Restless Billionaire (20 page)

 
          
‘I
saw you talking to Jacob.’

 
          
Sebastian
smiled ruefully. ‘You were right. We won’t be fine overnight but I think we’re
going to be OK. Jacob is home for good. He wants to renovate Wolfe Manor,
restore it to its former glory,
maybe
even sell it.
And I also found out that he was involved as a secret design consultant for
this hotel, which was my first. So in his own way he has been watching over me
from afar….’

 
          
Aneesa
put a hand to Sebastian’s jaw and felt the heady rasp of his stubble. Familiar
heat coiled through her and she said huskily, ‘I’m glad, Sebastian. I really
hope it does work out for you all….’

 
          
Sebastian
turned to face her fully, and with a slow intensity that made her toes curl he
drew her close and kissed her, his arms trapping her against his chest. When he
exerted a slight pressure so that she lay back down on the bed, she couldn’t
help the tiny moans of acquiescence and anticipation. He put his two hands on either
side of her and pulled away, looking down at her. He ran the back of his hand
down one hot cheek. ‘If it wasn’t for you I’d most likely be staring at the
bottom of an empty whisky bottle now and cursing everyone and everything around
me.’

 
          
She
blushed and bit her lip. ‘I did nothing except tell you what you already knew.’

 
          
His
face came closer and he pressed a sweet kiss to her mouth. He drew back. ‘It
was more than nothing, and
thank
you.’

 
          
Suddenly
breathless, she said, ‘You’re welcome.’

 
          
‘How
welcome?’ he growled with a dangerous gleam in his eye. Molten heat seeped
through Aneesa’s veins and she wondered a little desperately if she’d ever not
want him so badly. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him over
her, relishing the friction of his chest against her breasts.

 
          
‘
Very
welcome.’

 
          
Even
as he kissed her and ran his hands down her body, Aneesa was conscious of a
need to protect
herself
from the inevitable pain. And
yet, when she felt Sebastian’s hand travel up her bare leg under her dress, to
find where she ached for him with such telling wetness, she couldn’t
concentrate on anything but his touch.

 
          
Pulling
off her clothes first and then his own clothes with indecent haste, causing
buttons to pop off his shirt and Aneesa to giggle, he came back over her and
looked down into her eyes for a long moment. She was breathless, her naked
breasts crushed against his chest, his body between her legs. And then without
a word, he drew back and took her, with one cataclysmic thrust. So deeply that
she could have sworn he touched her heart.

 
          
They
didn’t speak a word, but Sebastian’s eyes never left hers, not even when she
splintered around him with a small keening cry, her back arched. He just pulled
one leg up, bending it back to that he could penetrate even deeper, and the
next time she came within the space of minutes, just before he did. Aneesa
couldn’t stop helpless emotional tears trickling down her cheeks.

 
          
Sebastian
just kissed them away, and turned them so that she was tucked into his chest
with his arms tight around her, their hearts beating unevenly. But she couldn’t
stop the silent tears falling because she knew she was indulging in the fantasy
that perhaps, just perhaps, this day and evening had marked a real change in
their relationship. And she knew she’d be a fool to hope for that.

 
          
Aneesa
woke at dawn to find
herself
alone in bed. Where
Sebastian had lain close behind her was still warm, and guiltily she rolled
back over and pressed her face into the pillow to breathe his distinctive scent
deep.

 
          
Just
then she heard a noise and looked up to see Sebastian emerge from the bathroom
with a towel slung around his lean waist. She flushed guiltily and had a moment
of déjà vu to when she’d woken after their night together in Mumbai.

 
          
‘Morning.’

 
          
‘Good
morning.’ Ridiculously she felt shy. Sebastian barely glanced at her and Aneesa
felt it like a slap in the face, after the intimacies they’d shared last night.
She had to repress an inexplicable shiver. She’d stupidly believed that possibly—
She
bit her lip and got out of the bed, drawing a hotel robe
on, not that Sebastian was even looking at her. He was too preoccupied with
something.

 
          
Even
as she was thinking that, he dropped the towel with an ease that she thought
she’d never get used to and started to get dressed, saying over his shoulder, ‘I
have some things to attend to this morning. My driver can drop you home
whenever you’re ready.’

 
          
Aneesa
bit back the urge to ask him what exactly he could have to attend to on a
Sunday morning. Last night and how intensely intimate it had felt trickled back
into her awareness. Not to mention the emotional turmoil of the day. An awful
suspicion settled into her belly like a cold weight. As it took root and grew,
she said faintly, ‘Don’t be silly, you obviously need the car. I can take a
taxi back to the apartment.’

 
          
Sebastian
just shrugged and said, ‘Whatever you want. I’ll wait for you and we can leave
together. I’ll be downstairs. I need to check that everything went OK last
night.’

 
          
Aneesa
mumbled something incoherent and got through her shower in record time. Within
a half an hour, hair still damp, she was downstairs wearing stretchy leggings
and a tight-fitting long T-shirt under her leather jacket. Sebastian was pacing
the lobby, looking like a beautiful caged panther, speaking on his mobile. When
he saw her with her bag he cut the call short and ushered her out. Hailing her
a cab he asked again if she was sure, and with her skin feeling clammy with
panic she just said yes.

 
          
The
awful familiarity of the pattern was all too obvious. Sebastian had opened up
to her, shown her something of
himself
and now he was
retreating behind those fortified brick walls again. She hated to find herself
thinking like a suspicious lover but she
was
.
He was so distracted he couldn’t even look her in the eye.

 
          
He
had to be seeking the habitual physical release he craved, except this time she
had the awful premonition that it would be with a woman, and not through
exercise. He must
be hating
the fact that she’d seen
so much, that he’d been in any way vulnerable with her.

 
          
He
barely waited till she was in the taxi before his own black tinted-window car
was pulling away. Feeling ridiculous but compelled by a force greater than she
could resist, she said to the driver, ‘I know this is going to sound a bit
silly but could you follow that car?’

 
          
The
driver winked at her in the mirror and said in a broad cockney accent, ‘I’ve
been waiting forever for someone to ask me that!’

 
          
And
with a none-too-discreet screech of tyres he executed an illegal U-turn and
followed Sebastian’s car.

 
          
They
seemed to drive forever, and Aneesa saw signs for Surrey pass them by. Even the
driver was getting concerned, asking her if she had any idea where he might be
going.

 
          
Aneesa
kept an eye on the metre and the money in her purse; as it was
,
she wouldn’t have the return fare into town now and if
Sebastian didn’t stop soon—Just as she thought that, his car slowed and she
begged the driver to keep back. The sleek black car stopped outside a pair of
ornate gates and there was a discreet sign on the wall that said
The Grange
.

 
          
A
house, a country house; it had to be.
Where his mistress
lived.
Feeling nauseous, Aneesa instructed the driver to stop in a
lay-by where she was just out of sight of Sebastian’s car. She paid him and got
out and watched him drive away. Feeling utterly ridiculous now, on wobbly legs
she walked around the corner of the hedge fully prepared to meet a locked gate
when she walked slap-bang into a solid wall of muscle.

 
          
Hard
hands held her, blue eyes as cold as ice blistered down into her shocked ones. ‘What
the
hell
do you think you’re playing
at following me in that cab like some character in a bad movie?’

 
          
Too
shocked to do anything but blurt out the truth, Aneesa just said, ‘I thought
you were going to meet a mistress or a lover so I followed you.’

 
          
Aneesa
could see the play of emotions cross his face and even a glint of humour. She
could deal with his anger better than pity. ‘Don’t laugh at me.’

 
          
Sebastian’s
face sobered and his hands became gentle on her arms. ‘And what exactly were
you planning on doing when you caught me with this mystery woman? Because
presumably you were going to wait until we were
in flagrante
…?’

 
          
Aneesa
shrugged but couldn’t look away. The absurdity of it all hit her now too, and
she said, ‘Claw her eyes out?’

 
          
Sebastian
just shook his head and said with a touch of weariness, ‘Well, if you’re so
determined to meet this mistress of mine, then you’d better come with me.’

 
          
He
took her bag, and Aneesa got into Sebastian’s car and they swept through the
gates and up a long drive. She was pretty sure there was no mistress now, but
she had no idea what to expect, until they approached a huge stately home and
she saw some people being pushed in wheelchairs by nurses in uniform.

 
          
They
didn’t stop there though; they kept going around the side of the house and down
a nearby lane, shaded by the branches of huge oak trees. Finally they drew up
outside a pretty cottage and a matronly woman opened the front door to greet
them.

 
          
Sebastian
came around to help her out of the car, and took her hand to lead her up to the
path. The woman waiting for them spoke with a broad Irish accent. ‘Sebastian!
She’s in good form today, looking forward to seeing you. She even got her hair
done this morning.’

 
          
Aneesa
followed Sebastian into a bright airy hallway and then into a sitting room
where she saw a beautifully preserved woman looking out the window. She couldn’t
have been more than about mid-fifties, Aneesa guessed, and could have passed
for even younger. The resemblance was striking even from her profile; it was
clear where Sebastian got his patrician features from, and his blue eyes.
His mother
.

 
          
She
turned as they came in, her whole face lighting up with joy.
‘Nathaniel,
darling!’

 
          
Sebastian
squeezed Aneesa’s hand as if to say,
Go
along with it
.
He let her go then to greet his mother. After a couple of minutes he pulled
Aneesa around to introduce her, and to Aneesa’s utter shock his mother took in
her small bump which was revealed by the tight-fitting top and declared, ‘You’re
pregnant!
But how wonderful, my dear.
Come and sit and
tell me all about it. I do so love being pregnant too!’

 
          
Aneesa’s
head was reeling after a very bizarre conversation with Carrie where she’d constantly
referred to Sebastian as Nathaniel, and seemed to believe she was pregnant as
well. Eventually Sebastian said he’d take her out for a walk, and Aneesa took
the hint and left them alone. The friendly Irish housekeeper came up to Aneesa
and they watched Sebastian and his mother in the distance through the window.

 
          
The
woman explained, ‘I’m actually a psychiatric nurse, but she thinks I’m a
housekeeper. I don’t know how Sebastian does it, but every two weeks like
clockwork he comes, and not once has she ever recognised him. He and his
brother bought this old Gate Lodge for her so that she would feel as if it were
her home. They thought it would be better for her than staying in the main
psychiatric facility at the house. Also, here she’s more protected, less chance
of staff leaking stories to the press. She has full-time round-the-clock care….’