Page 127 of Late Nights & Love Lines
Threading the fingers of his left hand through mine, he turns to the newcomer. “Mr. Coleman, it’s nice to see you again, sir.”
Sebastian slips into businessman mode without a backward glance while I’m left sitting mute and suffering the worst case of emotional whiplash known to man.
“You too, Sebastian. You too. Sorry to hear the two of you parted ways though,” Mr. Coleman says, waving a hand between Sebastian and Nick. “I can’t say I’m overly fond of either of your new partners, but luckily, it’s not my decision any longer now that Jacob has finally grown up and taken over."
“Where is Jacob tonight?” Nick asks bluntly, speaking over Mr. Coleman, and even I can tell the guy is out for himself tonight.
The older man barely acknowledges his presence, and it fills me with a smugness I have no right to, but Sebastian is clearly the better man here.
“They’ll be along,” Mr. Coleman says without sparing Nick a second glance. “That pretty daughter-in-law of mine is a camera magnet. I’m sure they got caught up in the media tent.”
An MC takes the stage in a three-piece suit that appears to have been sewn on him, but my mind won’t stop focusing on the tension at this table.
My chest aches for Sebastian and the kids. I’m pissed off on Sebastian’s behalf that Mya and Nick are even here. There are so many emotions fighting for dominance, I don’t notice until halfway through the MC’s speech that a new couple has joined us. When I reach for my water glass, I see her, staring at me with the same malice she honed to perfection in our youth.
My hands shake, and water spills over the edge onto Sebastian’s pant leg.
He doesn’t make a scene when it happens, he simply takes the cup from my hand and tugs me to him. I hear his voice but not his words as my entire world comes crashing into me from all sides. Memories and nightmares clash with the vision in frontof me, and all I can do is stare at the smirk I’d hoped I’d never have to see again.
Haley Ford.
My stepsister.
“Sweetheart, are you okay?” Sebastian’s words cut through the panic when he places his lips to my ear. With his cheek resting on mine, I close my eyes and allow my body to sync with his for a count of three.
“Sebastian.” Mr. Coleman calls our attention to him, but I stare straight ahead. “Let me introduce you to my son, Jacob Coleman, and his wife, Haley.”
My entire body trembles. Lie after lie piles up until I’m sure my lungs have reached their bursting point. This can’t be happening, it can’t. What have I ever done to the universe to deserve this kind of punishment? All of this shitty cosmic karma can fuck right off.
“Coleman?” I whisper and look at Jake.
Haley’s manic laugh makes me shiver. She used to laugh that way every time I got in trouble with her father.
“You lied to meabout your name?”
“Row, it wasn’t like that,” Jake, or Jacob, or whatever the fuck his name is, says.
“Jacob,” the older man hisses, scanning the table as fury ignites in his irises. Was this all a game to them?
“What’s going on here?” Sebastian asks. “You know them?” His gaze ping-pongs around the table. “Rowan, how the hell do you know them?”
My internal tremors force their way to the forefront, and my arms tremble no matter how hard I hold myself.
“Oh, grow up, Rowan. You don’t belong here anyway. Playing the victim isn’t becoming. Didn’t my father teach you anything?” Haley’s words are laser-sharp and strike just as she intended.
My heart buzzes in my chest. It’s no longer attached to my soul, it just flutters there, building up speed until it’s ready to deliver the final sting.
“Watch it,” Sebastian growls.
“I—I don’t belong here,” I whisper, no longer able to sit still. “I—I—I’m going to be sick.”
Standing abruptly, I hurry in the direction of the restroom, but I only make it to the hallway before a hand on my elbow whirls me around.
“Let me explain,” Jake says. How is he here? I don’t understand.
“Get your hands off of my girl.” Sebastian curses when a server wheels a cart right in front of him. Jake immediately lifts his hands, and he and Sebastian collide.
Chest to chest, they hurl accusations at one another, too blinded by pride and anger to ask questions.
