Holiday Hoax: A Fake Marriage Billionaire Romance (The Cartwright Family Book 1)
Holiday Hoax: Chapter 25

A Few Days Later

The plane shakes with turbulence and more sweat coats my skin. Adrenaline sears through my cells. I cry out, ‘Sebastian!’

He removes his tongue from my clit and meets my eye. He challenges, ‘Do you want me to stop?’

‘Sebastian Allen Cartwright! Don’t you dare!’ I shriek, trembling, and push his face back down on my body.

A spark ignites in his blues. He chuckles and latches on to my pussy like a vacuum cleaner.

‘Oh…my…’

He stops and demands for the fifth time, ‘Say it if you want it, Mrs. Cartwright.’

Caving, I blurt out, ‘You’re the best husband ever!’

‘That’s my girl,’ he praises, then turns my pussy into his dinner.

Endorphins tornado through me right as the turbulence turns rougher. The high is so intense, the dark bedroom turns white. My incoherent cries get drowned out by the overhead bins rattling so loudly, it sounds like they’re going to fall on us.

Before I know it, Sebastian flips me over. He pushes my face to the pillow, and his warm torso hits my spine. He moves my hands to the bars and orders, ‘Hold on, Sunshine, it’s rough.’

I grip the headboard, and his girth fills my pulsating body. I arch my back into him, but he leans closer, pinning me to the mattress.

The pilot comes on over the speaker, saying, ‘It’s going to be bumpy, but we’re landing. Please remain buckled up.’

Like the previous warnings, Sebastian ignores it and thrusts faster inside me.

I moan, closing my eyes. Every time we have sex, it’s like a new cupcake flavor I’ve perfected. I would have thought I’d be used to him after all our encounters in Iceland, but I’m not. And every time, we seem to get better.

‘Christ, you’re always so tight,’ he mumbles in my ear.

‘You love it,’ I blurt out.

‘Damn right,’ he agrees, then claims, ‘My wife’s got the tightest pussy in all of Dallas. And it’s mine.’ He moves his hand to the front of my body and manipulates my overly stimulated clit.

‘Oh…I…oh…yes! Don’t stop,’ I demand, returning to the bliss train.

The sound of the wheels lowering fills the cabin.

‘Tonight, you’re sucking me off in the pantry while everyone’s at the dinner table,’ he states.

My adrenaline mixes with excitement. I’m convinced that no man on Earth has a better cock than Sebastian. And one of my new favorite tasks is giving him blowjobs and making him beg me to finish him off. I had a bit too much to drink last night. He told me I had to choose something naughty to do when we returned. So I admitted the fantasy I had one morning when I was in the pantry looking for ingredients to make him his pancakes.

‘You’ll wear the apron only and a bun,’ he asserts, pounding into me harder, hitting my G-spot.

‘Y-y…oh!’ I cry out as the wheels hit the ground and the brakes screech.

‘And a pair of stilettos. The red ones I just got you,’ he demands, then buries his head into my neck and groans. His body convulses over mine, long after the plane’s come to a full stop.

The pilot comes over the speaker again. ‘Welcome back to the great state of Texas.’

‘Hallelujah,’ I utter.

Sebastian chuckles and rolls off me. He grins and pulls me into him. Both of us try to catch our breath, not saying a word.

I turn to him. He reaches for my cheek, and I admit, ‘I had the best time. Thank you.’

‘In here or Iceland?’ he teases.

My smile grows. ‘Both.’

He leans forward and kisses me, then states, ‘Me too, Sunshine. You ready to go home?’

I nod. We get dressed, I freshen up in the bathroom, then we make our way out of the plane. A driver is waiting for us on the tarmac. We get into the car, and Sebastian puts his arm around me. I lean into his chest, feeling the happiest I’ve ever felt.

Neither of us talk. When we get to the ranch, the house is bustling with excitement.

‘Georgia!’ Isabella squeals the moment I walk through the door.

‘Hey!’ I crouch down, and she runs and jumps into my arms, followed by Emma. ‘I missed you two.’

‘We missed you!’ Isabella declares, and my heart soars.

‘Where’s my hug?’ Sebastian asks.

They redirect their energy to him, and he picks both of them up.

It takes a while to hug everyone, but I don’t mind. I love everyone in his family. And they’ve been nothing but kind and loving toward me.

We’re led into the family room and answer questions about Iceland for a few minutes. Sebastian kisses the top of my head, declaring, ‘I need a shower.’

‘Me too, but you go first,’ I state.

‘I’m not arguing with you,’ he declares, kisses my head again, then winks. He leaves.

I continue telling his family about Iceland and all the things we did. After a while, I wonder why Sebastian isn’t back. I excuse myself and go to our room. I step inside, then freeze outside the bathroom door.

Sebastian scoffs. ‘Huck, that’s not exactly a loophole.’

The hairs on my neck rise. A loophole?

Sebastian continues, ‘Georgia’s too smart for that. Remember when she signed the prenup? She’s not a moron.’

My gut dives so fast that I reach for the wall to steady myself. Silence fills the air as I realize he’s looking for a loophole in our prenup.

After everything we’ve been through, he’s trying to get out of our deal?

Not just get out. Screw me out of it.

I haven’t thought about the prenup since the day of our wedding when I had to convince myself to make it down the aisle. Sebastian claimed he had feelings for me, and we agreed to figure out this mess together. But he’s been lying to me the entire time.

I believed he was telling the truth.

I trusted his words.

I fully gave myself to him the entire trip, believing we had something real between us.

How could I be such a fool?

Sebastian firmly asserts, ‘Listen to what I’m saying. That’s not a loophole.’

Bile climbs up my throat. In my entire life, I’ve never felt so betrayed. Sebastian’s been using me this entire time, and I’m the idiot who fell for it.

Before I can think, I take off my wedding rings and toss them on the bed. I grab my purse, then glance around the room.

His truck keys are on the desk. I snatch them, then sneak through the house, trying to avoid everyone. It’s not easy since there are so many people, but I finally get outside.

My pulse races faster. I run to Sebastian’s truck, jump in the driver’s seat, then start the engine. I step on the accelerator and barrel down the driveway, screeching to a halt for the gate to open.

‘Georgia!’ Sebastian yells from out of nowhere.

I glance in the rearview mirror. He’s running toward me, barefoot. My heart pounds against my chest cavity. I mutter at the gate, ‘Come on. Come on. Come on.’

Sebastian gets ten feet from the truck and the gate finally opens.

I peel through it, then increase my speed until Sebastian is no longer in sight.

Two streets away, my phone rings. Sebastian’s name pops up on the screen.

I send it to voicemail.

He calls again.

I turn my phone off and blink through my tears, but nothing will stop them. I can’t see, so I pull over on a dirt side road and into a wooded driveway so the truck’s hidden. I turn off the engine and sob.

How could I have been so stupid?

I don’t know if I would claim he loved me, but it felt like it. At the very least, I believe he cared deeply for me.

This entire time, he was playing me.

I can’t sit here. He’ll try to come after me.

Somehow, I manage to pull it together. A numb feeling sets in. The two-hour drive to Dallas is a blur. It’s after ten when I arrive. I pull up to the office building, park in the garage, then go up to Sebastian’s office.

I toss his keys on his desk, along with my security key card. I turn on my phone and ignore his text messages and voicemails. Then I go back downstairs and order an Uber.

It pulls up to the curb within minutes. I finally get into my apartment and crawl into my bed. The tears fall freely until my chest heaves with so much emotion that bile climbs up my throat. I run to the bathroom and get sick, hugging the toilet and wondering how I could have allowed myself to get into this situation.

I sit against the wall for hours, replaying my time with Sebastian and all the things he said to me over the last few weeks. It’s well after midnight when I convince myself to take a shower.

I’m about to step under the hot water when I freeze.

I still smell like him. He’s all over me, and once I wash him away, it’s over.

It’s already over, I reprimand myself.

Another river of tears falls. I force myself to shower but don’t use the soap until the water begins to turn cold. I rinse off, shaking from the freezing temperature. Then I quickly shampoo and condition my hair.

After I’m dry, I get back under the covers, but the shaking doesn’t stop. I’m colder than I was in Iceland. But I had Sebastian’s body around mine, keeping me warm. Now, I’ll never have it again.

The waves of grief never stop. To torture myself further, I pull up his text messages.

Sebastian: Georgia, answer your phone.

Sebastian: I don’t understand what’s going on, Sunshine.

Sebastian: Answer your door. Whatever’s going on here, we can work through it.

Answer my door?

He’s here in Dallas?

I glance at the timestamp, then cringe. I must have been in the shower.

It’s good I didn’t answer.

Maybe I got something wrong.

No. I didn’t. I need to stop being naive. He’s Sebastian Cartwright. Ruthless and cruel.

He’s not ruthless or cruel.

He is. He just proved it.

There’s a loud pounding on my door. Sebastian’s voice booms, ‘Georgia!’

Goose bumps break out on my skin. I sit up in bed.

Another pound fills the air. He shouts, ‘Let me in, Georgia.’

I creep out to the main living area and stand on the other side of the door. A bang thuds from the thin wood, and I jump.

‘She obviously doesn’t want to talk to you. Do I need to call the cops?’ my neighbor, Tina, threatens.

‘Mind your own business,’ Sebastian warns.

‘When you’re waking me up, it is my business,’ she claims.

Another knock makes me almost jump out of my skin. I hold my hand over my mouth and squeeze my eyes shut as he declares, ‘Georgia, I love you. Open the door.’

My knees give out. I crouch down on the floor, shaking.

He loves me?

No. It’s another trick. He wants me to finish the contract so he can become CEO and screw me out of the money.

‘In three seconds, I’m calling the police,’ Tina announces.

Desperation fills Sebastian’s voice. He knocks again, only not as rough. His voice is lower, and he asserts, ‘Whatever I’ve done, I’ll make right. Please, let me in.’

More than I’ve ever wanted anything, I want to open the door and believe him. But I can’t. I stay frozen, except for my quivering body, staring at the door, with a puddle of tears forming on the wood floor.

A while passes before I check the peephole. He’s finally gone, which only hurts my heart more.

I crawl back into my bed, and my phone lights up.

Sebastian: I love you. Please, talk to me.

More pain rips through me. I wonder how he can be so cruel. And then all my demons come rushing to the surface.

What was it that made me so eager to be his victim?

Is my self-esteem so low that I was okay subjecting myself to him?

Did my loneliness cause me to agree to his contract so I could be around people over the holidays?

The hard questions continue to pop up all night long. I beat myself up until the sun comes up, but there still aren’t any answers. And there’s only one question I’d do anything to know the answer to but never will.

Did Sebastian have any feelings for me, or was it all one big lie?

I don’t get out of bed the entire day. He pounds on my door several times, sends more messages, and attempts to call. I ignore all of it. It’s after midnight when l fall asleep.

The next day, I force myself to get out of bed. I turn on the shower and step under the hot water, vowing to never again trust Sebastian Cartwright.

I was wrong about him.

And I’ll never make that mistake again.