She’d rubbed her breasts against his chest and licked at his lips with her tongue … and his arms had come around her, yanking her into him. His mouth had plundered hers and they made out like wild teenagers right there in the hall outside his father’s study. His tongue deep in her mouth, soft yearning sounds coming from her throat.
Yeah, it’d been two a.m. and they should have been safe. But his father had come downstairs to the kitchen at the moment Sebastian’s hand reached beneath her shirt. He’d been caught, palm over her breast, dick grinding against her, his mouth on hers.
He remembered his father’s yell, her mother coming running, words like statutory rape being flung around them. Next thing he knew, Ashley had been shipped off to boarding school abroad. She hadn’t returned. Not for summers or holidays. She’d chosen to stay with friends, and her mother, happy not to have a child to worry about, hadn’t cared. She’d even made sure Ashley’s boarding school was covered in her divorce agreement, ensuring she didn’t come home and disrupt her life.
“Sebastian!” Sierra elbowed him in his side. “Where did your mind go?” she asked him.
“It doesn’t matter,” he muttered, knowing that it did.
“I guess we should say hello.” Nudging him forward, Sierra walked over to Ethan and Ashley, Sebastian beside her.
“Ethan, are you doing okay?” Sierra asked.
“I’m hanging in there. Don’t worry about me.” Ethan managed a smile and Ashley squeezed his shoulder in a show of silent support.
Sierra glanced up at her. “Hi, Ashley.” His sister spoke quietly, with a hint of what might even be embarrassment.
She and Ashley, though the same age, hadn’t bonded during Ashley’s time at their home. In fact, Sierra had made it a point to exclude the newcomer, worried the pretty girl would be competition for her at home and at school, something she’d admitted later on and felt badly about after Ashley was gone.
“Hi, Sierra. It’s good to see you.” Ashley tipped her head in acknowledgment, her gaze then falling on his. “Sebastian,” she said coolly.
“Ashley.” Her name sounded rough in his throat. “I’m surprised to see you.”
“Ethan needed me,” she said simply, giving nothing of her relationship with his brother away.
It bothered him in ways he couldn’t define. The fact that she was here, back after all this time, her hand on his brother’s shoulder, their body language telling him their relationship wasn’t new.
“I didn’t know you two kept in touch,” Sebastian said, hands in the front pockets of his pants.
Ethan narrowed his gaze. “Not now,” he said, his tone prohibiting further conversation.
Sebastian narrowed his gaze. That was Ethan, all pronouncement and expecting everyone to fall in line. And though right now, he understood, Sebastian had questions he wanted answers to about the relationship he hadn’t known existed between Ethan and Ashley.
She seemed like a friend. A good, solid friend and nothing more, but it bothered him that Ethan had clearly been part of her life—and he hadn’t.
He drew a deep breath, knowing that his brother was right and that this wasn’t the time or the place for a confrontation. Discretion was important in this room full of people, so for propriety’s sake, Sebastian silently backed off, knowing it wasn’t the end of the conversation.
* * *
As the rest of the day passed, painful for everyone involved, Sebastian was acutely aware of Ashley standing by Ethan’s side, a strong presence, surprising Sebastian because, as was beginning to become a theme in his life, he’d been in the dark when it came to his own family.
Why hadn’t he known Ethan stayed in touch, had a relationship with Ashley after she’d gone? He hadn’t thought to ask, never considered why she didn’t come back, just accepted the way things were. Because he was a selfish ass, he thought, amazed now that he’d let things just go.
After the funeral, close family and friends returned to Ethan’s apartment, where his personal assistant had ordered in food and hired help to serve guests who came back. Hours passed, time during which they remembered Mandy and her smile, her sense of humor.
But finally, by the end of the evening, Ethan told them he wanted nothing more than to be alone. Guests began to file out. The servers left. And considering all the siblings lived in the same luxury high-rise building, it was easy for them to all go their separate ways and retire for the night.
All except for Ashley, who remained in Ethan’s apartment.
Aware of her presence on another floor of the building, keenly conscious of her closeness with his brother, the type and depth of the relationship unknown to him, Sebastian pulled out a bottle of Jack and indulged.
* * *
God, she’d kill for some chocolate, Ashley thought, after the last of the company left for the night. It was an indulgence she didn’t allow herself often, her mother’s words still ringing in her head. Healthy eating, healthy body. And though her mother had watched what she’d eaten because she wanted to look good for her man of the moment, Ashley had internalized her words. She rarely indulged in a chocolate treat because it reminded her of … Sebastian.