Filed to story: Watch Out, I’m The Lady Boss (Eleanor & Sebastian) Book PDF Free
I remembered talking. Saying too much.
Stuff I’d only ever told Yvaine. Things I’d buried years ago. Things didn’t want Sebastian-or anyone-to know.
I trusted him; he’d been the ideal fake husband, a perfect partner in crime.
But I hadn’t meant to show him the broken bits of the high school version of me.
I hoped he’d forgotten.
Apparently not.
“Isobel Brooke’s been arrested,” he said.
Arrested? The juice in my mouth suddenly tasted sweeter.
“For what?”Aggravated assault.”On?
“You.”I touched my own nose.
“But I wasn’t assaulted.”
“She pushed you into a pool.”
“True,” I admitted.
“But I’m fine now. No “serious bodily injury”.”
“Not for lack of trying on her part,” Sebastian said, voice flat.
“I bet her family’s already posted bail.” The Brookes had more than enough money for that.
“Not this time.”
“Why not? Don’t get me wrong, I’m thrilled she’s finally been arrested, but it’s just my word against hers.”
“There’s evidence. Someone filmed it.”I perked up.
“Really? Who? I need to send them flowers.”His lips curved.
“I already took care of that.”
“Thanks.” I took another long sip of juice, savouring it.
“She used to mess with me in school. Barely back in town and already pulling the same crap. I’m not letting it slide this time.”Sebastian asked, “What did she do to you?”
“Didn’t I already tell you? In the car?”
“Bits and pieces. You were mostly incoherent.”I sipped the juice, set it down, tasted the coffee, abandoned that too. Picked up the buttered toast and chewed in silence.
He didn’t push.
I sighed, lowered the toast. He already knew half of it. Might as well give him the rest. Sort of.
I gave him a trimmed-down version. Just the surface. Skipped the worst of it.
Spilling everything while feverish and half-dead was one thing. Doing it stone-cold sober with full brain function was harder. Even with him.
If Sebastian noticed my dodge, he didn’t call me on it.
“What do you want to do?” he asked.
“I want to sue her. Properly. If the prosecutor drops the criminal charges”-I rolled my eyes -‘because the Brookes will be working overtime pulling strings like last time, then I’m bringing a civil suit. And not just for this. For everything back in high school too. The police kept records. Finn, my lawyer, said he can get them.”
“You’ve thought this through.”I have.”It was an idea I’d been toying with ever since Serenna told me Isobel was back in town, Isobel Brooke was a rot I intended to cut out for good.
“You’ve got the entire LGIL legal department at your disposal,” Aston said.
I opened my mouth to object.
He beat me to it.
“They’re already working with your lawyer on the libel suit. May as well keep the teamwork going.”I paused, then nodded.
“Thanks.”He didn’t look thrilled.
“You don’t have to thank me. You’re my wile. My lawyers are your lawyers.”I joked, “Tell that to couples in the middle of a divorce.”Silence.
He didn’t crack a smile. Didn’t so much as twitch a corner of his mouth.
I winced, took refuge in my coffee.
After a beat, he said, “You’ve got me. If you ever need anything, you come to me.”I nodded.
“I know.”
“I don’t think you do.”I looked up. His voice had gone sharp.
“You were gearing up to sue Daniel on your own. Planning to handle Isobel by yourself. When there was trouble at work, you dealt with it alone.”There was quiet heat behind his words. Accusation, tightly leashed.
“How did you-“I broke off.
“Of course you knew. Hence that dinner with Octavia Grey. Who told you?” 1
He ignored the question.
“You ever need anything, you come to me. This time, it was a command, not a suggestion.
“As long as you’re Mrs Laurent, anything that touches you, touches me.”
“Aye aye, Captain.” His tone was so dead serious I nearly stood and saluted.
Halfway through breakfast, his phone went off. Twice. Long calls. One of them in French. I nibbled a croissant and watched the butter melt into a golden pool on the porcelain plate.
When he came back in, I said, “You don’t have to babysit me. I’m not dying. Or ninety. If you’re that worried, get me a nurse.”He shook his head.
“I’ll work from here.”I could’ve argued, but I knew a lost cause when I saw one.
The Director’s Wing was more suite than hospital room. It had a private lounge, a kitchen, and a dining nook. More than enough space to live in.
Sebastian had Dominic bring up everything-laptops, files, chargers, two phones, and something that looked suspiciously like a compact espresso machine.
He set up shop in the lounge.
I lay in bed, bored out of my skull.
For an hour, I scrolled through short videos until they all blurred into one long, idiotic loop. My thumb ached, my eyes went dry. I dropped the phone.
There were a few laundry bags on a rack near the bed. Some held his things, some mine.
I pulled out a set of clothes, including underwear, silently praying it was Carmen the female housekeeper who packed them and not Geoffrey.
In the bathroom, I slipped on a tank top and shorts underneath so wouldn’t flash anyone through the gown’s rear slit. Sebastian was on a video call in the lounge, sharp French coming fast face drawn tight as he frowned at charts on the screen. I slipped out while he was mid-sentence, hospital slippers noiseless on the carpeted floor.
I needed air.
I wandered the corridor like a bored inmate out on parole. Most of the doors were closed. There was no one else except an occasional passing nurse who gave me a friendly nod but didn’t stop me.
Looking out the window, I decided to venture downstairs. I figured a place like this had to have a garden somewhere.
I didn’t get far.
Two floors down, I stopped.
Something had caught my eye.
Or rather, someone.
Daniel Granger was walking ahead of me, head down, flipping through a stack of paper that had the hospital’s logo on it.
He had his back to ime, but I’d have recognised that lanky frame and slightly hunched shoulders anywhere.
Right next to him was Catherine.
She sounded chipper.
“I told you. It’s positive, right? I’m definitely pregnant! The doctor confirmed it.”I glanced at the signpost near the stairwell door. This was the obstetrics and gynaecology floor.
My feet carried me forward before I’d even decided to follow; I smelled drama.
The hallway wasn’t crowded, but it was busy enough that i could blend in, trailing after them without being noticed Catherine sounded thrilled. Daniel didn’t.
He kept turning the pages like he either didn’t understand the medical jargon or didn’t want to.
“How the hell did this happen? I used protection every time!”A few heads turned at that-most people on this floor were all happy tears and heartbeat scans. Daniel was clearly not on-brand.
Catherine noticed, too. Her voice slipped into a pout.
“Nothing’s one hundred per cent. They say condoms only work, like, ninety per cent of the time.”Daniel folded the test results and shoved them into his coat pocket. Doc said your bleeding and cramping are concerning. Suggested a threatened miscarriage.”It was hard to tell whether he sounded irritated or relieved.
“He recommends admission for monitoring.”Catherine protested, “I don’t want to stay in the hospital. I already gave up the trip to France. I don’t want to be cooped up in a sickroom for months.”
“Then you want to risk losing the baby?” Daniel snapped.
That shut her up.
They kept walking.
By this point, I’d forgotten all about the garden. This was far better entertainment.
“Will you stay with me?” Catherine asked, voice smaller now.
“I’ll visit when I can.”
“But I’ll be lonely.”