Chapter 31 THE REAL KISS
The parking garage felt suddenly threatening. Every shadow looked suspicious, every echo of footsteps made Harper jump.
Sebastian held her hand as they walked to his car, his grip tight enough to hurt. Neither of them spoke until they were inside with the doors locked.
"Someone in my penthouse," Sebastian said, his voice flat with shock. "Someone I trust has been spying on us."
Harper's mind raced through possibilities. "Amanda? Your assistant?"
"She has keys, but she has been with me for eight years. I cannot believe she would betray me like this."
"What about the cleaning service? Building maintenance?"
"They are all vetted and bonded. But I suppose anyone could be bought if the price was right." Sebastian pulled out his phone and opened the files Ryan had sent. His face grew darker as he scrolled through document after document.
"What is it?" Harper asked.
"Photos of us inside the penthouse. In the kitchen. In the living room. Someone photographed us through the windows or planted cameras." He kept scrolling, his jaw clenching tighter with each image. "Here. This one is from my office. The angle suggests it was taken from inside the room, not through a window."
Harper felt sick. "So there are cameras? Inside your home?"
"Ryan is sending a security team to sweep the place now. He says not to go back until they have cleared it." Sebastian threw his phone onto the dashboard. "Damn it. How did I not see this? How did I not notice someone violating my privacy for weeks, maybe months?"
"Because you trusted them. Whoever did this, they knew you well enough to exploit that trust."
Sebastian started the car and pulled out of the garage, driving with no clear destination. Harper recognized the pattern. He needed to move, to do something while his mind processed the betrayal.
They ended up at Kerry Park, overlooking the city. Seattle sprawled below them in the fading afternoon light, beautiful and indifferent to their crisis.
"I am sorry," Sebastian said after a long silence. "I brought you into this mess. You got threatened and dragged into a board meeting and now you cannot even go home because someone has been watching us."
"Our home," Harper corrected. "And we will figure out who did this."
"What if it is someone we cannot suspect? Someone who seems completely innocent?" Sebastian leaned his head back against the seat. "Marcus could not have orchestrated all of this alone. Whoever helped him had intimate knowledge of my life. My schedule. My relationships. My weaknesses."
Harper thought about the past few months. Who had access to Sebastian's private life? Who knew about their arrangement, their growing feelings, their moments of vulnerability?
"Claire knows everything," Harper said carefully. "She was at our wedding. She knows about the contract."
"Claire would never betray me. She is my sister."
"I am not saying she did. I am just listing people who have the information Marcus used." Harper took his hand. "What about your mother? Does she know about the contract?"
"My mother does not involve herself in my business. She spends most of her time in France, avoiding anything connected to my father's legacy." Sebastian shook his head. "Besides, she does not have access to my penthouse or my files."
His phone rang. Ryan again.
"What did you find?" Sebastian answered.
"Three cameras. One in your office, one in the living room, one in the master bedroom hallway." Ryan's voice was grim. "They are sophisticated devices. Expensive. Installed by someone who knew what they were doing."
Harper felt her stomach turn. Someone had been watching them sleep. Watching their private moments. Documenting their relationship for Marcus to weaponize.
"How long have they been there?" Sebastian asked.
"Based on the data storage, at least six weeks. Maybe longer."
Six weeks. That covered everything. Their first real kiss. Harper moving into his room. Breakfast in bed. Every vulnerable moment they had shared.
"Can you trace who installed them?" Sebastian's voice was dangerously quiet.
"Working on it. But Sebastian, there is something else. The cameras were accessed remotely, but the access logs show someone inside your building. Someone with legitimate entry credentials."
"Give me a name, Ryan."
"I cannot yet. The digital trail is complicated. But I will have answers by tonight." Ryan paused. "In the meantime, do not trust anyone. And I mean anyone."
After hanging up, Sebastian sat motionless for several minutes. Harper watched him process the information, and saw the moment his CEO mask slipped back into place. He was compartmentalizing, shutting down the emotion to focus on strategy.
"Sebastian," she said softly. "You are allowed to be upset."
"Being upset will not solve anything."
"Maybe not, but pretending you are fine will not either." Harper turned in her seat to face him. "Someone you trusted violated your privacy. Used your relationship against you. You are allowed to be angry."
Sebastian's hands tightened on the steering wheel. "If I let myself be angry right now, I will not be able to think clearly. And we need to think clearly."
"Okay. Then let us think. What do we know for certain?"
"Marcus had help from someone with inside access. That person installed cameras and fed him information. They probably knew about the contract from the beginning." Sebastian's analytical mind was taking over. "Which means they have been planning this for months. Since before we even got married."
Harper felt a chill. "So the whole thing was a setup? Marcus knew you would propose a contract marriage?"
"Maybe. Or maybe he just knew I was struggling with the board's concerns about my personal life, and he waited for me to make a move he could exploit."
"Either way, someone close to you has been working against you for a long time."
Sebastian finally looked at her, and Harper saw the pain beneath the control. "I keep trying to figure out who hates me enough to do this. Who I have wronged or overlooked or underestimated. But I cannot think of anyone. Which means I am either blind or incredibly naive."
"You are neither. You just expect loyalty from the people you are loyal to. That is not naive. That is decent."
"Decent does not win wars. And Harper, this is war now. Marcus may be off the board, but whoever helped him is still out there. Still has access. Still knows our vulnerabilities."
Harper's phone buzzed. A text from an unknown number.
"Congratulations on your little performance today, Mrs. Colton. Very touching. But you should know that Marcus was just the opening act. The real show is about to begin."
Her hands started shaking. Sebastian saw her face and took the phone, reading the message. His expression turned to stone.
"They are threatening you now."
"Who are they? Marcus is gone. Who is left?"
Before Sebastian could answer, his phone rang again. This time it was Claire.
"Sebastian, where are you? I have been trying to reach you for an hour."
"I am with Harper. We are dealing with some things. What is wrong?"
"What is wrong is that someone leaked details of today’s board meeting to the press. The contract, the accusations, everything. It is going to be front page news tomorrow morning." Claire's voice was tight with stress. "You need to prepare a statement. Control the narrative before it controls you."
Sebastian closed his eyes. "How bad is it?"
"Bad. They are framing it as a scandal. Billionaire CEO's fake marriage exposed. They have quotes from anonymous sources claiming you manipulated Harper into the arrangement. It is exactly what Marcus wanted, just through different channels."
"So even with him gone, the damage continues."
"I am sorry, Sebastian. I know today was supposed to be a victory. But whoever is behind this is not giving up." Claire paused. "Where are you staying tonight? You cannot go back to the penthouse until it is cleared."
"I do not know yet. A hotel, probably."
"Stay with me. Both of you. My place is secure and you will not be alone." Claire's voice softened. "Sebastian, please. Let me help."
After getting Claire's address, Sebastian hung up and looked at Harper. "Are you okay?"
"No. But I will be." Harper took a shaky breath. "We are really doing this, are we not? Fighting whoever is trying to destroy you?"
"We do not have a choice. They have made it personal by threatening you." Sebastian cupped her face in his hands. "Harper, I need you to understand something. This is going to get worse before it gets better. The media attention, the scrutiny, the people trying to tear us apart. If you want to walk away, if this is too much, I will understand."
Harper looked at him, at the fear and hope warring in his expression, and felt something settle in her chest. This was the moment. The choice that would define everything that came next.
She could walk away. Claim the marriage was exactly what Marcus said it was, take her money, save the Adriatic, and disappear from Sebastian's complicated life.
Or she could stay and fight. Risk everything for a man she had known for four months and loved with an intensity that terrified her.
"I am not walking away," Harper said firmly. "But I need something from you first."
"Anything."
"I need you to stop protecting me from this. Stop trying to shield me from the ugly parts. We are in this together now, which means I get to fight beside you, not behind you."
Sebastian studied her face for a long moment, then nodded slowly. "Okay. Partners. Equal partners."
"Equal partners," Harper agreed.
They drove to Claire's apartment in the Capitol Hill neighborhood, a secure building with a doorman and cameras that actually belonged to the residents. Claire met them at the door with wine and concern.
"You both look exhausted," she said, ushering them inside. "Have you eaten?"
"Not since this morning," Sebastian admitted.
"I will order food. You two sit down and breathe for a second." Claire disappeared into the kitchen, leaving Harper and Sebastian alone in the living room.
They sat on the couch, not touching at first, both processing the disaster the day had become. Then Sebastian reached for Harper's hand, and she moved closer until she was tucked against his side.
"I meant what I said in the boardroom," Harper said quietly. "About loving you. About this being real."
"I know. I meant it too." Sebastian pressed a kiss to her hair. "But Harper, loving each other does not make this easier. If anything, it makes it harder. Because now whoever is trying to hurt me knows exactly how to do it. They hurt you."
"So we do not give them the chance." Harper tilted her head up to look at him. "We figure out who is behind this, we expose them, and we end this before it gets worse."
"You make it sound simple."
"It is not. But we are smart and we are motivated and we have each other. That has to count for something."
Sebastian smiled, the first genuine smile she had seen since the parking garage. "When did you become the optimistic one?"
"Since I married a pessimist who needed balance."
He kissed her then, soft and sweet, a reminder that despite everything, they still had this. The connection that had started as convenience and grew into something neither of them could deny.
The kiss deepened, four months of tension and near misses and interrupted moments finally finding release. Harper's hands slid into Sebastian's hair. His arms tightened around her waist. The rest of the world faded until there was nothing but sensation and need and the desperate relief of finally, finally being allowed to feel everything.
When they finally broke apart, both breathing hard, Sebastian rested his forehead against hers. "I have been wanting to do that properly for months."
"Define properly."
"Without stopping. Without interruptions. Without holding back because I was scared of what it meant." His hands framed her face. "Harper, I am done holding back. Done pretending I can keep you at arm's length. Done trying to protect myself from feeling too much."
"Good. Because I am done with all of that too."
They kissed again, slower this time, savoring instead of rushing. Harper felt something fundamental shift between them. The last walls coming down. The last pretenses falling away. Just two people choosing each other despite every logical reason not to.
Claire cleared her throat from the doorway. "Food is here. And while I am thrilled you two are finally acting like an actual couple, maybe save the heavy making out for when you are not in my living room?"
They broke apart, both flushed and breathless. Harper felt like a teenager caught by her parents, which was ridiculous given that she was a married adult.
"Sorry," Sebastian said, not sounding sorry at all.
"No you are not." Claire set down bags of Thai food. "But I forgive you because it has been painful watching you two dance around each other for months. Now eat something before you pass out."
They ate dinner with Claire, filling her in on Ryan's findings and the threatening text Harper had received. Claire listened with growing concern, asking pointed questions that showed she understood the seriousness of their situation.
"This person knows your patterns," Claire said. "They knew exactly when to plant those cameras for maximum impact. That suggests either someone very close to you or someone who has been studying you for a long time."
"Or both," Sebastian said grimly.
Harper's phone buzzed. Another text from the unknown number.
"Enjoying your sister's hospitality? Do not get too comfortable. Nowhere is safe when you have made enemies of the right people. Sweet dreams, Mrs. Colton."
Sebastian read the text over her shoulder, his face going pale. "They know we are here. At Claire's."
"How is that possible?" Claire asked. "I did not tell anyone you were coming. Not even my assistant."
"They must be tracking us." Sebastian pulled out his phone and powered it down. "Harper, turn off your phone. Now."
Harper did as instructed, her heart racing. "You think they are tracking our phones?"
"I think we cannot take any chances." Sebastian looked at Claire. "Do you have a landline? Something they cannot monitor?"
"In my bedroom. Why?"
"Because we need to call Ryan and tell him to move faster on finding out who is behind this." Sebastian stood, his expression hard. "And then we need to figure out how to turn the tables. Because I am done playing defense."
He disappeared into Claire's bedroom, leaving Harper and Claire alone in the living room.
"He's scared," Claire said softly. "I have never seen him this scared."
"I know. I am too."
"Harper, I need to ask you something, and I need you to be honest with me." Claire's expression was serious. "Do you really love my brother? Or is this still about the contract and the money?"
Harper met her eyes without hesitation. "I love him. The contract stopped mattering weeks ago. Maybe months ago. I just did not want to admit it because it felt too fast, too intense, too real."
Claire studied her for a long moment, then nodded. "Good. Because Sebastian falls hard when he falls, and if you break his heart, I will have to get creative with revenge."
"Noted. But Claire, I am not planning to break his heart. I am planning to fight for him. For us. For whatever this relationship is becoming."
"Then you are braver than most people who try to love Colton. We are complicated and damaged and our family destroys nearly everyone who gets too close." Claire's smile was sad. "But maybe you are different. Maybe you are exactly what Sebastian needs."
Before Harper could respond, Sebastian emerged from the bedroom, his face grim.
"Ryan found something. We need to see it now."
"What is it?" Harper asked.
"He would not say over the phone. Just that we need to get to his office immediately. That everything we thought we knew about this situation is wrong."
They grabbed their coats, following Sebastian back to the car with a sense of dread settling over them. Whatever Ryan had discovered, it was significant enough to demand an immediate meeting.
The drive to Ryan's office took twenty minutes through evening traffic. No one spoke. Harper held Sebastian's hand and tried to prepare herself for whatever revelation was coming.
Ryan's office was in a nondescript building in Georgetown, the kind of place you would never notice unless you were looking for it. He met them at the door, his grave.
"You are going to want to sit down for this," Ryan said, leading them into a conference room.
On the table was a laptop, the screen showing a paused video.
"What are we looking at?" Sebastian asked.
"Security footage from your building. From the day the cameras were installed in your penthouse." Ryan hit play.
The video showed the parking garage. A car pulled in. A person getting out, carrying a bag of equipment.
Harper's breath caught as the person's face came into view.
It was someone they knew. Someone they trusted.
Someone who had been at their wedding, at family dinners, at the board meeting that very morning.
Sebastian went very still beside her, his hand crushing hers.
"No," he whispered. "That is impossible."
But the video did not lie.
The person who had betrayed Sebastian, who had helped Marcus, who had planted cameras and leaked information and threatened Harper, was someone neither of them had ever suspected.
Someone whose betrayal would change everything.
Ryan paused the video on a clear image of the traitor's face.
"I am sorry, Sebastian," Ryan said. "But we need to talk about what this means."
Harper looked at the frozen image, at the person who had destroyed their privacy and nearly destroyed S
ebastian's career, and felt her entire understanding of the situation shift.
Because the person smiling into the camera, carrying surveillance equipment into Sebastian's building, was the last person either of them would have suspected.
And now they had to figure out why…