Page 50 of The Husband Contract

"What? The German girls are hot. Blonde hair, blue eyes, sexy bodies. I think I can make some magic happen if I go with them to Cambodia. But this American dude, he seems really cool. Are you still there, Sebastian?"

"I’m here." I close my eyes and rub my forehead. "So, letme get this straight, Sergio. Are you saying that you’re over Willow now?"

"I mean, can you ever really get over someone you love? No. But I am trying my best."

"Are you positive? She was your true love, Sergio. How long did you guys even date?"

I pause. I don’t want to antagonize him. I don’t want him to feel like I don’t respect his feelings.

"Was the relationship something that you were both passionate about?" I ask, because there’s a part of me that wants to believe Willow wasn’t really as invested as he’s making out.

"Oh, I’m positive that she was into me," he says. "But I don’t want to talk about her right now. It hurts just thinking about her."

"If you don’t want to talk about it, we won’t," I say, frowning. "So, everything else is going okay?"

"Yeah, I am great."

"You sure? You’re not going to do anything stupid, right?"

"I am fine. You don’t have to worry about me. Look, I’m not you, Sebastian. We both know that I have a heart, and sometimes it gets broken, and sometimes I’m in my emotions, and that’s how I’m always going to be. But I’m not David, okay?"

"I know that. I never said that you were."

"I know you didn’t, but you treat me like a little kid, and sometimes it’s overwhelming."

"I don’t mean to treat you like a little kid. I just want to make sure that you’re not going to do something that we both regret."

"I know." His voice softens. "You can’t keep blaming yourself for David’s death, though. It wasn’t your fault. He’s the one who chose to drink. He’s the one who chose todrive. He went to that party without you, and he drove drunk. That wasn’t your fault."

"No, technically it wasn’t my fault, but if I had just gone with him, if I’d paid more attention to him... He was upset, and I should have hung out with him that night. He got drunk and shouldn’t have driven, and?—"

"It was not your fault," Sergio interrupts me. "And I’m not him. I’m not going to drink and drive, okay? I’m not going to do anything stupid, Sebastian. I promise. She broke my heart, yeah, but I’m going to live."

"You just worry me, Sergio. You got so emotional and caught up in this relationship that you left the company. You gave her millions of dollars, and I don’t know what other shitty-ass decisions you’re going to make."

"I’m not going to make any more, okay? I promise. I get that you want to protect me, but I don’t need that. I just need you to support me as a brother."

"What about supporting yourself? What about coming back and supporting me and your familial duty to the company? What about thinking about the future?"

"That’s not my future, Sebastian. I don’t give a shit about the company. I want to travel the world. I want to live life. I want to fall in love."

"Life is not a party, Sergio. You can’t just go to moon parties and travel around the world?—"

"Life is for the living, Sebastian. Maybe you need to try it sometime."

"Maybe I’m busy working, supporting both of us."

"Maybe you don’t have to be. Maybe we’ve got enough money that neither of us needs to work ever again."

"I’m going to ignore that. You know that we have a huge merger coming up, and there’s a vote coming up in the next couple of weeks. I really need you back on the board. I need your support, Sergio, as the only otherLaurence family member on the board of directors. It’s important."

"You’re going to have to figure something else out. I want nothing to do with that."

"So, what, you’re just going to stay in Thailand, partying and hooking up with different women and just having fun?"

"No, but I am trying to heal my heart. Willow broke it. And this is why I didn’t come to you right away. This is why I came overseas, bro, because I knew you wouldn’t understand. I knew that you’d just think I was a fool."

"I understand. And trust me, I am going to make sure that she doesn’t do that to anyone else. But I need you here, please, Sergio."