A Million Different Ways to Lose You (Horn Duet 2)

He stared out the window, his jaw locked, his hand clenched in a tight fist.

“Bear, can you please take us to the apartment?”

“Yes ma’am,” he answered, although only after his eyes connected with Sebastian’s in the rear view mirror, who gave his consent with a nod. Any illusion that I had choices was just that, a carefully orchestrated illusion.

Not a word was said the entire car ride home, nor in the elevator. As soon as we entered the apartment, he stormed into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of beer from the fridge. I threw my purse down on the couch, and watched him walk over to the wall of windows that overlooked the lake. The stiffness in his stride worried me.

Out the window, the sun hung low in a cloudless sky, the light reflecting off the water as gold crescents. The peace and tranquility of the view was in sharp contrast to what was about to transpire inside the apartment. He turned, one hand on his hip and the other clutching the bottle. Staring a hole through me, he said, “Start talking.”

My eyes narrowed. “I suggest you lose the attitude. I’m no longer one of your employees, darling. Snapping and barking at me won’t get you the results you want.”

Undeterred, he continued in the same tone. “Who the fuck was that?”

I breathed out a loud sigh of frustration. The ability to reason was beyond him when he was like this. “The man I was engaged to six years ago.”

He held his silence. His eyes alert in anticipation of what was to come, urging me to continue. I walked to the couch and slumped down in it, my elbows on my knees, my focus falling on my clasped hands. I picked at the nail bed of my thumb as I began telling him the story.

“I was eighteen when I saw him the first time on campus. What I didn’t know was that he was my father’s new teaching assistant––he was doing post doctoral work in political science. That was when my father was still head of the Political Science Department. Alek didn’t have any family left so my father kind of took him under his wing. He started spending a lot of time at the house…things just grew from there.” I braved a look at Sebastian’s face and found his attention riveted on me.

Holding his gaze, I continued. “We were engaged three years later. Then my father was…well, you know.” Looking away, I shrugged. “Anyway things started to escalate. The press followed us everywhere. It was a nuisance, especially on campus where Alek taught. He wanted to start over, move somewhere else.” I scoffed at the memory.

My mind lost focus, wandering back in time. I could still remember the acute shock I felt watching Alek get on that train, the disbelief that he was actually leaving me. The echo of a pain I thought long forgotten found its way into my heart. “There was no way I was leaving my father. So he suggested that he travel to Brussels and find us a place to live, a teaching position, while my father’s case was resolved…that was the last time we spoke, the last time I saw him before today.”

I didn’t have to guess what was going on in his head. Dark, blonde eyebrows lowered over eyes that resembled two burning slits. The tension of his muscles spoke volumes. “The son of a bitch abandoned you?”

“I thought so…” I couldn’t hold his gaze as I told him the rest of it. Because withholding any information from Sebastian was out of the question. He asked for my trust and I gave it to him without reserve. “He said he’s been looking for me for the past six years.”

“How fucking convenient,” he spat out snidely. The bitterness in his low growl prompted me to meet his gaze.

“How so?” I asked genuinely unaware of where this train of thought was headed.

“He magically turns up shortly after you and I get married?” At the still confused look on my face he continued. “You married a billionaire, Love––you can’t possibly be that naïve?”

The shock was plain on my face. “You think this is about money?”

“Everything is about money.”

My head was shaking before he finished his sentence. “No, no, Sebastian, it isn’t. Alek is an academic. He’s not motivated by money.” At this, Sebastian chuckled darkly and turned to face out the window.

“What else did he say?”

“Not much. I was in a state of shock. You showed up shortly afterwards.”

A heavy pause followed, weighed down by all the important things still left unsaid. I could feel him struggling to contain his emotions. His dissatisfaction with the conversation was palpable so I decided to squash any chance this had of festering into a serious wound.

“I’m glad I saw him.” With that, Sebastian spun around with a look of total wounded surprise on his face. Those expressive eyes of his followed every step I took to reach him. When I placed my hand on his chest, he flinched. Under my palm I could feel the heavy thumping of his heart, the heat burning through the fine cotton of his white shirt.