Chapter 60 Sebastian
SEBASTIAN
I don’t slow down until the gravel crunches under my tires.
I kill the engine short of the building and sit there for half a second, listening. Observing. Letting instinct overtake logic.
There are no lights outside. No movement or screaming, either.
I get out of the car and grab the knife, keeping it low as I move along the side of the structure. It’s a temporary rental with old siding. A place that blends in. Exactly the kind of place a man like Silas would choose. Ordinary enough to disappear.
My jaw tightens.
I test the door and find it unlocked.
I push it open and step inside, my heart hammering.
The smell hits me first—dust, oil, and something metallic underneath it. My mouth is dry as I scan the room—
And there she is.
Ivy is tied to a chair, a gag in her mouth. She squirms, eyes terrified and pleading.
My blood goes cold, then violent in the space of a breath.
“Ivy,” I say quietly, every muscle coiled tight.
I take two steps inside—and the door slams shut behind me.
The sound is explosive in the enclosed space.
I spin, but I’m too slow.
Pain detonates across my shoulder as something heavy connects. My bone rattles, nerves screaming. The knife slips out of my hand and skitters across the floor, just out of reach. I grunt and stagger, barely staying on my feet.
Silas stands near the door, breathing hard, eyes wild and shining.
“I knew you were coming,” he says, almost reverent. “I could tell from her eyes.” He smirks at me. “Hope is a fragile thing.”
I straighten slowly, ignoring the way my arm burns. “You’re done,” I tell him. “You know that, right?”
He laughs. A sharp, fractured sound. “Men like you think showing up means winning.”
Before I can say a word or move, he lunges.
I barely manage to block him. The impact rattles my bones, knocks the air from my lungs. We crash onto the floor.
He’s stronger than I expect. Desperate always is.
We struggle, breath to breath now, forearms locked together. He snarls, shoving my head against the floor. My vision dims, and I see stars.
His eyes flick toward Ivy. “You’re too late,” he says. “She chose me.”
Something cold slides into my chest.
I forget about the pain. The fogginess in my head.
“No,” I grit out through clenched teeth. “She’d never choose you over me.”
I hear the rattle of the chair legs behind me and her muffled voice through the gag. “Sebastian… help.”
“Ivy,” I breathe, turning my head to the chair. Tears streak down her pale face, but there’s a light in her green eyes.
She’s hurt, but she’s still fighting.
Silas uses the distraction to attack. Pain explodes in my side as he drives a fist into my ribs.
Ivy scrapes the chair closer. The sound mixes with our heavy breaths and my howl of pain.
Silas gets up, breathing hard, eyes never leaving hers. “You did this,” he tells her. “You made him come.”
My vision blurs at the edges as I roll to my side. I breathe through it as I get to my feet. “Let her go,” I say, voice rough from pain. “This ends with me.”
He turns on me, fury twisting his face. “No,” he snarls. “This ends with her understanding that she belongs with me.”
He grabs the chair she’s sitting on and shoves it hard. It slides across the floor, wobbles, and then she goes down.
The sound she makes—half pain, half fury—rips something primal out of me.
I move without thinking.
The next moments are chaos.
Silas and I crash together again, fists flying, bodies colliding, and blood spattering. He’s fighting like a man with nothing left, and for a terrifying second, I realize I may not win.
My knees buckle.
The world tilts.
I hit the floor hard.
Silas looms over me, chest heaving, something feral in his eyes. “You should’ve stayed away,” he says, raising his fist. “At least she’ll see me end your pathetic existence.”
Fuck, Ivy. I’m sorry.
Regret hits deep. I failed her. Just like I failed my father.
I brace for the hit... but it doesn’t come.
Instead, a sharp crack splits the air.
Silas freezes.
For a heartbeat, none of us moves.
Then a dark bloom spreads across his shoulder, and his face slackens from shock.
He stumbles back, confused, reaching for something that isn’t there.
Another voice cuts through the space. “You okay, Sebastian?”
Drew.
Silas collapses before I can respond, hitting the floor hard.
I glance at the gun in his hands. The one I keep in my office. The one Drew begged me not to buy because of what happened… But I did it anyway.
Ivy moans through the gag. I scramble to my feet, adrenaline ripping through me as I rush to her.
“Baby,” I drop to my knees, hands shaking as I tear at the gag. “I’m here. I’ve got you.”
Once I get the gag free, she wraps her arms around me, body quaking. “Took you long enough.”
Relief crashes through me so hard I almost laugh.
Drew kneels beside me, and we push the chair upright, then work on the restraints.
The second she’s free, I pull her into my arms, crushing her against me. She clings to me, sobbing and trembling.
We stay like that for a few beats before I pull back and press my forehead to hers. “I’m sorry,” I whisper. “I should’ve been faster.”
She grips my shirt with shaking fingers. “You came,” she says. “That’s what matters.”
Sirens wail in the distance.
Drew meets my eyes. “I called them.”
I lift my head. “How did you figure it out?”
He shrugs, a small smile curving his lips. “I thought, ‘What would Sebastian do?’ Turns out, I can think like you.”
We chuckle for a moment before I turn my attention back to Ivy. I kiss her temple, my hands still trembling. “You scared me,” I admit.
She huffs weakly. “Good.” Her eyes lock on mine. “Maybe you’ll finally realize what I mean to you.”
“Trust me, I do.” I push her hair away from her face. “I learned the night you slept in the spare bedroom.”
I almost lost her. And that will haunt me for the rest of my life.
Drew looks at me, his face pale. “You guys okay?” He gives me a sad smile. “I should’ve already asked.”
I look at him. He’s shaking, like he’s in shock. He just shot a man, and it saved our lives.
“It’s okay, little bro.” I give him a small smile. “Yeah. Are you?”
He shrugs, then shakes his head.
I pull Ivy from the chair, holding her against me with one arm. The other clamps onto my brother’s shoulder. “You did what you had to do.”
“You saved us, Drew,” Ivy says, her voice cracking.
A small smile slowly blooms on his dazed face. “Yeah. I guess I did.”
I squeeze him against me in a side hug. When I release him, I pull Ivy tighter, cherishing that we’re okay. For the most part.
All that matters is we’re alive.