An Innocent, a Seduction, a Secret

Sebastio’s jaw was tight with irritation and frustration. He’d just seen off the last of his guests and was standing outside Edie’s bedroom door, yanking open his tie and loosening his shirt.

It didn’t help.

He couldn’t believe she’d just slipped out of that room with a flash of green silk, like some ethereal sprite. He couldn’t believe she’d defied him. But then she’d consistently confounded his expectations since he’d met her.

He knocked on the door and waited. No sound. His frustration levels increased. He opened the door, saying, ‘Edie...’ But the room was in darkness. She couldn’t be asleep already. He flicked on the light and saw the bed was neatly made up, and empty.

He cursed and closed the door. He went back downstairs and passed Matteo, who was busy organising getting all the temporary staff home. When Sebastio asked him if he’d seen Edie he mentioned the library.

Sebastio knew before he’d even stepped over the threshold that she was there. He felt the familiar prickling awareness over his skin. He walked into the dimly lit room and saw her. Her back was to him and she was looking out of the window. She looked incredibly slender, and something tugged on his memories, but it was too fleeting and vague to hold on to.

‘Just because you rejected me four years ago...’

Sebastio closed the door behind him and saw her tense when she heard the sound. She turned around slowly.

He folded his arms. ‘So, are you going to explain what you meant by that comment?’

* * *

He’d tracked her down. In spite of the vast space of the room, and the house around them, Edie had never felt more claustrophobic.

‘You shouldn’t leave your guests alone.’

‘They’ve all left.’

Edie frowned. ‘But it can’t be nine o’clock yet.’

‘Look outside.’

‘I... I was...’ She turned around again and gasped.

The world had turned white within minutes and the snowflakes were coming thick and fast. She shivered, even though she couldn’t feel the cold.

Sebastio stood beside her. ‘The weather office issued an emergency alert. The blizzard-like conditions they forecast for the weekend are hitting sooner than predicted. We felt it would be prudent to warn our guests so they could get home in time.’

Edie hadn’t even been aware of a weather alert. The house was like a luxurious cocoon.

‘Do you want a drink?’

Edie turned to see S

ebastio go over to a drinks cabinet. He took a crystal stopper out of a bottle and poured himself a measure of dark golden liquid.

She shook her head. ‘No, thank you.’

She wanted to leave, like those guests. But her feet were rooted to the spot. She was unable to take her eyes off the fluid movement of Sebastio’s body as he lifted the small glass and took a sip. His tie was undone and the top buttons of his shirt were open.

He came back over to where she was standing. ‘Well, Edie? What did you mean by what you said? Have we met before?’

Edie gulped and regretted not asking for a drink. She forced her gaze up to Sebastio’s. She couldn’t lie. He’d see through it in an instant. ‘Yes. We did meet. Briefly.’

His mouth tightened. ‘Yet apparently long enough for me to reject you?’

Edie wanted a hole to appear in the floor and swallow her whole. She paced away from Sebastio, unable to keep still.

Then she stopped and faced him. ‘It was at a nightclub in Edinburgh, four years ago. You’d just played a rugby match against Scotland.’

He frowned. ‘Yes... I remember that match. It was our last away match before—’ He stopped abruptly. His gaze narrowed on her. ‘What happened?’