Secrets (Sebastian Trilogy Book 1) by Rosen Janey

Author:Rosen, Janey [Rosen, Janey]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Limitless Publishing LLC
Published: 2015-05-19T07:00:00+00:00

Chapter 8

The sense of panic consumes me. My eyes snap open, sweat beads my top lip. Where am I?

“Hush, you had a nightmare, darling. It’s okay, you’re safe. You’re here with me in bed. It’s all over, Elizabeth,” he soothes.

My vision begins to clear, but the face of the woman in black haunts me still. I shudder and sit up, turning on the lamp on the nightstand. Blinking, my eyes adjust to the light and all is as it should be. I start to calm down. Sebastian is stroking my back, and yet I can’t shake off a feeling of foreboding. Folding me in his safe embrace, we nestle under the covers together until a more peaceful sleep eventually comes.

After a fitful night, the morning ushers in a languid start to the day. Sebastian brings mugs of coffee and we sit up against our feather pillows, drinking and chatting easily. I welcome the domesticity.

“Hungry?” Sebastian asks.

“Ravenous,” I reply.

He lifts his eyebrow and I know that wicked glint in his eye.

“For food. I’m hungry for food.” I laugh.

We are soon washed and dressed and making our way downstairs. On reaching the hall, I stop to retrieve my phone from my bag while Sebastian continues to the kitchen. I text my mother, telling her that I’m fine, to kiss the children for me. I’m missing them. There are no messages from Alan and I make a mental note to text him later, guilt besieging me.

In the kitchen the hired help is cracking eggs into a bowl, and I recognise her as the woman to whom I gave my business card previously. She smiles at me as I enter, but her smile seems disingenuous. The hairs prick on the back of my neck as realisation dawns on me that hers is the face of the woman in my nightmare.

Don’t be ridiculous, Beth. She was on your mind, that’s all.

“You must be Scarlett,” I say with a cheeriness I don’t feel. “We haven’t really been introduced.”

I hold out my hand and she shakes it lightly and returns to the eggs. She’s dressed in the black slim fitting dress again. I freeze. She’s wearing a black choker around her slim throat. Walking nearer to her so that I can see more closely, it’s apparent her band isn’t adorned with diamonds. Even so, it denotes the same amatory look as mine. Rage and resentment simmer inside me with the realisation that Sebastian dresses his staff as he does his lover. It’s bizarre, and in my opinion, unacceptable.

As I sit down on the hard pew opposite Sebastian, my mind tries to make sense of the relationship between them. Seeing her this morning, domestic goddess in his kitchen cooking breakfast, sharing the intimacy of his gift, just confirms my suspicions about their relationship. A knot deep in my belly tightens with the apparent affirmation that I’m sharing my perfect man. I feel used and stupid.

Sebastian is studying me, and when I look at him, he has a quizzical expression on his face.

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