Page 56 of Sebastian

“Do I even want to know what happened between you two that made Emma run from the house in the middle of the night with tears streaming down her face?”

“Fuck if I know. Is she still by the house?”

“Gage went outside when we got the alarm about the front door being opened. I’m sure he’s sitting back, watching to make sure she’s okay. But yeah, it looks like she’s down by the pond.” Nash pointed to the screen that showed the pool and backyard. There was the smallest shadow in the distance by the water’s edge.

“Thanks, Nash. Listen, when I get down there, shut the camera off, okay?”

“I can’t have your six if I can’t see you.”

“We’ve got basically every alarm possible on this property. Turn the fucking camera off.”

“Yeah okay, you got it, Cap.”

Sebastian ran up the stairs, taking two blankets from the basket next to the sofa, and ran out the front door. He stopped briefly to acknowledge Gage and give him a glare that had his friend turning back for the house with a nod.

As he neared the pond’s edge, he could see the tears staining her cheeks. Seb felt like his veins were on fire. He wanted to hurt the asshole who’d left that scar on her body, and clearly left an even bigger one on her soul.

“Em?” He found himself fighting the urge to scoop her up into his arms and never let go as he watched her flinch. “You don’t have to say anything. I just wanted to make sure you’re okay.”

Emma looked up at him, and the sadness in her eyes shredded his heart. “I’m so sorry, Seb. I don’t know…”

“It’s okay. Whatever happened back there, it’s fine. I just wanted to check on you.” Sebastian spread one of the blankets down on the ground before he sat down beside her, close enough that their bodies could touch, if she wanted. He draped the other blanket over her shoulders, waiting for her to say something.

When she leaned her head against his chest, he quickly wrapped an arm around her back, pulling her onto the blanket with him. Shutters wracked her body as she cried.

“Please, Sprinkles. Please tell me you’re okay.”

“I think I-I’m quite possibly n-not.”

“Can you tell me why?” What if Gunner had been right? Was she still hiding something that could jeopardize them keeping her safe? If it was something about Marco, something that she hadn’t shared that was vital to her safety, then he needed to know. “I know it might not feel like it, but maybe if you tell me, it will help make it feel not so overwhelming. I just want to help.”

He watched her chest rise as she took in a large breath. When she exhaled, she spoke words that took the air out of his own lungs.

“When I was nineteen, I had a baby.”

Whatever he had been expecting her to say, it certainly wasn’t that.

“Was the baby?—”

“His?” she nodded. “He took from me what he wanted to, and I had no say.” Sebastian’s arm tightened around Emma. He couldn’t spend time thinking of how much he’d enjoy ending Marco’s pathetic life once he was found. No, he needed to be in the moment for Emma. She deserved his full attention while she shared this information with him. “When I got pregnant, I also had no say in what happened to the baby.”

Emma let out a sob. Her hands moved to cover her face and they sat there, the only sound to be heard a mixture of her cries and the gentle rustle of the wind winding through the trees around them. “I was so afraid he was going to make me get rid of her. I know it was a terrible situation to bring a baby into, but I couldn’t get an abortion. I didn’t want one.”

“I’m so sorry, Em.” What else could he say?

“He didn’t make me get one, Seb. In fact, he acted thrilled about the whole thing. Marco l-let me think things were changed between us. He moved me out of the estate and into his place. I picked out things for a nursery, and I named her. He was different. Kind, attentive. He held my hand and told me how excited he was for the baby.” Her breath hitched as more tears soaked his shirt. “When it was time for her to come, I was forced to have a c-section. That’s what the scar is from. I-I don’t even remember anything about it, other than I was in my doctor’s office for a weekly visit and a nurse mentioned I needed some medicine because the baby’s blood type was different than mine. I’d been given something for that earlier in my pregnancy, so I didn’t think anything of it. But they must have drugged me instead. I woke up hours later in the hospital. I just remember feeling so empty, and delirious from the pain. I tried to ask where my daughter was, but no one would answer me.”

“What happened to her?” his voice was barely a whisper, and he could hear the emotion he was trying to swallow down.

“I was all alone until he came in to my room the next day. He held my hand, and told me I’d never see her. That she was with someone who would be a better mother than I could ever hope to be. All the things I had put together for her nursery, they were with the other woman. He didn’t even keep her name, and he never told me her new one. I don’t know where she is, or if she’s safe and loved. I never got to hold her, Seb. I never got see the precious, little soul who lived next to my heart for nine months. She was just ripped away from me.”

There were more tears, and Emma released a wail that had Sebastian’s emotions choking him. The pain from that experience rolled off her in waves, crashing into him over and over again. He would never understand how anyone could be so cruel to the woman who had the brightest, most vibrant soul he’d ever met. All Seb could do was hold Emma. There were no words that he could ever say to make up for what she’d had to experience.

“Her birthday is coming up and I don’t normally let myself think about it, but with everything that’s happened, how can I not? How can I not wonder what happened to her?”

“Did you ever try to look for her? That’s something we could ask Tracker to do, if you felt comfortable with it,” Sebastian asked when her breathing calmed.

“Do you think he…” Emma swallowed her tears, the burning in her raw throat making her wince. “I mean, you don’t think the Santoro family trafficked her, do you? When Gage said they were trafficking women and children, I wanted to die. I always assumed he gave her to someone in the family to raise, but what if he didn’t? What if he used her to get the money my step-father owed him?”

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