Chapter 15 Marfil #3
“Not if he doesn’t find out,” I shot back, feeling a pang of guilt that vanished as soon as I remembered he was the reason I had to go through these measures in the first place.
“What did you do, put a pillow under your blankets?” he joked.
“Exactly,” I said, staring straight ahead as Liam navigated through traffic to Madison Square Garden.
Liam laughed out loud, and I smiled. I had no reason to feel guilty.
I couldn’t let Sebastian get to me. Yes, I’d snuck out.
Yes, I had fooled my bodyguard. And yes, I had disobeyed my father’s orders, but you know what?
I wasn’t a little girl, and if I wanted to take risks, that was my decision, not my father’s or Sebastian’s, but mine.
It took us a little longer than I would’ve liked, but fortunately we didn’t have to wait in line to get in, like most of the concertgoers, since we were VIP.
Our seats were amazing; we had plenty of space to dance, and they served us food and chilled champagne nonstop.
There were about twenty people total in the private box with a perfect view of the stage.
When the band came out and Dan Reynolds started singing “Whatever It Takes,” I took it as a sign that I’d made the right decision by sneaking out.
Singing at the top of my lungs, I felt liberated, as if I’d broken free of my chains.
Liam jumped up and down beside me, and we felt like the song had been written just for us.
I laughed as I sipped my third glass of champagne, my mind clouding over from the alcohol, causing me to forget my problems.
By the time they sang “On Top of the World” and “Radioactive,” we were walking on air.
My cell phone vibrated constantly in my pocket, but I ignored it.
I was drunk and all I cared about was jumping up and down, singing as loud as I could.
During the last lines of “Believer,” I climbed on Liam’s back and hugged him tight as we sang until we were hoarse.
Liam and I had great times together, and I would treasure them always.
When the concert finally ended, the musicians left the stage and the lights came on so we could make our way to the exits like a herd of cattle. Liam smiled at me, drenched in sweat, cheeks bright red. “That was incredible, wasn’t it?”
“Incredible,” I answered, grabbing his arm and following the crowd to the exit.
Out on the street, it was pouring rain. We were immediately soaked, and with all the chaos of people and traffic leaving the concert, I didn’t realize that someone was waiting outside.
“Sebastian,” I said in a shaky voice when I saw his furious brown eyes boring into mine after I’d practically tripped over him. He took me by the arm and started dragging me to the car.
“Hey!” Liam said, not realizing that it was Sebastian who’d grabbed me.
But before he could do anything about it, Sebastian’s fist went flying over my head and crashed into my best friend’s face.
I opened my eyes wide in shock. Liam was on the ground, covering his eye with one hand and lifting himself from the sidewalk with the other. I tried to break free from Sebastian, but he picked me up, shoved me in the car, and locked me inside.
“Open the fucking door!” I shouted, horrified to see Liam wobbling as he tried to stand. Sebastian immediately went around to the driver’s seat and started the car. “Have you completely lost your mind? Let me out! You just punched my best friend in the face!”
“And I’d do it again ten times over.”
My mouth hung open in disbelief. The car was spinning; everything had happened too fast for me to even process.
“How did you know where to find me?” was the first thing I thought to ask.
Sebastian ignored the question as he sped up Fifth Avenue, dodging in and out of traffic like a pro.
“It was my idea. You didn’t need to hit him!”
“Whether it was your idea or not, he was the one who took you.”
I didn’t argue, not because he was right, but because I was drunk and terrified, to be honest. Sebastian seemed possessed, and it was scary, but my biggest fear was that he’d told my father.
In the elevator headed up to my apartment, our eyes met, and I could feel the waves of rage emanating from him.
We reached my floor, and I wanted to run to my room like I did whenever I knew my father was going to scold me for something I’d done wrong, but before I could make a run for it, his hand was wrapped tightly around my arm and my back was against the living room wall.
“Don’t do that again,” he said, his lips so close to mine that my heart started racing.
“Or what?” I replied, challenging him. The alcohol had given me a false sense of courage.
Sebastian grabbed my chin and tilted my head up to meet his gaze. “Or I’ll tie you to your bedposts, I swear to God. And I don’t give a damn about the consequences.”
My breathing quickened as I realized he was being completely serious, but most of all because he was so close I could feel the same intense arousal I had the day we kissed.
I swallowed as he slowly slid his thumb over my cheek.
“Get out of my sight.”
He didn’t have to tell me twice.