Page 63 of Hold On

“Yeah, that was fucked. I’m sorry, babe. Anyway, he figured out who Bash was and assumed we had a relationship,” I continue.

“You obviouslydo. The chemistry is impossible to ignore,” she says as she waves her hand between us. I can feel my cheeks glowing red. “Luke came after you, I’m assuming.”

I nod. “He attacked me in my home. And that made it personal. For both of us.” I look at Bash, who touches his forehead to mine, before I look at Gilda again. “I went to get my purse from work yesterday. I left it when I originally ran out on the job with Bash. But Luke had taken it and hidden it in his office. Then took me inside of it to try and punish me.”

“And you couldn’t sit back and allow it to happen anymore, could you?” she questions, understanding the situation perfectly. I shake my head.

“How’d you know?” I ask.

“How could younot?” she throws back at me. “Your long-lost lover shows up and rescues you from multiple men who put their hands on you, hurting you as part of your day job and overall life. You think I don’t see that spark in your eye? You’re different, Alina,” she finishes.

I don’t really know what to say, so I just look at Bash. And to my surprise, he’s wearing the warmest, most loving look on his face. I’m confused but focus in on his hand squeezing my thigh under the table. “What?” I ask in a desperate whisper, but he just shakes his head at me and looks back to Gilda.

“I’ll be frank. We’re taking Luke out. And we need your help,” Bash lays out for her as I freeze. Gilda’s face is blank as she takes in the information and considers his words for a minute.

“Oh, looks like my drink is ready. Give me a second?”

She gets up from the table and leaves. My eyes widen. My heart begins to race, my palms sweating as I turn to Bash.

“Is she leaving?!” I ask in a panic and as I do so, I see that she has indeed grabbed her drink and is now motioning for one ofLuke’sguardsto follow her to the table. I thought I had been watching well enough the whole time. I’m completely blindsided. I didn’t see him come in and I definitely didn’t see him sitting across the café when we arrived.

“We need to go.Now!” I whisper-yell at Bash as I jump up, who doesn’t move at all.

“This is a new development,” he says casually as I try to make him rise from the seat by repeatedly pulling on his arm. He isn’t budging and I’m growing frantically frustrated.

“Why the fuck aren’t you running with me right now?” I demand as the two of them approach the table.

“Because I want to see where this goes,” he answers me as Gilda brings her newest addition to the conversation over to us. My eyes are huge as everyone stares at each other. Luke’s man sits at the table quietly. Gilda joins him and then I’m standingthere like a fucking idiot, watching everyone else look at me like I’m crazy.

“What the fuck is going on?” I angrily demand.

Sebastian:

I place my hand on Alina’s forearm and her eyes whip to me. For whatever reason, I have a good feeling about this. I can tell Gilda isn’t a fuck-around. But Alina’s on edge. I need to get her to at least sit down so we aren’t drawing too much attention to ourselves.

“LinaGirl,” I tenderly speak in a soothing voice. She immediately finds my eyes with hers. “Baby. Why don’t you sit and give Gilda a chance to explain herself?”

“Are you a fucking cop, bro?!” she yells instead at the man, making him smirk as Gilda sips her coffee amused. I slap my fucking face with my hand.

“You’re hard to fool,” he says as Alina begins to freak out next to me. I grab her arms and force her to sit as she seethes in the seat on my right.

“Alina,” I say with a little more of an edge as she stares menacingly at the man. He just shakes his head, unphased as he smiles across the table. But Alina is furious, and I can feel her trembling in my hands as she tries to control herself.

“Everyone knows what the fuck I’m doing behind the Bengal, ok? I don’t fuck around with cops. I don’t care if you’re here to capture Luke or not. I don’t trust any of you and I’m not going to fucking jail after I’ve been living in a prison of Luke’s making for the past five years!” she hisses as the man nods his head, clearly listening to her.

“I understand, Alina. And to be honest, Iama cop,” he replies. She starts twisting in my arms again, trying to get away.

“Alina. Calm down. Let’s hear him out,” I urge her, but she’s about to cry. I can feel her sweating beneath my hold. I forget about the other two at the table and gently take her face in both of my hands. Her bottom lip is trembling as she clings to my shirt.

“I just got you back. I can’t lose you again,” she cries out. I nod my head, fearing the same thing constantly. But I don’t tell her that. She needs me to be the strong one.

“Let’s assume this is the next step to making sure we never go without the other again,” I whisper to her. She doesn’t fully believe in my hope; I can see it in her eyes. But she finally settles down, looking to Gilda and her friend across from us.

“Alina, this is my son, Cade.” Alina’s brows shoot up in surprise at Gilda’s introduction.

“Yourson?” she asks skeptically and they both nod.

“To put your fears to rest, I’m here to take care of Luke. But there are other guys at the precinct who are dirty and are benefiting from Luke’s activities. They’re watching me and if I make a move personally, or this falls on me, I will go down for it. And I’m trying to avoid that, just as you are, Alina,” Cade says. She crosses her arms and sniffs. It takes everything in me not to laugh at her attitude.

---