“Ash, I can’t just?—”
He tightened his grip on my nape again, gentle but impossible to ignore. His other hand rose to cradle the side of my face, thumb brushing the salt from my cheek. “Henry loves you,” he said softly. “And he’ll do anything for the people he loves. He’ll want to be there for you because you’re in a tight spot. If he were in the same one, would you ask him to move out?”
My eyes lifted to meet his again, and I shook my head.
“Exactly. So talk to him. Take one weight off your shoulders.”
I took a deep breath, still fighting it. I couldn’t just live off Henry. It wasn’t fair.
Sebastian’s fingers skimmed the back of my neck. “Now,” he said, “for the next part. Can you work a job around your schedule?”
“Maybe. Depends on the work.”
He hesitated. It was brief—anyone else might have missed it—but I saw the shift in him. The calculation behind his eyes.
Then he said, “You can come work at VistaReal.”
I froze. Working with him meant stepping into the middle of a fire he was already trying to contain. I couldn't do that to him.
Sebastian watched me carefully, like he already knew where my mind had gone. “I know,” he said. “The timing isn’t ideal. But it would give you income. Structure. Breather space while you figure things out.”
I shook my head slightly. “Ash?—”
“You wouldn’t be working for me directly,” he added. “And if it ever felt uncomfortable, you’d walk away. No questions asked. No hard feelings.”
“You have enough on your plate,” I said. “I’m not adding myself to the list.”
His whole face softened. “Darling, you’re not a problem to solve.”
My eyes burned again, and I blinked hard.
“You’d just be letting me help.” He rolled his lips as he thought something through and added quickly, “And let me get someone to figure out where the money went.”
“No—Ash, I don’t want this to turn into a thing.”
“Quietly,” he said, voice dropping. “Let me look into it quietly. I can’t promise you’ll get any of it back. Actually, there’s a very big chance you won’t. But let me look, okay? No legal pursuit. No police. Just my guy.”
A dry laugh escaped me. “You sound like a mobster.”
His lips curved into a small smile. “Whatever works for you.”
I sat with it for a moment, forcing myself to look at the offer for what it was—not a rescue, not a favor, but a way to keep my feet under me.
“Okay.” I swallowed. “Let me think about the job. But the rest of it…” My shoulders sagged. “…okay.”
“You’ve got this.” His fingers carded through my hair. “This isn’t bigger than you. You’re a force, darling. This is just a littleroadblock you’ll look back on in a couple of years and smile at how you conquered it.”
My eyes welled again. “I’m so fucking pissed.”
“I’m sorry he did that to you. Nobody deserves to be betrayed like that. Especially not by your father. But he’s the one losing here.”
“Say that to my bank account?—”
“He doesn’t haveyou,” he said, and the argument died in my throat. “There’s no bigger loss in this life than not having you in it. Trust me, I’d be the leading authority on the subject.”
That… completely disarmed me.
We stared at each other. I got lost in the depths of his eyes, in the warmth radiating off him, and a quiet understanding settled into place.
