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Sebastian tried to reassure me that this was her normal, it was just the way she was, but I wasn’t so sure about it.
“Like his father looked at me,” she says softly, so softly, it takes me a minute to register her words. “When he wasn’t intoxicated by his mistress.”
“His mistress?”
“Alcohol and drugs. It was the only thing that he loved more than he loved Sebastian and me. The thing that inevitably took him from us.”
“He’s not his father,” my words come out harsher than intended, but I don’t like where this conversation is going.
“I can see that now. I’m glad to see he’s doing better. I’m glad that he has you, and I hope that taking this time he needs will help him find himself again.” The chair creaks as she gets up. “I’ll leave you two to rest.”
I lie there, listening to her heels click as she walks away.
“Mrs. Black?” I call out, looking over my shoulder. “You should try talking to him. Really talking to him. I don’t think he’ll ever admit it out loud, but he needs you.”
“Maybe.”
With that, she closes the door behind herself.
Letting out a sigh, I bury my face into Sebastian’s chest.
It wasn’t a yes, but it also wasn’t a no. I had to believe there was hope for the two of them. For Sebastian’s sake, I wanted to believe it.
* * *
SEBASTIAN
“I wish I were taking this off of you,” I murmur as I pull up the zipper of Penelope’s dress.
When I woke up from my nap, the police were here, ready to take our statements. They insisted we did it in separate rooms, so they could corroborate all the info we gave them was authentic. Although the questioning was relatively quick, I felt whipped after it, but we were far from done. As soon as the police left, the doctor came in to check on me and Penelope, deeming us ready to go home. No sooner were the words spoken than Brianna appeared, hangers with clothes in hand and a stylist in tow. And, yet again, Penelope and I were pulled in different directions.
“I guess technically I could still do that.” The soft skin on her nape beckons me, so I press my lips against her neck, feeling the goosebumps break on her skin at the touch.
“Sebastian.” Penelope lets out a soft, shaky breath, half prayer, half plea, and I could feel the corner of my mouth tip upward.
God, it felt good to have her in my arms, right where she belonged.
“What do you say, Birdy? I promise I’ll be tender with you.”
So, so tender.
I wanted to kiss every inch of her body, reassure myself that she was real. Thatthiswas real. That she was here, and she was mine.
“Nope,” she shakes her head adamantly, turning around and putting some distance between us. “You’re not doing anything of the sort. Your mother should be here soon, and I donotwant to get on her bad side.”
I groan loudly at the reminder. The last person I wanted to think about was my mother. “Does she even have a good side?”
She was the reason why we couldn’t just sneak out of here silently and go back home. A rational part of me knew that she was right, and this was necessary. Now that the press knew where I was, there was no hiding. If we didn’t give them something now, they’d follow after us, digging until they found something worth reporting about, and that was the last thing we needed.
“Of course she does!” Penelope jabs me in the chest, snapping me out of my thoughts. “She’ll probably never admit it, but she was worried about you. She was here when you were sleeping.”
“She was?” I ask, surprised by the comment.
“She was. I feel like she doesn’t know how to deal with worry, so she shifts her attention to things she can control, which in her case is work. Besides, you know she’s right. If we don’t go out there and give them something, they won’t leave us alone.”
Hearing that she was here, worried about me, makes me feel unsettled for whatever reason. I couldn’t connect it to the woman I knew, a badass manager who frightens almost everybody in the music industry. And I didn’t know what to do about it. So instead of trying to figure out these feelings, I shoved them down and focused on things I understood.
“I know, I’m just so fucking over it. I want us to go home. I want to curl up on your couch, get this freaking sling off, and finally have you to myself. Is that too much to ask?”
