Page 122 of The Road to Ruined

"Mmm, maybe. There's only one other person who knows my name and face—the one who raised me—so I guess that will be up to him. Otherwise, no one will ever know it wasmewho was here with you, and they'll just think you and Declan outsmarted your tail."

"Can I still see you?" I ask.

"No, Teagan, you can't."

"But—"

"Teagan, I know them," he says. "I know how they work. They just want to continue existing and operating in secrecy. They want people to forget the FBI was ever saying their name. They were willing to let the De Rossis go as long as they never came back…because if they killed them, they'd have to kill their father, too, and that would leave a mess. Not to mention they're celebrities—their capture would make national news, and their disappearance from custody would get just as much attention. They don'twantto kill them. If you'regone—whether theybelieve you're dead or not—if the policethinkyou're dead and you're not a threat to them, they'll leave you alone, too."

He removes the needle without warning, too.

"Well…then why can't you come with us? You're a De Rossi."

"No, I'm not, Teagan. Not in any way. They won't let me go, and then they'll kill you to prove a point—before or after they rape you in front of me."

"Whydo you stay?" I ask.

"For the same reason you were going to before they came back for you. Everyone needs a place and purpose. I don't know how to exist anywhere else."

"You can exist with me. I'll be your purpose."

He laughs just a little. "You really are crazy, aren't you, Teagan?"

I shrug. "Probably."

"I can't," Sebastian says. "I'm not like mybrothers—I won't share you. I'll end up killing them. And quite frankly, I don't trust myself not to eventually kill you, too."

"Yeah, you do," I say.

He ignores me and turns in the other direction, removing the needle from the end of the tube.

"Why won't you look at me?" I ask him.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he says. "I'm busy. I'll look at you later."

"Right…okay."

I linger for a moment—waiting, but I'm not sure what I'm waiting for—and when he still doesn't look at me or say anything, I retreat to the bathroom.

I rinse off quickly in the shower, and then brush my teeth. Sebastian still doesn't look at me when I walk out to dress. I put on shorts and a tank top, slip on my sandals, and grab the garment bag with my dress and shoes in it.

I check my phone and see that I have a text message from Blakely.

BLAKELY I still hate the bows. Will you cut them off?

ME Yep. Consider it done.

"I guess I'll go ahead and go," I tell him. "I need to do something for Blake, and I want to eat and get some coffee downstairs before I go up there."

"Okay," he says, again, without looking up. "Might as well go crazy, charge whatever you want to the room—you won't be around to pay the bill."

"Are you hungry? Will you come with me?"

"I'll grab something later," he says.

He walks out to the balcony, closes the sliding glass door behind him, and sits in a chair facing the sea. I set the garment bag down on the bed and follow him.

"Sebastian?" My voice cracks.

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