Page 79 of Original Sin

‘I’m saying, what if people did know that I’m not perfect? Would anyone really care? I know my mother is trying to protect Brooke and her precious fiancé, but let’s be real here – who really cares what I get up to? I know the Billington family are conservative, but is David really going to dump my sister just because I’m not best friends with the President? Because I’ve taken drugs and inhaled.’

‘Snorted and collapsed more like it.’

‘Tess, it’s all bullshit. Whatever I do isn’t going to harm the wedding and you know it.’

‘You might think it’s acceptable behaviour to go to an orgy and almost flat–line on a ketamine and heroin cocktail, but I doubt Wendell Billington does. Or the American public,’ Tess hissed, incensed at his lack of gratitude to both her and his own mother.

‘That party was a one–off,’ he said gruffly. ‘I didn’t know it was going to be so hardcore.’

‘Well, I doubt that you just bowled up. I heard there was a ten thousand pound membership fee.’

Sean looked at her with a cruel smile. ‘Not for people like me, honey.’

‘Of course not,’ she said. Tess knew that her first impression of Sean Asgill had been exactly right. He was a spoilt, condescending prick who thought that the world revolved around him and that, given the cushion of money around him, he could behave any way he chose.

‘Listen Sean, lightning can strike twice, believe me,’ said Tess, the contempt in her voice barely concealed. ‘There are only so many times I can bail you out. In fact, I think you’ve had your quota.’

His eyes narrowed. ‘Sweetheart, I don’t need a lecture, I don’t need a baby–sitter, and I certainly don’t need a half–assed publicist telling me how to live my life. Do we understand one another?’

‘Perfectly,’ said Tess, turning on her heel and stalking towards the bar.

Arrogant, self–centred pig! she thought furiously. The nerve of the man! ‘I don’t need a publicist’! Well, that’s exactly what Liz had said and that’s exactly what Brooke had said. Well, she was quickly learning that everyone in this damned family had a secret. Just you wait until someone digs up yours, Sean Asgill, she thought. I won’t be there to break your fall.

She pushed her way to the vodka bar, snatched up a shot, and downed it in one.

‘He gets under your skin, doesn’t he?’

Tess looked up to see Leonard standing behind her. She shook her head, trying desperately to think of something diplomatic to say. Then she caught the smile on Leonard’s face and she burst out laughing.

‘He’s … well he’s … ’

‘He’s an asshole.’

‘Well, I wouldn’t go that far … ’

‘Perhaps you should, my dear,’ said Leonard. ‘He’s part of your job, after all, and you need to know exactly who you’re dealing with. Of course I love my nephew, he’s my family and there’s nothing I won’t do for him, but he can be a bit of a scoundrel.’

Tess laughed out loud.

‘The trouble is, I can see myself in Sean,’ said Leonard, his wise eyes watching Sean across the room. ‘When I was his age, I was just as irresponsible, just as vain.’

He chuckled as Tess looked at him.

‘I had too much money, not enough focus, and I was surrounded by people who indulged me. That, I’m afraid, is Sean’s problem, although I doubt he’s aware of it. Underneath all that flash, Tess, is actually a very caring, sensitive man.’

Tess raised her eyebrows sceptically.

‘Hard to believe, but he is.’ He smiled. ‘He just needs someone to knock a little sense into him. I’d love to do it myself – give him a more responsible job in the company, perhaps, because I actually think he’d thrive. But Meredith won’t hear of it and, well, you can see her point,’ he added, nodding towards Sean, who now had his arm around the most attractive woman in the room. Annabel, she assumed: glossy, expensively dressed, not especially beautiful up close, but the overall impression was striking. Tess was not surprised he was so shallow. ‘On the other hand, he seems more of a catch … ’

‘Who?’ asked Tess, her mind still on Sean.

Leonard pointed across the room. ‘Him.’ She followed his gaze. He was looking at Dom, who was deep in conversation with a man in a three–piece suit. Tess instantly felt a pang of affection. Compared to Sean Asgill, Russ Ford, and most of the men she had encountered in the past few weeks, Dom certainly was a catch. After nine years together, their relationship was not perfect, but whose was? She had met Dom just three years after her father’s death and her mother’s new marriage. Before Dom came along, Tess had simply thrown herself into her career, but now she supposed he provided a safe harbour for her, someone to lean and depend on. And he was cute. He looked up and she walked over.

‘Ah, there you are,’ he said. ‘I thought you might have run off with Sean Asgill.’

‘Ha! Not likely,’ she replied, still fuming. ‘He is an absolute prick.’

He laughed and pulled her into a hug. ‘Come on, that’s our meal ticket you’re talking about there,’ he smiled. ?