by Cynthia Eden
Did someone snicker? Maybe a goon?
Sebastian sent a killing glance at the guy. Then his smile—slightly strained—came back to Alyssa. “It’s not a kink. Though I’ll be happy to tell you about all of the things that turn me on—later. For now, this is about keeping you safe. It’s about protecting you. So, be pissed. Hate me, keep right on doing it the way you always have. But you’ll be alive. Now, I need to go before the cops get too antsy.” He whirled for the door.
“I don’t hate you.”
Sebastian stopped. Stiffened. “You don’t?”
“Well, correction, I am starting to hate you because you just kidnapped me!” And if he thought she was going to sit at his place, all calm and cool, he had better think again.
His head turned as he glanced back over his shoulder at her. “I need you to trust me.”
No humor. No smirk. No dimples.
Just seriousness. He was hardly ever serious.
“There are things happening that you don’t know about. I need you to stay here until I can get a handle on the situation. The reason I came to that theater box tonight—it was because I’d gotten a tip that something might happen to you.”
What? Now she could feel the blood leaving her face. Hello, light-headedness. She’d wondered why he’d been at the theater, but with everything else happening, Alyssa hadn’t exactly gotten the chance to question him hard about that. Or, heck, did I even ask him about it at all? Some parts of that limo ride were a bit blurry. Mostly because she’d been nervous, scared, and…turned on.
A deep, dark secret that Alyssa possessed? Sebastian—with this thick hair, his killer grin, and his gorgeous eyes—always turned her on.
“I need to investigate now, but I can’t leave until I’m certain you’re safe. So, please…”
Please? Since when did he use that magic word?
“Stay here. Let the guards protect you. You can have the run of the house. Just don’t go outside. I have to know you’re safe. If I don’t, then I won’t be able to concentrate on the work that has to be done.”
Her gaze flickered around. The guards seemed to hold their breath. Sebastian’s square jaw was locked tight. They were all waiting.
I’d gotten a tip that something might happen to you.
As far as she knew, Sebastian had never lied to her. His honesty had often been painful for her, especially on a particular birthday that she did not like to remember, but… “I’ll stay here.”
She saw the stark, savage relief on his face.
“Only until you get back,” Alyssa added quickly. “You go talk to the cops. See if we can get this mess sorted out. Then, when you’re done, I expect to go home.”
“Of course.” A nod. “When it’s sorted out, you can go home. Deal.”
Wait. That had been too fast. “Sebastian—”
He was running for the door. “Guard her with your fucking lives.”
The door slammed shut.
The guards stared at her.
She stared back at them. A terrible thought struck her. “Oh, God. Does he do this a lot?”
One of the guards tilted his head. “Do what?”
Her hands fluttered toward him. “Bring home random women. Get you two to guard them while he runs away.”
“Nope,” the guard replied cheerfully. “You’re the first.”
Was that good? Or bad?
Chapter Three
“Finally came back to the scene of the crime, did you?” Detective Winston Lewis asked as he put his hands on his hips. The movement pulled back his shirt and managed to show both the badge that was clipped to the pocket of his jeans and the gun holster beneath his arm. “And here I thought we’d need to track you down.”
“I had to take care of an important matter.” The place was a freaking zoo. Reporters were everywhere, and all of the folks who had been in the theater before seemed to have already spilled outside. Most of them were filming with their phones.
“Would that important matter by any chance involve Alyssa Kyle?”
Sebastian heaved out a long sigh. “You know it did.” He spared a glance for Isaac Swain. The jerk was running his mouth as fast as he could to the uniformed cop beside him. “Guessing Isaac mentioned me?”
“Didn’t have to. You’re quite the recognizable figure, you know. Probably because you like to put your crazy ass in front of every camera you can find.”
Sebastian’s arms crossed over his chest. “The cameras are rolling now, and, unfortunately, both of our asses are on them.”
Winston shrugged. “That’s the way of it. Especially when someone like you is involved in a shooting.”
“Okay, Winston, cut me some slack.” Sebastian’s voice lowered as he edged closer to the detective—and a guy who just happened to be one of his closest friends. “It was Alyssa. Someone shot at her. What did you think I was gonna do? Just stand around with her in the street and let the dick try again? I got her out of here as fast as I could. I had to protect her.”
Winston rocked back on his heels. “I saw the video footage.”
“Street cams? You’ve already recovered—”
“Got this footage from the helpful folks at the theater. They have lots of security cameras around the building. So I was able to see the whole scene go down.” A street lamp glowed overhead, revealing the grimness in Winston’s dark eyes and on his face. “Alyssa was lucky.”
“Did you see the shooter? Was he in the footage, too?”
“No, but I know where he was when the shots were fired.” He turned and pointed to the opposite street corner. “No cameras reached over there, but based on the angle of the bullets and their entry into first the sign, then the building, my team figures he must have been there.” His arm fell back to his side. “I saw the bullets miss her, then I saw you grab Alyssa and toss her into your limo. Just like that, you two were gone.” Winston’s gaze swung back to Sebastian. “Where is Alyssa right now?”
“My place.”
Winston whistled.
“What? Why the hell are you doing that?” Whistles from Winston were bad.
“Why is Alyssa at your place?”
“Because I wanted her safe.” He looked to the left and saw Isaac pointing at him. Sebastian pointed back with his middle finger. Then he focused on Winston once more. “I have great security at my home. And I left two guards with her. No one will be getting to her tonight.”
“Is that a possibility? You think this wasn’t a random attack? You think someone was specifically targeting Alyssa?”
Tread carefully. “You saw the footage. What did you think?”
Winston rolled his shoulders. Then he gave Sebastian a congenial smile. “I am going to be chief of police here, by the end of the year.”
“I know it. Congrats.” Every paper in the city had been touting Winston. He was on target to be the youngest chief the city had ever seen. Winston and his mom had emigrated from Jamaica when Winston had been little more than a toddler. His mom had busted ass for him, working hard and doing everything she could to give her son an incredible life. Now that he was grown up, Winston’s mission was to make his mother proud.
Sebastian knew he was succeeding at that mission.
“You don’t get to be chief by overlooking important facts,” Winston informed him.
“I would think not.”
“You don’t get to be chief by being a dumbass.”
“Absolutely not.”
“So, my friend, why are you treating me like I’m a dumbass?”
“I—”
“Cut the BS and tell me straight, does this have anything to do with the other work that you and Antony are involved with?”
Immediately, Sebastian glanced around. “I need you to not say that shit in public,” he growled.
“And I need you to answer the question.”
“Dammit, maybe, okay? I need to talk with Antony and figure out more.”
Winston whistled. “Is your maybe actually a yes?”
<
br /> “It…I got a text from Antony, all right? He said he was in trouble and for me to look out for Alyssa, so that’s what I’m doing. I’m helping a friend. I’m protecting his sister. I’m—”
“Moving Alyssa into your home?” There was a whole world of meaning in those careful words.
“I have her there just for the night. Just long enough for me to figure out what is happening,” he gritted. “Stop trying to make this into something else.”
Winston blinked. “It’s an attempted murder investigation, why would I possibly make it into anything else? Isn’t that more than enough? Or is there something you need to tell me about? You know, something that involves you getting Alyssa into your bed—I mean, your home for the night.”
Sebastian gave him a look of disgust. “If I didn’t like you, I’d hate you right now.”
“Ah, the way Alyssa hates you?”
That was just insulting. “First, she doesn’t hate me. And second, I have got to stop oversharing with you when we have guy night.”
Winston rubbed his chin. “Since when doesn’t she hate you? Because I specifically remember you telling me that Alyssa Kyle hated your guts with a passion.” He jerked his chin toward a still-talking Isaac. “But, a few minutes ago, I had that fellow Isaac over there telling me that you interrupted his date like a jealous lover and you dragged Alyssa away from him.”
Back up. Sebastian’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. Was his buddy playing him? “Thought you said Isaac didn’t mention me.”
“Is that what I said?” Winston seemed to ponder things. “My bad. What I meant was that he told me you stole his date. You know, right before someone tried to shoot Alyssa.”
“Protecting her,” Sebastian enunciated clearly. “Not stealing. Protecting. That’s what I was doing.”
“Right.” A pause. “By any chance, is this part of Operation Get Into Alyssa’s Good Graces?”
He scraped a hand over his face. “You would remember that shit.”
“Well, you went on about it at length one night. You were going to show her what an awesome guy you were. Going to convince her that you could be counted on. That you were—I believe you called it—uh, hero material?”
“Fuck off.”
Winston shook his head. “You can’t tell a detective to fuck off. Might make him mad. Might make him cuff you.”
“I can tell one of my best friends to fuck off when he’s pushing too far. And like I explained to you already, Alyssa doesn’t hate me.”
“How do you know that?”
“Because she told me,” Sebastian replied with way too much satisfaction.
“You know, I always thought Operation Get Into Alyssa’s Good Graces was really just code for Operation Get Into Alyssa’s Pants.”
Sebastian surged forward. “It’s not like that!”
“It had better not be,” Winston said quietly. “Because the last time I looked, you were business partners with her brother. I don’t think he’d love to find out that you were screwing his sister. Saying this as one of your best friends…maybe having the woman in your home isn’t the best idea. Put guards on her, sure, but send her back to her place. It will be a whole lot safer for you that way.” What could have been real worry deepened Winston’s voice.
The worry caught Sebastian off guard. “Why the sudden concern? Aw, wait, you do care—”
“I don’t want to see you hurt. I don’t want to see Alyssa hurt. The two of you together? That’s a recipe for disaster.”
It doesn’t have to be. She doesn’t hate me. I can keep her safe. I can make this work. “She doesn’t know the kind of danger that she could be facing. You don’t even know what we could be up against.”
“That’s because you’re a secretive SOB when it comes to your freelance work.”
He had to be. “Antony asked me to protect her, and that’s exactly what I plan to do.” His gaze swept the scene. “I need to be kept in the loop on this investigation. Anything you find out, you’ll let me know?”
Winston stared at him.
“Oh, come on. I’m not asking you to break the law—”
“You’re asking me to share confidential case information. Yes, yes, that’s potentially law breaking. Bending definitely. It’s—”
“If you get a suspect, you give me a head’s up. Okay? That’s all I’m saying.” Because he could do plenty of his own investigating through some not-so-necessarily-legal means. He’d gone back to the scene because he knew the cops would be looking for him. The longer he stayed away, the more suspicious things would appear. So he’d gone back for the meet and greet with Winston.
And, shit, how had the guy even remembered Operation Get Into Alyssa’s Good Graces? Sebastian had been sure that Winston had been drunk off his ass when he’d spilled those details.
Wait. Maybe I was the one drunk off my ass. Because Alyssa had been dating that doctor jerk and Antony had mentioned talk of a possible engagement and—Yep, guilty. I was the drunk one that night.
Sebastian glanced down at the glowing face of his watch. “I need to get back to her. If you have other questions, call me.”
“Oh, I’ll have other questions. For you and for her.”
Sebastian turned and took a few quick steps—
“Be careful.”
He tossed a grin back at his friend. “Worried about me? That is so freaking sweet. Thank you.”
Winston didn’t smile back. “Watch your ass with her.”
With her.
Sebastian’s grin faded.
“The rest of the world might not know how you feel, but I do. Protect her, fine, do your bit. But be prepared to walk away.”
Walk away? From Alyssa? His body tightened. “When she needs me, I’d never walk away.” Never.
He headed for the limo.
“But what about when she doesn’t need you any longer?”
Right the hell then, she did need him, and he was going back to her.
***
Her phone rang. Alyssa had been staring out at the dark night, her body too tense as she stood in front of the upstairs window in one of Sebastian’s many guest rooms, and when she heard the quick, hard peal of sound, she jumped.
The phone rang again. Alyssa spun around. When she’d first come into the guest room, she’d ditched her heels and tossed her bag onto the edge of the bed. She grabbed the bag now, fumbling until she got inside and her fingers closed around her phone.
She didn’t recognize the number on the screen, but her fingers still swiped across the phone. When her brother traveled for work, he would often call her from different phones, so maybe it was him. “Hello?”
“I missed you.”
The voice was low. Rather hard to understand. Had he said I miss you? “Antony? Is that you?”
“I missed you,” the caller said. The voice was louder. Rougher. Male. And not Antony. “But I won’t miss next time.”
The call ended.
She stared at the screen. Her breath choked in and out. Okay, if that had been a prank call, that shit had not been funny. She immediately dialed the number back. It rang. Once. Twice. Three times.
***
When Sebastian slid into the limo, he heard the phone ringing. Since his phone was currently in his pocket, the ringing didn’t make a whole lot of sense. Then he saw the small phone vibrating on the floorboard. It had been tossed a few feet away from the champagne bucket.
He grabbed the phone. His heart raced as he answered the call. “Hello?” He got ready for a message, an order, something that would change his life. Not like it was the first time his handler had left a burner phone for him to use on a mission.
“Sebastian?”
Alyssa’s voice. Most definitely not his handler.
“Sebastian? Did you just call me?”
No, he damn well had not called her.
“You called…and said you missed me?”
Ice filled his veins. “Baby, did you just get a phone call from this number?”
A pause. Then…“Did you call me baby?”
Fuck. Yes. “Answer the question.”
Another pause. “Yes.” Her voice was low. “Someone called me but…his voice wasn’t yours. It wasn’t Antony’s, either.”
“What did he say?” Sebastian was searching the limo. Then leaping out. His gaze swept the crowd. His driver was near the front of the vehicle and currently talking to a cop.
“He said that he missed me. But that he wouldn’t miss the next time.”
Sebastian’s gaze jumped to the street sign—the one with three bullet holes in it.
The bastard is here. He’s watching me.
No, he wasn’t just watching. The bastard was taunting Sebastian. He’d called Alyssa, then deliberately left the phone in Sebastian’s limo as a message.
I can get to her. I can get to you.
Except the SOB was wrong. You will not hurt her.
“Are the guards there?” Sebastian demanded.
“Yes, they’re downstairs, they—”
“Are they in the damn room with you? Can they see you?”
“No, I’m upstairs in a guest room.”
Breathe. She’s safe. Breathe. “I want you to go back downstairs. Stay where the guards can see you. I’ll be there as fast as I can.”
“Sebastian?” Fear slid into her voice. “What’s happening?”
He hated her fear. “Everything is going to be all right. I’ll be there before you know it.”
He hung up.
Winston hurried toward him. “I thought you were leaving.”
“New evidence.” Sebastian held up the phone. “Though my prints are now all over it.”
The detective frowned at the phone even as he pulled out a small bag from his back pocket. “Learned to keep a spare or two on me, just in case.”
“Bastard called Alyssa on this phone. Told her that he was sorry he’d missed her, but that he wouldn’t again.”
Winston’s eyes widened.
“Then he left the phone in the back of my ride. Alyssa called me on it, and I found the phone on the floorboard.”