Page 25 of Sebastian

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“Here.” Sebastian walked out of his closet. “Let’s get you out of that dress and into something more comfortable.”

“I can just change back at my place.” Clearly that wasn’t what he wanted to hear. The scowl he gave Emma brought a flush to her cheeks.

“When did you get that tattoo?” he asked as he turned back towards the closet, catching her completely off guard.

“When did you see my tattoo?” Her hand went to the back of her neck, where the small crescent moon lived.

“When I held your hair up off your neck in the alley earlier.”

Of course he would have seen it then. Her heart ached, and she rubbed her hand over her chest trying to ease the physical pain that followed her memories. She wore her hair down for a lot of reasons, but the main one was to always cover up her biggest secret. The thing that threatened to crush her into a thousand tiny pieces of ash that would never be able to be reassembled.

“It’s nothing. Weren’t you ever young and impulsive?”

“Of course I was. But just in a different way, I guess.”

“Don’t tell me there are some little Sebastian’s running around in the world.”

“No way.” His eyes went big and she had to stifle a laugh. “I didn’t mean it like that. I was thinking about how impulsive I was signing up for the Navy.”

“I wish I could see pictures of you from then.”

“No you don’t,” he laughed. “I was scrawny and awkward. You wouldn’t even recognize me.”

“I find it hard to believe Mr. Big Muscles And Tight Suits was ever scrawny.”

“Yeah, well, the Navy changed me in more ways than one,” he said, sitting on the edge of the bed by her feet.

Her dress was already torn and ripped, but she couldn’t help the gasp that left her lungs as Sebastian grabbed the hem and ripped the fabric apart.

“Seb! Stop! That could have been fixed! I can’t even imagine what this dress cost.”

“Would you ever want to wear it again, Em? Because all the good memories I have from earlier tonight of you wearing it for me are overshadowed by the fear in your eyes that swallowed me whole as you slammed into my chest in the alley.”

She chewed on her bottom lip. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

“Lift your arms. I’ll put the shirt over you and then we can take the dress away. I’ll have Natalie dispose of it in the morning.”

“No.” His eyebrows raised in surprise as Emma allowed him to bring the shirt down over her body. “I just mean, you don’t have to have Natalie take care of it. Put it over by my purse. The sheriff’s department might want it for evidence.”

“You’re right,” he nodded in agreement. Lord, she was absolutely exhausted. The softness of the shirt, mixed with how much it smelled like Sebastian, called her to snuggle down in his bed and give in to sleep, but there was something nagging at her. Something she knew she needed to share with Sebastian.

“I’ve been thinking about who could be behind this.” Emma was leaning against the headboard, her arms wrapped tightly around her body. Sebastian grabbed a pillow and propped her freshly stitched and bandaged leg up on it. The cut was throbbing, but Jake had written her a prescription for pain meds and an antibiotic that Seb was having filled that very minute. Where he’d found a pharmacist to get the medication to him at this late hour, she didn’t even want to know.

“Who?” Sebastian’s gray eyes pierced straight through her stomach and she swallowed roughly, knowing all she was about to share with him. “You don’t think it was that creep who wouldn’t take no for an answer at the auction, do you?”

“Alan? God, no. I mean, he might be persistent, and not able to take a hint, but I don’t think he would hire someone to kidnap me from my apartment because I didn’t agree to go out with him.”

“Well, I told John to check him out. I don’t like how he was acting at the auction. It’ll be good just to know where he was tonight.” Seb sighed, running his hand over his face. “So if not the town creep, who?”

Should she say it? Something about the night finally broke the wall that was holding all her secrets safely in her own mind. Surely just saying this one thing wouldn’t cause everything to unravel.

“My step-father. I haven’t seen him since I was eighteen.”

“You have a step-father?” Sebastian’s eyebrows drew together and she didn’t understand the confusion that was written across his features. “What happened to your life as a Gilbert girl?”

“Oh my god, Seb. Gilmore girl. My life as a Gilmore girl.” She smiled, unable to stop the laugh that bubbled up in her chest.

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