Sebastian pulled back, and she instantly missed the warmth of his body.
“Adonis’s guy will be here any second. Are you ready for this? To see Damian again?” Sebastian caressed her arms.
Now that she was at the hospital, she wasn’t sure what she wanted. The rage and hate she felt for Damian was always simmering under the surface like a dormant volcano ready to erupt. She wasn’t sure how she’d react once she stepped inside his hospital room. Would she simply get everything she wanted to say off her chest? Or would she go ballistic, yanking out all the equipment, IVs, and medicine the doctors were pumping into him to keep him alive?
“You’re going in with me, aren’t you?” Panic gripped her at the thought of facing Damian alone.
“I’m not leaving your side,” Sebastian confirmed.
Gabrielle lifted a shaky hand to his cheek. The contours of his jaw fit perfectly within the palm of her hand. The coarse texture of the stubble tantalized her senses. This man was making it hard for her to think straight with his compassion and understanding. As much as her family loved her, none of them had ever made her feel as cared for, supported, and understood as Sebastian was doing at this moment.
As Sebastian covered her hand with his own, jolts of desire and need raced through her body.
Desire?
She couldn’t believe she was thinking about how attracted she was to this man at a time like this.
Gabrielle exhaled slowly. “If you’re there with me, I can face anything.”
Sebastian eased her hand from his face, laced his fingers with hers, and gave her hand a gentle squeeze. “The shift change is happening. We need to go.”
Chapter13
The idea that Gabrielle needed his forgiveness after everything she’d been through was absurd. He’d watched her videos. He’d seen her pour her heart out as she grappled with the anxiety and stress of the aftermath of being kidnapped. She was abandoned by her family, shipped off to Lisbon, Portugal, and left to fend for herself.
And that had made her stronger.
She’d fought her way back and inspired millions of people. No wonder he was losing his shit over her.
Gabrielle clutched his hand like the lifeline she needed. He would be lying to himself if he said that didn’t make him feel damn good. He wanted to be the one she leaned on when no one else stepped up to be there. He knew how that shit felt back when he was a kid trying to survive on the streets of L.A. He wouldn’t wish that on his worst enemy, which Gabrielle had been in the past. Maybe that’s why he didn’t have a problem being the rock she wanted to support her through this storm.
Helping Gabrielle face the man who’d tormented her was the only thing that mattered. He glanced at her as they slowed in front of the guard standing watch outside the room. He was a hulking figure of a man whose girth placed considerable strain on his tight-fitting uniform.
“You must be Sebastian.” The man looked at him, then leered at Gabrielle. His eyes lingered too long for Sebastian’s liking.
Sebastian stepped in front of Gabrielle and gave the man a look that caused him to visibly wither. Reaching into his back pocket, he pulled out the envelope stuffed with money.
“Five thousand in big bills. Like you requested,” Sebastian said, then shoved the envelope against the man’s fat belly.
Gabrielle gripped his shoulder. “Wait. You didn’t tell me we had to bribe this guy to get in.”
“Nothing in life is free,” Sebastian said, then turned back to the guard. “We good?”
“Yeah, real good. Go on inside,” the guard pushed the envelope into his back pocket and waddled across the hall. “If you hear me knock on the wall two times, you better get out of there.”
“Got it.” Sebastian turned toward Gabrielle.
“I’ll pay you back,” She said.
“I know you’re good for it. We’ll settle up later. You ready to go inside?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” she said, giving him a sad smile. She looked down at the floor. Her stunning, long lashes cast a shadow across her face.
“You can do this,” Sebastian said, hoping to see that fire in her eyes again. He hated the impact Damian had on her. Hated the way that bastard crumbled her confidence and made her doubt her resolve.
She didn’t respond. She didn’t look at him. Just turned and pushed into the hospital room. Sebastian followed her, bumping into her as she abruptly stopped.
Across the room, Damian Hester rested on a bed with dozens of tubes going into and out of his body, tethered to machines that beeped and chirped incessantly. Damian’s eyes were closed. Dark bruises covered his face and neck. Bandages littered his arms, covering cuts and abrasions he’d suffered from the fight with the prison guards.
