The One Adored (The One Trilogy Book 3) (18 page)

“Do you live there, Gray?”

“I do, although I have homes all over the world - perks of the trade.” He smiles unapologetically.

Can’t be bad.

“Penthouses, Lu, he has penthouses, in the hotels he owns. Don’t get above your station Devereux.”

“Seb is correct, Lucia the majority of my homes are penthouses in the hotels we own as it is simpler to be on site to handle my business, however I do have a few rare jewels, in my possession.”

I laugh out loud at his open teasing and looking to my right see that finally Sebastian has cracked, although not in the way I had presumed; he too is out and out belly laughing, soft wrinkles forming at his eyes and that devilish dimple twinkling in his cheek.
 

“Touché Gray, Touché. Well played.”

“I thought so.”

I’ll never understand men, especially when they have a bromance going on.

“When are you going to settle down - any takers?

“Moi? Nah, the right woman is out there I’m sure, but no one in particular has made me want to give up the thrill of the next pretty face.” His eyes travel over mine and over my body. He really was very sexy.

“It’ll happen and when
she
does I want to be around to see her take you down.” I hear Seb’s husky chuckle.

“Join the queue.”

“Down boys; darling shall we go into dinner?” I slip my arm into Seb’s as I catch Nathan’s eye, further ahead at the bar.
 

“Do you have one of those for me?” Gray Devereux enquires at my left, his large blue eyes, sparkling with mirth as he holds his elbow open.

I smile up at Seb for approval before slipping my hand through Devereux’s arm, and the three of us head in-synch towards Nathan. I just hope that Seb doesn’t hear Gray’s cheeky mutter of, “Your walk is illegal.”

If I wasn’t so in love with my fiancée, Gray Devereux would have interested me. He was in the same league.

*******

I watch as Lu sashays between the crowds towards us, on her return from the ladies. A quick glance across the table, tells me I’m not the only one enjoying the view. Devereux and two other colleagues from the Château Deveureux project are transfixed by my fiances audacious beauty.
 

God, she is beautiful.
 

We’d spent two hours talking shop, eating average food and all the while I had Lucia sitting beside me in that gown.
 

Halfway through the five-course meal she’d informed me that she was wearing some of the new underwear we’d purchased earlier that day, I’d since spent the past hour rock-hard, my cock straining in my tuxedo pants and not eaten a thing.
 

We needed to leave.
Now!

It hadn’t escaped me that Devereux had been captivated by Lu upon meeting her for the first time the other night and again this evening and I didn’t really blame him. We’d always had similar taste in women over the years. But despite his obvious attraction to her, he knew she was off limits. I couldn’t stop him looking though, or any other guy for that matter and just had to warm myself with the contentment that I was going to be taking her heaven in the next hour. This jealousy-lark was whole new ball-game that I was just going to have to come to terms with.

I was completely sure of her love for me, her trust in me and our bond. We were a team; she was mine and I was hers, forever. I still didn’t like feeling out of control.

“You Ok, mate?”
 

My eyes fly up to meet Nathan’s enquiring ones. “Yeah, good. Just wondering how I got so lucky.”

“You bloody did, you jammy bastard.” His eyes revert back to Lu’s oncoming arrival. “Another drink?”

“Not for me. Baby? You want nightcap?”

Her eyes bore deep into mine, as she silently shakes her head, her loose curls tumbling over her shoulders, and hand finding mine, stroking a thumb softly across my knuckles.
Fuck.
 

“No thanks, Na. Seb and I are going to bed.”

Nathan juts his lips in a ‘no arguments’ approval before leaning to kiss Lucia on the cheek.
 

I stand, uncomfortably to meet her, surruptiously adjusting myself and we say our goodnights to the guests at the table. Devereux stands and comes to kiss Lu goodnight, on both cheeks. Not the once but twice, seriously?

“It’s been lovely to meet you, once again, Lucia. I do hope to meet again in the UK.”

“That’s enough of the charm, Devereux.”

“Lovely to meet you too, Gray. Ignore, Mr. Moody here.” Lu laughs, her teeth gleaming.

“Like I said - he’s a lucky man.”

“Thank you, but I’m the lucky one. Sebastian is one of a kind and he’s the only one for me.”

I watch as my sexy as hell woman, turns to leave, and I raise my brows at Devereux, who is shaking his head in awe at this fantastic woman I can call my own.
 

“I know, man - she is a rare gem. I’m going to hold on to her with everything I have, now that I have her.”

“You bloody well do that… and, Silver?”

“Yeah?”

“I never thought I’d say it, but it appears you’re a better man with her - in business and pleasure. It gives all of us
players
hope.”

“I am, Devereux. She makes me want to
be
better.” I slap him casually on the shoulders. “It’ll come to you soon enough, man and believe me you won’t know what’s hit you… and I for one will make sure I get front row tickets for the show!” I wink at him knowingly at my colleague and friend, before heading on after Lu.
 

I am a fortunate man. This rare gem makes makes me feel alive.
 

She makes me want to give her the world.

*******

The driveway up to Château Devereux the next afternoon, has me catching my breath at it’s immense beauty. I’m literally open-mouthed gawping.

Seb laughs as he glances across at me in the passenger seat, “Impressive isn’t it?”

“Er, just a bit. I thought The Ashton was amazing, but this…well… WOW!”

The winding road was about a half mile long, with the château in its centre the entire journey. The original architects had cleverly designed it with that visual as key and it made for an impressive arrival. Hundreds of year old trees littered the path down either side of road, their tops curving inwards to form an arch; autumnal leaves creating a spectrum of rusts, oranges and yellows and browns. There was a slight dusting of mist about and in the distance I watched as a stag darted from one side of the woods, frantically to the other, its antlers huge in their outline against the entrance to the chateau. The whole place had an air of magical mystery about it.
 

“I’m smitten already and I haven’t even got inside yet.”

“I knew you’d love it, Lu.” Seb grabs my hand and holds it the rest of the journey as we take in the ambience.
 

Arriving at the main entrance I can see the ongoing works that are beginning. Scaffolding is erected practically all around the building, work vans are scattered everywhere and the place is a work site but it was a diamond-in-the-rough.

We spend the next hour wandering around the beautiful old building, which is full of rubble, broken glass and a shell of its former self. It just needed some love and attention to bring it back to life and Seb was the man for the job - and a shed load of money.
 

Enjoying our mutual love of architecture and design interiors, we bounce ideas off one another and I can feel Sebastian’s passion for his business as he explains SilCon’s and Devereux’s collaborative plans for the hotel. We head down into their make-shift offices and find Gray chatting with his site-foreman and spend a further half an hour chatting about interiors with him. Happily I find that they are still in need of an Interior designer for their lounge, hall, restaurant, reception rooms and ballroom and glimpsing in Seb’s direction I realise that this had been his intention - to allow me to offer up Elysium’s services and sell myself to Gray Devereux and it warms me. He was a control freak but he believed in me and my abilities and recognised that my work spoke for itself.

Leaving Gray with the promise that I will send quotations for said work over the next few weeks, we then head on out back to enjoy the gardens, where Seb has apparently planned a surprise. I pull up the faux fur collar on my coat, shivering slightly - it was cold.
 

“Don’t worry, baby, soon you’ll be lovely and warm. Just one little deviation and we’ll go have lunch.”
 

Following Seb’s, our hands linked, we head deeper into the gardens, the path becoming more maze like by the second.

“This place was built in 1887 and stood the test of time in WW11 I thought it might be the perfect place in Paris to leave our padlock.”

I lock eyes with him as we come to a clearing, where a small bridge rests over a stream. It was beautiful and perfect for sealing our engagement. I watch as Seb crouches and takes something from his pocket. “Here, I had this engraved, with our initials and the dates of our engagement.”

I reach out to feel the indented text and notice the two dates. His first proposal and my second. I bite my lip at his thoughtfulness.

“The bridge has already been restored, we had to fix this first, along with some of the foundations at the Château so we can rest assured it will be safe.”
 

The heavy click of metal secures the lock in places over the metal grid-work on the outer edge of the bridge and I slip into Sebastian’s arms as he stands. “You never cease to amaze me, Mr. Silver.”

“I’m glad. I wouldn’t want to become boring.”

“You’ll never be that.” I chuckle.

“I nestle my head into his chest as we stand on that bridge for a few minutes, the sounds of the trickling water in our ears, nature around us and Sebastian lips at my head. I’ve never felt happier, the weight of the past weeks has finally lifted. It’s as though we have it all at last!
 

“We can come here when the hotel is finished, for anniversaries and revisit this.”

“I love that idea.” Loved that we were making future plans.

A dollop of rain hits my cheek as I look up at him, then another, and another and soon the light drizzle is coming down hard, covering us in a glittering rainfall.

“Oh. My. God! Where did that come from?”

“Everything gets wet around me - bane of my life!” his cheeky laugh is contagious and I laugh out loud as he pulls me towards the pathway and better shelter. We head towards an enormous oak tree, both arriving out of breath and thoroughly drenched, the weather darkening the skies and mood around us. A clap of thunder blasts in the distance.

I shudder, as a wet lock of my hair drips down onto my face.

“Come here. Let’s get you warm.” His arms encircle me, and I look up into his chocolate orbs, feeling his body heat against me immediately. My eyes drop to his lips, which open instinctively. My pulse throbs in my ears, the intensity of the moment, what we’ve just shared, saying goodbye to what we’ve lost, its all too much and all I want right now is contact - to be here, safely tucked in his arms.

Our mouths smash together, his tongue caressing mine, scalding hot and instantly warming my belly as I feel the familiar flutterings of desire. His hand grabs the back of my head, holding it in place and stops me from escaping; there was no need - I was in the only place I wanted to be.