Rose of Thorne (16 page)

I notice the car l
ights illuminating the window and use the opportunity to avoid answering my sister’s inquiry on Lucas. Hurriedly, I grab my coat and tell my sister and her boyfriend goodbye.

Sebastian looks startled as he takes me in.
For a minute, I feel paranoid, and I glance back down to my dress.

Why is he staring at me like that?
Does he hate my outfit? Is he afraid I will embarrass him or something?

Sebastian
looks magnificent in his designer black suit. He has opted out of wearing a tie, and his crisp gray shirt lies perfectly against his broad chest. He rushes to open the door for me, and I catch his eyes before I sit in the car. His look is filled with much more than I am prepared for. I feel my body light on fire with desire at the way he is staring down at my legs. I tuck them inside his Porsche and he closes my door, hesitating for a moment before sliding back around into the driver’s side. Silence fills the car for the entire twenty minute drive to the restaurant, causing me to anxiously fidget in the passenger seat. Several times, I try to speak, but instead I continue staring up at the bright moon that glows overhead.

Once we arrive at the restaurant
, the valet attendant opens the car door for me, and Sebastian tosses him his keys. Trying to remain professional, I grab my binder and jacket, and allow Sebastian to lead me inside the restaurant.

The meeting over dinner
goes extraordinarily well and the two older gentlemen sign their contracts with Sebastian’s company. I am too busy taking notes and scheduling appointments that I don’t have time to be nervous about being here with him tonight. It isn’t until the clients have left that the butterflies come to life in my stomach. I assume that he will be ready to leave immediately after the clients, but instead, he takes my hand and begins tracing his fingertips against my palm. The feel of his skin on mine makes me tremble, and I immediately crave more.

“You look incredible tonight, Skylar.
I think the clients were quite smitten with you. Not that any man in this room isn’t under your spell tonight.”

I’m taken back by his words
, and feel the blush fill my cheeks.

“Thank you,” I manage shyly back at him.

“I know this has been hard for you, Skylar; however, you must understand that it’s been torture for me as well. Seeing you every day proves to be more challenging than I had ever thought possible.”

“I know and
I’m sorry, Seb… Mr. Thorne. I am very appreciative of you allowing me to complete the internship and of everything you have done for me. I really can’t thank you enough.”

“I know how you can thank me properly
,” he says and I instantly become enraged by his audacity. How can he insinuate that I should sleep with him to thank him?

I am so pissed at the moment that I can’t form words to fire back at him.

“Mr. Thorne, I can’t–,” His smooth voice cuts off my words.

“Dance with me
, Skylar. I want you to dance with me,” he says softly and I blink at him in confusion. He stands and takes my hand, leading me to the dance floor. Gentle music of Paul McCartney’s
Valentine
is playing, and Sebastian pulls me against him. I inhale his glorious spicy scent and hold on to him for dear life. Gently he sways us to the hypnotic rhythm, and I can’t help but admire his dancing ability.

For the rest of the song
, I close my eyes and imagine that we are in a different world. A world in which I am his, and he is mine. When the music stops, and another song begins, I look up to find him transfixed on my face. Everything in my body grows warm and I am begging with my eyes for him to kiss me. He swallows hard as he lays a sweet gentle swipe with his lips across my mouth. It elicits an involuntary moan from my body and I run my fingers into his ebony hair. He growls in return and then crashes his lips to mine. Our tongues move frantically together as he gently sucks and bites on my lower lip. His hands are in my hair and I find that we are still slowly dancing to the music as we continue devouring each other’s mouths. I am positive that people are staring at us, but I don’t care. Right now, it is just us and the rest of the world can wait. 

Oh
, how I have missed him. I want him with every fiber of my body and I wouldn’t care if he rips the dress off me and takes me right here on the dance floor.

When we finally com
e up for air, which is quite a while and several songs later, he smiles down at me and I wrap my arms around him and hold on tightly.

I don’t want him to let me go.
Please, don’t make me let him go.

An hour later
Sebastian leads me off the floor and we gather our things in silence. After he helps me with my coat he has the valet pull the car around to the front. He holds my hand the entire way home and caresses it in gentle circles. When we arrive at my house he opens my car door and walks me to my front porch.

“Thank you for a wonderful night,” I man
age and quickly look away.

“Skylar…
I… please, when it’s just us don’t call me Mr. Thorne, okay? I’ll always be Sebastian to you.”

I nod as I turn to go inside, but he grabs my hand and squeezes it.
There is so much I want him to say… so much I want to say.

”I’ll see you tomorrow
, Skylar. Sleep well,” he says and turns toward his car.

I head inside to find Sophie asleep on the couch with her head on Rylan’s shoulder.
He smiles at me and holds his finger up to his mouth. I laugh when I see the pool of drool that she has left on his shirt. Thing is, Rylan doesn’t seem to even care. He just smiles at her adoringly and for a minute I am overcome with the desire to have this with Sebastian. I am so happy my sister has someone who obviously loves her, but I pray that one day I will have this too.

Yes
, I really was a sad girl to be envious of my eighteen year old sister and her boyfriend.

Rylan kisses
her goodbye on her on the forehead and I pull a blanket over her. I should wake her, but she looks so comfortable that I let her lay there for the night.

I slip out
of Kylie’s dress and hang it on the outside of the closet door before getting ready for bed. Since it’s obvious that I won’t be sleeping tonight I pull out my library book and begin reading. My thoughts keep going to Sebastian and the way he held me tonight. I don’t know how this will be for us tomorrow at work so I have planned on playing it cool and calm. When sleep finally finds me, sweet dreams of Sebastian fill my head. For the first time in weeks, I don’t have any nightmares… but something tells me that I am heading straight into one.

Sebastian

My phone rings around midnight and displays Harrison’s number.

“Mr. Thorne,
I have the information you requested. I’ve discovered the identity of the Trevor individual you were asking about and I feel the information I have is something you need to see immediately.”

“Can you meet now?” I ask him anxiously.

“Yes, sir. I am on my way.”

It is n
ow two hours later and I wish to fuck I could forget all of the horror he had told me. I am sitting on my couch yanking furiously at my hair as I try to calm my raging anger. Pictures of my beautiful girl beaten almost to her death are now spread across my living room table. Each one is more gruesome than the next. Harrison discovered that “Trevor” is Trevor Rose, her forty-five year old uncle. The investigation reveals Trevor’s mile long record and shows that he still has warrants out for his arrest in several other states. He managed to evade capture the night that he assaulted her, and I shiver at the thought of him ever returning here to hurt her again. According to the police report, he had stolen more than $100,000 of life insurance money from her. Tears fill my eyes when I think about her having to go through this horror… all because of me.

It is perfectly clear what I must do.
There is no way I will risk him ever getting near her again. While Harrison was here earlier, he informed me that there is a major lead on Trevor’s whereabouts. Right now, my jet is being fueled and we will be boarding it before the sun comes up. I will find this motherfucker, and when I do, He. Is. Dead. DEAD! I have more than enough money for people to take care of the problem for me, but he is mine.

As I sit peering out at the rising sun
, my thoughts drift to my beautiful girl. She will never understand just how much she means to me or how hard it is to know that I caused her all the pain and suffering she has lived through. I hope she is sleeping peacefully right now and I will do everything in my power on this trip to make sure she never has to fear this fucker ever again.

We
have just landed in New Orleans to meet with Harrison’s contact, so I take the opportunity to send Skylar a message to let her know that I will be out of town indefinitely on business. I will make damn certain that she will never know about any of this, but I will make even more damn certain that this son of a bitch never touches her again.

We stay in
New Orleans for three days following up on lead after lead, but every single one of them is a dead end. Trevor seems to have been tipped off by someone and we are always two steps behind him. Harrison assures me that he will continue the extensive search on him, but I can’t help but feel outraged. I will stop at nothing until I have my bare hands wrapped around his throat, and watch him take his last breath.

I
am relieved it is only a week before Christmas so we can get this damn holiday over with. The greed of the nation pisses me off and people seem to be all about the receiving part and not so much about the giving. I may be an arrogant son of a bitch, but I am a damn generous one.

Normally I don’t shop
because I don’t have anyone to buy for. I give all my employees a nice bonus and always give Sara a nice certificate somewhere, but that’s as far as it goes. But this year… this year I want to give Skylar something special. She doesn’t know it, but I have already paid off her student loans, along with all the medical bills that she is still paying. She deserves something special and I can’t wait to give it to her.

Sara calls to update me on Charles’ condition and says that she will
be able to return after Christmas. I am both relieved and saddened by this news. On one hand, this means that I won’t be working so closely with Skylar, and on the other, it means that I won’t have to hold back my feelings when I am near her. Right now, I just need to get through the annual Christmas party, and then things will resume as normal… or at least that’s what I am hoping.

Skylar

I don’t like this time of year. Christmas used to be my favorite holiday, but that was when I still had everyone I loved here to share it with. I’ve tried to make damn sure that Sophie always has a decent one, but I do it with the biggest fake smile and a lack of true Christmas cheer. My mom and dad always made such a big deal about Christmas. We would decorate every square inch of our house and front yard in décor and colorful lights. I never cared whether or not it looked tacky or stupid. I just loved the way it all glistened when we sat in front of the tree at night drinking our hot chocolate together.

Now
adays, I manage to put up a small tree with a few lights and ornaments, but that’s it. I am not one to get all giddy, and hang on to every possible holiday moment. I always put it up late and take it down immediately after Christmas. People are horrible this time of year, and it disgusts me how they so easily forgot the true meaning of Christmas. As much as I have struggled over the years to make sure Sophie has a good one, I know that there are people out there who need a place to lay their head and food to eat. I have always felt blessed that at least we have that, even when it feels like we have nothing at all.

Over th
e years, I have sold things, worked overtime, and budgeted like crazy to make sure that she has at least a few nice things to open. My present is just the smile on her face Christmas morning. I still love seeing that excited face even though she is now practically grown. This year things have been easier and I’ve managed to put back enough to buy her the new leather jacket and boots she is so in love with at the mall.

The moment she stopped believing in
Santa, I had come up with the idea of doing a fun scavenger hunt around our house. I always have such fun coming up with crazy new clues and sending her searching all over the place for her gifts. I mischievously plan to make her search long and hard this year for her stuff, and when she finally does locate all of her presents, she will simply flip out!

I
’ve bought Marie a gift certificate to a popular salon for a manicure and a pedicure, and Kylie’s parents a certificate to their favorite restaurant. Kylie will be thrilled with the concert tickets I purchased for her. She was so upset that they sold out before she had a chance to buy any. This year, I’ve bought Sara a really pretty cameo that I found at an antique shop. She is so wonderful to me, and I wanted to give her something to show my appreciation.

This leads me to the hardest person I have on my list…
Sebastian. I want to give him something that shows him just how much I appreciate him, but what do you get the man who has everything and also has enough money to buy anything he desires? That has been a damn good question and I only hope that I managed to hit it on the mark.

As I finish
taping the bow on Sebastian’s gift, I stare at it for a few moments. I remember him talking about losing his mother at such a young age. He told me about walking along with his mother while they fed the ducks in the pond beside their house. It’s evident how much he loves her, and you can see the pain that still lingers from her absence. For his gift, I chose to bring the image to life. When I finished sketching it, I place it in a special frame. I know it wasn’t much, but I hope I have done his childhood memory justice, and that he doesn’t completely hate it.

The annual
work Christmas party is tonight, and I know I won’t see him again until after the holidays. He has been so generous to everyone at Thorne Enterprises, giving us all nice Christmas bonus. I am thrilled at being included in this since I am only an intern there; that bonus has helped me more than he will ever know.

I am wearing
the new red silk wrap dress that Kylie gave me as an early Christmas present, and I pair it with my knee-high, black stiletto boots. I pin my curls up, and spend extra time on my makeup. Maybe it’s pointless, but I want to look extra nice tonight. I place my gifts in the car and head to Thorne Enterprises for the party.

Laughter and music fill the air as I enter the room. I hand
the attendant my coat and head to the large banquet hall on the lower level. I spot Sara immediately, and make my way through the crowd to her. When I reach her, she gives me a huge hug and a kiss on my cheek. Charles is now doing very well, and I am happy that she will be returning to work after Christmas. Sadly, this means that I will no longer be working closely with Sebastian, but maybe that is for the best.

She absolutely loves
her cameo, and even cries when I pin it on her blouse. She surprises me with a beautiful leather satchel with my initials engraved on the front. I insist that it is too much, but she waves me off and tells me that I am being silly.

“Now, you wil
l take the world on in style,” she says and I immediately throw my arms around her neck. We eat a bite and mingle with others that work in our building, and she introduces me to several people that I have never met. It blows my mind to know just how many people work in our building. Sebastian finally emerges about an hour into the party, but seems to disappear as soon as he appears.

I feel
it will be best if I leave his gift on his desk before I go home. I make my way up to our office floor and down the long hallway to his office. It’s massive, and although the lights are out, the illumination of the city twinkles through the glass behind his desk. I place his gift and card in the center of the large desk and make my way over to admire the glowing lights of the city. I will never tire of this incredible view.

The sound of the door opening
behind me startles me so much that I nearly jump out of my skin. I can feel him before I even turn and see his gorgeous face. He never bothers to turn the light on as he moves toward me.

“What are you doing in here?” Sebastian asks me
softly.

“I
am, um… I was leaving you a gift on your desk. The lights distracted me. I’m sorry. I’ll leave now,” I say embarrassed.

“No,
don’t go, Skylar. I…” he stammers as he runs his hands through his thick dark hair. “I have something for you too.”

He opens his jacket and pulls a long red box from his inner pocket.

“Merry
Christmas, Skylar,” he whispers, and then hands me the box.

“No, Sebastian.
I can’t accept that. You have already done so much for me as it is.”

“Skylar, I did th
is because I wanted to. Please, take it and open it.”

Hesitantly, I take the gift from him and r
emove the beautiful silver bow. When I open the red velvet box, I find a stunning turquoise diamond necklace. As I stare down at the incredible piece of jewelry in my hand, I am completely speechless.