Page 29 of Home Again

“I haven’t decided.”

“How about if I told your uncle I was worried about him and convinced him to take a sleeping pill so he would sleep better tonight.”

“Why in the hell would he need that? The bastard drinks half a bottle of brandy most nights.”

“He wasn’t drinking. He was on the phone with a friend of his and said he needed his head clear. He was actually drinking water.”

“What?”

“I know, right? So can I come in?”

Sebastian waved her into the office and she sat down in one of the chairs in front of the desk. “So where did you get the sleeping pill?”

“I found a bottle in your grandfather’s medicine cabinet.”

“You’ve really been through his bedroom and bathroom?”

“Yep.” She popped the ‘p’ at the end, and Sebastian grinned. “I also found his Viagra.”

“Jesus, I didn’t want to know about that.”

“I wasn’t too thrilled either. Anyway, it tells me he’s probably still paying for sex.”

Sebastian thought so too. “So who in the hell was Armand talking to?”

“I really wasn’t sure, he wasn’t making a whole heck of a lot of sense. It sounded like an old buddy of his from college. He was trying to calm him down.”

“Armand was trying to calm someone else down. That must have been interesting.”

“Tell me about it,” Gianna agreed. “So what’s the plan, partner?”

Sebastian’s eyes narrowed. “The plan is that you will be the silent partner who does exactly what I tell them to do.”

Gianna got up from her chair and started walking around the side of the desk. “Okay, sure. Did you get into the drawers?”

Sebastian looked up as she stood over him. Now she was wearing tight jeans and a long-sleeved patterned top that hugged her figure lovingly. “Gianna, you’re not hearing me. My grandfather comes home tomorrow. From everything you’ve told me about Etta Rose, and the things that Gideon is gathering, this is serious. You’re not going to get any more involved than you already are.”

Instead of shoving her hands on her hips as he expected, she bit her lip and tilted her head. He tried to discern if she was trying to play him. “You’re serious, aren’t you?” she asked softly. He saw that her eyes had gone soft. He nodded.

“You can’t protect everyone, you know that, don’t you?” she asked softly.

Talk about a gut punch.

“I might not be able to, but I can protect you.”

“Both of our mothers died. I don’t know if your grandfather was directly involved, but I would bet my last dollar he was at least indirectly involved. I’m not going to stop until I find out what happened.”

A picture of his mother’s smiling face flashed before his eyes. She was as young as Gianna was now.

“I’ll blow your cover,” he threatened.

“No, you won’t, Honey.” Her voice was soft and intimate in the dim light of the office. “You won’t because it will tip off your investigation.”

His lips twisted and Gianna’s eyes went even softer. She lifted her hand and cupped his cheek. “You need to trust me. I can take care of myself.”

He grabbed her hand and clasped it tight to his face. There wasn’t a chance in hell he was going to allow her to get any more entangled than she already was, but he wasn’t going to fight her tonight. Tomorrow when Grandpère came home, he’d make sure she was protected.

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