Page 1 of Bound to Him

Chapter One

“Go to hell!”

Sebastian could have ducked the glass of wine heading his way, but it seemed even more undignified than taking a merlot to the face. He blinked rapidly to clear his vision, then used his napkin to wipe his skin while his latest ex-paramour stormed out of the restaurant. Despite his outrage over being dumped, the man had managed to snatch up the Patek Philippe watch Sebastian had given him as a break-up present as he’d left. That was a relief because an expensive parting gift was the one thing that helped him through the difficult, yet inevitable, ending of a relationship. He did try to warn them that he wasn’t looking for a permanent coupling. Somehow they never believed him, always sure they would be different than those that had come before them. Part of him hoped each time that he would be wrong, that this time he’d find a man to partner with for the rest of their lives. Reality kept intruding on that fond wish, however. He simply couldn’t make himself love someone merely to tick that getting-married box in his life in order to please his parents and even Christ, the whole of society. Only children of old, wealthy families were supposed to carry on with the next generation.

He gave the anxious maître d’ hovering nearby an easy smile. “I’ll take the check, please.” With that, he ignored the staring of the restaurant’s other patrons and finished his own glass of wine. Sadly, his chocolate souffle was a complete loss. He really should wait until dessert was over before issuing his boyfriends their walking papers. Not to mention that he should pick somewhere other than his favorite restaurant to do the deed.

Sebastian tossed down his black card to pay for his own public rebuke, then walked out to the parking valet without a bit of self-consciousness. One of the benefits of being an Endicott was that he’d been raised to believe he was socially untouchable. Sure, there would be pictures and gossip about the scene up on the internet already. He made news—both in business and in his private life. None of it mattered to him. He had no social media presence himself. The idea of putting one’s daily life on display was too vulgar for words. In that, he and his parents agreed. Still, he knew they would find out and he’d be subjected to quiet disappointment at the family’s Sunday brunch.

Can’t be helped.

The valet didn’t have to be told to bring Sebastian’s Aston Martin around. This was one of his favorite haunts for a quiet and exquisite meal. He slipped the man a hundred dollars because being generous with others in the lower economic classes was easy to do. And he was acutely aware of how much his fortune had grown in the last few years as the vast majority of others had decreased. The world had never been fair and even after progress had been made in making people’s lives better, it somehow had gotten worse again. He was lucky to come from multigenerational wealth. The least he could do was help where he could.

The Boston spring night was brisk and refreshing, notwithstanding his wet clothing. He lowered his window for a few moments to take in the air before sealing himself back up in the luxury of his car. Traffic was still heavy in the early evening hours, so his tremendous horsepower was wasted as he inched his way back to his home in Louisburg Square. To pass the time, he spoke to his phone.

“Call Milo.”

His friend picked up on the third ring. “What kind of wine did he throw in your face?”

Sebastian smiled at his old friend’s greeting, made with that slow, southern drawl a Harvard education and subsequent years living in Boston hadn’t whipped out of him. “Merlot.”

“Damn, son. You can kiss that jacket and shirt goodbye. When are you going to learn to do break-ups by text?”

“That would be exceedingly rude and cowardly. And I have lots of clothes. I can afford to lose a few.” He had, too. Somehow the idea of breaking up with his lovers in a public setting had become a habit. It rarely led to a gentle uncoupling. There was always some kind of drama to deal with, angry words sometimes following a bit of pleading was to be expected, although the wine-tossing was relatively rare. “Anyway, it’s done.” He sighed. “I think I’m getting worse at relationships, not better.”

“That’s because you have a terrible work-life balance. Endicott Global isn’t going to go under if you work less than ninety hours a week, you know. Prioritize having a family life like I have.”

Sebastian pictured his highly successful friend with a wife and one point five children. No, more like one point seven given that Daphne was due in a couple of months. It was impressive how the man juggled it all, even with a legion of servants to help out. Sebastian was good at multitasking, so the level of difficulty wasn’t what held him back. He just couldn’t quite see himself being domesticated. The truth was, none of the men he’d been involved with ever had inspired him to forge a family. That was true of both the men he’d picked out himself and the ones his mother had engineered to cross his path. “Now you sound like my mother. She acts like my unmarried state is an affront to my storied family and as if taking a husband is like choosing a portfolio—pick one that looks like it will yield the best results. Anyway, I like working. It yields tangible results, which feeds my insatiable ego. And I’m terribly selfish, as you know.”

Milo sighed heavily over the phone. “What I know is that you like to fuck strings-free. Honestly, I don’t know why you bother going the boyfriend route at all. You suck at relationships, too, always using money to build and keep that connection. It’s doomed to fail. Affection and loyalty are things you give and receive freely, not pay for. You can’t build a family like you do a company.”

That idea made him laugh. “Have you met my parents?” As far as he could tell over the thirty-three years he’d been alive, James and Gloria Howard Endicott’s entire marriage was based on carefully negotiated business terms with no emotional intimacy.

“Yes, I have, and how do we feel about their relationship?”

Sebastian rolled his eyes. Milo had gotten that couple’s number the first time he’d visited from college. Being a self-made man raised in one of the shrinking number of middle-class families in the country, he’d been unimpressed with how wealth and status had overtaken true love and devotion. Sebastian hadn’t needed to be told what his family was like, but he didn’t have any illusions that he would lead a more noble life.

“They’re no one to emulate, I agree. That’s why I don’t lead anyone on to believe there is a future with me. I will not replicate their commercial transaction. All I want is companionship and sex on my terms. Is that too much to expect?” Even as he asked the mostly rhetorical question, he knew he couldn’t have what he wanted.

Milo blew out a breath. “You know what you’re really asking for, right? A slave.”

Sebastian barked out a laugh as he pulled into his privately owned parking spot in front of his home. This kind of convenience in this part of Boston screamed out his privilege as few things did. “No, I’m not.” Well, maybe. He frowned, put his car into park and simply sat, thinking about it.

Even ten years ago, the idea of buying another human being for services would have been both appalling and illegal. Times had changed. With such a large portion of the population drowning in debt, creative solutions had been implemented. Indentured servitude had once more become a means of working off money problems. He knew quite a few people who had taken advantage of the new source of labor because it was cheaper in the long run than hiring employees. The laws governing employment were protective, far more so than the few encoded into the indenture laws. While he didn’t know for sure, he imagined abuse was rampant because human beings sucked and did terrible things to each other no matter the rules.

I’m not like that.

“Seb? I can hear the wheels turning in your head. Tell me you are not thinking of buying a sex slave.”

Sebastian winced. “It wouldn’t be that, exactly.”

“Are you fucking serious? You’re thinking of buying someone to be your toy in and out of bed so you don’t have to deal with messy emotions and obligations. What would you call that?”

Sebastian lay his head back on the plush seat of his car. He was living with unparalleled opulence. Would it be so bad to bring someone into this type of life for a short while? After all, sex was a sporadic activity. The person he acquired could spend their downtime however they liked. Sebastian had the means to shower them with clothing and presents to occupy their time. His home was like an adult amusement park, too. There was no luxury he hadn’t obtained for himself and he was always happy to share with others. Wouldn’t that be a fair trade off? “I’d be good to him and make sure he left me better off financially than he’d come to me.”

“Oh sure, you’ll give him a watch, and that makes it all better?”

“Well, I was thinking more like a condo and a car.”

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