Andin was not sure what had possessed her but she responded to every kiss, every touch, and her body burned with hot, tingling desire. A power boat speeding towards them from the misty reaches of the sea instantly awoke her from the trance in which his lovemaking had held her. Her eyes flew open and she gave a low shivering cry. Sebastian lifted his head, silently taking in her horrified, shamed expression, then a wry smile flickered over his face.
Without a word, he flung himself over onto his back, breathing hard, staring up at the halcyon blue of the sky that had almost the same color as his eyes. Sick, humiliated, and burning with self-contempt, Andin sat up and dived into the sea. Without thinking she swam back towards the beach. The last few moments had been a revelation to her. She had always been secretly aware that she was attracted to him and now she had to face the fact that he had power over her senses which made her despise herself.
As she walked back towards the changing booth but she saw a familiar, graceful figure dismounting from a low-slung, open-topped sports car, leaping over the door, disdaining to open it, the slim body tightly encased in very brief white shorts belted below the waist and a thin green top. Andin recognized him almost immediately. He was indeed the famous Roberto Capaldi. And by the exclamations and stares the man was receiving, half the beach population had recognized him too. Yet he seemed to be ignoring the interest he was causing as he flung back his blonde hair and sauntered along the promenade toward their hotel.
Andin glanced back at the sea and caught the sight of Sebastian's lying on the raft, his dark trunks and muscular body distantly visible.
"Mister Capaldi." Her voice came apologetically, her face flushed as she saw the looks she got from bystanders. She ran after him, barefoot, her wet hair flying back from her shoulders.
He glanced, a bored, irritated expression making his face look older than his actual age. As his eyes gazed at her figure, a new gleam came into the green eyes and he gave her a lazy smile. "I am sorry but I am not giving photos or autographs today." His thin, attractive face reflected amused interest. He had a faint Italian accent overlaid by years of traveling the world. Although he was in his early twenties, he had been a star for most of his adolescence and had acquired an international gloss.
"Um, no. I am not here for photos or autographs. Though I hope you will sign our contract," she gave him a pleasant smile the stuck her hand out. "I am Mister Sebastian Summers's secretary from Summers Entertainment. Are you on your way to our hotel to meet Mister Summers?"
Roberto blinked in surprise then smiled. "I am not," he replied with a smile. "I enjoy the hotel's private beach and since I know its owner, he allows me to use it. I came here to meet him, actually. But he can wait." His eyes were flatteringly approving of her red bikini. "What is your name, Sebastian Summers's secretary?"
"Andin Williams," she said, flushing slightly. "My boss is still out on that raft," she pointed behind him.
"Him, I also can wait to see," he dismissed. "Would you like to come with me for a drink, Andin?" His eyes gazed down at her body. "Unfortunately you will need to change. Though believe me, if it were up to me, I would say that you should always wear bikinis. With a body like yours, clothes would be a waste."
"Thank you, Sir. But I'm here for work," she said, trying not to sound stiff, remembering that Sebastian had brought her here to be friendly towards this conceited young man.
Roberto wrinkled his nose in disarming and amused recognition of her reaction. "Is that what you call work?" He held her wet hair around a finger. "You know, I have heard that Sebastian has a way with women. Now I can say that I approve of his taste. Though I did not agree with the last actress he was seeing, the one with big boobs. Paris or Tokyo Star, whatever her name is." He shrugged one shoulder. "One thing for sure, her name suits her well because both were visited by many people." He laughed at his own joke.
London, corrected Andin.
Although he was insolent and self-assured, his youth made him far less alarming than Sebastian, and Andin felt faintly touched by the swagger with which he carried off his blatant flattery. Despite his undoubted experience of life, he was still much younger than she was both in age and looks. He was slightly built, a thin boy, brash, vain but charming.
"Will you be coming to dinner tonight?" he asked after several moments.
"Yes," she replied while wondering how on earth she would disentangle her hair from his wandering fingers without being rude.
"We'll have to get to know each other better," he said, smiling at her. "After all, we soon will be partners should all go well."
"I suppose so." Andin leaned back slightly, hoping he would get the message and let go of her hair.
Yet he did not seem to notice as he leaned in towards her and whispered, "I would really like to get to know you. Up close and personal, Andin," he said directly, admiring her figure in a way that made her acutely self-conscious.
Then before she could answer or move a muscle, she heard a cool voice from behind her saying, "Hello, Roberto."
* * * * * * *
Sebastian watched her as she was swimming away to the shore, leaving him to deal with his frustration alone. He was not sure what was so wrong with them having something more than work. He could not make it more obvious how attracted he was to her and clearly, the feeling was reciprocated, judging by the way she had melted in her arms and responded to his kiss. Which left one frustrating question: why the hell had she kept on rejecting him?
If it was because he was her boss, that matter should be settled in two months' time. Plus, they were both adults — as long as they were both responsible and could separate business from pleasure, everything else should be fine.
His phone, which he had kept in the raft, rang and he checked the caller ID. It was Maxon, one of his younger siblings. He heavily sighed, then answered his call. "Yes?"
"Sebby!" His brother greeted him cheerfully. "I heard you're in Italy."
His lips set into a grim line as he regretted informing Clarabelle, their youngest sister, about this trip. She must have been the one to inform Maxon, despite their seven years difference in age, they were very tight and shared each other's secrets. While Sebastian, similar to their eldest brother Thornton, was not the sharing type. He was cold and distant yet there was absolutely nothing he would not do when it came to his family.
"Yes, I'm in Sicily now," he replied. "What is it? Do you need anything? I don't recall we own any restaurants here in Italy except those that are combined with the hotels."
Maxon Summers owned the F&B line of their family business. From packaged food in the supermarket to fancy restaurants and bars were handled by him. Max himself was an incredible chef and albeit having to handle all of these and their branches all over the globe, most of the time he could be found working on a new recipe in one of his three stars Michelin restaurants in Washington D.C.
"We don't," drawled Maxon. "But we do have a vineyard there."
"Right." Sebastian laid his back on the raft and closed his eyes. "So do you need me to go there and sign something on your behalf?"
"Nah, my call isn't about business, brother."
"Then what is it about?" A frown was forming on his forehead. "Don't tell me it's about pleasure," he teased.
Maxon sighed. "It's about Piers."
His eyes immediately flew open and he cursed at the burst of sunlight. "What happened? Is he alright?" Pushing himself with his elbow, he moved to a sitting position.
"Yeah, he just had this freaky accident in the bathroom but he is alright now. But you know how Mom is. She wants you to go down there and find him and make sure he really is alright. I told her you are there for business but she insisted by saying that you probably have some free time considering you also brought your girlfriend with you."
"In case you forgot, she also happened to be my secretary."
"Oh, I didn't forget. I told her that too but she still wants you to find Piers."
Sebastian took a deep breath to calm himself down. Even without her mother insisting on him to do so, he would find Piers if he knew that he had an accident — freaky or not. He did not need his mother telling him too, let alone insisting. He cared about his brother a lot despite what everyone chose to believe but not everyone showed their affection in the same way. Even though he did not tell his family how much he loved them like Clara or Maxon, he did love them in his own way. Yet sometimes even his family could not see that beyond his cold and hard exterior.
"I'll drop by his place. Tell Mom not to worry."
"Okay."
He expected his brother to hang up but Maxon did not and after a few several seconds, he cleared his throat then said, "Um, Tony wants to talk to you."
Sebastian placed his fingers on the bridge of his nose in between his eyes and gave himself a bit of massage. He knew what his eldest brother was going to say. It was pretty easy to guess because there were only two possibilities: one would be the expansion that they had been working on and the other one would be about Andin. And since Thornton was well aware that he was in Italy for work and the discussion about their expansion plan could be delayed, it was highly likely that he would talk about Andin. No doubt wanting to give some 'wise' advice. Sometimes Sebastian did not get it. It was his private life, it was his relationship with Andin. His family should be happy for him. His mother should be glad that she did not have to spend more effort and time on finding a woman for him to marry. Yet they had all gone judgmental and treated her with little respect.
"Sebastian," his brother greeted with no emotion but Sebastian had been used to it. After all, Thornton was very similar to himself in more ways than he would care to admit.
"Tony."
"I'll make this really quick and if you asked me, I actually don't want to do this. It's true that you're my brother but your personal life, especially when it comes to women, is none of my business. We both know I had my share of women too, especially after Ava cheated on me with that fucker Josh Dvorak," Thornton heavily sighed. "It's all in the past now and even though my marriage was saved three years ago so it did not exactly a failed marriage, Mom still thinks I should give you an advice nonetheless." His brother sighed again, clearly, he was not enjoying this. But again when it came to their mother, none of her children had any choice.
"Okay, let's hear it then."
Thornton cleared his throat. "I think you are being too fast this time, Sebastian. You just ended your relationship with that actress — I forgot her name, the one with big boobs."
"London Starr," Sebastian provided. Even though he had not exactly dated London. They had only been fucking and that alone would not suffice to be considered for a base of a lasting relationship.
"Yes, you just ended your relationship with London and now you're engaged? It seems to everyone that you're rushing your way to the altar. Is she with child?"
"No," he scoffed. If only his brother knew that they had not even had sex or were remotely close to that phase yet.
"Okay, then why do you race with time? You're only thirty-two years old."
Not race, Sebastian thought. He wanted to savor and revel in every bit of anticipation, then made amends with every bit of pleasure he knew was coming with Miss Williams. It was quite impossible to explain how he felt about her to Thornton or anyone else.
"You don't have to worry about me, Tony. As you said, I'm thirty-two this year. I'm not a child."
"Oh, trust me, brother, I have zero concern on this matter but the others, especially Mom, have."
Before Sebastian could form a reply, he heard his brother say, "Look, I had my heart broken and I know what a catastrophe it would be when one's marriage failed. My kids suffered from it. So as much as I don't want to get involved in your business, I can't stand aside and ignore it. Do you remember when I was going to marry Ava and everyone opposed it? I didn't listen to anyone and then she cheated on me. Yes, you may say that we have made amends and all is well now but that doesn't mean that I can let you go through the same thing I did. I can't ignore it while you get into another mess with a woman. Remember university? Long before you became the rake that you are now? Remember Hollie? You raced her off to bed the first night you met her, then spent the next four months finding out what a bitch she truly was. You're too fast on the draw, Seb. You were lucky that you weren't engaged to her. What if you were? What if you then realize that Andin is not meant for you?"
This was different. He could feel it. He had known Andin for nearly four years and even though it was not on a personal level, he still knew her personality and he did not like the way Thornton linked Andin to Hollie. They were two different people. Irritated by his big brother's criticism, he shot him a quelling glare. "Look who's talking?"
"Yes, I've done it, too," Thornton whipped back. "Taking what was there whenever I have felt the urge. No harm is done to willing parties. But great sex tapers off when you find you have gotten nothing in common and you are pulling against each other's interests. Like with you and Hollie. Tell me I am wrong and I'll shut up."
"When did this wisdom descend on you?" he asked. "You did say that you have zero concern as this is my private business."
His eldest brother sighed again. "Look, you said that Andin is important to you."
"She is." Sebastian had not realized how much he meant that until he had heard himself saying it.
"Then treat her right. Get to know her better. I know you'll throw the fact that she has been working for you for years now to my face," said Thornton before Sebastian had the chance to say the exact same thing. It seemed that they truly were similar and that his brother knew him all too well. "But before you do that, I should remind you that you only know her on a professional level. Talk to her more, open up so that she may open up to you. If let's say in a year, you say that you still want to marry her then I'll happily tell the rest of our family to shut the fuck up."
The usual agreement between them was forthcoming and Sebastian could not help but smile.
"Well noted, brother."
As soon as he ended the call, he went back to the beach. His brother was right and even though this whole engagement thing was just a ruse, he really did want to know Andin better and hopefully, he could convince her that they had a lot more in common than she thought. And maybe, just maybe, she would finally accept him.
Sebastian was walking on the beach with a smile as his blue eyes scanned his surrounding, searching for Andin. Yet when he finally found her, his smile left with no trace for he witnessed her talking to Roberto Capaldi. Keeping his eyes on them, especially on Roberto's hand on Andin's hair, he strode towards them. When he was close enough, he came to a halt and said his greeting.
"Hello, Roberto."