Chapter 342 A Month Off 

Sebastian’s POV

Emilia had cut it close, hauling everyone back just in time. Thank God I’d thought to record the whole thing. Without it, Willow would’ve hung her lie around my neck and left me swinging.

That punch Fynn threw a moment ago? He’d meant it. Every ounce of it. One upside of training beside a man since you were both pups is knowing exactly when your Beta’s playing and when he’s out for blood. That had been blood.

He’d stormed out, the door rattling behind him.

Emilia and I traded a glance. One problem down. Now for the one who’d tried to crawl into my bed.

Emilia stepped up to Willow. “I think it’s time you showed yourself out, Miss York.”

Willow glared up at her, venom in her face. “You set me up.”

“Don’t flatter yourself, Miss York.” Emilia’s voice went flat and cold. “You’ve been cheating on Fynn for God knows how long. Over and over. We did all this for one reason. To open his eyes. So he’d stop loving someone who never deserved him.”

Willow’s cheeks flamed scarlet, shame and rage twisting together.

“If you’ve got a shred of dignity left,” Emilia went on, “or even the smallest scrap of guilt toward Fynn, you’ll disappear and never bother him again.”

Willow snatched her clothes off the floor and bolted from the room. At the doorway, Lily and Scott stepped aside and cleared her a path.

“Emilia, I came on this trip for sun and sand,” Lily blurted, eyes huge. “I did not expect front-row seats to a soap opera.”

Emilia had the grace to look sheepish. “I couldn’t tell you ahead of time. One slip and Willow or Fynn would’ve caught on.”

Lily laughed, delighted. “Girl, this is the most fun I’ve had in years. Not one dull second.”

Scott hovered to the side, watching the two of them. I caught where his eyes kept drifting, and it wasn’t toward my mate. He lingered on Lily far longer than he ever had on Emilia. So Emilia had called it right. Marriage really had settled the man down.

Not that it bought him an inch of my trust. I crossed the floor, slid an arm around Emilia’s waist, and tugged her against my side. “Well, the show’s over. You two lovebirds go enjoy yourselves. Put everything on my tab.”

Scott bristled. “I’m worth ten figures myself, Simons. I can cover a hotel room.”

Lily jumped in before it turned into a pissing contest, beaming. “Thank you, Sebastian. And don’t worry, I will absolutely not hold back. I plan to spend your money like there’s no tomorrow.”

Then she looped her arm through Scott’s and towed him out.

The door clicked shut, and Emilia vanished straight into the bathroom. I was still wondering what she was after when she marched back out with a dripping washcloth and started scrubbing it down my neck, then my arms.

“And what exactly is this?”

“Willow had her hands all over you.” She worked the cloth in hard little circles. “Enjoyed it, did you?”

I couldn’t help the grin. “Emilia, you are such a jealous little thing.”

“No. This isn’t jealousy.” She didn’t even pause. “This is what you Alpha types love to call it. Possessiveness.”

I pinched her waist and laughed. “Call it whatever you like, love. The problem’s handled. Are you satisfied now?”

She flung the washcloth onto the side table. “What’s there to be satisfied about? I did all this for—”

“Tiffany and Fynn,” I finished for her.

“Exactly.”

Then her expression softened. “Sebastian, Fynn looked wrecked. Go find him. Talk to him.”

I’d had the whole evening mapped out, a slow, perfect night with my mate in a luxury suite. But there was the plea in her eyes, and the memory of Fynn’s face as he’d walked out the door.

I let out a long breath and hauled myself up.

Ryder stirred in the back of my skull. “So now, on top of war and corporate mergers, we moonlight as relationship counselors?”

“The moment Emilia started asking me with that voice and those eyes, yeah. And you share the blame, buddy. You go soft for her same as I do.”

He fell silent. He knew he had no ground to stand on.

I found Fynn on the hotel’s rooftop, a bottle of whiskey in his fist, knocking it back like it owed him money. I crossed over and dropped a hand on his shoulder. “You holding up?”

He looked at me, face scrubbed of all expression. “I’m fine.”

“You’ve got no reason to grieve over that woman. Count yourself lucky. You found out before the wedding, before she could humiliate you as your mate.”

He gave a bitter little laugh. “And how’s that any different from being one?”

“At least you’ll never go through this again. God knows how long she’d have kept you blind if tonight hadn’t cracked it open.”

“Two years, Sebastian.” His voice frayed. “I was with her two years.”

I took a Gin Fizz off the bartender’s tray. “I know. But sometimes, when a thing dies, it doesn’t matter how long it lasted.”

And I thought, quietly, Buddy, two years is nothing. Tiffany’s been in love with you since she was a girl. The thought of what my sister would do when she learned Fynn was single again soured the drink in my mouth, smooth as it was.

“You know what, Sebastian?” Fynn stared out at the dark. “From here on out, I’m done believing in love. I’m never handing my heart to anyone that easily again.”

For a man as level-headed and clear-eyed as Fynn to say something like that, Willow must have cut him deep.

“Fynn, love’s a game of finding the right person. You can’t let one wrong one poison every relationship you’ve got left in you. That’s not fair to whoever comes next.”

He turned his bleary eyes on me. “Like how Abigail gutted you, and you swore off anything close to tenderness, until Emilia came along and you started over? You think there’s someone like that out there for me too?”

The mention of Emilia loosened something in my chest. I tossed back the drink. “Yes. Exactly the way I found Emilia. My fated mate. You’ll find yours.”

Fynn set the bottle down and smirked at me instead. “A cold-blooded bastard like you managing something that comforting? That’s practically the poles melting. Antarctica and the Arctic, all the ice gone.”

I shot him a sideways glare. “You’ve got enough spark left to mock your Alpha, so clearly you’re recovered. I’d say your vacation can end early.”

He bolted upright, iron in his voice. “No way. Besides, I’m taking a month off to put my mess of a head and my shredded heart back together. No phone. No work. No people.”

Watching him sway there, raw and broken, I didn’t even stop to think. “Fine. Granted.”

Mission accomplished, I headed back to the suite, tangled up with Emilia for a good while, and settled in to finally enjoy the vacation I’d paid a fortune for.

Instead, the work calls and emails came rolling in, one after another, relentless.

I went to Fynn’s room to dump the whole mess on him. I pushed the door open and found a cleaner stripping the bed.

“Where’s the guest who was staying here?” I asked.

“He checked out and left last night, sir.”

I dialed Fynn at once. His phone was switched off. Emilia had trailed me down the corridor and now stood in the doorway.

“What’s happened, Sebastian?”

I hung up on the silence, jaw tight, and turned to her. “I gave Fynn a month off.”