every reason they were supposed to stop.
Tonight, she gave in once again—to the longing, to the memories, and to the love they had once promised would last forever.
She wasn't sure what living with him every day would be like, or how long she could keep pretending this arrangement was temporary. But she would be lying if she said she didn't like it—perhaps a little more than she should.
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