Page 113 of Please Save Me

His smile was so wide that his cheeks creased as he straightened her dress out.

“Are you sure you just want to go to bed? You’re fartoobeautiful to keep to myself.” His words oozed with a sort of charisma that almost had me swooning.

But instead of falling for his charms, Mason nodded, and the two headed up the stairs.

Dinner passed, and Lucian wasn’t home. Bedtime with the twins passed, and Lucian still wasn’t home.

Soph and I sat on the couch, watching some reality dating show where all the contestants had a felony. Normally, I didn’t mind watching her shows, but right now, I couldn’t focus on the drama on TV. All I could think about was Lucian and how his absence had hurt Mason.

“I’m gonna kill him,” I warned.

Sophia shot me a fleeting but skeptical glance. “No, you’re not.”

The house shifted before Sebastian bounded down the steps. He’d changed out of his suit and into a pair of pajama pants. With how he looked, I couldn’t imagine Mason protested too much.

“Still no Lucian?” he asked, his words dripping with disbelief.

This had to bebadif Lucian’s brother couldn’t believe this bullshit.

“No Lucian,” Sophia confirmed.

Sebastian took a deep breath before letting it out with a grumble. “I’m going to kill him.”

Sophia’s eyes widened as she choked on her wine. She quickly placed the glass on the table, and I patted her on the back. After a moment of hacking, she regained her composure.

“Let’s not do anything crazy,” she said through a nervous laugh.

Those words seemed to carry a lot more weight when Seb said them.

Sophia had said that she knew Seb’s job was sketchy, but her reaction made me wonder if she knew exactly what he did.

The dangerous glint in Sebastian’s eyes told me his comment wasn’t an empty threat.

“What’s crazy is not holding someone accountable for their actions,” he continued as he walked toward us before pointing at the TV. “What are we watching?”

“Partners in Crime. It’s a dating show where all the contestants have a felony. Do you want to watch it with us?”

Sebastian’s lips twitched into a grimace, but after a beat, his expression softened, and he meandered toward us. Eventually, he settled in between Sophia and me on the middle cushion. It may have been my imagination, but I swore he sat a little closer to me than he did her.

I tried to ignore him and focus on the TV instead, but I couldn’t. It was like the chill of his soul slowly seeped into mine, making my hair stand on end forcing me to acknowledge his existence.

He pushed his glasses up with two fingers as he leaned into the blue velvet of the sofa. Should I ask him about Mason? No. If there’d been anything to update me on, he would’ve.

She was probably sleeping, and he didn’t want to risk waking her. But I had so many unanswered questions nagging in the back of my head. Did she eat dinner? Did she calm down at all? Was her heart still broken?

Please, for the love of God, do not let her heart actually be broken.

My breathing became manual as I stole a glance at Sebastian. His posture was relaxed, but tension had etched itself into his features. I couldn’t tell if he actually wanted to be down here, but if he didn’t, why bother?

His icy gaze slowly slipped to me as if he could tell I’d been watching him. Neither of us looked away when our eyes met. Instead, his eyes rolled as his lip curled like he couldn’t believe I had the gall to look at him.

I ended up the loser of our staring contest, my attention shifting back to the TV just in time to see some brawny guy remove his shirt.

“Oooh, I bet they’re gonna do it!” Sophia said excitedly.

Before the show had a chance to turn x-rated, it cut to a commercial. A crusty-looking white dog bounded across the screen, tongue out and eyes in different directions.

The soft jingle of keys broke the stillness of the night before the door creaked open. My head snapped back just in time to see Lucian walk in with a fast-food bag in hand.

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