Taming Sebastian (Sawson's Royal College Book 2)

by Bella Anthony

  “Alegra, leave us alone, now! I am done with you. I stayed in this marriage for years, for her!” He points at me. “You manipulative bitch. I am filing for divorce tomorrow.”

  My mother turns to walk away.

  “Mother.” I say and she looks at me in fury. “I pity you. You are so unhappy. What good have you done in this world? To your family? Who’s going to be sitting at your funeral years from now mourning your death? You hit me, you bruised me, and you insulted me. But it doesn’t matter. Not anymore. Because I am proud of who I am. I love who I’ve become. Despite you, I am a loving, gentle, and kind person.” I repeat Sebastian’s words to me, and for the first time, I truly believe them down to my core. “I’m happy, Alegra. I am strong. I have friends who love me. I don’t need you. Do not contact me ever again. Your words can’t affect me anymore. I am done with you.” I smile feeling a release in my chest.

  She looks furious and I see her fists curling.

  “Are you going to hit me one last time?” I ask.

  “Touch her and I will have you arrested for assault.” My dad says from behind me.

  She storms away.

  “Isabel.” My dad approaches me.

  I hold my palms up and wipe my tears. “I let a boy fuck me when I was fourteen because he called me beautiful.”

  He flinches. “Isabel, stop.”

  “You think it’s hard hearing it? Imagine living it. One word and I let him have me. That is what you two did to me. She hit me, she hurt me more than words can ever explain. Emotionally, physically, mentally. I’m still going to therapy to work through the damage both of you did! Yes, you didn’t hit me. Yes, you didn’t insult me. Congatu-fucking-lations! But you never cared.”

  My powerful father, a man worth millions of dollars, breaks down in tears. “How could I do this?”

  I take a step back. He actually seems devastated. I wipe my tears and stare at him in confusion.

  “I hate Alegra. I’ve hated her for a long time. She changed after we got married. She fell in love with the fame and money. She cheated on me with someone richer. So, I stopped loving her. I couldn’t. She cheated and I cheated. Your real mother was a good woman. She was very sick but carried you full term. When she gave birth to you, it was the happiest day of my life. She passed away from leukemia shortly after. We called you our miracle baby.”

  My heart races as I hear this.

  “Alegra and I took you in. I was always going to take you. It wasn’t an option to give you up. Alegra pretended you and her had a special relationship. That you were so close. Hell, she was always with you in Sawson!”

  “What do you mean? She was always with you in New York.” I interrupt.

  “She was never with me.”

  “She spent maybe one week a month in Sawson.”

  “You grew up alone? Fuck.” He breathes out. “I’m sorry Isabel. I am so sorry about the pain we caused. I was an absent father. I wasn’t there for you, I didn’t protect you and I take full responsibility. That’s why I’ve been trying to reach out to you in the last year, but you haven’t been picking up my calls or responding to my texts. I wanted to change things between us. Alegra … she lied to me. She pretended you were a gift from god, the child she could never have. We couldn’t spend five minutes around each other without fighting. Until you were five, we would get in screaming matches and you would get so scared. It isn’t healthy for a child to see their parents fighting, so I showed up less and less. Until eventually me not being there became the norm and I didn’t know how to fix it. So, I drowned myself in work instead.

  “She made it sound like you guys were happy together. Every time I’d come home, you were so quiet and would sit there nervously. You always looked up at her and never at me.”

  “That’s because I was terrified of her. If I said something wrong, there would be hell to pay. It wasn’t because you were there. I was quiet in front of everyone.”

  He flinches. “She told me that you get anxious around me. That you’re happier without me there.”

  “Poor excuses. I am your daughter. Nothing would ever keep me away from my child.”

  He looks up wiping tears away. “I know baby girl. I’ve been horrible. I’m sorry. I am so sorry. I thought you were happier without me.”

  “I needed you.” I cry.

  “How I treated you will be the biggest regret of my life and I will carry it to my grave. But I’m here now. I have loved you since the day you were born, and I want to make up for it. Please, Isabel.”

  I sniff and hold myself around the middle. I’ve wanted this for so long…

  He grabs my hands. “Since you came to college two years ago, I wanted to reach out to you. You were no longer around Alegra and I thought we can finally build a healthy relationship. With her there, she would’ve kept pushing me until we ended up in a screaming match.

  “I wanted to reach out to you, but I was scared because I realized I knew nothing about you. My greatest fear came to life, I became my father. Working sixty hours a week, not having time for my family. It took me a while to gain the courage to initiate contact with you, and when I did, you rejected me. And now I understand why. I am deeply sorry. She portrayed the perfect mother-daughter relationship and I believed her. I kept up through the pictures and videos she sent me every day. I demanded pictures every day, Isabel. If anything, believe that.”

  I roll my eyes when I remember how many pictures the nannies took of me. I tell him so as well.

  “I’m so sorry, Isabel.”

  I pull my hands back from his. “Look, dad, I’m glad I know the truth. But … I don’t trust you, at all. I don’t know if I can forget twenty years of neglect in one day. Right now, you’re still almost a stranger to me.”

  “I know.” He places his head between his hands as he looks down. “I really am sorry, Isabel. Take as long as you want. I’ll be texting you, answer whenever you’re ready, and I hope we can build a relationship. But I promise you, there is no one in this world I love more than you. No one I think about more than you.”

  Even though the man in front of me is more of a stranger to me than a father, he’s still my dad and I can’t help the tears which fall.

  “Oh, darling.” He pulls me close. “I’m sorry, I am so sorry.”

  I lean away from his hug after a few seconds and order a cab.

  An hour later, I’m in Grace’s office for an impromptu therapy session. “You’re happy that you confronted them?”

  “Yeah, I am. I never thought I’d have the guts to. I feel… so much lighter.” I tell her with a smile.

  “That’s good. Do you think the confrontation will help with your nightmares?”

  “We’ll see, I guess. There was always this unease and pain when it came to my family and now it’s gone. For the first time, I don’t feel anxious about falling asleep.”

  “You’ve changed before my eyes, Isabel.” Grace says, closing her notebook and leaning forward. “You came in, insecure and nervous, and look at you now! Head held up and confident. It’s marvelous.”

  I look down, shy from her compliment.

  “Thank you, I guess it was all …” I trail off as my smile vanishes from my face.

  “You can speak about him, you know.”

  “He was the first person who fought for me, who made me truly believe that I was beautiful inside and out, that I was courageous and strong. Even if … I hate him now, it didn’t take away the stronger person I became with him.”

  “I’m going to assume that you two are no longer together.”

  “Nope.” I look at her with wet eyes. “We aren’t, but me … I’m going to be okay.” I smile at her. I know I will never fall in love again, I will never feel that euphoria and passion, but I will be okay. “I will never have a relationship with Alegra, but I do believe my father. When time passes, I might let him in again.”

  “You’re going to be okay, Isabel.”

  I go to hug her when she stands up. I feel her hesitation
to hug me back, but she slowly does.

  “Thank you.” I tell her earnestly.

  “It was all you, Isabel.” She reassures me.

  Chapter 23

  Walking out with a smile on my face, I head towards the bar Alayna and I are meeting at.

  I tried to dress up, which resulted in a short strappy simple black dress and gold sandals. Screw heels, I’m not ready for that yet.

  “The music is good tonight.” Alayna says, shaking her booty. “And our people have finally arrived!” I turn around and I’m assaulted with a bunch of hugs from Tina and Gary. Tina introduces me to Mateo, a guy she’s been seeing.

  An hour in, we’re sitting in a booth and Tina’s telling us how her and Mateo met. He threw a football across the field and it hit her head. At one point, Gary’s smile is wiped off and his eyes widen.

  “Oh, no.” He’s looking behind me.

  “What?” I ask.

  “Nothing!” Tina stands up and blocks my view of the bar.

  “Hey! What’s going on?” I lean my head to the left to see what’s up. Sebastian is at the bar with another guy I don’t recognize.

  My heartbeat skyrockets and I’m unable to look away. He looks drunk, taking shot after shot. He yanks at his hair as he takes the next shot. He looks destroyed.

  “Let’s leave.” Alayna holds my arm.

  I nod but can’t seem to look away from his miserable face.

  “Come on.” Alayna begs. I stand up quickly and hit the side of the table, crying out in pain. I fold over as I hold the side of my stomach.

  “Oh, shit.” Alayna says before I hear my most hated word.

  “Angel, a-are you okay?”

  Standing up straight, I ignore the physical pain, and its easy. The emotional pain of this moment far surpasses the physical one.

  “I’m fine.” I respond. I turn to grab my purse, but I’m pushed to the wall behind me instead. He tucks his head in my neck and inhales my scent as he holds me around my waist.

  “Sebastian!” I try to push him off but it’s useless. My eyes glisten but I look up to prevent tears from falling. I refuse to let him see me cry again.

  “You hate me.” He moans sadly. “How can you hate me when I love you so much?”

  “Sebastian!” I try to push him away. “No more games. Go back to your fiancé!”

  “She’s not my fiancé!” He looks up at me in anger.

  “Sebastian, man, come on before you say something you might regret.” His friend pulls his arm but Sebastian snarls.

  “Get the fuck away, Jace.” Sebastian threatens before turning around and reverting into the soft Sebastian I used to know.

  “She’s not my fiancé, that’s your spot, you’re my fiancé, my wife, my everything.” He whispers into my neck.

  “You… you asshole!” I shout as my tears fall, unable to keep them in. “Why are you doing this to me?”

  He’s not listening to anything I’m saying. He’s lost in his own world as he whispers loving words into my ear. He caresses my body, not letting me move as he kisses down my neck.

  “I hate her, I hate her family!” He cries out loud before he goes to his knees and my mouth falls open in shock.

  On his knees, he looks up at me with glossy eyes, holding me around my hips, so that I can’t leave. “But what am I meant to do? He’ll destroy you, he’ll destroy my father. Would you wait? If I asked you to, would you wait for me?” He places his head on my stomach.

  “Come on.” Alayna is trying to pull me away, but I ignore her and lift his face to look at me.

  “Why would someone destroy me or your dad? What’s happening Seb?” I pull his face up.

  “Isabel!” Alayna shouts.

  “Stop trying to take her away from me!” Sebastian snarls at her. “Everyone keeps trying to keep you away from me.”

  He tucks his head against my stomach and holds me tight.

  “We need to go, Isa.” Alayna’s giving me a look which says that I’m being an idiot for letting him touch me. I find my courage and remember that he was with her while he was with me. I remind myself that he’s going to become another woman’s husband. Even if he misses me now and thinks it was a mistake choosing her, it’s too late. I nod at his friend Jace to get him off me.

  “No!” Sebastian shouts when Jace’s hand lands on his shoulder. He tightens his hold on me.

  “Sebastian, let me go.”

  “Never.”

  “Let me go!” I scream.

  “Don’t hate me.” He responds.

  “Let me go, Sebastian! You’re hurting me.” I tell him and he loosens his hold on me.

  “What? Where?” He looks me up and down frantically.

  I caress my chest where my heart lays and show him. “Here, you’re hurting me here. We need to stop this.” I cry out before taking Alayna’s hand to walk away with my friends.

  I hear him call my name three times, but I don’t answer.

  Chapter 24

  “Go away.” Selena’s voice wakes me up. She came over tonight after Alayna told her what happened and they both decided to sleepover. I look across my room and see it’s three in the morning.

  “Selena, you don’t understand.” Sebastian’s voice booms.

  “Let me see how she is first. If she wants to see you, she will. But if not, then no.” She slams the door and comes into my room.

  “Isabel.” She approaches me. I shake my head.

  “Okay, I’ll be right back.” She kisses the top of my head then leaves.

  “It’s a no.” Selena says in a commanding voice.

  “Baby,” Jax says, “let him in.”

  “No, not until she’s ready. Besides, he’s drunk!”

  “He helped me come inside this dorm last time, and it’s how we ended up solving our issues.” Jax continues.

  “I won’t betray her trust. She said no so I won’t let him in.”

  “You’re being stubborn!” Jax argues.

  “Take this for stubborn.” I hear Selena reply and then the door slams shut.

  She walks in and scoots into bed with me. “He said he’s going to get you back.”

  “It’s too late. I’m not going to take him back after he decided he wants to date someone else for a while.”

  “About that… he kept saying something about coercion-”

  “Selena?” I interrupt.

  “Yeah?”

  “Cardinal rule, we do not speak about Sebastian.”

  “Right.”

  I look at her and smile. “Thank you for being here. But I don’t want you fighting with Jax.”

  “Well, he shouldn’t try to force me to do things when it comes to you.”

  “I really don’t want you guys to fight over me.”

  She rolls her eyes with a smile. “That wasn’t a fight, trust me. It was a small argument, and besides the make-up sex will be worth it.” She wiggles her eyebrows and I laugh out loud.

  “Shh, we’re going to wake Alayna up!” We both look at Alayna sleeping on the other side of me and laugh. She’s sleeping like she did in Sebastian’s car, like a baby on her belly and butt sticking up.

  “I have more than thirty pictures of her sleeping like that.”

  “I know.” Selena laughs.

  The next day, we wake up and head to campus. Thankfully, Alayna lets us take her car. I don’t think any of us were in the mood for a walk today. I go straight to the library to study.

  After reading most of the material required for the week, I decide to read the rest in bed. I pack my books, but a tingling sensation stops me half-way. I turn to see Sebastian standing right behind me.

  “What the hell?” I turn back around and throw my books in my bag to get the hell out of here.

  “Angel-”

  “Don’t.” I walk away and as soon as I’m in between bookshelves, he traps me against the shelves.

  “We need to talk. We can finally be together.”

  “I’m not interested. We’re done, you broke
up with me, remember?”

  “I didn’t want to.” He looks at me with torture in his eyes. But I refuse to believe his eyes, they’ve turned me into a hopeless fool before.

  “I don’t want to hear anything you have to say. We are done. Let me go.”