Page 46 of Born Chaos

But for the first time, I know he’s on my side.

I see the looming sculpture up ahead. It reflects the lights from the skyscrapers surrounding it. It’s actual name is The Cloud, but the world-famous polished silver sculpture is more accurately known as the Bean.

And somewhere, in the dark, I know Elena is there, watching and observing.

Faster and faster, my heart starts beating when I make out his silhouette in the dark. My feet slow, just a little bit, and Roman instantly drops to my pace.

You can do this,I mentally pump myself up.You have to do this.

And there’s no turning back when Sebastian spins around, and our eyes lock.

I feel myself shattering then. Because when I look at him, I still feel like I’m looking into the eyes of the only person who has ever really understood me. There’s a reason I fell so hard for him. When I stare at Sebastian, I re-live every dark conversation we’ve had, admitting the horrible things in our past. I can feel his lips on my neck and his hands at my waist. And it hurts. It hurts so damn bad. Because so much of this was perfect.

And now everything is different.

“What are you doing here?” Sebastian snarls as his eyes slide over to Roman.

“Just making sure everyone behaves,” Roman says coldly.

“This is between Juliet and me,” he says, his eyes hard, filled with venom.

“You lost your right to privacy a while ago, don’t you think, Dr. Vincent?” Roman poses, his tone even, but deadly.

“Juliet?” Sebastian says in exasperation.

“I asked him to be here,” I cut him off before he can complain further. “I know you don’t like it, but you’re just going to have to deal with it.”

I stop six feet in front of Sebastian, both of us directly under the polished sculpture. I stuff my hands into the pockets of my coat, and I try to sort through all of the tumbling thoughts in my head.

“Where have you been?” he begins. There’s pain in his eyes. And it hurts my heart. It makes me ache.

“Somewhere I could get some space and time to think,” I answer without giving him the answer.

“You ran away, Juliet,” he says. His tone is slightly accusatory. But he’s not wrong.

I nod. “I couldn’t stay,” I begin. “I couldn’t. You wanted to pretend that nothing was wrong, but the world had just imploded. And I couldn’t sit there and smile for everyone like nothing had changed.”

“I’m sorry,” Sebastian says. I see desperation rising in his eyes. And now I know what he will do when he’s desperate. “We should have cancelled the engagement party. We should have stayed home and talked about things.”

“Let’s talk now,” I state, my tone stiff. “We can’t change the past, we don’t get do-overs, so let’s talk now.”

Sebastian’s eyes slide over to Roman, telling me just how much he doesn’t want to have this conversation in front of him. But tough luck. Roman’s not going anywhere.

“Fine. I know I screwed up. Juliet, after you lied to me that night you and Roman killed Archer King… I got scared.”

“It’s okay to be scared,” I say, and already, I’m starting to lose my cool. “And it’s okay to have to talk through it more than once. That’s the story of being married, Sebastian. It wasn’t promised that things would be perfect.”

The conflict in his eyes says he doesn’t exactly grasp this. That he doesn’t necessarily see it the same way.

“But instead of talking to me about it, instead of trying to work on it together, you stalked me,” I say, and my voice cracks on my last word. I shake my head. “You were tracking me. You lost your mind when I went somewhere without consulting you first. And then you paid your bodyguard to follow me at all times. There’s a line, Sebastian. And you dropped a nuclear bomb on it.”

“You know what happened to my wife, my kids,” Sebastian growls, and something shifts in his eyes. It’s colder, a little crueler. “I spoke the truth, every word, when I said I’d do anything to protect you, Juliet. I love you. I love you with every fiber of my being.”

“I cannot be the way you correct the past, Sebastian!” I erupt. “I am a person. Someone in the here and now. I know you’ve experienced hurt. We all have. But just because you lost them doesn’t mean you would have lost me. And it doesn’t give you the right to take control over everything I do!”

His lips thin out into a hard line.

“I know you trashed my apartment,” I say, calming myself and lowering my tone. “That you went through everything. How did you think that was going to go once we talked?”

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