A/N: Wow, you guys are the best! I wake up at three in the morning to a ton of emails notifying me of everyone's comments and it's worth losing that bit of sleep. LOL! Here's more because you have all been so eager..

This is dedicated to birthday girl AmberWithers, one of the first and most loyal Virtue and Vice fans since it first started posting. She's always voting and commenting. Amber, I'm posting this and Chapter Nineteen for you, okay? =)

Please vote and comment as always!

******

Marcus’s sister, Daphne, was marrying Ben Whittaker whose family owned a gorgeous, fifty-acre estate named Villa Soledad in St. Helena. It included a sprawling Tuscan-inspired villa, a vineyard and winery and a bed and breakfast.

They were a great-looking couple with Daphne’s all-American beauty and Ben’s dark hair and dark eyes and they were very obviously smitten with each other.

I ached a little at the sight of their happiness but I wished them the best.

Arriving as Marcus’s guest, I couldn’t argue when Daphne and her mother, Melissa, happily assigned us one of the guest rooms in the main house. The two women were probably used to the many women Marcus keeps company with and I was no exception. Marcus only gave me an apologetic smile and made no protest when we walked in to find a single California-king-sized bed in it.

“Don’t worry, you’re safe from me,” he assured me, gesturing to a chaise lounge by the window. “I can sleep here.”

I rolled my eyes. “A half dozen people could sleep in this bed. I’m sure we’ll manage fine on it.”

Since we arrived late in the evening, we missed the small dinner they’d held but Melissa instructed a couple of maids to lay out a feast for us in the breakfast nook (if you could call a room with a ten-seater table in it a nook). Ty and Emma each had a beer while they and her parents joined us.

As we headed back up to our rooms, Emma looped her arm around mine and slowed down so we lagged behind the guys.

“Everything okay?” she asked in a hushed voice.

I nodded. “As okay as it can be right now.”

“Are you sure you want to spend the night alone with Marcus?” She gave me a meaningful look. “I adore my cousin but he’s earned his playboy reputation.”

I grinned. “Oh, I believe you. But don’t worry, we’re not interested in that.”

Emma dubiously raised a brow. “Right. A guy and a girl—it’s a natural instinct.”

“Don’t you trust my self-control?” I asked her with a chuckle. “I managed four years in college without sleeping with any guy.”

“Yes, but you weren’t as vulnerable as you are now,” she said, her expression serious. “But I know you can take care of yourself, Cassie.”

“Thanks, Ems,” I said with a smile, hugging her quickly as we stopped in front of hers and Ty’s room.

Marcus and I bid them goodnight and headed up to our own room.

He proceeded to shower while I unpacked the rest of my luggage. I was lucky to have had another suitcase to take but as I went through my things, memories with Sebastian from earlier today flashed in my mind and I felt the energy drain out of me.

I remembered the pain and despair in his pleading eyes, his words that echoed the truth he couldn’t confess, the almost ferocious intensity of his feelings—I almost faltered.

I took out my cellphone and scrolled down my contacts list until I found his number.

I was still staring at it when Marcus emerged from the shower, dressed in black pajamas and a light blue shirt.

“Your turn,” he said with a smile as he rubbed his damp hair with a towel.

I smiled back and grabbed my things and locked myself in the bathroom.

I stood under the hot shower for a moment, still seeing only Sebastian behind my closed eyes.

I was starting to question the wisdom of being in a different city with a completely different man when there was one aching for me back home.

When I came out of the bathroom, I was already dressed in gray pajamas and a tank top.

Marcus was stretched out on one side of the bed, playing with his cellphone.

He smiled when he saw me and patted the empty spot on the bed next to him. “We can put some pillows between us if it will make you feel safer.”

I plopped down beside him on the bed and rested against the high stack of pillows, my shoulder brushing against his. “I’m not that paranoid, Marcus. Although if all the interested females here think you’re with me, how are you going to get laid this weekend?”

Marcus choked with laughter. “My God, Cassie. You make me sound like I need to be constantly plugged into a woman to survive. Maybe I don’t care about getting laid this weekend. Maybe I’m just here for my baby sister.”

I had the grace to blush. “Sorry, I’m too blunt sometimes. But I might just believe you. You clearly adore Daphne.”

“I wouldn’t say that she’s been an angel all these years but she’s a sweet girl, always so happy and optimistic,” Marcus replied with a grin. “I’ve been blessed with an amazing family. I try to be there for them as much as I could.”

I recalled the disdain in Sebastian’s voice at the mention of his family and I wondered what else disillusioned him from his family other than his father’s philandering ways that broke his mother’s heart.

I was tempted to ask Marcus who would probably know a thing or two but I held my tongue, deciding that the only truth I wanted was the one Sebastian would give.

“I wish I had brothers and sisters,” I quietly said. “I never really knew what it was to have siblings.”

Marcus laughed. “If you had any, you won’t always like having them. I have two older brothers and then Daphne. Life wasn’t easy growing up with them.”

“I’m sure it wasn’t but I don’t think life would’ve been as interesting without them,” I said with a slight smile.

“No, it wouldn’t have been,” he agreed. “We had a noisy household. With four children, three boys to boot, it was inevitable. But it was a happy household. Our parents always took us out camping or even just hanging out together in the weekends, swimming, having a barbecue. Those were good times.”

“You and your Mom also seem very close.” I glanced up at him, observing the fond expression on his face.

He shrugged. “When Dad died, she devoted more of herself to us but both Justin and Blake were off to college at that time so Daph and I got to spend more time with her. She’s thrilled that Daphne is getting married. Now that that’s done, she’s going to get back on my case and encourage me to hit the altar next. She’s not above matchmaking, you know?

“Is that what I’m doing here?” I asked, smiling in amusement. “Am I here to keep your mother from throwing you from one girl to another?”

With a mock-innocent expression on his face, he shook his head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

I laughed and turned over on my stomach. “Do you not want to get married at all?”

“Contrary to what everyone thinks, I’m not opposed to it,” he answered. “I just haven’t met anyone I wanted enough to commit to something that long-term.”

“Isn’t it ironic how some people find it so quickly while others search long and far before they do?” I asked, pressing my lips together at the slight ache in my heart.

Marcus eyed me curiously. “Which one are you?”

I looked up at him, smiling weakly, fully understanding his question. “I found it at eighteen.”

“It can be a beautiful thing,” he said with a solemn nod. “You won’t have to spend years trying to find it with different people.”

I nodded back in agreement. “It can be. The hard part is if you lose it early, you still have a long life ahead of you to spend in bittersweet memories and endless regrets.”

“I can’t say that’s any better than never knowing it at all,” he said thoughtfully. “It almost seems easier to remain in ignorant bliss.”

I grinned. “Oh, but to know it—it’s glorious. To be so deeply in love with someone and for them to love you as desperately—you’ll never be the same again. I would hate to have missed out on that.”

Marcus didn’t look convinced. “It sound terrifying.”

“It is.”

“But you’re saying it’s worth it.”

“Absolutely.”

“Then why are you here?”

I turned my head sharply to look at Marcus. “What do you mean?”

“Why are you here when you’re desperately in love with Sebastian and he with you?” he asked gently. “He is, you know? He was waiting outside of your apartment when I arrived. He asked me not to take you. Being Sebastian Vice, of course, he didn’t feel the need to explain himself but the truth was plain to see. He’s crazy about you and he looked like he was burning in hell with misery.”

I fell silent for a long stretch of time, slammed with a hundred different thoughts. First, I was annoyed at Sebastian’s high-handedness, stepping in where he wasn’t wanted, and then anxious at how bad he was hurting after watching me drive off with Marcus.

I regarded Marcus carefully. “Why didn’t you tell me all of this when I came down to the car?”

“Because when he asked me, I told him to take it up with you and he said he already did,” he explained. “If you wanted to stay then, nothing I could’ve done would’ve stopped you. And the look you had on your face when I saw you after you saw Sebastian’s car across the street told me that you wanted to get away as fast as possible.”

A deep, ragged sigh escaped my lips. “My relationship with Sebastian isn’t simple.”

Marcus’s eyes gleamed with mild amusement. “As a guy who’s used to very short, uncomplicated relationships, I’d say that’s an understatement.”

“Oh, I know.”

We were silent for a moment before Marcus placed a hand over mine. “Look, I didn’t want to mention it and preoccupy you for the rest of the weekend about it but I thought it wouldn’t hurt for you to know. Make the big decision when you get back. I doubt that Sebastian would go anywhere until he’s won you over.”

I couldn’t help the wry smile. “He’s rather persistent, isn’t he?”

“He’s rather committed,” Marcus mused, shaking his head slightly in disbelief. “I’ve known Sebastian Vice for years and he’s always been very cool and composed. Nothing perturbs him. But that look on his face—I’d never forget it and I hope to never find myself wearing it in this lifetime.”

After we moved on to less emotionally-heavy topics, Marcus and I spent another hour or so just talking like old friends, until we eventually succumbed to exhaustion and said goodnight.

Not once since Marcus confessed to me about Sebastian had I stopped questioning the wisdom of my stubborn resolutions.

Trust was essential to love but as someone with a little more experience with it, perhaps I needed to demonstrate before I could convince Sebastian to abandon many years’ worth of emotional reclusion and put his complete and absolute trust in me.

The question was, would it pay off or would I have to live in the dark for the rest of our lives?

***

The next morning, more guests started arriving including Marcus’s two older brothers, Justin and Blake, accompanied by their wives and young children.

They were all very pleased to meet me and I steadfastly ignored the amused knowing glances his brothers were casting Marcus.

There was a brunch before all the guests and wedding participants were to go off and get ready for the wedding late in the afternoon.

Marcus and I were hovering around the pastries section, debating our options, when a feminine snort sounded behind us.

“If you want something like a perfect threesome between butter, apples and caramel, I’d say try the tartes tatin.”

We whirled around and found a tall, slender young woman, probably only a few years older than me, smiling at us with mischief lighting up her large, hazel eyes.

She was gorgeous—sleek, platinum blond hair in a pixie cut, flushed, apple-pink cheeks and the confident smile of a vixen who knew her power and wielded it shamelessly to her advantage.

She was dressed to kill in a strapless, aquamarine cocktail dress that showed off her sexy shoulders and nicely tanned skin.

“Lexie, I should’ve known,” Marcus murmured dryly as he flashed the girl a crooked smile. “Where there are pastries and sexual innuendo, there’s you.”

She arched a brow at him. “Don’t you just wish you’re tossed into all of that.”

“Ah, only if you’re brave enough to do more than suggest things.”

“And only if you deserve anything beyond mere suggestions.”

My own brows slightly rose at the exchange, noting that neither of them looked sincerely irritated by the other—more like vaguely amused and keenly aware of their hits.

I cleared my throat slightly, drawing both of their attention to me.

“Oh, Lexie, if you haven’t met her before, this is Cassandra Collins,” Marcus introduced, gesturing to me.

Lexie extended a hand at me, glancing briefly at him. “Oh, was I supposed to have met her before?”

Marcus eyed me uncertainly. “Um, I’m not sure. I would think so. Cassie, this is Lexie Vice.”

Lexie and I just shook hands when Marcus’s statement startled me into realization. “Vice? Lexie... You’re Alexandra? The boat? Er, I mean, sister.”

Delicate blond brows rose in surprise as Lexie studied me intently for a few seconds. “You know about the boat?”

“Um,” was all I managed as I worked hard not to blush redder than a lobster under her scrutiny. “I’ve heard it mentioned once.”

The truth was, I had been on Alexandra, the smaller boat Sebastian had named after his younger half-sister, four years ago. It was on that same boat that I’d accidentally blurted out my first I-love-you to him.

“Cassie is an old friend of your brother’s,” Marcus explained although the look he was giving me told me he was now starting to question the modified version of the truth I’d given him when we first met that summer. “She works at TVG too.”

Lexie’s eyes were now narrowed at me. “Hmm.”

“Uh-oh. That sounds like she’s scheming. What did you do this time, Marcus?”

We looked up at the amused comment and saw a guy as fair-haired as Lexie appear behind her, his head a good half a foot taller than hers. He was lean and preppy-looking, his hazel eyes matching Lexie’s perfectly while his same white blond hair was trimmed short and combed forward in a spiky hairstyle. He was clearly the other half of the Vice twins, Sebastian’s younger half siblings.

“Charlie Vice.”

I didn’t even realize I was the one who spoke until three heads turned in my direction.

Charlie blinked at me a couple of times before he broke into a grin and extended a hand. “At your service. I’m always pleased to meet a beautiful girl like you, Miss...”

“Cassandra Collins,” Lexie supplied as I shook her brother’s hands. “She knows about Alexandra, Charlie. And she’s an old friend of Sebastian. What do you think about that?”

I glanced at Marcus, aware the twins were deliberating about me to our faces but he just shrugged helplessly.

Charlie’s gaze focused on me and I shifted on my feet uneasily.

“I’ve just heard of Alexandra mentioned,” I attempted again in a casual tone.

“The only people who really know about Alexandra and Marianna are those very privileged few who have stayed in Cove Manor and have been shown them as they are hidden in the cove and Sebastian rarely takes them out,” Lexie said, tilting her head in thought. Then she turned to Marcus. “Do you know about Alexandra?”

Marcus furrowed his brows at her. “Other than I realize it’s a boat named after you from this conversation, no, not really. The few times he’s had a yacht party, he’s used his main one which he keeps at the marina. It’s called Emerald.”

Lexie returned her attention to me, a small, triumphant smile on her face. “Marcus is close enough to be considered a family friend and has joined us in many events. So how come you know about Alexandra?”

“Fine, I’ve been on it,” I ground out irritably, ignoring the warm flush that spread on my cheeks at the admission.

“Oh, I get it, Lex,” Charlie said, his eyes gleaming with a sense of discovery. “It’s her.”

Lexie nodded. “No question about it now.”

Marcus cast me an apologetic smile. “They’re notorious for reading each other’s minds and talking out loud about it. It can be really confusing sometimes.”

“And just what do you think you’re doing with her here, Marcus, given who she is to Sebastian?” Lexie demanded, narrowing her eyes at him.

I stiffened, stepping closer to Marcus, certain for a moment that Lexie Vice, much like her brother, was a force to be reckoned with. “Marcus and I are just good friends—not that it’s any of your business.”

Lexie arched a brow at me, her expression—admiring? “Hmm.” She glanced at Marcus. “Charlie would really like to meet the chef, Marcus. Daph promised she was going to make the introductions but she’s busy dealing with other guests. Would you be a dear and take him?”

Marcus eyed me in question before directing his gaze to Lexie. “I don’t even know who the chef is, let alone introduce your brother to him.”

She just gave him a sweet smile. “I’m sure you’ll manage to find out. Charlie, please drag him away.”

“Nice to meet you, Cassandra,” Charlie said with a half-bow and a bright grin before clapping Marcus on the back. “Let’s go, man. You wouldn’t want my sister to repeat herself.”

Once the two men have left, I looked at Lexie who was still studying me like I was an intricate puzzle.

She gestured at my plate. “Let’s go find a table by the balcony. Come along.”

I wordlessly followed her out and sat across from her on one of the smaller coffee tables at the corner of the sprawling balcony that overlooked a good portion of the vineyard in the distance.

“Is high-handedness a hereditary Vice trait?” I asked dryly, cutting into a tarte tatin that she’d recommended.

“I couldn’t say for sure,” she answered pleasantly. “Since Charlie and I aren’t biologically related to the Vice family.”

When I didn’t manage to say anything out of astonishment, she just shrugged. “We’re pretty sure Mom had slept with some other man while married to Seb’s Dad. We don’t look either like him or our mother. Seb looks very much like his father except for his eyes. Those are his mother’s.”

She was definitely right on the part that she and Charlie didn’t look like Sebastian at all.

When I remained silent, she laughed lightly. “Oh, don’t worry about it. I’m sure Seb knows but he doesn’t give a fig. He’s not the easiest older brother in the world but he’s always been very good to me and Charlie.”

I sighed. “Look, Lexie. Whatever you think you know about me and Sebastian, you’re not—”

“You’re the girl in the picture,” she blurted out.

“What picture?”

“The one he has in his office.”

My brows furrowed together in confusion. I’ve been to Sebastian’s office a few times and I don’t recall any picture frames cluttering his desk. “I’m pretty sure I don’t know what you mean.”