The CEO’ s second choice novel Chapter 35

　　Elena

　　Sebastian opens the door leading into the boardroom and I brace myself as my eyes fall on the blonde-haired, blue-eyed Adonis sitting at the table. He turns his head and looks at my husband with an impassive stare until his eyes fall on me.

　　Surprise registers on his face as he takes me in, and I could feel the anger bristling from Sebastian while he leads me inside. “I hope you haven’t been waiting long, Elijah, Isla.” He shakes Elijah’s hands as well as Isla’s. I look at Sebastian’s ex-love and notice the longing in her eyes as she stared at him.

　　“Not at all, Sebastian. I am sure you wish to get this over with; as am I. So, let us start.” Elijah says in an all business-like voice, not the carefree voice he presented to me in the coffee shop.

　　“Very well. I hope you won’t mind my wife sitting in on this meeting. She wishes to gain some corporate knowledge and what better way to start than with a merger of Britain’s most powerful companies?” Sebastian says as he looks at me with so much pride that I blush. Elijah nods at this. “Certainly. Now, Sebastian…”

　　The meeting lasted a better part of THREE. FRIGGING. HOURS.

　　Good God, I had a feeling that Sebastian was good at negotiating, but it did not prepare me for this; every counter Elijah had, Sebastian had a better deal. Every hypothesis Elijah brought up, Sebastian squashed, and it went back and forth like this. Testosterone was thick in the room as the two Alpha males battled it out in a debate of wits.

　　In the end, they came to an amicable agreement that satisfied both companies.

　　“Ah, Sebastian, I have not debated like this in a long time. You truly know your stuff.” Elijah compliments my husband as they shake hands once more. Sebastian smiles at this. “I could say the same about you, Elijah. You had good points with certain things so I am quite interested to see what we will come up with in the future.” Sebastian says and I could tell he was truly excited by this.

　　And here I thought both of them did not want this merger. Perhaps now they could put the past behind them and move forward.

　　Elijah turns to walk out and I see Isla pull Sebastian to one corner; this left me with a burning in my chest I could only attribute to jealousy. I moved to walk over, but am stopped by a voice.

　　“Easy, Elena. Your husband only has eyes for you.” The husky voice of Elijah came, and I turned around to stare at him. Gosh, was every business executive in this town as Alpha as Sebastian and Elijah?

　　“I know that,” I answer him, and a chuckle escapes his throat. Turning to him, a thought crosses my mind. “Why were you truly in that coffee shop, Elijah?” I ask him, suddenly feeling emboldened by my jealousy. He shrugs, “I told you, running away from this very meeting.” He says, and I frown.

　　“So us becoming acquainted there was mere coincidence?” I ask him, not believing him at all, but he nods.

　　We arrived at the villa a few minutes later and I couldn’t be happier seeing my home. I haven’t been out gallivanting in a while but coming back here at the end of the day always made me happy.

　　I get out of the Phantom bleary-eyed and lean into Sebastian. How did he do this every day without feeling as dead on his feet as I did? He definitely has a higher tolerance for the corporate world.

　　“I’ve been thinking, love,” I start, trying to put into words the thoughts that I have been mulling over in my mind ever since Elijah’s comment this morning. He turns to me as we walk up the stairs and waits for me to continue. “Law is definitely not my forte, neither is the corporate world; that will be your area of expertise. I know I love books and reading, so perhaps join the Faculty of English at Oxford as an undergraduate and see from there? I could attend an open day and learn some more about what the subject would entail.” I tell him my idea and notice the smile spreading over his face.

　　“That would be perfect for you, my love. I didn’t think the corporate world would suit you at all. But literature, most definitely. We can talk about it more when you’ve had some rest.” He says as we step into our unused bedroom. It looked similar to our separate rooms, only much larger with our walk-in merged. I am sure the bathroom looked just as luxurious. Sebastian heads towards the bathroom and runs me a bath as I mull over today’s little adventure.

　　Literature was my first love, and Elijah had pointed it out before Sebastian did. Why was I letting him invade my thoughts? He had no business being on my mind as I stood in my marriage bedroom undressing. The way he had looked at me gave me a shiver down my spine, and I wondered what that look could mean.

　　I just didn’t know it yet, but Elijah would play a bigger role in my life than I originally expected.