A solid ten seconds later, Sebastian huffed a sigh and, without looking at us, said, “I’m not going.”
Nico looked surprised, but all I felt was a sense of relief. I’d actually been expecting this. I had to bite my lip to keep the knowing smile from spreading across my face.
“Why aren’t you going?” Nico asked.
Sebastian shrugged and sat forward. “I’m not comfortable leaving Abi here all alone. I don’t think that she’s in a good enough place for us all to abandon her again and run off on another crazy mission. I’ll stay behind and watch out for her.” He shook his head and gave Nico a serious look. “If something else major happened while we were gone, I don’t think she’d survive it… mentally, I mean.”
Sebastian was right about that. Abi had become fragile since her abduction. I didn’t want to see what might happen to her if she was pushed to the edge again. She’d only started coming back around the last couple of days, and I didn’t want her to slip back into the funk she’d been in. I was scared that it would be more than a funk this time around.
Nico nodded. “Are you sure about this?” he asked as he took a seat next to Sebastian.
As the two talked, I glanced at my watch. A sudden tremor of anxiety jolted through me. Things were not going to go wellin the next few minutes if Sebastian didn’t leave. It had been over two hours since Luis had returned with the IDs. It had been almost an hour and a half since Abi had asked him to walk her to Francisca and Eliza’s house for dinner because the twins had invited her over and Abi had said she wanted someone to walk her down. Luis had volunteered, saying he hadn’t hung out with Nico’s two cousins in a while. They were due back any second. I wasn’t sure what Sebastian would think of things if Abi walked in with Luis. He’d reacted strangely the other day when he saw the two being friendly with each other.
Almost as though Fate herself had propped her feet up and hit the fast-forward button to get to the good part, the front door opened. I winced at the sound of laughing and giggling. I hadn’t heard Abi sound that bubbly since she’d been kidnapped. Nico and Sebastian’s conversation died as Sebastian looked toward the foyer with a look of slow-dawning anger.
Luis and Abi came around the corner, his arm around her shoulders. When they looked up and saw us, the room fell silent for one solid moment. It couldn’t have been more than two seconds, but to me, it seemed like a full week had passed by as we stared at each other. Even I understood that nothing sexual or intimate was going on between the two. Abi would have told me, and it was obvious that Luis was only trying to comfort her. He’d been the one to haul her out of that basement, to actually save her, and she’d projected all her desires for safety onto Luis. He was the one person who made her feel safe. Still, the way thingslooked? It wasn’t surprising what came next.
“Wha—” Sebastian glanced back and forth at them. “What’s going on here?” he asked, slowly rising from the couch.
“Huh?” Luis asked, frowning. He then looked at Abi as if he’d only realized she was there and quickly took his arm off her shoulder. “We went to have dinner with Francisca and Eliza. Abi asked me to go. Actually, I need to talk to you guys. Abi askedme to stay behind. You know… not go to Croatia. She wants someone to be here for her.”
It was like I was on the outside of the whole scene looking in. I could see the look of dawning horror on Nico’s face and the burgeoning rage on Sebastian’s. Abi stared down at the floor, averting her eyes from everyone, and poor Luis looked as though he had no clue what shitstorm was about to erupt.
“What the hell are you trying to do?” Sebastian said, pointing at Luis.
Luis frowned blankly. “What do you mean?”
Sebastian took a heavy step forward. “You sure as hell know exactly what I mean. I’m” — he jammed his thumb into his own chest for emphasis— “the one who will be looking after Abi. She doesn’t need you doing it.”
Luis raised his eyebrow, obviously seeing where the conversation had skewed. He shook his head. “Brother, I’m sure you think you know what she wants, but she asked me to stay. Abi said she’d feel safer with me at home.”
The anger on Sebastian’s face had given way to what I could only describe as desperate hope. “Oh yeah? Well, did she ask you that after you made the suggestion? Huh? Is that what’s happening here? You’re trying to wedge your way into her life? Is that what you’re trying to do, Luis?”
Nico stood and put his hands out. “Guys, enough. Let’s calm down and figure this out.”
Ignoring his alpha, Luis stepped forward, finally starting to get as angry as Sebastian. “Look, man. It took a lot for her to ask me, okay? Abi had to admit she was afraid. This isn’t some…” He shook his head and made a disgusted face. “I don’t know. I don’t even want to go there. All I can say is you need to get your head out of your ass, Sebastian.”
Sebastian looked past Luis, directly at Abi, who stood anxiously twisting her fingers together. She looked like she’drather be anywhere else. Sebastian looked more forlorn than I’d ever seen him. I couldn’t help but feel bad for him. I knew what he wanted, and that appeared to be a wish that was rapidly disappearing. He’d struggled with the bad decisions and choices he’d made ever since Abi had been abducted. And she clearly wasn’t in the right mental space to forgive him yet.
“Is this what you really want?” Sebastian asked, his voice dropping almost to a whisper.
Abi glanced at him, then looked back at the floor before nodding her head twice. Sebastian’s shoulders seemed to sag under some kind of invisible weight. His face grew stoic and emotionless. He looked over at Nico. “I’ll be ready to leave in the morning.”
Without another word, Sebastian left. He didn’t even go out the front door. Instead of walking past Luis and Abi, he hung left and went out the back door. Nico surveyed the scene with his hands on his hips before heaving a heavy sigh. He looked over at Luis. “I know that this is for Abi. I understand that, but you need to remember that Sebastian is your brother. Not by blood, but by every other definition of the word.” He shook his head and looked back and forth between Abi and Luis. “Heaven forbid that something happens while we’re gone. I don’t want you to live the rest of your lives knowing things ended with bad blood between you both.” He glared at Luis. “Fix it.”
Nico then stepped around Luis and locked his eyes on Abi. She forced herself to meet his gaze. “I’ll never deny you protection. But the games are over. You got me?”
Abi stiffened and went pale.
Nico pointed at her. “There’s no reason to use Luis to hurt Sebastian. That’s not the way to go about things. You’re better than that. I’m going to bed,” Nico said with a sigh of disgust.
Luis looked around the room, dazed, almost like he couldn’t believe what had just happened. He mumbled a goodbye beforeheading to the front door. I took a tentative step toward Abi, but she walked past me and out the back door. I watched her through the glass as she flopped down into a chair on the porch. I gave her a few minutes before I followed her out.
I closed the door quietly behind me and sat beside her. I enjoyed the cloudless night while Abi absently tugged and twisted a stray thread on the cushion upholstery. Without taking my eyes off the moon, I finally said, “Do you want to talk about it?”
Abi made a noise somewhere between a whimper and a sigh. “Not really.” She looked at me with sad eyes. “Am I using Luis to hurt Sebastian? Is that what I’m doing?”
I pressed my lips together, wondering how best to answer that. She must have seen the look on my face because she let out a heavy breath, almost like someone had punched her in the stomach. She covered her face with her hands. She wasn’t crying, but she looked on the verge. I let her sit like that to gather her thoughts. When she finally looked up at me, there were no tears but a weariness that I’d never seen before.
