AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Sighing, she braced herself and wandered downstairs. She froze on the bottom step, her hand lingering uncertainly on the railing as she spotted Sebastian. He stood in front of the windows in the morning room. His back was to her, and his gaze remained focused on the grounds beyond. She watched as his spine straightened.
“Good morning, Taylor,” he greeted. He didn’t turn.
She swallowed, hating the painful ache in her throat. “Good morning.”
“Have you thought any about our conversation last night?”
The air left her in a shaky exhale. The steady drum of her heart started to beat faster. Gripping the railing, she nodded even though his back remained turned. “Yes, Sebastian.”
“And what conclusions have you drawn?” he asked. Clasping his hands behind his back, he rotated on his heel to face her.
“That…that I am going to stay here with you.”
He nodded and stepped forward. Encased in his work uniform, he appeared even more menacing. The black fabric encased his sleek muscles, rippling across them as he prowled closer. She lowered her gaze to the floor.
“I’m glad to hear it, Taylor. Is there anything else? Any other decisions you would like to share?”
“I…I won’t…”
“You won’t what?” he pressed quietly. His head tilted in question.
She shivered as he approached the bottom of the stairs and the warm, woodsy scent of him rolled across her. “I won’t leave the house without you.”
He stared at her for a long moment and nodded. “Good,” he said, turning away. He strolled back to his spot in front of the windows. “As you may have noticed, the security team arrived this morning.” His tone was light, almost conversational. “They’ve been put into place and, should you have a sudden change of heart, they will enforce compliance. They will also place a phone call to me, and I assure you, that is not a call you want them to make.”
Ice entombed her. Dropping onto the step, she lowered her chin to her chest and closed her eyes. Her chin trembled with her efforts not to cry. It seemed so stupid. She’d assumed as much when she’d seen them. But his tone, his cold and distant demeanor, made things feel infinitely worse. This, this was lock and key. There was no hint, no trace of the man she knew and loved. Only a callous replacement. Was this her punishment?
“I see this information doesn’t please you. You would do well to get over it, Taylor. I prefer you do so before I get home.”
“Sebastian?” She felt his gaze settle on her. She still could not bring herself to look him in the eye. “Do…do you want me to make you something to eat before you go?”
“Something to eat? No,” he said with a reproachful shake of his head. “No, Taylor. Food isn’t what I want from you.”
“What do you want? Please, tell me what to do—how to fix this, please.”
“You’re a smart girl. You figure it out.”
Her heart shattered with the closing of the door. She shook, fighting back screams of frustration and anguish as she listened to the whir of the garage door. It opened and closed. Torturous seconds ticked by as she clung to the fragile threads of her composure. Gouging her fists into her thighs, she waited until the Benz was clear of the house. Then, she let go. Pummeling the steps, she gave into the dreaded pull of her emotions and cried.
Josh’s purposeful strides faltered upon seeing him, as did his crooked smile of greeting. Tension coiled through Sebastian’s shoulders, making the muscles throb. The last thing he felt like doing this morning was engaging in idle chitchat. His thoughts, his focus, remained centered at home. It didn’t bode well for his performance or his mood. All he could think about was Taylor, and how her reaction the night before had damn near shattered him. What the hell was she thinking? A simple jest between them had turned into a brutal dose of reality. Had he been joking? He wasn’t sure, but one thing was abundantly clear. The things—the life he offered her weren’t enough. He’d expected she wouldn’t be happy with the lockdown. What he hadn’t seen coming was her defiance and getting the distinct impression she wanted to leave. His stomach tightened.
All that after promising him forever only seconds before. What was he supposed to think—to believe?
Offering a curt nod in his partner’s direction, Sebastian kept walking. He growled beneath his breath as Josh jogged down the brightly lit corridor to approach his side.
“Wow. You look like shit. Rough night?”
“Late night. Let’s leave it at that. How is my sister?”
“She’s good, Baas. She’s safe. She wasn’t too happy at the prospect of a lockdown and armed security guards patrolling the place with Mia running around, but she’s been through the drill enough to know this is part of the turf. How’d Taylor take the news?”
He snorted. “Not well.”
“Care to elaborate on that any?”
“No.”
Josh came to an abrupt halt outside their station and blocked the doors. Concern rode his rugged features and the curiosity weighing in his eyes earned him a dour glare.
“My personal life is none of your business, Josh. Are you really going to make me ask you to move?”
“Yeah, Baas, I am,” he said with a regretful nod. His hands spread at his sides. “If you want to hit me, hit me, but I’m not letting you go in there until you get your head on straight. It’s my job to watch out for you, and you can tell me your personal life is none of my business all you want, but you lost the right to play that card the day you asked me to watch over Monique.”
Sebastian pinned him with a look of utter disgust.
“Unbelievable,” he muttered, shaking his head.
Grinding his teeth, he displaced his partner with a double-handed shove. His fingers closed around the doorknob, but before he could pull it open, Josh knocked him aside with a push of his own. Challenge rose in the blue depths of his partner’s stare, and his shoulders straightened with his glare.
“I’m not playing here, Baas. You go in there with that attitude, and someone is going to get hurt. Get whatever it is off your chest. This is me you’re talking to here.”
He snorted. “Is that supposed to mean something to me?”
Josh’s face fell beneath a wave of disbelief and anger. “How can you even say that to me?”
“Me? Let’s talk about you. Did you think I was too blind to see that you love my sister? You’ve always loved her, and when Dane died, I stepped aside. I let you take care of my family. My family, Josh, and then you…” he shook his head and plowed a hand through his hair. “You have the audacity to throw that in my face? If you don’t want to watch over Monique, fine,” he said, casting his arms out in a shrug. “Just say the word, but don’t you ever try to use that against me again.”
"Jesus, Baas! You know that isn’t the case. What I'm saying here is that you trust me with something as precious as your own blood, but you can't trust me enough to vent to me and get it off your fucking chest so that you can do your damn job? Come on man!”
Sebastian gave a dry laugh and took a step back. “What do you want from me? Do you want to hear about how I spent my night promising Taylor the rest of my life? Or how about the part where she threw it all back at me? Do you want to hear about how she looks at me trying to protect her as keeping her a prisoner? Or how about the part where I just had enough and said goodnight by putting a fucking gun to her head? Is that open enough for you? Is that enough sharing?”
Josh gaped at him before quickly snapping his mouth shut.
“Jesus Christ, Baas!” He raked his fingers through his hair and released a shaky exhale. “Okay…it’s okay. We’re going to get you through this. Do you want me to come by after work? I can try to explain things to her, make her understand…”
“There is nothing to explain. I made my point perfectly clear last night.”
“Yeah, but is that really the way you want to leave things? You love this girl. Is this the way you want things between you?”
He shrugged
