The Billionaire’s Betrothed(15)

Gazing out the window, I listened as Sebastian climbed into the driver's seat at my side.

"I am sorry." He repeated quietly, watching me.

I glanced at him, his face shrouded in the shadows of evening. I could see little but the blue glint of his eyes.

This time, I didn't bother with trying to find the right words to fit the situation. I was too worn out from that terrible dinner. It wasn't his fault that Sebastian's parents were snakes, after all, but just what was I getting myself into here?

Though I was so hungry, I had no appetite. I didn’t want anything but to fall into bed. I wasn’t sure whether my desire for a meal had been ruined by Karina’s temper or George’s coquetry. These people were crazy, and nothing but a hot mess.

They didn’t care about anything but money and their own selfish needs. Just how much of his personality did Sebastian have in common with them? Would he be an adulterer like his father or virulent like his mother?

I was marrying into this family, I was going to have to be around them all the time. Somehow, I’d have to learn to like them.

Would I turn into one of them as well? Thrashing people over caviar and champagne while Sebastian all but made love with his secretary beside me?

My bakery may have been saved, but it appeared as though my sanity was now on the line.





Chapter Eight





Sebastian Davis's home was as large and sprawling as I possible could have imagined.

Pulling up to the mansion was like approaching a giant hotel or something. He even had a valet. The building reached so high into the sky that I had to squint to look towards the roof, even in the darkness of twilight. It stretched out so wide that I could imagine a marathon being held within its walls.

I wondered what percentage of the manor Sebastian even got to see on a day to day basis.

I could do little but follow after him like a lost puppy as he guided me towards the room I would call my own.

"What do you think?" He asked politely as he lay a stack of towels on the foot of my huge bed.

The billionaire watched me carefully, afraid to fall short of the immaculate presentation of his wealth that he put forward. I felt as though I were filling out one of those comment cards for hospitality.

"It's lovely." I replied quickly, taking in the high white walls around me. A king bed sat in the center, scarlet silken sheets drawn back. A fireplace sat on the far side, where an illuminated fire shone orange light on the hearth.

I hadn't even gotten a chance to inspect the bathroom yet, but my whole body was aching for a bath. I needed some way to erase the tension of the day.

"Did Alissa tell you how the renovations on the bakery have come along?" I asked, running fingers over the plush of the gorgeous, emerald tone towels. It would feel like being wrapped up in a fluffy bear hug by a warm cloud.

"It'll be a week before they're finished." Sebastian shrugged, "So about the same time as our wedding."

I couldn't help but wonder if that was deliberate, to postpone my bakery being finished until after the vows. Was he concerned I would run out on him? Or perhaps Karina had something to do with that decision.

I bit back my bitter tongue, nodding instead, "Okay." I said simply, doing my best to show as little emotion on the matter as possible. I never knew when I was being tested by this family.

"You will be spending most of your time with Alissa for the next few days leading up to the wedding." Sebastian continued, heading back towards the door of my bedroom, "I've got work to attend to and you have...flowers or whatever to talk about."

"Goodnight." I mumbled quietly, listening as the bedroom door gently shut as the handsome billionaire left.

I didn't want to talk about 'flowers or whatever' with Alissa. I was dreading the wedding enough, and now I'd have to spend the next few days obsessing over it?

With a groan, I flopped onto the bed, not even in the mood to take a long hot bubble bath anymore. I didn't want to do anything but mope and pout my way through the night.

Fortunately enough for me, I didn't even make it that far.

Staring up at the vaulted ceiling, counting the different shadows that floated through the windows of the dark, I was swept away into the world of cozy darkness faster than I ever had been in my life.

The noisy rapping on my bedroom door came quicker than I would have liked the next morning, my tired eyes somehow managing to crack open once more.

"Who...what?" I grumbled, pulling myself upwards, my hair plastered against the side of my face.

For a second, sheer confusion overwhelmed my exhausted senses. I couldn't remember why I was in this fabulously amazing bed instead of my tiny cot. I couldn't remember why I wasn't in the bakery, listening to the chirping of the birds outside the thin windows.