“I’m an only child,” I cough out the words because he’s squeezing so tight.
“Wrong,” he barks. “Your mother got pregnant by my father, and that weak bitch you thought was your father tried to protect her when she left my father. He raised you as his own, but you and I share the same father.” I don’t believe him. That makes no sense. Why wouldn’t they tell me?
“My mother wouldn’t have dated someone so vile, you’re lying,” I tell him, because I refuse to believe that.
“Oh, you sweet, naive little girl,” he says, laughing again. “They didn’t date. He owned her and she couldn’t accept that. His dying wish was for you to join them in the afterlife. I’m here to fulfill his legacy. You’re a tricky little bitch to track down and even harder to get alone.”
I can’t focus on the things he’s saying. I need to stay as calm as possible. I’m not going to die this way. I have to find out the truth, and I know Nathan is lying.
“Let me go,” I say when he gets me to the pavilion. He said we share the same blood, but I have a feeling with the way he keeps glancing at my chest that he’s not above assaulting me before he kills me.
I’m proven right when he moves forward quickly, inhaling the scent of my hair and making a gross moaning sound. I seize the opportunity and lift my hand holding the key and jam it into his ear as hard as possible.
He screams, stumbling back and holding his now bloody ear. “You fucking bitch!” He lunges at me, but I’ve got the pepper spray out and push down, watching it cover his face. It gets in his eyes and open mouth.
I only take time to rip the strappy heels off my feet and I take off running up to the main walkway.
“Fuck!” is all I hear and the sounds of what sounds like someone being beat up. I look over my shoulder and realize that Sebastian had been running down the opposite side of the grass, and he’s now on top of Nathan.
Nathan barely has time to turn his head before Sebastian’s fist connects with his jaw again. The crack of it makes me sick to my stomach.
I realize that a group of people is headed our way and I’m about to run down and try to get Sebastian off of him because I don’t want him to get in trouble. He’s going to kill him, and that’s perfectly fine with me, but I don’t want him to get caught and end up in trouble for helping me.
Then Juniper yells my name and pulls out of Kalen’s arms to run toward me. I realize it’s the two of them, Riven, Lakynn and Miranda who are walking with a limping Ronan by her side.
Where is Jeremy?
I glance around, but there's no sight of him, and then Juniper is wrapping her arms around me. “Are you okay? Oh my God, we were so worried when we couldn’t find you. Ronan of all fucking people pointed out where you were.”
“I’m okay, I’m fine, just shaken up,” I tell her.
Sebastian doesn’t acknowledge either Riven or Kalen as they approach him. His entire focus is on Nathan’s seemingly lifeless body.
“He’s dead,” Riven says coldly, but Sebastian kicks Nathan in the ribs hard enough to make his body jerk.
“Fucking piece of shit,” I hear him grind out before he kicks Nathan one last time. “I told you not to touch what’s mine.”
Then Sebastian turns toward me. He's breathing heavily, and Juniper seems to sense what I’m thinking because she lets go of me. I take off running barefoot across the grass, and he’s all I see. I jump and he lifts me with synchronicity that it’s like we read each other’s minds. My legs wrap around his waist and his hand comes down to my ass, holding my dress down so I don’t moon all of our friends. I bury my face in his neck, and he holds me so tightly against him it feels like he’s going to fuse our ribs together.
“I’m so sorry I went to that party. I was just so mad at you and—” I start, but his hand is in my hair, tipping my head back and kissing me deeply, slowly, reverently, like this one meeting our mouths will solve everything that happened tonight.
When we part, he says quietly, “I know what happened. It’s not your fault, baby. I should have told you about the cameras. We’ll talk about it later, but I won’t apologize for installing them. I am not going to lose you,” his voice is hoarse, I think from the rage that was pumping through his veins not even minutes ago. “You did so good. I watched you fight him when I was trying to get to you. I’m so proud of you,” he says, and I can feel the pain seeping out of his tone.
I reach up and touch his face, “Thank you for looking for me. Who knows if he would have caught up to me if you hadn’t…” I trail off because his thumb brushes across my jaw.
“I would find you in every lifetime,” he tells me, leaning forward to kiss me again. It’s less frantic this time, like he’s kissing me to try and regulate his breathing, to calm himself down.
I glance over his shoulder.
And freeze. Holy shit, he really does have a twin brother.
Standing nearby is the off-brand Sebastian I screamed at earlier today, and his girlfriend has her hand wrapped around his bicep. She looks so worried, but she gives me a reassuring smile as if to say we’re all good.
“I’m so sorry,” I say to Sebastian’s brother.
Sebastian groans in annoyance. “Don’t apologize to him. Tristan needs to get screamed at every once in a while. Winter inflates his ego way too much.” This makes Winter glower at Sebastian and reach up to stroke Tristan’s face gently. Tristan on the other hand…his expression doesn’t change. He looks bored until Winter lets go of his arm and takes a step toward Sebastian. He visibly frowns at the loss of contact, which is funny to me for some reason.
Sebastian visibly winces like he knows what’s coming.
