Page 30 of Shattered Crown
I didn't turn. Kept my body angled toward Harry, making it clear where my priorities lay.
"Mr. Dubois.” Harry extended his hand to shake Sebastian’s. “Are you enjoying the event?"
"It's impressive."
Now I did turn. Not fully—just enough to see his face while keeping Harry in my sightline.
Sebastian stood close. Closer than he needed to. The candlelight caught the sharp planes of his face, softening them slightly, turning his gray eyes to something almost warm.
"I mean it," he said, and something in his expression suggested the words cost him. "The venue. The cause. The turnout. This is clearly important to a lot of people."
I searched his face for the angle. The sarcasm. The hidden insult.
I found none.
"It is," I said finally.
Harry cleared his throat. "I should go check on the auction. Aria, we'll continue this later?"
"Of course. Thank you, Harry."
He drifted away, leaving me alone with Sebastian. Or as alone as two people could be in a room full of three hundred others.
The gala swirled around us, laughter and music and clinking glasses. The string quartet had started to play, and a soft melody wound through the noise like a thread.
I turned to face him fully. “You can tell me the truth now. Land any insult you want about my event. Get it out of the way.”
He shrugged. "It's not terrible."
"High praise, coming from you."
"Well, I think it’s an accurate assessment of your abilities." His eyes swept over the room. "The venue is impressive. The cause is worthy. The turnout suggests you have significant influence in this city."
"Was that a compliment?"
"It was an observation."
"From you, I'll take it." I crossed my arms. "Speaking of observations… you owe me an apology."
Sebastian's eyebrows rose. "Excuse me?"
"Last week, at the foundation?” I said it slowly, as if I were speaking to a child. “You stormed in like a SWAT team, and as usual didn’t give anyone a chance to explain the situation before you started making demands."
His frown deepened. "He was shouting."
“And that meant you had to raise your voice, too?” I shook my head. “You’re supposed to be more civilized than that.”
Sebastian’s eyes narrowed. Whatever civility he’d walked in with was clearly about to fly out the window. “You’re back to telling me how to behave? Do I get a cookie when I finally do what you want or are you going to pat my head and call me a good boy?”
My mouth fell open. I wracked my brain, trying to come up with something cutting to say, but my brain was still stuck on the fact that he’d actually said those words. Sebastian was anything but a good boy, if that was even the right phrase. He was bad. So, so bad.
“Nothing to say now, huh?”
My brain finally recovered. “You had no right to say that to me. That’s another thing you need to apologize for.”
He scoffed. “Oh, it’s going to be a cold day in hell before I…”
“Admit you’re wrong, Sebastian.”
