Chapter 11
SAbrINA
Sebastian had found me.
From his clenched jaw to his furrowed brow, the man radiated rage.
The once-boisterous café stilled.
Even the musicians stopped playing, and all eyes turned to Sebastian Diamanti.
Behind me, my friends whispered in hushed tones, fragments of their conversation drifting to me.
"Diamonds."
"Mafia."
His firm hand settled on my shoulder. Warm, yet it chilled me to the bone—the touch of the devil himself.
I shrugged it off as I rose, determined not to appear cowed.
Unfortunately, the champagne I’d drunk also rose…straight to my head.
I swayed, my hand instinctively pressing against his chest for balance. His hand came down over mine, trapping it against the hard plane of his chest. His skin, tan and calloused, surprised me—a stark contrast to the polished businessmen I usually encountered.
I focused on his signet ring, its thick gold band bearing a black diamond at its center. The motion steadied me as I fought against the waves of dizziness.
Sebastian reached past me, snatching the nearly empty champagne bottle off the table. “How much of this did you drink?”
I leaned forward, narrowing my gaze to concentrate on the gold filigree label before answering with a small giggle. “Enough.”
More than enough, really, considering I’d barely slept or eaten in over twenty-four hours.
He slammed the bottle onto the table. “That’s it. Get your coat. We’re leaving.”
I shook off his grip and stepped back—or rather stumbled, colliding into the table behind me. It shook, sending glasses toppling. The champagne bottle tipped and rolled toward the edge.
With a cry, I lunged for it, knocking a plate of mushroom tartines onto the floor. The bottle slipped, shattering on the black-and-white marble tile.
Before I could kneel to pick up the shards, Sebastian’s hands clamped around my hips, pulling me back.
The unmistakable hardness of his body pressed against me.
My head snapped upright as I silently glowered at him, but he didn’t release me.
The café’s silent patrons fixed their gazes on the spectacle unfolding before them. I felt their judgment, their curiosity, their fear—but I couldn’t meet their eyes.
“The glass,” I murmured, still trying to lean forward.
“Leave it,” he growled into my ear, his arm tightening around my waist.
His hand slid higher, brushing just below my breast.
I froze, acutely aware of every inch of his body against mine.
“Where is your coat?”
I balled my hands into fists at my sides.
I’d hoped he’d forgotten. He hadn’t.
Every instinct in me screamed that Sebastian Diamanti was not a man to cross.
And I had just pissed him off by not obeying his summons.
Leaving my friends to venture into an unfamiliar city in the middle of the night with him was out of the question.
They would never find my body.
I forced the words out through clenched teeth. “I’m not leaving with you.”
His response was swift and brutal. “That’s what you think.”
The alcohol coursing through my veins gave me a false bravado as I turned to face him. “How did you even find me?”
One dark eyebrow arched. “Nothing is off limits to a man with my power and resources. You’d do well to remember that, Sabrina.”
The way he said my name sent a shiver down my spine.
He lifted my coat from the back of the chair and draped it over my shoulders. “I’m out of patience.”
I shrugged it off. “I can’t just leave. I haven’t even paid for my share of the bill.”
He placed the coat back on my shoulders with deliberate care. “Take it off again, and you won’t like what happens.”
I opened my mouth to protest, but his expression silenced me.
Instead, he reached into his suit pocket, pulled out a black leather billfold, and tossed an obscene amount of cash onto the table. “Next round is on Sabrina.”
The café erupted in cheers.
My friends, too drunk or too careless to notice the tension, reveled in the sudden windfall.
Meanwhile, Sebastian’s hold on my arm tightened as he pulled me out the door.
I dug in my heels. “This is insane! You’re acting like a jealous boyfriend. I don’t even know you!”
Before he could respond, Henri burst through the door behind us. “Hey! Let go of her.”
Sebastian turned slowly, his eyes narrowing. “This is none of your business. Go back inside.”
Henri puffed up his chest. “I’m not afraid of you or your money. She doesn’t want to leave with you.”
I stepped forward, desperate to diffuse the situation. “It’s fine, Henri. I’ll handle this.”
Henri ignored me, raising his fists. “If you don’t let go of my girl, you’ll regret it.”
Sebastian’s gaze snapped back to me.
His lips thinned, and he cocked his head, sizing up Henri. Without warning, he lunged, his hand clamping around Henri’s throat and slamming him against the brick wall.
“What did you just call her?”
Henri’s eyes bulged as he clawed at Sebastian’s wrist. “Nothing! She’s nobody!”
My chest burned hot. Taking advantage of Sebastian’s distraction, I shoved my arms into my coat and stormed off into the night.
I didn’t get far.
Within moments, Sebastian’s arm curled around my waist, lifting me off the ground.
“Let go!” I kicked, but he carried me effortlessly into a recessed doorway. The stone wall scraped against my spine. Cold seeped through my shoes from the marble threshold.
His fingers encircled my throat, firm but not crushing.
“You broke rule number one."
Don’t disobey him.
I searched past him for help.
Did I dare cry out?
Would it be fair to endanger a stranger after seeing what happened to Henri?
I stared at the pattern on his silk tie. “I didn’t think it was a formal invitation. I figured you were just being nice to me or something.”
Despite the champagne bubbles bouncing around my brain, even I knew there wasn’t a chance in hell he would buy that excuse. Lame didn’t even begin to cover it.
He leaned in closer. “Do I look like someone who does something just to be nice?”
I opened my mouth to respond but closed it almost instantly. “I… I’m not sure.”
“The answer is no, Sabrina. I asked you to dinner this evening because I wanted to spend more time with you.”
My pulse fluttered in a warning. This was going to make it worse—but I couldn’t stay silent.
After fidgeting with the ring on my right hand in agitation, I bit my lip, searching for the right response. “Strictly speaking, you didn’t ask me to dinner. It was more of a command.”
The muscles in his jaw tightened.
Crap. That was definitely not the right thing to say.
His thumb caressed my lower lip where I had bitten it. “Why do you insist on angering me?”
My lip trembled under his touch. “I’m not trying to anger you. I just…don’t understand.”
He tilted his head slightly. “What is there to understand?”
“You can’t be serious.”
His hand shifted to tilt my head back. The warm metal of his signet ring pushed into my skin, branding me. “I’m always serious.”
I wrapped my hand around his wrist. “How did you know my name?” I blurted out.
“What?”
“My name. At the party, you mentioned my full name. I never gave it to you.” Before he could respond, I cut him off. “Don’t even try to say you heard it from édouard. We both know that’s a lie.”
édouard barely remembered his own mother’s name, let alone the name of a lowly up-and-coming fashion stylist hired to style his social media posts, not the more prestigious Vogue shoot.
His fingers tightened on my face for a fleeting second.
My heart stopped beating.
Then he smiled.
And it somehow made everything worse.
“You’re smart. It makes all this so much easier.”
The champagne gave me false courage. “Did you know who I was before we bumped into each other today?”
“Yes.”
I blinked. I couldn’t say for certain what answer I expected, but stark honesty didn't make the list.
Even as I said it, another thought pierced my chest.
Sebastian was Italian.
What if he knew who my father was?
I used my mother’s name, Badalamenti, but hadn’t Sebastian just told me that money could buy him anything? Had he somehow learned I was Judge Delluci’s illegitimate daughter?
What if my father sent him?
I'd brushed her off, tired of her constant overprotective smothering. I wanted a life and a career. I couldn’t let my mother’s irrational fears rule my life any longer.
What if I’d just signed my own death warrant?
I pushed against his chest, but he didn’t budge. “Are you working with my father? Are you stalking me?”
“No, piccolo. I don’t stalk. I came to Paris to find you.”
Find me?
There it was again.
The one word that kept repeating over and over in my head almost since the moment I met him.
Run.
I struggled to free myself, clawing at his coat. “Please, don’t hurt me.”
With his hand wrapped around my throat, I barely heard his response over my panic. “That will depend on you.”
His mouth claimed mine.
My struggles only seemed to fuel him as he pressed his body more firmly against mine.
I should’ve screamed.
Instead, I kissed him back.
When I fought to keep my lips closed, he squeezed my throat until I opened them on a gasp.
His tongue pushed inside.
He wasn’t kissing me. He was consuming me.
His head slanted to deepen the kiss, his dominance overwhelming.
The press of his arousal against my stomach scorched away any remaining thoughts of resistance.
It was as if I were drowning. Submerged in silent weightlessness, yet still facing the threat of death.
I clenched fistfuls of fabric as I fought to stay above the water.
I lost the battle.
Did anyone ever go to war with Sebastian Diamanti and win?
It intoxicated me to be forced to submit to his embrace. Men my age were so hesitant to offend. So polite.
But Sebastian appealed to a dark, hidden desire inside of me.
A desire I didn’t dare express. One that yearned for a man to have the confidence, the experience, the arrogance, to force me against a wall and just take what he wanted. A man who was so overcome with the need to kiss me, he couldn’t fathom waiting another moment, not even to ask for consent.
He deepened the kiss.
My heartbeat tripped, then pounded faster, drowning everything else out.
The problem was—reality and fantasy were two very different things.
There was a reason men like that needed to stay between the pages of books. Because in real life, there were real consequences for letting a man become unleashed.
I shoved him back, fighting for breath.
My head swam as each glass of champagne I’d drunk seemed to hit my bloodstream all at once. The world spun and flipped.
Sebastian clasped my face with both hands.
His mouth moved, but the words sounded muffled, lost underwater.
His name rang in my ears. That’s when I let go.
And the Eiffel Tower in the distance tilted…and tilted…
He caught me before I hit the ground.
His mouth formed a word—a curse or my name, I couldn’t tell.
My body went limp as darkness swallowed me whole.