Page 41 of Overnight Inheritance

Instead of standing, Sarah rested her elbows on the table and cupped her chin with her two hands. “Why are you fighting so hard about this, Mae?”

“Because I think I might have a future with Sebastian,” she admitted, “and that’s not going to work if you two keep trying to sow seeds of doubt for the rest of my life.”

“You’re serious about him?” Heath asked, gaze unwavering.

Her gaze didn’t waver either. “I am.”

Heath’s eyes narrowed a fraction. “And you have enough faith in him that you’re willing to take us there, giving him no warning.”

“I believe in him,” she said simply. “He’s a good man.”

Heath pushed his chair back and stood. “Okay then.”

Sebastian rose from his chair and circled around his desk to see the photos his site surveyor, Lisandro, had opened on a tablet.

“This one,” Lisandro said, “lines up with the drawings.”

Sebastian nodded. “Send it to me.”

From the distance, he heard Mae’s voice floating down the hallway and he found himself smiling. She’d left before he’d woken this morning. He’d missed her being the first thing he saw more than he could have guessed.

“Lisandro, do you mind if we postpone this?” he said, straightening. “I need to check on something.”

Lisandro picked up the tablet, saw Mae come into Rosario’s office, and smothered a grin. “No problem.”

Seb had been catching various members of his staff giving similar reactions when Mae walked into the room, and he could hardly blame them. He was well aware that his expression changed when she was around. His whole being transformed whenever he saw her. Hell, whenever he even thought about her, his pulse picked up speed, and his heart swelled in his chest, as if she’d cast a spell over him.

After Lisandro left, Seb crossed to the door to greet Mae, only then realizing that she had her brother and aunt with her. The happy glow he’d felt ebbed away, replaced by caution. These two people were no fans of his.

“Good to see you all,” he said and stepped to the side of his doorway. “If you’re here to see me, you’d better come in.”

The three of them filed into his office. Mae came over and kissed his cheek, her dimples flashing. The other two seemed less pleased.

“Why does this feel like an ambush?” he asked, only half joking.

“Nothing nefarious,” she said, and her use of the word from previous conversations about secrets and cons put him on alert. She slid her hand into his. “We just dropped by because I’d like to see the file that your private investigators compiled about me.”

Mae was still smiling at him, but it was strained now, and the other two were wearing poker faces.

“Right now?” he asked.

She nodded. “If it’s no trouble.”

They were here about an outdated briefing file put together long before he’d met her by a team of private investigators who were no longer working the case? What did they think they were going to find? Hacked documents of national importance?

He cocked his head, trying to understand. “Why didn’t you just ask when you were here? Doing it this way feels like a test of some kind.”

“Does it?” Heath asked, eyes narrowed. “Is it a test you can pass?”

Seb looked from person to person, trying to read the situation. There was an undercurrent here that he was missing. He caught Mae’s eye. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”

Heath crossed his arms over his chest. “What is it with you always wanting to talk to people in private?”

“Heath, don’t,” Mae said to her brother, then turned back to Seb. “Of course.”

Unwilling to leave her suspicious family members alone in his office, he drew her down to the other end of the room. “What the hell is going on here, Mae?”

“Sorry,” she said, her shoulders slumping. “This is bigger than I’d intended—I sort of lost control of the situation along the way.”

---