The Snow Prince - Raleigh Ruebins Page 0,18

to the dinner tonight?”

“Right,” I said. “Give me the contact information for the best contractors in fifty miles any direction. I’m starting renovations on my cottage immediately. I need to see about tearing down everything in the backyard, and possibly ripping out a wall inside. I don’t want to get scammed.”

He nodded once. “I can do that for you,” he said softly. “Genoveve can. She loves that kind of thing, anyway.”

“Perfect,” I said.

He cocked his head to one side, his brow furrowed. “I still can’t believe you didn’t enjoy your time at boarding school. I would have thought you had the time of your life.”

“Fuck no, I didn’t like it,” I said. “I hated every minute. I hated your mom for being the reason I ended up there, and I hated you for never contacting me.”

“I couldn’t have contacted you.”

“Bullshit,” I said. Anger rose again in me suddenly, like somebody had just floored the gas pedal. It was harder to think about these things, to hear Sebastian make these excuses, while he was right here in front of my face. He was so beautiful, and now he looked so confused, and it only made me madder.

He didn’t even know. He had no idea how much pain he had caused me.

I stood up from the chair, its wooden legs squeaking against the stone floor. I ran my fingers through my hair.

“You’re a fucking prince. You could have pulled whatever strings you needed to. Even if you didn’t know where I was, you… you could have found out.”

He was still looking at me like a scared animal.

“I know I could have,” he said, his voice barely audible. “I just… I couldn’t.”

“Couldn’t why?”

“Because it would have crushed me,” he said. “Knowing where you were. Knowing I couldn’t see you. It was bad enough as it was. But if I’d talked to you? Trapped in this castle while you were still out having an incredible, normal life, fucking whatever guys you wanted, falling in love, living without me—”

He broke off, his words lingering in the air between us. Clouds passed and returned outside the window, covering the room in shade and then light and then shade again.

“I would hardly call it living,” I said. “You thought I was out having the time of my life?”

“You always made the best of every situation,” he said.

“Yeah, when I was around you,” I told him. “When I’m on my own, I’m not… it wasn’t like that. It isn’t like that.”

His eyes met mine.

“I missed you every day, Sebastian,” I said. “I missed you, and you never called. Never wrote. Never tried. I certainly wasn’t out having whatever party you think I was.”

His lips were pressed into a thin line, like he would explode if he spoke one word.

A soft knock at the door was followed by the slow clatter of high-heeled shoes on the stone floor beneath us.

“Sir?” Genoveve asked. “Your two o’clock meeting has arrived.”

Genoveve was like an angel with a halo of blonde hair. She was earnest and sweet in a way that reminded me of Sebastian when he was younger, before he had hardened and grown cold over time.

“Thank you, Genoveve,” Sebastian said. “I will be down very shortly.”

Sebastian finally stood up, brushing his hands down the sides of his suit jacket. Genoveve left the room to wait in the hallway outside.

“Dinner will start at six,” Sebastian told me. “Until then, Genoveve will take you to the guest quarters. I trust you’ll be comfortable there.”

“Haven’t been comfortable since I stepped foot in here,” I said.

His gaze was still hard, but I swore I saw a hint of hurt flash through his eyes.

“But… yes,” I added. “I’ll be fine until dinner.”

He gave me a nod before turning to walk off toward the door. It was strange watching Sebastian walk away knowing that I’d get to see him again in four hours. Knowing that for right now, I existed in the same building as him, for the first time in so many years.

I was still white-hot with rage at him. But my heart didn’t care.

In my stupid heart, he was still my Sebastian. The kid next door who was different from everyone else. Pure but troubled, and so, so full of love beneath his ocean of anxiety.

I wondered if any scrap of that Sebastian remained.

He paused before he left, cocking his head to one side and turning back to look at me.

“I missed you more than I’ve ever missed anything in my life,” he said softly.

For