Page 71 of Drawn Together

Sebastian spun around and took a step toward me. He put a hand behind my ear and ran his fingers through my hair, all the way to the back of my neck. “I’m the one who keeps you alive,” he said, a dark gleam in his eyes, as if insinuating otherwise had offended him. Then he seemed to remember where he was, looking down the hallway and putting space between us. “You should be resting,” he added, moving back toward the living room, where my sister had fallen asleep on the sofa.

When I saw that Sebastian intended to leave without another word, I grabbed his hand and stopped him, making sure my tone of voice was sufficiently low so that no one would hear me. “I need you to explain what’s happening,” I said, my eyes unwittingly filling with tears. I tried to blink them back, annoyed, without much success. “My father isn’t going to tell me anything, and this is getting out of control. I need to know who wants to hurt me. I get the feeling that you already know, but you don’t want to tell me.”

Sebastian tightened his lips, but he didn’t walk away or drop my hand. He observed me in silence, then wiped away the tears sliding down my cheeks. “This will be over soon, Marfil. In the meantime, you need to stay home.”

I took a step back, frustrated, and he released his hold.

“I don’t understand how you know more about my life than I do, but you can be sure I’m going to find out what the hell is happening here, because I don’t see any police officers around asking about the accident or taking statements about what was, without a doubt, an attempted murder.”

Sebastian started to say something, but just then the door at the end of the hallway opened and my father emerged.

“Marfil, I need to talk to you. Come into my office,” he said in a sharp tone.

I threw one last defiant glance at Sebastian, then turned my back on him. I retraced the path to my father’s office, where he stood holding the door open. Logan left the room, and my father closed the door behind him.

“There’s something I wanted to talk to you about,” he started saying as he poured himself a glass of brandy. I had not received a single word of concern from him, no explanation, nothing. If I was already angry, his next words left me seething. “I have to meet with some friends tomorrow at the racetrack, and I want you to come with me.”

What?

“Dad, are you seriously not planning to say a word about what happened this morning?” I said, raising my voice. Didn’t he see my cuts and bruises, my eyes swollen from crying, the terrified look on my face?

“I have said many words about it, of course, just not to you, since you have nothing to do with it and you wouldn’t understand.”

I had nothing to do with it?!

I opened my mouth, but he lifted a hand to stop me from speaking.

“Don’t start, Marfil, please,” he said, setting his glass down too hard and spilling most of the brandy onto the papers that covered the desktop. “You wouldn’t understand, not in a million years.”

“I’m not an idiot—” I began, but he interrupted me again.

“Of course you’re not an idiot, but you’re a woman!” he exclaimed, looking at me fixedly, then making a sweeping gesture with his hand. “Look at yourself! You haven’t stopped crying since you got home. You wouldn’t last half an hour in my world. I have to protect you from everything around you, around me.The world outside is horrible, but I’ve always given you and your sister nothing but the best! The only thing I ask in return is that you do as you’re told for once in your damn life and wait for things to be resolved. You know I have practically my entire staff and other trusted people working to find out who’s trying to kill you, and for your safety, it’s better if you didn’t know anything, understand? Don’t make me repeat myself again!”

I clenched my fists. I would tell him to go to hell if it weren’t for my fear of him. It was my life; I had every right to know who the hell wanted to kill me and why.

My father sat down and studied me. “As I was saying, I need your help,” he began, now in a calmer tone. “You’re my oldest daughter, and since you love telling me how mature you are, I want you to come with me tomorrow to a casual meeting with a friend I’m hoping to go into business with.”

“What good would I do? That is, if you can tell me, of course.”

My father ignored my jab and fixed his eyes on mine. “Your presence there will help lighten the mood.”

That was it? That was all he was going to tell me?

“You’ve always loved horses, and Marengo will be racing tomorrow, so you can just relax and enjoy an outing with your father. You won’t have to do anything else, just be there.”

I didn’t like the idea one bit, so when he asked me to leave, I stood up without hesitation.

“I’ve taken the trouble of choosing your outfit for tomorrow,” he added as a parting comment. “You’ll find it on your bed. I’m sure you’ll love it. You can thank me later. Now, go rest and recover from today. I need you fresh and pretty for tomorrow.”

I hated that he made me feel like a fucking doll, but I knew there was no way to get out of it. I had no choice but to go with him. That’s how it had always been; I had never had a choice.

When I got to my room, I saw three large white boxes with blue stripes waiting to be opened. I walked bravely past themto the window, needing a calming distraction from everything that had happened. If I closed my eyes, I could still feel the car starting to roll, the breaking glass, the terror invading me. Luckily, Sebastian had been there and had pulled me out of the car in time, before something worse had happened.

Was I still mad at him?

Why fool myself? What had happened a few hours ago had erased any trace of anger I’d felt toward him.

I sat on my bed and lay back on the pillows. I was exhausted. This was turning out to be the worst spring break ever, and what awaited me the next day made me even more anxious than I already was. My father had never asked me to join him for any social occasion, normally taking one of the many women he slept with. Why did he suddenly want me at one of his meetings?