Page 34 of Born Free

“You’re back,” she says stupidly, her mind unable to reconcile the sight of him to the extreme belief that something nefarious had happened to him.

“Yes, as you can see, I’m still alive,” he says, arching an eyebrow. “I wasn’t too happy to hear you had my former fiancée under investigation. My stupidity shouldn’t have fallen on her. Roman being arrested for it, on the other hand…” Sebastian sounds way too damn amused.

“Where have you been?” she asks, sounding annoyed and maybe a little humiliated.

“Licking my wounds,” Sebastian says, already over this dramatic show. “Satisfied I’m not dead, now?”

Teresa opens and closes her mouth, and I can’t help but smirk at her. “Things are probably going to be messy for a little bit,” I say. “There’s some potentially threatening people in the city. But we’re taking care of it. So, if you hear of anything happening that doesn’t have an explanation, well, now you know why you shouldn’t go sticking your nose in every case.”

Without another word of explanation, all three of us turn and file out of her office. No less than four officers are standing outside, clearly trying to hear what we’re talking about.

I flash them a dangerous smile, and as if they can sense I’m a predator, each of them jumps back to work, pretending like they never even saw us.

“To be honest, I don’t even remember her,” Sebastian says as the three of us load back into the SUV. “I’ve patched up more than one cop in this city. I’m surprised she… latched on so hard.”

Are you really, though?I want to ask, but don’t. I wonder if Sebastian is aware of how flirtatious and charming he is. For some people, it’s just engrained into who they are. I don’t know if he can help it any more than I can help being sarcastic and snarky.

“Trust me, neither ofuswill ever forget that woman,” Roman says darkly as Jay pulls away from the curb.

We drive across town, and no one stated it, but it was as if everyone but Sebastian knew exactly what needed to happen. Jay pulls up in front of Sebastian’s building.

“I’m not—”

“You are,” I interrupt him. “We’re not messing around here, Sebastian. You’re not following me around at all hours. Go home. I’m going home. You need to realize that you’re on thin ice, and the entire supernatural population of Chicago is pretty pissed at you. Careful what you do and where you go.”

He just stares at me for a moment, and I can see a million thoughts run through his head. He’s annoyed at my boldness but also impressed. He wants nothing more than to glue himself to my side, but he can see the death in Roman’s eyes if he breathes wrong.

So, finally, he opens the door and steps out. The car doesn’t move an inch while we all watch him walk up to the doors and then disappear through them.

“Let’s take the long way back,” I say to Jay. “I don’t want him deciding to follow us and finding where I live.”

“Still don’t understand why he’s breathing,” Jay responds as we pull away and merge back into traffic. “Though there’s a good chance he doesn’t make it through the first few hours back if anyone else sees him.”

“Oh, definitely,” I agree.

“This isn’t a permanent move,” Roman says darkly. “He helped me get Juliet back. I don’t plan to let him stay for long if he survives.”

CHAPTEREIGHT

Roman’s phonestarts buzzing in his pocket as we roll through an intersection. He pulls it out and tips the screen to show me it’s an out-of-the-country number.

“Orlando,” Roman says as he answers.

“Evaporating into thin air within days of reuniting with your family is a pretty shitty move, Andres,” Orlando snaps.

“I don’t have to explain myself,” Roman counters calmly.

“Oh, you really do,” Orlando says coldly.

“But not today,” Roman says firmly, no room for arguing. “I need sleep. We can talk tonight.”

And Roman hangs up before Orlando can argue further.

“Why do I feel like you’re antagonizing a very surly tiger?” I ask, tipping my head to one side and staring at Roman.

“He might be a Royal, but no one is about to boss me around,” Roman says, still too calm for how nervous I am. “Especially an obnoxious younger brother.”

I just shake my head at his audacity and watch as we roll up to my building. Jay parks out front and turns around to face us in the back seat.

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