Page 43 of Perfect Night

“Yes, on purpose,” he said through gritted teeth. He didn’t want to get into this with Paolo here.

“Well, I’m just returning it to you. And I wanted to ask if you’d like to come to New York with me?”

“What?”

“I have to go back for two weeks, and I thought you could come with me. We could get to know each other better.”

“I can’t afford a holiday. I just lost my job.”

“What?” said Paolo.

“Not now,” snapped Jason, as he took another mouthful of popcorn.

“You could stay with me, and I have so many Air Miles. It wouldn’t cost a penny.”

“I can’t leave my mum.”

“I thought about that, and I spoke to your friends. They’d be happy to visit her.”

Charlie glared at his so-called friends. Paolo looked sheepish, but Jason had another shit-eating grin on his face. Charlie was going to kill him. He was about to respond when the door opened and Langdon walked in. He took in the scene in front of him, walked over to Sebastian and held out his hand.

“You must be Sebastian. I’m Langdon.”

They shook hands.

“I thought you were back in New York. Isn’t that why Charlie stayed with you on Friday night?”

Oh my God!

“No, Charlie was with Sebastian last night,” said Paolo.

The panic set in. He was struggling to breathe. No. This couldn’t be happening. People were speaking around him, but he couldn’t hear them. His vision blurred. He felt like he was going to pass out.

Gregory appeared in front of him, but his features blurred quickly and he could only make out shapes. His chest contracted and he couldn’t breathe. He was choking, but no noise came out. It was like he was holding his breath, but not by choice. His body felt heavy, and the surrounding voices turned into a buzzing sound. He had a vague recollection of Sebastian’s face before everything went black.

He opened his eyes. It took him a few seconds to realise he was lying on the sofa. His head was on Jason’s lap, who was stroking his hair. He could hear the clatter of noise from the kitchen and smelt something delicious. It had to be Langdon. He wasn’t sure where the others were. Then he remembered Sebastian was here. He sat up quickly, making Jason squeal.

“Sebastian?”

“He’s gone, sweetie.”

“Gone where? To New York?”

“No. He’s back at his hotel. Waiting to hear you’re okay. That guy’s got it bad for you, you lucky bitch.”

He groaned and put his head back down. “How bad was it?”

“You’ve had worse, but then we’ve seen it before.”

“Did he freak out?”

“Not at all. He only left because Langdon threatened to kick the crap out of him.”

“Why?”

“He thought Sebastian was to blame. You haven’t had a panic attack in well over a year. This guy shows up and you have a bad one. You know how protective he is.”

“Fuck. What did you tell Langdon?”

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