Virtue and Vice

Chapter Twenty Four

A/N: Hello, everyone! This is the second to the last chapter of this book and if you've been reading Virtue and Vice since it first went up, you'd know that this story has twists and turns everywhere so this one isn't going to be too different. I thought I'd warn you because a lot have already been pleading with me to give them their happily-ever-after. Not yet.

I want to thank you all again for supporting this book (and most of my work, really). It's come a long way and I only started posting this maybe a month ago or so. Please share it with others if you love it. I'll do my best to get going with the other books in the series but they will take time.

Please vote and comment as usual! I love reading all your raves and rants! =)

***

Had this been a regular work function, I wouldn’t have fretted too much about how I looked.

But this was a Christmas party I’d be arriving at on the CEO’s arm and that would feel like a few dozen spotlights were angled at us.

Over the past few weeks, I’d gotten used to some paps showing up at random places, snapping away or throwing a question here and there. Since I barely comment or acknowledge them more than an occasional smile, they kept a friendly distance, but it had given me some practice to be comfortable with the attention. After all, being with Sebastian, it was bound to follow me around.

But tonight’s event was going to be different—most of these people attending are ones I’ve worked with and I wish I could say for sure that they didn’t all hate me. It made me nervous.

That morning, I twisted my hair into big pin curls before spending the rest of the day doing the rest of my prep.

Sebastian spent the morning in his office before stretching out on the bed to watch me run around in a small terry cloth robe, slapping on one cream after another.

I was finally sitting down on the small writing desk I’d recently converted into a vanity table, doing my make up, when Sebastian looked up from the bed where he was hunched over the laptop I’d left there.

“Why are you reviewing your resume?” he asked in a voice that gave nothing away.

Drat! 

I’d been making some revisions earlier while I was waiting for my nails to dry. 

I tensed slightly but forced myself to casually glance over my shoulder at him. “I just wanted to update it with my recent position at TVG.”

He arched a dark brow at me, his face inscrutable. “And you updated the address to Rockford and the landline to the number here? Why would anyone in the company need to figure out how to get a hold of you? They all know.”

I couldn’t help but wince. “I know. Sometimes, that’s the problem.”

“Are you job-hunting?” he demanded, finally snapping. “Why in the world would you do that? You have a contract—”

“It’s something I’m thinking about after my contract expires,” I shot back, getting up on my feet and snatching my laptop away. “I can’t keep working there, Sebastian. Not when you’re the boss and I’m sleeping with you.”

His expression darkened. “I am not just sleeping with you. I live with you. I’m in a committed relationship with you. Hell, the only thing that’s missing is a ring on your finger and my last name on your dotted line.”

“If that’s how romantic you’ll be at winning my hand, Sebastian, then I can’t see how I can resist,” I replied sarcastically, glowering at him.