She might be nobody, but she was a stunning nobody, thought Sebastian, as he watched her gallop across the field towards the manor, at least two miles away. Her thick, glossy black hair fanned out behind her and her jodhpur-clad long slim legs clung to the horse in a way which sent his imagination into overdrive. And, he thought as he twitched up his collar against the increasing rain, she was a stunning nobody who’d left him to walk across the fields in a downpour.
He thrust his hands into his pockets, hunched his shoulders against the rain, which was getting heavier with every passing minute, and began the long walk across the fields. He knew it would be an even longer walk if he stuck to the roads. But, with his rented Lamborghini parked at the side of the lane showing no signs of life, he had no choice. His cell phone was out of charge and there were no houses, no villages, no sign of life except ‘nobody’ since he’d set foot on the Richmond Estate.
Who was she? Some jockey his father had hired? He wasn’t surprised. His father always had an eye for exotic beauties. Rumor had it that his recently deceased mistress had been one. Whoever she was, she’d be first out the door after he took control. He wanted no reminders of his father.
Sebastian could see the shower would soon pass and so waited under the relative shelter of a small copse of trees as the rain continued to thunder down. In the distance he could see the manor house, positioned perfectly amid the trees, and he felt the buzz of excitement he’d felt at returning to Norfolk intensify. He hadn’t expected it. He’d spent years living in Monaco but now, coming back to the place where he’d spent his young life, it was as if he’d never been away. The light was the same, he thought. It had a unique quality. He couldn’t have named that quality, but he knew its effect. It had a soothing effect on his soul, which he’d not experienced in years.
After the rain had stopped as suddenly as it had started, Sebastian continued on his way. A watery sun came out, bathing the fields with a soft light, glistening off wet leaves and the lake. The slate gray roof shone in the sunlight. The twisted bare branches of wisteria wove their way around the front portico. In front of the door were his brothers’ cars, he supposed. He rarely saw them. He’d left when they’d been young and they were all very different people, and had gone their separate ways. It had taken the death of their father to bring them back together.
He ran up the steps and reached out to press the bell, before realizing that this place was his now. Instead, he pushed the door open wide and stepped inside. It had changed. He was surprised. Whenever he remembered it, the house was the same as when he’d left it all those years ago. Inherited pieces gathering dust after his mother died and everything had turned sour. His father had stopped caring for anyone or anything after that. But now, the peeling wallpaper and paint and the damp smell he remembered were no longer there. He raised his eyebrows in surprise and looked around.
At that moment, he heard his name shouted, and he looked up to see two men in the drawing room. While their physical appearance made them undeniably his brothers, their distinct personalities made them appear different. Alexander, the middle brother, was the quintessential business executive—charming on the outside but with a will of iron which few saw. His smile was even warmer than usual today, knowing that he was about to inherit the company which would be the perfect complement to his already extensive portfolio of companies. Beside him, athletic and purposeful, strode his youngest brother, Harrison. A dedicated polo player and spoiled apple of their father’s eye, Harrison spent his days playing polo and his nights seducing women. Or, at least, he had been until, according to Alexander, he’d suddenly stopped. Neither brother knew what was going on in Harrison’s world. He kept his secrets close to his chest.
“Sebastian!” said Alexander with a grin, reaching out to shake Sebastian’s hand. “Where the hell have you been? Look at the state of you!”
“Good to see you, too, Alexander,” said Sebastian. “And you, Harrison,” he said. “How’s the polo?”
“Sebastian,” greeted Harrison curtly. “I’m taking some time out from polo.”
“Why?” asked Sebastian. “That’s not like you. What’s going on?”
Harrison scowled, and Alexander laughed. “I’ve been trying to get it out of him, but he’s not saying. A woman, I should imagine.”
Harrison scowled again.
Alexander took a sip of his champagne and held it aloft. “Want a glass? We’re celebrating.”
Sebastian nodded and accepted a glass from the butler, who offered it with a disapproving air. “And what are we celebrating?” Even he, for whom there was no love lost between him and his father, didn’t have the poor taste to celebrate the death of his estranged father. “Our reunion, maybe?”
“No,” said Alexander, who’d always been the toughest one out of the three, despite his deceptive good humor. He raised his glass and the sunlight, which now streamed through the high windows, made the popping bubbles sparkle. “Our inheritance.”
“I’ll drink to that.”
All three of them finished their glasses and placed them on the sideboard.
Sebastian glanced down at the wet mark his dripping clothes were making on the parquet floor and peeled off his sodden jacket. “I don’t suppose any of you have a change of clothes I could use? My bag’s in the car a couple of miles away. That’s the trouble with renting sports cars. They get thrashed, and the Lamborghini died.”
“Sure,” said Alexander. “My bag’s in the hallway. You can use the last bedroom on the right.”
Sebastian ignored the amused grunt from Harrison, simply glad that something was amusing him.
“We’ll talk after I get changed.
Outside in the hallway, he picked up Alexander’s suitcase and went upstairs to the bedroom to which he’d been directed. At least it wasn’t the old nursery. He couldn’t have coped returning to that. The room he’d been given had been his mother’s. It was beautiful, sunny, and wasn’t usually used by guests. But then, he wouldn’t be a guest here anymore, he thought, looking around. It would be his room.
There were still feminine things around which he remembered from his mother’s time, and others that he didn’t remember. It was almost as if someone had been staying here recently. But it had been a long time since he’d been in this room. Maybe it had always looked like this and his father hadn’t bothered to change anything. For once he was glad of his father’s indifference.
He stripped off all his clothes, and stood, naked, looking across the front lawn. He felt a mixture of things, regret over everything that had happened in this house between him and his father, and sadness for the boy he’d once been, but he also felt a sense of rightness. He was home. Where he was meant to be.
Suddenly, he heard a slamming sound as if a shower door had been closed. He twisted his head in the direction of the bathroom. A woman came out drying her hair, her open robe revealing an exquisite figure—slim, but with full breasts and long slender legs. She looked up, caught his eye and screamed.
“What are you doing in my bathroom?” he asked.
“What the hell are you doing in my bedroom, more like?” she replied, fumbling to pull her robe together, but it was caught on the door and tugged even further apart. It wouldn’t have been normal if his gaze hadn’t dropped to her sex. And he was certain that any healthy male would have responded as he did. His erection was immediate and so was her reaction. She screamed once more and ran into the bathroom. The lock clicked shut.
“Get out of my bedroom!” she shouted, her voice trembling.
“Hey,” he said, feeling uncomfortable. He was more used to playing the role of savior to women rather than aggressor. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.”