Page 128 of Late Nights & Love Lines
“Sebastian will go bankrupt without that deal,” Haley hisses in my ear. “His old partner made sure everything he has is tied into it.” She’s slithered to my side like the snake that she is. “And I’ll make damn sure my husband won’t do business with him if he’s got a hard-on for you. What does that say about his judgment?” She steps into my space and lowers her voice even more. “Or perhaps I’ll take Sebastian to bed too before I watch his empire burn…just because I can.”
The buzzing in my ears overwhelms all of my emotions until I stop feeling and can only react.
“You told me your name was Jake Cole for two years,” I say, sidestepping Haley and walking between my ex and Sebastian. “We lived together, Jake, and you lied to me about your name for two fucking years? Forget fucking my stepsister. You couldn’t even give me your real goddamn name?”
The man I thought I would marry runs a hand through his hair as if he’s truly torn, but now I see his actions for the lies that they are.
“We won’t work with her.” Haley aims her venom at Sebastian. “And I know how much you have riding on this investment.” He glares down at her but says nothing. “Get rid of the trash, and then we’ll talk. You have one week to decide.”
“Who knew you’d make this so damn easy for me, Seb?” Nick stands on the other end of the hallway, but Mya is nowhere to be found.
“Someone had better start explaining. Right. Fucking. Now.” Sebastian’s face is so red it’s nearly purple.
Something inside of me has broken, and I can’t hide it this time.
31
TONIGHT
SEBASTIAN
“Ihate the number twenty-two,” Rowan mutters the second I’m able to pull her into my side.
My heart is breaking as I stare at her, yet I don’t even know what the fuck is going on.
“Grow up, Rowan,” the angry little gargoyle hisses in Rowan’s face again.
“I’m sorry, Rowan. I never got to tell you that,” Jacob says from behind me.
“Don’t apologize to her,” the woman seethes.
“Someone had better tell me what the hell is going on right now,” I demand.
Rowan trembles in my arms, and violent storms of rage swirl through my body. A crowd begins to form, and I find more than one member of the gala board standing on the perimeter, so I usher her farther down the hallway, hoping for some semblance of privacy.
“I was engaged to Jake,” she says quietly. “Well, he told me his name was Jake. I trusted him with…everything. I—I couldn’t stay after him.”
If I weren’t holding her arms, I’d stumble back a step. Is she saying this is the fuckwad who broke her trust so badly she never set down roots anywhere?
“We lived together for two years.” Her voice grows distant. In slow motion, I’m losing her, right here in my arms. “He told me he didn’t have any parents and worked two jobs to go to school. It— Was it all a lie?”
My head whips around to Jacob fucking Coleman.
The fucker actually looks pained, but it’s nothing compared to what I’m going to do to him.
“Being with you was the most real thing I’ve ever had in my life, Row. But…” He waves his hands around the hallway of this luxury hotel as if that’s the only explanation she deserves.
“Don’t call her that,” I bark. He doesn’t deserve any piece of her.
She shudders, and her body convulses as if she’s about to dry heave.
“I caught him fucking my stepsister, Haley, in my bed.” She points to Jacob’s wife, who sneers back. “It was the last time I allowed her to hurt me. I moved out of our apartment and finished college living in Junebug…until Pappy came to visit, anyway.”
“You’re pathetic and got what you deserved.” Haley laughs, and Rowan’s entire body flinches at the sound.
“Shut the fuck up, Haley.” Jacob doesn’t raise his voice—he doesn’t have to. We all stand silently staring at the woman in my arms.
Someone laughs. It’s a cocky one that raises the hair on the back of my neck. I direct my glare at Nick. “What the hell do you have to do with all of this?”
