His beacon in the dark world.
The pure star he breathed for.
Was she awake and wondering where he was? Had fear set in when she couldn’t locate him? His heart hurt.
He thought he could take on the world for her, be her knight in shining armor, and nothing would stop him.
He’d been so wrong. As the truck came to a rolling stop, the engine switched off, his eyes fighting to stay open. Seb took steady breaths and thought of his wife, vowing to her he’d fight tooth and nail to get back to her.
His door opened, and he tipped out, but a set of hands stopped him from falling.
“Get… off.” He managed until his speaking ability dried up, and Seb’s mind checked out; blackness swallowed him whole.
The last thing he heard was a smoke-riddled cackle as he was bodily pulled out of the truck. “It’s so good to be back together, isn’t it, son?”
And then the dizzying void took him under.
* * *
Sunshine
As much as her family rallied around her, Sunny couldn’t sit still to take their comfort.
Her brain was frantic, but outwardly, she was trying to hold all her panicked pieces together. They were holed up in the clubhouse. Most of the old ladies and some prospects were left behind to watch out for them.
They’d found Seb’s Harley abandoned on a back street. But no Sebastian. That news came an hour ago, and nothing since.
They’d made so many pots of coffee that Sunny was about to drown if they pushed another cup into her hands. Standing by the window, she watched for any signs that the gates were opening so she could be the first to see when Sebastian returned.
She held onto that thought for hours. While comforting Ruby about her missing son, Sunny remained calm.
He’d come back to her.
She felt it deep in her heart.
Whatever he was dealing with, he’d get out of it. Seb was the most intelligent man in the world. Capable. There was nothing he couldn’t face.
“He’s going to be okay.” She told Ruby, hugging her mother-in-law. Hoping she could believe her promise.
Tears were poised, ready, but she couldn’t let them fall. Wherever he was, Seb was being brave. She could be brave for him, too.
But as the hours wiled away, slower than ever, it became increasingly clear that whatever was happening was complicated. His absence meant the others were still searching to pinpoint Seb’s exact location.
Around the ninth hour mark, a crack appeared in Sunny’s mask, and she slumped into her mom’s arms in the privacy of a side room.
“We’re supposed to have four kids, Mom.” She said, a warble of emotion in her voice.
Gia Hawk was gentle, yet had a titanium spine. She had a heart of gold, but she would be the first in line if anyone wronged her family. And Sunny leaned into that strength.
“Four? That’s ambitious, baby. Does Seb know this?”
She was trying to distract her, and Sunny let her; her brain needed it.
“We’ve talked about it, and he didn’t say no. I want two girls and two boys, all looking like him.”
“That boy will never say no to you.”
She’d take him telling her no to all her ideas for the rest of her life and never complain if only he’d walk through the door and take her into his arms.
