CHAPTER 5: THE DINNER AND THE TRUTH

Sienna's POV

I sat opposite him at the dining table. The spread was extraordinary. Multiple courses, each one more beautiful than the last. There were plates with food I couldn't even name. Vegetables I had never seen before. Fish that looked like it had been caught that morning. Meat that probably cost more than a week of my salary.

Candles burned in the center of the table, casting a warm glow across the white tablecloth. Chefs stood at attention nearby, ready to serve or adjust anything at a moment's notice. It felt like dining in a five-star restaurant, except it was just the two of us. Just Sebastian and me, sitting across from each other like we were a real couple.

We ate in silence at first. The only sounds were the gentle clink of silverware against plates. The soft murmur of the chefs moving in the background. The city humming below us through the windows.

Then I looked up and caught Sebastian watching me. Not in a creepy way, but with an intensity that made me pause. Like he was studying me. Like he was trying to memorize everything about this moment.

"What's wrong?" I asked, confused by his stare.

He smiled and continued eating. "Nothing. It's just... I'm not used to this."

"Used to what?"

"Eating with someone. With a woman," he said, his voice thoughtful. "I'm usually so busy. No time for meals. No one to share them with. But now I have you. I have someone to eat with."

He held my eyes for several seconds, and I felt my cheeks warm. I quickly looked away and took a long drink of water, breaking the moment. His words were making me feel things I shouldn't feel. Things that had no place in a business arrangement.

"You should feel lucky then," I teased, trying to lighten the mood and get my racing heart under control.

"I'm more than lucky right now," he replied, still smiling in that way that made me question everything I thought I knew about him. About this situation. About why I had agreed to any of this.

We finished our meal, and I watched as the chefs efficiently cleared the table. They moved with the precision of people who had been trained for years. People who knew Sebastian's routines so well they didn't need instructions. Just a glance. Just a gesture.

Sebastian cleaned his hands with a napkin, the candlelight reflecting off his face, making him look almost vulnerable. Almost human. I found myself staring at him. This man who had been my ex-boyfriend's rival. This man who was now my husband in name only. This man who I was using to destroy the people who had destroyed me.

"So what are we discussing?" I asked, deciding to get straight to business. I needed to remember why I was here. I needed to remember that this was a transaction. Nothing more.

He leaned back in his chair, completely relaxed. Like he had all the time in the world. Like this dinner was the most important thing he had to do all day.

"Nothing too heavy, I promise. It's late, and I want you to get your beauty rest. We have an important day tomorrow," he said.

I nodded. "What's happening tomorrow?"

"My lawyer will be coming here. You don't need to worry about anything. He would just come here and acknowledge the agreement in the legal steps," he said calmly. "And tomorrow, we have dinner at my parents' place."

"Oh really?" I asked, smiling despite the nerves suddenly kicking in. Meeting his parents felt real. It felt like I was crossing a line from business arrangement to actual performance.

He nodded, his eyes holding mine. There was an expression in them I couldn't quite understand. Something complex. Something that looked almost like regret mixed with determination.

"Is there anything to prepare for?" I asked, trying to cast off whatever expression he had put on me.

"By tomorrow morning I will give you a list of what to say," he said. "My mum especially is so curious. I do not want her to know about this. About you being from the Rossi family."

"Yes, I also do not want that," I said firmly.

He tapped on the glass table with his fingers, the sound precise and deliberate.

"Alright, you get some sleep. Everything will be sorted tomorrow," he said.

I stood up after bidding him a good night. As soon as I got in front of the elevator, he called out to me.

"And Sienna," he said, his voice stopping me in my tracks. "About Dominic, I want you to not think about anything at all. You have my full support."

I smiled and thought about yesterday. Yesterday was the last day I was heartbroken about what that bastard had done to me. But this time, this was different. Now I had someone helping me.

"I know," I said.

Those two words were enough. As soon as I had enough resources to get what he had done to me out into the world, nothing would stop me. Not even my own feelings. Not even the way Sebastian looked at me across that candlelit table.

The elevator doors closed.

Sebastian's POV

I watched her as the elevator doors closed. The room became silent. Only the tapping of my finger on the table. The sound of my own breathing. The weight of what I was hiding from her.

I had to keep this from her. I could not possibly tell her that my father was involved in her parents' deaths. That would destroy all my plans. I was angry and furious at my father. I didn't even know how to call him and ask him directly.

But this was one thing at a time. I would get to the roots of this before telling her anything. I should not allow my plans that were already in ground be twisted right now.

Speaking of the devil, his number came in. My father. I stared at the name on the screen. DAD. Someone I had called dad for thirty-two years. Someone I held in high respect. Someone I had learned everything from about business and power and how to survive in this world.

That same man had been involved in a family death.

He was making things complicated for me.

I swiped right and answered.

"After dinner with your wife, I need you to meet some people," he said without preamble.

"Why?" I cut him short. "Why should I do as you say?"

There was silence at his end. Long silence. The kind that meant he was deciding how to respond.

"You will know tomorrow," he finally said.

I folded my hands into a fist, trying to control the anger rising in my chest.

"I have told you several times, I run my business on my own terms. I do not know why you are making meetings with people you have discussed with behind my back," I said, my voice cold.

"Listen, Sebastian," he cut me off. "This is not a thing to discuss on the phone. Someone within my circle said you are investigating The Castellanos. Someone came investigating."

I understood now. All the years of him making me stay away from investigating the Castellanos. All the warnings. All the subtle redirects. It wasn't because he wanted to protect me from a rival.

It was because he had something to hide.

I chuckled, and it came out bitter.

"It's late already. I have things to do," I finalized without giving him room for more of his talks.

I hung up on him.

Immediately, I dialed another number. One of the private investigators I had hired. The one who had just dropped the bomb about my father's involvement.

"I need the copy of the documents that my father signed on the Rossi incident," I said as soon as he answered. "Everything. Every transaction. Every authorization. Every signature. I need proof."

"Sir, are you sure about this?" the investigator asked.

"I have never been more sure about anything in my entire life," I replied.

After I hung up, I sat alone in the dining room with the candles still burning. Sienna was upstairs in her room, probably already getting ready for bed. She had no idea what I was hiding. No idea that the man she was learning to trust had a father just as guilty as Dominic's.

No idea that when she found out, it would destroy everything between us.

Because I was lying to her. Every moment. Every smile. And the worst part was that I didn't know if I could stop.