Page 60 of Blood Ties
“What are you doing here, Sebastian? I’m trying to work.”
Sebastian stood and moved across the room. “You’ve been avoiding me. Why?”
I shrugged. “I just didn’t think being around you was appropriate.”
“Grayson’s jealous,” he stated.
“No.”
“Gaby, don’t try to cover it. I get it. He knows you fed from me and now he thinks something’s going on.” I opened my mouth but nothing escaped. After a long pause Sebastian grinned. “You haven’t told him. I gotta say you have a remarkably trusting relationship. You were almost raped and you kept it from him. You drank from me and you kept that too. What about this?” Sebastian set an envelope down on the table. It had my name scribbled across in. I opened it up and saw an all too familiar note.
“Are you snooping through my garbage?” I didn’t hide the accusation in my tone.
“Look at the address.” I flipped it over. “It came here.” I quickly stuffed it back into the envelope. “How many have you received?”
“I don’t know what you mean,” I tried denying.
“Of course you do. Just your comment now shows this isn’t the first time you’ve seen one.”
“Is it you that’s sending them?”
Sebastian looked like I just slapped him. “That’s what you think? I care about you, Gaby. I’m just wondering why you’re keeping things from him.”
“I’m wondering that too.” I looked up to see Grayson and my father standing in the door. Damien looked down at the ground while Grayson’s eyes blazed at me. I clutched the envelope in my hand, deciding if I could hide it. I must have fidgeted drawing his attention to it because he moved across the room at a human pace and reached for it. I tried to cling to it.
“He has a right to know, Gaby.” It was Sebastian.
I saw Grayson’s face heat up and I released the envelope. He opened it and his expression changed. There written in the same form as the others were the words,
If death is what you seek, stay. If life, then leave him.
“What the fuck is this?” he demanded then glared at Sebastian. “Are you threatening us?”
Sebastian’s face turned into a sneer. “Did you miss the part where she accused me of the same thing?” Grayson turned and looked me then back at Sebastian. “All I’ve ever done is try and protect her, but then she’s kept that from you too.”
Grayson spun to face me with accusations in his eyes. “What is he talking about, Gaby?”
“Yes, Sebastian? What do you speak of? I thought we had an understanding,” Damien questioned his voice dripping with condescension.
“Gaby?” Sebastian spoke and all eyes were on me. I could feel my heart pounding and what was worse was they could all hear it too. It was overwhelming. I couldn’t take it. I grabbed my belongings off the desk and started making my way to the door. “Gaby?” Sebastian grabbed my arm.
I yanked it from him, my anger helped mask anything else I might feel when he touched me. “How dare you? How dare all of you?”
“What haveIdone?” Damien asked defensively.
I ignored him and spoke to Sebastian. “You put me on the spot to tell something that you know I don’t want to speak about. You knew it and you did it anyways.”
“He’syourfiancé. If you really care about him the way you claim…”
“The way I claim? I love him.” It looked as if Sebastian winced. I wasn’t sure. It was barely noticeable and gone too fast. I shifted my gaze to Grayson. “I love you, and that’s why I didn’t want to burden you with any of this.”
“You don’t want to burden him? Is that why you didn’t tell him you fed from me?”
I felt my stomach fall and a cold chill passed over my body. “Gaby wouldn’t do that.” Grayson spoke. Guilt washed over me when I realized the impression he had of me was better than who I really was. When I didn’t argue the point, Grayson spoke to me. “Call him a liar, Gaby. You wouldn’t do that.”
“She can’t,” Sebastian spoke.
I could feel everyone’s eyes on me. I couldn’t let them hold on to the notion that what I had done was done for the wrong reasons. “I was hurt.”
