Chapter 259 What They Taught Me
Emilia’s POV
Beep!
He hung up the phone before Scott could say another word.
I stared at him, one brow arched. "I thought you told me there was no misunderstanding at all. And yet here you are, sulking like a jealous teenager."
"I tried to hold it in," Sebastian muttered, jaw tight. "But I couldn’t stand it another second. And you are not allowed to remember a single thing he said to you."
"What exactly did he say?" I asked innocently.
"That he really likes you."
"You heard that?"
"How could I not hear it when you were sitting right next to me?" His green eyes narrowed. "This man has some nerve. He flirts with you while I’m close enough to count your eyelashes. If I weren’t here, God knows what he’d try. No. I’m not letting this slide. You’re starting at Simons Imperial Group next week."
"Oh, come on. I thought you’d dropped that idea entirely."
Sebastian shot me a look. "Too much has happened. The only way I sleep at night is if you’re right under my nose. You’ve had too much free time lately, having dinner with this one, shopping with that one, chatting with everyone in the city."
"Hey," I said, jabbing a finger at him. "You’re the one who told me that the more money I spend, the harder you’re motivated to earn it. You possessive, jealous Alpha jerk."
"Spend all my money, I don’t care." His hand found mine and held it firmly. "But I don’t want you running into some Scott ever again. Fynn will handle your paperwork. Same terms we agreed on before."
I knew there was no point arguing with Sebastian when he got like this. Once he decided something, it was set in stone. And to be fair, I’d rested long enough. It was time to go back to work.
"Fine," I said. "But I’m not being anyone’s secretary again. Give me a department to run. I didn’t study business management for four years to fetch coffee."
"Done. A supervisor position it is."
The car rolled to a stop in front of the villa. He leaned over and kissed the corner of my mouth.
I laughed softly. "Stop being jealous. There’s nothing between Scott and me. Three years we’ve worked together, and there was never a single spark. If it wasn’t going to happen then, it definitely won’t happen now."
I climbed out of the car and looped my arm through Sebastian’s as we walked inside.
Once we were in, I steered him toward the sofa and pushed him down onto the cushions. Then I hurried to the kitchen and came back with two steaming mugs of hot chocolate and a heavy blanket draped over my shoulder.
"What’s all this?" Sebastian asked, confused.
"Movie night," I announced, dropping the blanket over both our laps. "You’ve been wound tighter than a spring all day. We’re going to sit here, drink something warm, and watch something mindless until you stop scowling."
"You’re going to make me watch a movie?"
"Who said anything about making you? Get comfortable." I kicked off my shoes and tucked my feet under the blanket. "Slide in when you’re ready."
"Pfft." Sebastian laughed.
"What’s so funny?"
"Don’t you think the way you phrase things is a little suggestive?"
"What?" I replayed my own words in my head. "Slide in when you’re ready?"
"Exactly."
Heat flooded my face. I hadn’t even noticed until he pointed it out, but he had a point. It did sound rather provocative.
"Oh, please. Only someone with a filthy mind would twist it like that," I shot back, though my cheeks were burning. "Are you watching this movie with me or not? I even made your hot chocolate with the marshmallows you pretend you don’t like."
The moment I finished speaking, Sebastian settled in beside me, sliding one arm around my shoulders. But before he let me press play, he leaned close to my ear. "Are you sure it’s only marshmallows in this? Not something to lower my defenses so you can have your way with me?"
I shoved his shoulder in mock horror. "What is wrong with you? Is that any way for a respectable Alpha to talk?"
Sebastian burst out laughing, tugged me closer, and pulled the blanket higher over us both.
Under the same blanket, our shoulders pressed together, his warmth seeping into me. After a moment, he said quietly, his voice full of something tender, "You know, it feels good like this. Just the two of us."
"You really think so?" I asked. "You don’t feel like something’s missing?"
What I actually wanted to say was that the villa was too quiet. It wouldn’t feel so empty if his parents were here with us.
"Not at all," he said. "I’m happy right now."
"What’s there to be so happy about?" I rolled my eyes at him.
"Curling up under a blanket in the dead of winter with the woman I love. That’s plenty to be happy about."
I hesitated. He was in a good mood, so I gathered my courage. "Are you really never going to forgive your parents? Not ever?"
Beside me, his body went rigid. The light in his green eyes dimmed.
"It’s not that I don’t want to forgive them," he said slowly. "I just can’t accept what they did."
"Why can’t you accept it? Everyone makes mistakes. If they’ve realized they were wrong, why do you have to be so stubborn about it?"
"Because this isn’t even the worst version of things." His voice grew rough. "Just imagine. If I had never met you, what would my life look like right now? I could have said goodbye to Abigail with a clear conscience. But now? The Simons family owes her a debt I’ll never repay in this lifetime. Because of that, I can never look her in the eye and speak freely again."
"So you’ll never refuse any request she makes?" I pressed. "Even if she asks to be with you?"
"Of course not." His arm tightened around me. "As much as I owe her, my responsibility is to you. I won’t break the promise I made at your mother’s grave just to atone for my parents’ sins."
"Then it’s truly impossible?" I asked. "You’re never setting foot in that house again?"
Sebastian let out a heavy sigh and finally told me why the wound still wouldn’t close.
"Ever since I was a boy, my parents taught me to be righteous and generous. They taught me that an Alpha had to protect his people, uphold justice, and use his power responsibly. If someone wronged us, we were allowed to fight back, but we had to do it openly and within our laws. We were never supposed to hurt the innocent or let revenge control us. They always told me to keep a clean conscience, no matter what."
Sebastian lowered his eyes. His fingers curled against his knees, then slowly loosened.
"I grew up under that teaching, and I adored them. I’ve always been terrible at showing what I feel, but I loved them, and I believe they knew it." He paused, his throat working. "And how did it end? I found out the two people who raised me to be an honest man were capable of taking someone’s life. I can’t put into words how deeply that shattered me. The disappointment isn’t something I can just explain away."
His voice cracked on the last words. I thought back to that day again, when he’d locked Tiffany inside the study. In that moment I had felt the exact pain tearing through his heart.
Even hurting and betrayed as he was, he hadn’t wanted his little sister to carry the same burden. That was what he’d done as a brother, taking every precaution to shield her.
"Don’t torture yourself over it," I said gently. "One day all of this will just be an old memory. As time passes, we won’t even remember the things that hurt us this much."
I reached over and wrapped both my arms around him, holding on tight.
That was the whole reason people had two arms, wasn’t it. To hold the ones they loved. And right now, no words in the world could soothe his wounded heart better than this warm, silent embrace.