“So what inspired you to go into this line of work?” she asked.
He’d been waiting for that question. That was a slippery slope in conversation and Sebastian wasn’t ready to go there. Not with reporters and not with Harper. He had a prepared answer for those times, however. He’d done several interviews and never wanted to bring his brother or his past into the discussion. It wasn’t because he was embarrassed to talk about his brother’s accident or his family situation. It was more that he wanted to maintain their privacy as well as his own. He didn’t need the headline claiming he was a “rags to riches” success driven by his poor brother’s tragic accident. That simplified the story far too much.
“I was always interested in robotics and engineering,” he began his practiced story. “When I met up with Finn, he was in medical school and we got the idea to combine our specialties and start a company together after graduation. It was easy to develop a passion for the work when you see how it can impact people’s lives.”
“I imagine it is. I’m a corporate accountant for Jonah’s company. There’s no passion there, but I’m good with numbers so I got a finance degree. We’re a video game company, though. It’s hardly important work.”
“It’s important work to the people that love to play those games. Every job is critical in a different way. Finn says I’m a workaholic, but when you’re doing something that can change someone’s life, how do you justify walking away from your desk for a moment? Especially for something as trivial as a vacation?”
“I guess it’s about balance. You don’t want to burn out. But look—here you are on a vacation. Sounds like that’s a big step for you.”
Sebastian chuckled to himself. She had no idea. “It is. I haven’t been out of my labs this long since we started the company ten years ago.”
“So how were you able to do it now?”
He tensed in his seat. What was he going to say? A doctor-enforced break? Not the answer he wanted to give. He was supposed to be a successful guy. He didn’t want to show weakness to Harper or any of the other people on this trip. Like a pack of wild animals, they could easily turn on the weakest member. He didn’t want to give any of them the ammunition to come for him
. Not his background, not his health, not his fake/real relationship with Harper. If he let out too much about himself, he might be the next one blackmailed.
“You gave me no choice,” he said with a laugh. “A beautiful woman walks up to me in a department store, asks me out and offers me a free trip to Ireland. How can any red-blooded man pass that up?”
Looking up, Sebastian noticed they had reached the hotel. He was relieved to end the conversation there. “Looks like we’re back.”
Everyone gathered their things and shuffled back into the hotel. The arrival couldn’t have been better timed. He was more than happy to stop talking about himself. All he wanted to do now was to go upstairs, take a hot shower and get ready for dinner. Tonight they were hosting some kind of authentic Irish dinner show at the castle with traditional music and dance. It sounded interesting enough.
“I’m ready to take off these shoes,” Harper said as she slipped her key card into the door. She took two steps and stopped short, sending him slamming into her back.
“What’s wrong?”
Harper pushed open the door and revealed the mess that had once been their hotel room. Their things were scattered everywhere. Furniture was overturned. It was awful.
“Don’t touch anything,” he said. “We’ve been robbed.”
“Don’t touch anything?” Harper asked. “What are we going to do? Call the police?”
“That was my thought.”
Harper walked into the room and picked up a familiar white envelope sitting on the nightstand. “Think again. If we call the cops, the blackmailer will expose me for sure.”
With a sigh, Sebastian slammed the door shut and walked in to survey the mess. “So what does it say? I take it he wasn’t pleased by the partial payment.”
“It says that he’s taken a few things to make up for the missing money. That was just a punishment, though. He still expects a hundred and twenty thousand dollars before the wedding reception ends.” She looked up with despair in her eyes. “What about the twenty-five thousand euros he’s already got? It’s like it didn’t even count. That or he’s just jacking up the fee every time we miss a deadline.” She dropped her face into her hands. “This is never going to end.”
Sebastian walked over and sat beside her on the mattress. “It will end. He can’t string this along forever. You’re going to turn thirty and once you inherit, there’s nothing to hold over your head. Or he exposes you and there’s no money to be had. But it will end.” He wrapped his arm around her shoulders. It wasn’t the best pep talk he’d ever given, but it was something.
He didn’t know what else to say as they sat and looked at their destroyed hotel suite. It must have taken quite a bit of time to do it, but given they’d been gone for hours, the blackmailer had had all the time in the world.
“Did you bring anything valuable?” he asked.
“Just a few things. Mainly pieces I was going to wear to the wedding.” Harper got up and sought out her overturned suitcase. “My jewelry roll is gone. Oh, wait...” She spied it in the corner and picked it up. She poked through a couple pockets and shook her head. “He got all the good stuff. That sapphire necklace belonged to my mother,” she said, tears shimmering in her eyes.
Sebastian cursed and stood to go to her. “We can call the cops. We don’t have to mention the blackmail. You’ll need the report for your insurance claims.”
“What insurance?” she chuckled sadly. “You’re talking like I have the money to insure all this stuff. I don’t. It’s gone. It’s all just gone. Probably forty thousand dollars’ worth of jewelry, easy. Did you bring anything?”
Sebastian hadn’t really thought about his things. He hadn’t previously been a target of the blackmailer, but he supposed if they wanted money, they’d get it from anywhere. “Not much,” he said. Looking around, he found the box with his cufflinks for his tuxedo. It was empty. Figures. The only other item he had with him was his grandfather’s pocket watch, but it wasn’t worth anything. He carried it for sentimental value.
He dug around in his stuff, flinging pillows out of the way, but found that it, too, was gone. He turned a chair right-side up and sat with a disgusted huff.