Page 34 of Sebastian

Although he couldn’t see me, I stuck my tongue out at him. Unfortunately, I forgot I was standing in front of a window display, so it looked like I’d made the rude face at a woman inside the shop.

Our gazes locked through the glass, and she scowled. I tried to mouth an apology to her, but it must not have translated because she got even more visibly upset. Giving up, I scurried away from the shop before the woman decided to confront me.

“Anyway, I didn’t call just to gossip about my sex life. I really need some suggestions for Bastian. I caught him trying to work out the other day. He nearly dropped a dumbbell on his foot.”

Not to mention the multiple times he’d tried returning to work. I’d already had to stop him from leaving the apartment when he decided to try continuing the search for Clay Dahler. Sure, a missing person case may be safer than hunting down a pedophile ring. However, until we knew for sure who tried to kill him—running him off the road had not just been a warning, it was an attempt on his life—he needed to stay inside where people couldn’t get to him.

I sighed, remembering the argument the brothers had gotten into when Sebastian was caught trying to break into Damien’s computer. It had been an ugly sight. The pair didn’t argue often, but when they did, they held nothing back.

“Bastian really shouldn’t be getting worked up right now. I need to give him something safe to do, but I don’t know what would be best. I treat injuries. I don’t usually handle the recovery process. That’s your area of expertise.”

Frankie hummed as he thought for a moment, and I could hear him munching on whatever he’d chosen for lunch.

“It’s hard to say without seeing him myself. Would it be possible for me to come over and evaluate him? I could give you some better suggestions then.”

I’d reached the restaurant and it was almost time to meet my sister. There were no more excuses I could use to delay the inevitable.

“I’ll ask, but I don’t see why you couldn’t come over. I’ve got to go now, but I’ll give you a call later.”

“Sure. Have fun and try not to give your sister anything to complain about. You’ll only make it worse for yourself.”

I hung up and stored my phone in my pocket. Then, with a deep breath, I opened the door to the restaurant.

Holy Trinity Bistro claimed to be an authentic Creole restaurant. It certainly had the vibe down, presenting a mix of homey yet elegant. The name was a reference to the three staple ingredients in Creole cooking, onion, celery, and green bell pepper. I was convinced that the name had been chosen to hide the fact that the chefs didn’t actually know what they were doing. Half of the items on the menu weren’t even Creole recipes, and the items that were authentic were comically stereotypical. It was like someone had looked up a list of recipes off the Internet and decided to just give it a try.

However, it was one of my sister’s favorite restaurants, so that’s where we ended up going whenever we got lunch together.

I wouldn’t mind our occasional lunches if it wasn’t for what came with them.

“Hey, midget. How you doing?”

A man waved at me from where he had an arm slung over my sister’s shoulder.

Dean Barrett was my sister’s fiancé. They’d been dating for nearly ten years, so I’d known him for a significant amount of my life. Yet, even after all that time, I still didn’t really like him.

“Hey, Dean,” I said, giving him the simplest greeting I could get away with.

He reached out for me, and I braced myself as he ruffled my hair hard enough to rock my head back and forth.

“Man, this is getting long. You need to get a haircut soon or people are going to start mistaking you for a girl.”

I ran a hand over my hair, trying to smooth it back into place. “Uh, I’ll keep that in mind.”

A more blatant lie had never left my lips. I absolutely would not even think about cutting my hair. After finding out how much Sebastian liked its length, especially during sex since it gave him something to hold onto, I was never cutting my hair again.

Well, maybe if it got too long. An image of myself as Rapunzel popped into my mind. If my hair ever got that long, then I would cut it, but it would never be short enough for Dean’s preference.

I eyed his neatly trimmed crew cut.

No, never that short.

My attention was diverted when my sister pulled me into a hug. “Newton. I’m glad you came.”

After so many years, I’d given up trying to get her to stop using my full name. Instead, I kept the complaint to myself and hugged her back. “Hi, Rosalind. Of course I came. I promised, after all.”

Rosalind was taller than me by several inches, so when she pulled back, she had to look down to meet my eyes.

“It’s been too long since we last spoke. Tell me what’s been going on with you?” Dean tapped her on the shoulder, and they held a silent conversation with their eyes before she seemed to remember something. “Oh, right. Newton, there’s someone I want you to meet. This is Steven, Dean’s cousin. He’ll be joining us today.”

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