Filed to story: Once Upon a One Night Mistake Book PDF Free by Simone Shirazi
“Shouldn’t I be asking you that question?” Taliana shot back, unable to keep the anger from seeping into her voice. The last thing she wanted was to pick a fight, but her normal defense mechanism was already sliding into place. “You’re the one going off with Blair without saying a word about it!”
He ran a hand down his face before lifting his softened gaze to Taliana. “Look, I wanted to wait until I knew for sure what was going on before I said anything. I didn’t want you to find out like this, especially from Zak. Jesus, I can only imagine what other things he told you.” Sebastian held up a hand before she could answer. “No, no, let me guess. I bet he told you she was just making this whole thing up. That it was just another scheme of hers to get me back?”
Of course he had, and with every second that passed, Taliana was beginning to doubt it more. Sebastian’s words held so much more weight than Zak’s.
“Even if it’s not a scheme, why would you want to help her?” she demanded, trying to push the conversation in a different direction. “Have you forgotten about the things she’s done to me? To you? How can you even look at her after that?”
“She’s done some terrible things to both of us,” he said, reaching out to put a hand on Taliana’s elbow, “and I’ll never forgive her for any of it, but this isn’t something I can let slide, Talia. I know she deserves every terrible thing that comes her way, but this is just too far.”
“Nothing is too far when it concerns her,” Taliana seethed, but she didn’t shake him off. “How can you even consider doing this?”
She’d only given him an inch, but Sebastian took a mile when it came to touching her. She wasn’t surprised when he gathered her into his arms and rested his head on top of hers.
“Please believe me when I say this is the last thing I want to do,” he murmured against her hair, making her melt a little. “Blair has hurt us, but I can’t just sit back and watch a girl get forced into a marriage she doesn’t want.”
“I certainly could,” Taliana grumbled, reluctantly wrapping her arms around his waist.
His chest vibrated beneath her cheek. “Liar. I know you have a conscience. And so do I.”
“Imagine that.”
She sensed rather than saw his smile. “How much did Zak actually tell you about what we were planning?”
“It sounded like you were going to do the same thing with her that we did.” Taliana lifted her head to meet his eyes. “You’re really fond of that fake dating plot, aren’t you?”
“I must be.” He snickered. “But Zak wasn’t exactly wrong. I’d pretend to get back together with Blair, and we would convince her father to call off whatever he’s planning. As soon as he leaves on his next extended business trip, we’ll drop the charade, and everything will go back to normal.”
“Zak said it wouldn’t end until she turned eighteen,” Taliana said, wanting to make sure she wasn’t missing any details. “And that’s not until this summer.”
Too many months away, she wanted to add.
“I mean, officially it wouldn’t end until then,” Sebastian admitted. “That’s when she gets her trust fund and can permanently get away from her dad. But without Amir watching our every move, we can essentially do whatever we want. We just have to convince him we’re together before he leaves again, that’s it. It’s pretty simple.”
Oh yeah, simple as could be. “I can’t believe you’d think I would agree to this.”
Sebastian seemed taken aback. “Why? You and I would still be together behind the scenes, and it would get Amir off Blair’s back until she can run away from all of this. It works out for everyone.”
“I think you forgot to factor in one little thing,” Taliana pointed out, pushing away from him. “I don’t want to share you with anyone else. You’re mine, damn it, and I’m a jealous bitch.”
He raised a brow, and a smirk slowly spread across his lips. “I wasn’t aware you were so possessive.”
“Now you know.” She shook her head in dismay. “I don’t like this, Sebastian. I really don’t. But…”
Maybe he was right about her having a conscience. If Taliana were in Blair’s shoes, she certainly wouldn’t want to be forced into a marriage and shipped off to live in a completely different country, essentially giving up her entire life here and the freedoms it allowed her. It truly was a shitty fate for anyone, even Blair Bakhtiar.
“But?” Sebastian prompted hopefully, staring down at her.
“But,” Taliana began again, bracing herself, “I guess no one deserves what’s happening to her.”
“So you’re okay with the whole thing?”
“Not exactly.” Taliana shook her head. “But that’s my problem, and I’ll deal with it.” With a sigh, she brushed her fingers across his jaw, shivering slightly when he took her hand in his and pressed a kiss to her knuckles. “Just give me one more week before you start this whole thing. One more week of being happy together without any complications. She can spare that, right?”
“Even if she couldn’t, I would give that to you,” he murmured, kissing the inside of her wrist. “You deserve as much.”
Taliana couldn’t help smiling. “You should be so glad I’m an understanding girlfriend.”
“Yeah, I definitely lucked out there.”
“You sure did,” she chuckled, disentangling from him and turning away. With all this drama, she was ready to go the hell home and sleep for a week.
“Hey, Talia?” he called out as she started toward her car.
She shot him an expectant glance over her shoulder and almost laughed at his vaguely offended expression.
“What, no goodbye kiss?”
“After that bombshell?” Taliana scoffed, flicking her hair over her shoulder. “Honey, you just cockblocked yourself.”
Nonetheless, she blew him a kiss and kept moving, knowing she had a lot to think about before she saw him again.
37
All Good Things Come to a Fake End
After one final week of bliss, Taliana and Sebastian staged a very public breakup in the middle of Trinity’s main hallway on a Friday after school, all for the sake of the gossipy students who would undoubtedly report back to their even gossipier parents. Once the shouting and dramatics had finished, Michael made a show of asking Taliana out while Blair had immediately gone to comfort Taliana’s now ex-boyfriend. And just like that, the fake lines had been drawn, with Blair and Sebastian on one side, and Taliana and Michael on the other.
The whole plan to help Blair out of her forced marriage was sure to make Taliana’s life miserable for the next however many weeks it took. She didn’t want to break up with Sebastian even if it wasn’t for real, and she certainly didn’t want to see him with Blair every day, lest reports reached Amir Bakhtiar that his dear daughter was not dating Sebastian. The only saving grace was Sebastian’s promise that nothing bad would happen, and that the moment Blair’s father left the country again, they would be happily reunited.
Michael had offered to drive Taliana home after the confrontation, and she’d gratefully accepted, climbing into the passenger seat of his Ferrari.
“Well, that sucked,” she grumbled. “Do you think everyone bought it?”
“I definitely think the masses bought your breakup with Sebby-poo, but I don’t know if they’ll believe I’d want to date his sloppy seconds.” He took his eyes off the road long enough to shoot her a playful leer. “We might have to convince them. Wanna give them a show on Monday,? mon minou?”
The thought made Taliana want to puke, but she choked it back to preserve Michael’s freshly detailed car. “Thanks, but no thanks.”