Filed to story: Watch Out, I’m The Lady Boss (Eleanor & Sebastian) Book PDF Free
Everyone exhaled.
I turned straight to Yvaine.
“Are you alright?” I grabbed her arm and checked her over, still unconvinced Alexis hadn’t done something while I was out of earshot.
“I’m fine,” she said calmly.
“She just ran her mouth a bit. Nothing serious. I didn’t let it get to me.”
“Good.”
Emmett stepped closer.
“Thanks.” For sticking up for Yvaine earlier.
I shrugged.
“Don’t mention it.”
He gave me a nod, then started walking.
Yvaine trailed after him.
She looked over her shoulder at me with a grin.
“He’s still pissed. I’m gonna go check he doesn’t punch a tree or something.”
Once they were gone, Sebastian and I headed back into the ballroom.
The wedding was long over.
Most of the chairs were empty now, a few guests still lingering by the dessert table or packing up their things.
We stepped outside together.
The cold hit right away.
My arins broke out in goosebumps and I jerked back from the wind.
“Jesus. Is it snowing?” I rubbed my arms.
“Why is it this cold?”
Sebastian pulled a scarf out from under his coat-no idea where he’d stashed it-and looped it around my neck.
The wool was thick and still warm from his body heat.
“Don’t catch a cold,” he muttered.
“I’ve got to stop by the office. I’ll drop you off on the way.”
“I’ve got my car. I’ll drive back to the studio.”
“Alright. Drive safe. Dinner tonight?”
“Yeah. Text me.”
He didn’t make it to dinner.
Just after seven, Sebastian messaged to say something had come up.
Work dinner, or some last-minute stuff.
He told me not to wait.
I ate alone on the sofa, half-watching two episodes of a crime show I didn’t care about.
Just before ten, I got up to turn in.
That’s when my phone buzzed.
Riley.
We hadn’t spoken since that time Yvaine dragged me to her new bar for the launch.
Her name lighting up my phone at this hour only meant one thing.
I answered before the second ring.
“Elean, thank god. Yvaine’s here. She’s drunk. Like, properly hammered. I can’t leave the bar-I’ve got people waiting on deliveries and my manager’s off tonight. Can you come get her? I don’t want to call Emmett. He’ll lose it.”
“I’m on my way.”
I hung up, yanked off my pajamas, and threw on the first jumper I could find.
Five minutes later, I was in the car, heading downtown.
Riley had someone waiting outside the bar when I pulled up.
A young guy in a black shirt with too much hair gel waved me in and led me through a side corridor.
The private room looked empty from the hallway. No lights, no sound.
“This the right-?”
Before I could finish, the server flicked on the overheads.
Yvaine was curled up in the corner of a velvet sofa, Hugging a half-empty bottle of something amber.
Her boots were still on, legs sprawled over the cushion.
One strap of her dress had slipped off her shoulder,
The air smelled like spilled tequila, dried limes, and perfume that had lost its charm an hour ago.
I turned the lights down low and crossed the room.
Dozens of bottles were scattered around her, some standing, most rolling near the edge of the coffee table.
I crouched down and nudged her upright.
Her head lolled forward.
I tapped her cheek.
“Come on. Let’s get you home. Can you open your eyes?”
Her skin burned under my fingers.
Her lashes twitched a few times before she cracked one eye open and blinked hard.
“Elean?” she slurred.
“Why are there two of you?”
“Because you’re smashed. I’m taking you home.”
“No! I’m not leaving!” She jerked up and lunged for the table.
“Still drinking!”
I caught her wrist and pulled the glass out of reach.
“You’re done. That’s it.”
She tried to grab it back, twice, then gave up and went limp.
A second later, she started crying. r 165 Family Dinner “Cassian Langford, you fucking arsehole,” Yvaine howled.
“You think I’m just some toy you can toss out?”
The crying got louder.
Her words turned to noise.
She’d been smiling when we left the wedding.
Now she was here, alone, red-faced and shaking, drunk enough to collapse in a pitch-black bar.
I swallowed the sting in my throat, sat beside her, and stayed quiet.
She screamed, sobbed, cursed his name over and over again, and I didn’t interrupt.
More than ten minutes later, Yvaine finally ran out of steam.
Her voice cracked and gave out mid-curse, and she slumped sideways against the cushions, passed out cold.
I called for the server.
Between the two of us, we hauled her into the back seat of my car.
I ordered a driver and climbed in beside her, gave the guy her address, and told him to keep the heating low; she always overheated when she drank By the time we got to her house, her head was on my shoulder and her eyeliner had transferred to my sleeve.
Getting her up the stairs was a bloody workout.
I managed to get her onto the bed without knocking over the lamp.
I sat down on the floor, catching my breath.
My back was damp under my jumper.
My phone rang.
“Where’d you go?” Sebastian said.