Page 96 of Original Sin

Tess raised a sceptical eyebrow. ‘Really?’

‘Really. Listen, I’m thrirty–five years old. I figure it’s about time I stopped pretending I’m nineteen. So the man you see here is really, truly free of drink and drugs. Think of me as the brand–new Sean. I’ve reinvented myself.’

‘So how’s it going?’

‘Pretty good,’ he smiled.

‘Spoken with confidence.’

‘You think I’m an asshole.’

‘I never said that.’

‘Well I apologize for the Lupin party. I was a little rude.’

‘A little?’ she smiled.

‘I was being defensive, projecting my problems onto you.’

‘Of course.’

‘My mom has employed you to watch over me, but I’m determined to get it right on my own. I’ve made my own mistakes, now it’s my responsibility to put it right. I guess I wanted to vent my frustrations with my mother and you got in the way.’

‘But why do you have problems with your mum?’ asked Tess.

Sean looked up to the roof and laughed. ‘Hey, where do I start?’

Tess frowned. ‘I was under the impression you were the apple of her eye.’

Sean nodded slowly. ‘I can see why you might think that. I’ve certainly always been indulged by my mom. I could steal the crown jewels and she would just pat me on the head and say “Oh Sean”.’

Tess was beginning to understand. Sean didn’t want indulgence, he didn’t want to be tolerated, he wanted to be valued and loved – noticed even. She could certainly understand that.

‘So I get shunted off to London. Mom won’t let me near anything important like marketing, but she thinks I might just be able to handle corporate entertaining. Well, she’s right about that; in fact I’m pretty good, even if I do say so myself. Asgill Cosmetics might not make the most exclusive fragrances in the world, but we throw the best parties. They get all over the papers, which produces hundreds of free column–inches for us. On top of that, I’ve brought retailers into the fold, brokered distribution deals, and persuaded all the top fashion magazines over here to take our advertising. Sure, I was at all the hottest parties, on the yachts, but that’s where the deals are done.’

Tess flashed him a crooked smile. ‘So you’re telling me you’re not a playboy?’

Sean laughed. ‘Hey, I’m not saying I don’t enjoy it, I just wish–’

‘You just wish Meredith had noticed what your huge bar bills were buying her.’

He smiled, then glanced at the GPS on his dashboard. ‘One more right turn and I think we’re here.’

They were now driving down country roads crowded with oak trees and big houses set back from the road. Sean swung the car into a driveway and Tess was surprised at what she saw. It was not a beautiful house like Belcourt, more like an overgrown Barratt show–home made from modern red brick with ugly concrete mock–classical pillars either side of the entrance. More impressive was the field to one side, where Tess could see at least four helicopters.

‘Why drive when you can fly?’ she said, wide–eyed.

Sean pulled to a stop and handed the keys to a uniformed valet. They walked towards the house, skirting around a dazzling collection of parked cars, from Bentleys to Lamborghinis. Serious–looking security guards, dressed from head to foot in black, stood by the door, presumably listening to the chatter in their high–tech earpieces.

‘Hi Sean,’ said the pretty girl with the guest–list clipboard, tottering over on her six–inch heels to kiss him on both cheeks.

‘Hey Rachel, looking as lovely as ever,’ said Sean.

‘Go right in, sweetie,’ she said, giving Tess the once–over as she passed. I wonder what names Rachel is calling me under her breath, thought Tess, before her first glimpse of the interior wiped all other thoughts from her head. Sean hadn’t been joking when he said that expensive bad taste had run riot in Nina’s mansion: it was a sensory overload.

The floor was white marble inlaid with gold, and the giant staircase that dominated the centre of the entrance hall was draped in velvet and garish silk tapestries. Behind the staircase was a huge stained–glass window depicting a naked couple, but the pièce de résistance was in the centre of the hall; a sculpture–cum–fountain featuring two rampant golden unicorns with purple water gushing from their engorged members.

‘Good God,’ said Tess.