Page 13 of One Love
Sebastian
My head is pounding. Mybrain hurts. I feel like I’ve been run over by a bus… which I think might be better at this point.
I can’t think of anything I did to anyone to deserve everything that’s happened to me in the past two months.
The less than flattering photos of me in the paper started popping up about four months ago, which didn’t bother me at first. My photo has been featured in the papers many times over the last decade. It’s not uncommon for the circles my family runs in. The “most eligible thirty under thirty” thing only skyrocketed people’s interest in me, but I’ve never actively sought out the attention I’ve received.
Who wants to take me down so bad they’d involve Devin? She didn’t do anything to anyone. Her only mistake was allowing me to drag her into my mess.
My focus has been shit since I sent her home.
I haven’t been able to concentrate on a damn thing. I’ve spent the last hour staring out the window of my office, watching the sunset over the city horizon, trying to let the beauty of it bring light to some of the darkness consuming me.
The holidays are usually a cheery time for me, and this year, I had so much to celebrate and be thankful for.
My father’s health is improving.
I’m at the helm of the business and it’s thriving despite this little bump in the road.
Most importantly, I found a woman I want to be with—someone who makes me feel complete, who makes me want things I never have before.
The only issue is she only thinks of us as an affair.
I can’t put into words the pain she caused me by relegating us to nothing more than a fling. Our connection and the way I feel about her is more than an affair, and I know she feels it too. She cares more than she wants to, but she’s torn, and it fucking hurts. I care more than I wanted to as well… and now it’s more than just caring.
A knock on the door jars me from wallowing in my anger and my... hell, I don’t even know what emotions are festering inside me. But I do know, if this person at the door brings me the slightest bit of bad news, I’m going to explode.
I’m at my max capacity for bullshit.
Madison’s soft voice follows the squeak of the door. “Hey.”
I spin my chair around and meet the sad gaze of my sister. She feels my pain as if it’s her own, always has, just as I feel hers. We’ve always been told it’s a twin thing, and the fact that we’ve always been extremely close only compounds our connection.
She takes a seat in front of my desk and sighs. “You’ve been holed up in here for a while. How can I help?”
If it was only that simple.
If only I could tell Madison to make this all go away, to make my girlfriend think of me as something more than a quick fuck and a good time. “You can’t. I wish you could, but you can’t help me fix this, Madison. God… why is everything so fucked up?”
She stands from her seat, rounds my desk, bends down, and wraps her arms around me before laying her head on my shoulder. “Veronica is working on everything. We’re going to end this, Sebastian. Over my dead body is this person going to ruin either of your lives.”
“Haven’t they already, though? I don’t know if this is fixable. We can’t stop this person from releasing Devin’s name. We can’t turn back time and correct the damage they’ve already done. It’s probably already too late, honestly.”
She lifts her head and pushes away from me shocked at my lack of fight. “How can you say that?”
“They want Devin fired by the end of the week.” I stare at her. “It’s Monday. Even if Veronica finds out who this is, we have no recourse to stop them from whatever plan they’ve concocted. I’m not even sure what they are doing is illegal. What action can we take against them, Madison?”
“It is illegal, Sebastian. They’re stalking and trespassing for starters,” she says. “They’ve clearly been following you for a while. Our offices and many of the other locations where those photos were taken are not public property. They have no rights to be there without permission. They’ve distributed those photos of you, and now they’ve progressed to blackmail and larceny with the situation regarding Devin. You have every reason to be fearful for where their actions may lead, and they are intending to cause pain and suffering in your life through their actions. Just because there have been no physical assaults, doesn’t mean there isn’t a case against them. It’s stalking, two counts now that they’ve included Devin. I can’t believe she’s been dragged into this.”
“I didn’t involve her on purpose, Madison,” I bark before scrubbing my hands down my face. “This was just someone trying to make a quick buck, remember? Worst case, I thought this was something to do with business, someone trying to sabotage me before I even got the chance to take this place to new heights. I never thought I had a fucking stalker following me around taking photos like this. We thought it was an opportunist, not a psycho. Shit, I didn’t even know the extent of the situation until yesterday. I wouldn’t have fucking involved her if I knew it was this insane.”
Rage bubbles up inside me, threatening to boil over. I’m a laidback man, never one to allow stress and worry to invade my life, but this person has found my limit—threatening the woman I love.
“I love her, Madison,” I admit out loud for the first time. I’ve known what’s growing between us from the first night we spent together. Hell, I chased her across the city at six in the morning. I’ve dealt with her attitude. I’ve been patient and understanding, and I thought this—she—was it.
Which makes it all hurt worse.
“We will fix this,” Madison says, her voice hitching as she finally understands the gravity of the situation. “We’ll get to the bottom of this. We’ll deal with the psycho causing this chaos, and then you two can live happily ever after.”
