Chapter 288 Love Requires Sacrifice

Chapter 288: Chapter 288 Love Requires Sacrifice

Emilia’s POV

"A trip?" Tiffany’s head snapped up. "Where to?"

"Switzerland."

"Switzerland?" Titus set down his fork, brows raised. "Why go all that way? We’ve got perfectly good country of our own."

But no one looked more thrown than Sebastian. He leaned in close beside me, voice pitched low. "Why so sudden? Did she ask you, or did you ask her?"

"I asked her," I murmured.

Quiet as we were, Mila’s Alpha-sharp hearing caught every word. She answered the question meant for me. "Because it’s spring, and it’s a good season for it. Why? Do you have some objection to me borrowing my daughter-in-law for a week?"

Tiffany snorted. "As if any of us would dare object. We wouldn’t survive the look you’d give us."

"Wise girl. We leave first thing tomorrow. Back in about a week."

"A week?" Sebastian’s eyebrow climbed, and he did not bother hiding his displeasure. He’d nearly come apart when I’d been gone a single night. A week clearly registered somewhere between insufferable and unsurvivable.

"We’re flying to Zurich, not driving into the next valley," Mila said serenely. "Frankly, I’d have thought a week was cutting it short." She shot her son a look, then turned a warm smile on me. "Eat. You’ve barely touched your plate."

From start to finish, I didn’t say one word about the trip.

When dinner ended I got up and went straight upstairs. And, exactly as I’d expected, Sebastian was already waiting on the sofa when I walked in, arms crossed, green eyes lit with something dangerously close to fire.

"When," he said flatly, "did you decide all this?"

"Mila settled it this morning," I said.

"And you just went along with it? You couldn’t have told her no?" Sebastian’s arms stayed crossed, but his voice had lost some of its edge.

"I actually want to go."

He frowned, clearly not buying it. "If you want a trip, I’ll take you. Anywhere on the map. Why does it have to be with her?"

"I’ve never seen the Alps in spring."

That threw him. He rubbed the back of his neck. "I offered to take you to the mountains months ago. You’re the one who got mad and stormed off on your own. What was I supposed to do?"

"I’m not blaming you," I said mildly. "I know you’re buried at work. I’m just being considerate."

"Say the word and I’ll clear my whole schedule tomorrow. Switzerland, Italy, wherever. I mean it."

"Relax. I’m going with your mother, not running off with another man. Why are you so wound up?"

"Because it’s my mother that I’m worried about." He dropped onto the edge of the bed. "Don’t let the gray hair fool you. That woman is more of a menace than the three of us combined. Once she leaves this house, she doesn’t come back for two weeks, sometimes more. Don’t believe a word about being home in seven days. If you’re back inside a month, I’ll eat my own tie."

I gave him a stiff smile. "You’re being dramatic."

"I’m being accurate. You’ve lived under this roof over half a year. Have you once seen her take a vacation?"

"No."

"Exactly. My father, Tiffany, and I, we don’t let her out. Because the second she’s gone, she’s gone for good. We worry."

"Then don’t worry this time. As long as I’m with her, we come back on schedule."

"You’re really doing this."

"I really am."

He pressed a hand to his chest and winced like I’d wounded him. "You’re giving me heartburn. Right here. Feel that? That’s stress."

"You’ll live."

He didn’t win the argument. He never really stood a chance. And he had no idea that the whole point of leaving him for a week was so I could keep standing beside him for years. Love asked for sacrifice. So did marriage. I just wished mine didn’t taste like this.

The next morning, Sebastian insisted on driving us to the airport himself, sulking the entire way. Before I could get a word in, he pinned Mila with a hard look through the rearview mirror.

"One week. You promised. If you keep her longer than that, you can forget about ever leaving the house again."

"Careful, boy." Mila didn’t even look up from her phone. "You think you get to boss your mother around now?"

"If you weren’t stealing my mate, I wouldn’t have to."

"Your mate volunteered."

His eyes cut to me, and I felt the weight of what I’d said the night before hanging between us. He looked away first.

"If you two are going to say goodbye, do it fast. Boarding won’t wait."

I grabbed his hand and pulled him a few steps off to the side. "While I’m gone, take care of yourself. Don’t sleep at the office. Eat something that isn’t coffee."

He didn’t want me going. That much was written all over his face. But we were past the point of arguing, so he just nodded. "You too. Look after yourself."

"And you’re not to contact Abigail Tanner. I don’t care what excuse she comes up with."

That, honestly, was the thing I feared most.