Only The Beginning

Mona’s POV:

  

  "This is what you wanted, isn't it?"

  

  Sebastian's voice broke through my thoughts as I stood just in front of Kade's room, the muffled argument between Kade and Keisha still filtering through the door.

  

  I didn't turn to look at him. At least, not yet. 

  

  I was still dying from embarrassment after he had seen me inserting a candle into myself—pleasuring myself—from across his room. So I just kept staring at the door, pretending I hadn't heard him.

  

  But he spoke again.

  

  "Whatever you think you're doing isn't going to work, Mona," he continued. “I saw you last night.”

I swallowed. Hard.

My cheeks flushed so hard in embarassment, I just wanted the ground to swallow me whole.

“So Mona,” he continued. “If you think trying to make me jealous by being all over my son is going to work, then think again."

  

  It was his last words that made me finally turn to face him, my face dropping into fake shock as I let out a sarcastic laugh, masking my initial embarrassment. I couldn't let him feel that this whole thing with Kade revolved around him—even if it probably did.

  

  "All over your son?" I burst into mocking laughter. "Make you jealous?"

  

  He didn't reply. He just stood there, still fuming, his eyes locked on mine.

  

  "You really think this is all about you, don't you?" I continued, feigning a confidence I didn't even know I had. "Let me remind you, Mr. Sebastian,  only reason I'm forced to be in the same vicinity as you is because of Keisha's wedding, and that's it. In your words, whatever happened between us was a one-night thing. So whatever decides to go on between me and Kade shouldn't bother you so much. Should it?"

  

  He raised his finger in a warning manner, still fuming.

  

  "You're going to regret this, Mona." His finger pointed at me. "And when you do—"

  

  "Oh please, Sebastian—" I cut him off. I could see now that this whole Kade situation was indeed getting to him, so I decided to take advantage.

  

  "That's Alpha Sebastian to you, little wolf.” He immediately corrected me, emphasizing the title, his voice low. “And you’d do well to remember it.”

  

  I smiled cunningly, throwing the emphasis back at him in a mocking tone. "There's only one person in regret right now, ‘Alpha Sebastian’ and it's definitely not me."

  

  The moment I said that, his fingers curled into a fist—clenching even tighter than when he'd been arguing with Kade. His jaw was so tight you could see the tension through the skin of his jawline. Whatever I'd said had provoked him even more, and to be honest, I didn't know whether to be worried or not.

  

  If he couldn't stand seeing me with Kade so much, why couldn't he just acknowledge the chemistry we had?

  

  He exhaled hard one last time and squinted, looking at me in silence for a moment. Whether it was regret over what he had said or regret over ever meeting me in the first place, I couldn't tell. But one thing was sure—he was pissed.

  

  With one final hard exhale, he turned his back on me and stormed off. The heavy thud of his boots against the hallway floor nearly vibrated with each step. I watched him leave until he was no longer in sight.

  

  Something wasn't adding up with Sebastian, but I couldn't quite tell what. 

The way he’d looked at me, it wasn’t just anger. There was something underneath it..something that looked almost like..pain.

  

  I stood there for a moment, my heart hammering. Before letting out a long,slow breath—the kind you hold in without realizing it—and pressed my palms against my cheeks. They were burning. 

  

  *Get it together, Mona.*

  

  I smoothed down my dress, tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, and forced my shoulders to relax. 

  

  Just as I finally composed myself..

  

  Kade's door creaked open behind me, and I turned immediately at the sound. Coming out of the room and closing the door behind her was Keisha.

  

  "Where's my uncle?" she asked, her eyes scanning the hallway left and right, her face full of curiosity.

  

  "H-he… I don't know," I said, trying to maintain my composure.

  

  "He just walked off?" She was clearly confused about why her uncle had suddenly left when he'd initially come to speak with Kade. There was no way I was going to tell her what had happened between me and Sebastian a few minutes ago, so I lied.

  

  "Yes," I said, clearing my throat. "He stormed off right after you and Kade walked away."

  

  She let out a deep breath of frustration and dragged a hand down her face.

  

  "What about Kade? What's going on between him and your uncle?" I asked as she stood there, clearly spent.

  

  "Don't worry about that," she said, her voice tired. "They're always like this. I'm really sorry about all this. I brought you here to clear your head about Marcello, and now there's all this…"

  

  "Keisha." I cut her off, holding her shoulder and rubbing it gently—a gesture to calm her down as I forced a laugh. "It's fine, really. Things happen, and this isn't even your fault. We have a wedding to worry about, remember?"

  

  She nodded as a smile slowly spread across her face. She hugged me tightly for a moment before finally letting go.

  

  "And about the room issue," she said, "I'll talk to my uncle so he'll let you stay here." A mischievous smile crept onto her face before she shoved my shoulder. "I know you want to."

  

  "What does that even mean?" I broke into a genuine small laugh.

  

  "Girlll." She dragged out the word. "You were nearly drooling when Kade stepped out in that towel."

  

  "Keisha, please…" I shook my head, laughing it off in denial.

  

  "Deny all you want, Mona." She was already walking off, gesturing to the maids to take my things inside the room. "I know what I saw."

  

  "And where are you going?" I called after her, still laughing.

  

  "I have a fiancé waiting for me, remember?" she replied playfully, not turning back as her voice echoed down the hallway.

  

  "Must be nice," I whispered to myself, as the realization hit me—I used to be excited to go see my husband too. Before the discovery that he was gay.

  

  A wave of sadness moved through my very bones like a cold chill in the air. I sat with the thought for a moment before finally snapping out of it.

I wasn’t going to ruin this.

  

  This trip wasn't for Marcello. This trip was for myself, and I was going to enjoy it to the fullest—no matter the cost. It didn't matter if it caused problems between a father and son. All that mattered was me getting back all the years of sexual deprivation I had lost.

  

  With that finality, I headed into my room and settled in, planning my next move.

  

  This was only the beginning.