Chapter Eight- When He Sees Her Differently

Sebastian’s POV

Everything turned out so wrong.

She was supposed to remain invisible, silent, and calm. But somehow she rose above all that, calm but still resilient. I noticed it all, and it confused me, leaving me with one question:

Who exactly is Liora Bennett?

After all the pleasantries had been said at the dinner, we went back home, silent as always.

I glanced at her, but she was facing the window, the strapless dress showing off her smooth back. I liked the dress on her; even when I tried not to observe how it showed off her perfect figure, I still observed.

How come I hadn’t noticed all those?

There was nothing to say, not even a goodnight as we both went to our separate rooms.

Vivienne was fast asleep when I arrived. I preferred it to her constant chattering; I wasn’t in the mood for that tonight.

The next day was a lazy day at the office. I watched subtly as Liora interacted with the workers, her smile making her face brighten up.

Did I ever notice that she had such a beautiful smile?

My phone’s ringing dragged me out of my musings.

‘Hi babe,’ Vivienne’s voice rang loudly over the phone.

‘Hey,’ I sighed.

‘My cousins are participating in a golf tournament this afternoon at the golf field. Are you free? I was thinking we could go.’

‘I don’t know…’ I began to protest.

‘Pleaseee,’ I could picture her pouting at the other end. ‘It would kill me if we didn’t go together.’

‘Fine,’ I agreed after much persistence from her, and ended the call.

When it was almost time to meet up with Vivienne, I began to pack my things.

‘Going home?’

I looked up to see Liora standing by the door, her hazel eyes glinting at me with such innocence.

Inside me wanted to take her and claim that innocence all for myself.

Gosh! What was happening to me?

‘Vivienne’s at the polo club. I’m off to join her,’ I tore my gaze from her.

‘I love horses,’ she gave a toothy smile. ‘I used to ride them when I was younger.’

‘You can come with,’ those words left my mouth faster than my brain processed.

I watched her decide internally whether to accept or not, and something in me wanted to reach out and…

And what? I couldn’t stand these intrusive thoughts.

‘Or just go home,’ I waved her away impatiently.

‘I’ll come,’ she answered quickly. ‘I’ll make sure to be out of your way, I promise.’

I looked at her for a while before leaving the office, trying to ignore the feeling of her following me closely behind. Didn’t she know I wanted her always in my way and not out of it?

It was eating me up; I couldn’t stop stealing glances at her in the car, the scent of her fragrance filling my senses.

‘Your father took you horse riding when you were younger?’ I asked, turning my full attention to her.

‘Yes,’ she nodded. ‘He belonged to an association then, so he’d take me with him every Saturday and I’d end up in the stables with the horses.’

We didn’t say much, but I could sense she had more to say.

‘Is he going to be okay?’ She finally asked. ‘My father…’

‘I’m sure the doctors will do their best,’ I shrugged.

I didn’t know much about the health of the old man, but from the snippets dad dropped evey now and then, his prognosis wasn’t looking good. But I wasn’t going to tell her that. She didn’t need to have such bad news etched within her.

And I wasn’t going to see her hurt with any bad news again.

Once we reached the polo club, Vivienne raced down and kissed me. She barely spared a glance at Liora, but I could see the scorn on her face.

‘You brought her, Sebastian?’ She said with her teeth clenched.

I shrugged in response. Vivienne looked at me for a while, and I was sure she was about to pounce on me with questions but she didn’t.

She introduced me to both her male cousins, and we all sat down in the shade, watching a part-time game take place.

Liora sat beside one of the cousins and it wasn’t long before I could sense she wasn’t comfortable. I didn’t know why at first, but then I realized why: the bastard was trying to hit on her.

I tore my gaze from them and focused on Vivienne and the game, but I couldn’t ignore them. I kept glancing, and when he put his hands around her shoulder, my patience snapped.

‘Take your hands off her!’ I glowered at them.

Everyone went silent.

‘So-rry,’ the man apologized.

I watched him stand up and leave quietly, before settling my eyes on Liora.

She looked surprised; her bright eyes wide in askance.

‘Let’s go home,’ I gestured to her to stand up while I did the same.

We both left the club, leaving Vivienne to calm her cousins.

Later that night, I stood on the balcony in my bedroom when Vivienne joined me.

‘What is going on with you, Bastian?’ She glared at me under the moonlight.

‘I’m perfectly fine,’ I shrugged for the umpteenth time today.

‘Are you fucking her?’ There was no denying the anger in her tone.

‘Are you on your meds again?’ I arched a brow. ‘Because you sound like you are.’

She studied me for a while, her breathing ragged like a wounded lion.

‘If I find out that you are fucking her…’ She didn’t complete that sentence before she left.

I tried not to think about it; even the next morning when Liora and I sat in my office, going through some recent company reports, I tried so hard not to think about her.

But I couldn’t. She was close to me, she was here, everywhere. Even in my head. I looked at her surreptitiously, wondering if she knew how much she had gotten under my skin.

‘You look quite ravishing today, ma’am,’ a male worker had complimented her during lunch hours today and she smiled.

I felt like breaking something at that moment. I hated sharing what belonged to me. But since when did I feel Liora belonged to me?

‘There’s a meeting with the Forsters,’ Liora said while we were getting ready to leave for the day. ‘I’m sure you’d handle that yourself.’

‘You’re coming with me,’ I replied coolly, ‘as with any other meetings that we’d have after that.’

‘Why? You like attending some meetings alone,’ she pointed out.

I looked at her long and hard. ‘‘Because I don’t like the way other men look at you when you’re alone.’

Her eyes widened.

I straightened up, already turning away.

‘And I don’t like reminding people twice what’s mine.’