Page 19 of Destined
“To be honest, Sebastian, I’m not sure I want to.”
The shocked expression on his face clearly showed he hadn’t been expecting her rather rude response. But surely, he couldn’t possibly have imagined he’d be welcome after what he’d done? Could he? She didn’t believe even he was that dense.
“Please, Serena. Just give me a moment of your time. Let me explain.”
“What’s there to explain? You walked away from me. And our—”
Serena’s eyes widened in horror as she realised what she had been about to reveal. Instinctively, she lifted a protective hand to her stomach. Sebastian’s eyes followed the movement of her hand, and too late it dawned on her what she’d done.Damn it!She watched as the colour drained out of his face. Slowly, his eyes came back to hers.
“It seems we have much to speak of. Much more than I thought.” Sebastian took a purposeful step forward, forcing Serena back, and in so doing allowing him access to her home. But she was too distraught to stop him.
Oh god! What have I done?She wished she could rewind the last minute of time and undo the damage, but since she couldn’t, she straightened her spine and turned to follow Sebastian into her living room.
“Is there something that you want to tell me,cara?”
“Why don’t we start with you, Sebastian? How about we start with where you’ve been the last weeks? Or maybe why you disappeared without so much as a goodbye? How about we start there, hmm?”
25
Sebastian
Sebastian regardedSerena with a stormy expression on his handsome face.Mio Dio. He had known it wouldn’t be easy to remedy the situation he’d created, but he’d not thought that Serena would be quite so bitter about the silence during his absence. Normally able to easily express himself, Sebastian found himself quite tongue-tied. Where to start? There were so many thoughts tumbling around in his brain he couldn’t think. He simply stared at her for long moments, trying to organise his thoughts.
The impatient tapping of a small foot caught his attention, and he couldn’t help but smile, despite the uncomfortable atmosphere. His Serena, always so impatient.
“I’m so glad you find this all so amusing. Personally, I see absolutely nothing amusing about this.”
“Sarcasm does not become you,bella.”
Sebastian watched as a blush stained her cheeks. Sighing, he rubbed a hand over the back of his neck.
“For heaven’s sake, Sebastian. Get on with it or get out. It’s late, and I have work in the morning.”
“I’m sorry.” He hadn’t intended to just blurt it out like that, but now that it was out in the open, Sebastian suddenly felt lighter than he had in months.
Serena quirked an eyebrow. “That’s it? You’re sorry?” She paused, apparently waiting for him to continue.
His brain stalled. He stood staring at her while internally debating where to start. Wherever he intended to start was taking too long for her though, as she continued, “I see. And that’s meant to make it all better? For heaven’s sake, Sebastian. I need more than just ‘I’m sorry.’ What happened? I don’t understand. I thought we were building a connection, that something was growing between us. Then you simply disappeared. What am I supposed to do with that?”
With another sigh, Sebastian replied, “I know. It’s that very connection that we were building that had me running scared, Serena. That’s what I’m apologising for. I’m sorry for walking away at the wrong moment. I’m sorry for never contacting you. I’m sorry for being too much of a coward!”
For a moment, Serena remained silent. Then she simply said, “Explain?”
Sighing deeply, Sebastian nodded. He’d known this moment was coming, he just hadn’t factored in how difficult it would be. Taking a seat on the couch, he pulled Serena down beside him.
“The night of the gala, I received a call from home. My sister was calling to tell me that our father was not much longer for this world, and I needed to come straight away. I came looking for you, but no one seemed to know where you were.”
When he paused, Serena merely nodded at him to continue.
“I left the gala and went straight to the airfield for the company plane to take me back to Italy to be with my father. I almost didn’t make it home in time, but being the stubborn old man that he was, my father hung on long enough for me to get there. He passed a short couple of hours after I got home.”
Just saying the words aloud still cut deep. He couldn’t believe that the larger-than-life father he’d loved was gone. Swallowing at the lump that had formed in his throat, he continued.
“The reading of the will and wrapping up what I could of his estate has taken all this time. I left when it reached a point that my presence was no longer required.”
Serena seemed to digest what he’d said for a moment before asking, “Why didn’t you ever call?” She sounded so cold. He’d never heard that tone in her voice before.
“Ah,cuore mio, I picked up the phone so many times, but in the end, I didn’t know what to say. After a few weeks had passed, it felt wrong to just simply pick up the phone as if no time had passed. I kept telling myself I would explain it all when I saw you in person. But I never foresaw this thing would drag on for so long.”
