7. Chapter 7
Sebastian
To say that everything I did was planned was a dramatic understatement.
People were too easy to read and even easier to manipulate.
Every action I took, down to the lies I told, were engineered to make my life the one I deserved.
That’s why I chose to use something so easy to disprove to make Mason temporarily angry at Cameron.
He was a weak man, and I knew he’d be groveling at Mason’s feet the second I left. I also knew Mason’s scare would lead her to want to be completely prepared for Lavender. When those two mentalities mixed, there was only one possible outcome: The two would go shopping.
With them out and Lucian and Sophia not home, I’d have the perfect chance to hide cameras in each of the adult bedrooms and the common areas of the house.
Everyone in this life had secrets they fought to hide, and this surveillance would allow me to unearth everything the people in this house hid.
And, once I had enough blackmail, I’d present it to Mason, and she’d hate them all just like they deserved.
Plus, it’d give me a chance to know how Sophia was so knowledgeable when it came to my job. She didn’t seem smart enough to work for my company, but I knew better than anyone that it was possible to put on a facade that others could more easily swallow.
I first hid the cameras in the bedrooms. It wasn’t hard, seeing as the devices were small enough to be mistaken for a spider in a web, and I could easily slip them onto shelves or under trim.
Once everything was done, I returned to my room and opened my laptop to verify that everything was working.
On my monitor, I could see almost every room in the house with picture-perfect clarity.
Everything was going according to plan, and soon, I’d have what I needed to incinerate everyone’s relationships with Mason.
My heart raced at the idea. I should have focused on ending the case, but right now, that had taken a back seat. I needed Mason like a ship needed an anchor. Without her, I was lost.
For years, she acted like I was invisible. She fawned over my brother and pushed off my advances. But recently, she noticed me. She noticed me, and we were good together.
To go back to a life without her would be like living without sunlight. It was possible, but it wasn’t pleasant. It would be dark and cold, and all I wanted was to be close enough to bask in her glow.
I stared at the monitor as the front door opened.
I clicked on that specific camera to enlarge it. Mason was a few steps ahead of Cameron, but he was hot on her heels. I leaned closer to the screen, hoping to get a better look.
“Mason, you don’t look good. Why don’t you sit down?” Cameron’s voice was grainy due to the low-quality audio.
Could I fix that if I messed with the settings?
“I am okay.” Mason’s accent was always thicker when she was flustered.
I tipped my head to the side as I wondered what Cameron did to her.
He followed after Mason and grabbed her hand. “No, you ain’t; you’re white as a sheet. Just come rest for a few minutes.”
Mason shook her head as she recoiled from him.
“I want Sebastian.” She rushed through her words .
A smirk pulled on my lips. Maybe I did a better job at making her mad at Cameron than I thought.
Once again, Cameron tried to follow her as she started up the steps, and I realized I had maybe a minute to make it look like I wasn’t spying on them.
With that in mind, I shut the laptop and darted toward the kitchen. I was supposed to be working out before this, but I would have had enough time to shower.
With that in mind, I wet my hair in the sink and slicked it back before removing my shirt. In a moment of panic, I tossed it under the sink and grabbed my protein shaker from the cabinet above.
The door to my apartment opened just as I put two scoops of lemonade-flavored protein powder into the plastic base.
Mason stood in the doorway, trying to catch her breath. If someone were to target Mason right now, she’d be helpless. My breathing deepened at the idea. I bet fear would be a good look for her.
My cock tingled at the idea of her, wide-eyed and vulnerable. Her breathing would deepen as her pupils shrunk to pinpricks. I cleared my throat and reminded myself that now wasn’t the time to fuck her.
“…Can I help you?” I offered as I adjusted myself, hoping not to pitch a tent in my sweatpants.
Mason held up a finger as she shut the door behind her. She took another deep breath before groaning.
“I’m never getting pregnant again.”
That wasn’t entirely up to her, but I was fairly certain she was just being dramatic.
“Come sit down, Princess. I’ll get you some water.”
She shook her head, no, and I raised a brow. I didn’t recall asking her a question. When I told her to do something, it was an order.
“We need to talk.” She quipped.
Every muscle in my body tensed. We were finally talking for the first time in weeks, and now she wanted to end things. No… Mason knew better. I told her I loved her, which meant she was never getting rid of me .
“ Like…break up ?” I asked cautiously, still needing to clarify.
Her grasp on English had loosened just a hair as her pregnancy progressed. It wasn’t like she was no longer fluent; she’d just forgotten certain phrases and slang.
“What? No. Why would you think that?” She crossed her arms under her breasts. They pushed against the red flannel, causing the buttons to gap slightly. That’s when it sunk in: Mason was no longer wearing my shirt. But I recognized the pattern.
My jaw clenched as I thought about just how badly I wanted to hurt Cameron.
Mason wasn’t his to dress. It was one thing to help her stay clothed while Mason and I weren’t on speaking terms. This was a whole different level of disrespect.
I took a deep breath as I pushed those thoughts away.
Cameron was a topic for later. Mason was the main priority right now.
“You know what–never mind.” Still, that sentence came off far more irritated than than I intended.
Mason’s eyes widened like she was daring me to do it again.
“Sorry.” I breathed, looking up and raking a hand through my hair.
Her feet softly padded on the floor as she drew near. When I looked back down, Mason was right next to me, her hand resting on the kitchen counter. For the first time in the last two weeks, she was completely relaxed in my presence, allowing me to fully absorb her beauty.
I reached forward and swept a fallen eyelash from her cheek.
Prior to pregnancy, Mason’s face had been thin, and her high cheekbones directly contrasted with how soft the rest of her features were.
I wasn’t sure if it was the fact Mason had put on a fair amount of weight since moving to America or just a side effect of pregnancy itself, but her face had gotten rounder, which made Mason look a hell of a lot younger.
I had yet to determine if that was a good thing or not.
“You seem stressed.” She commented.
I tried to laugh her off, but the sound came out weak and watery. Mason tipped her head as she continued to study me. Her mismatched eyes were always beautiful, but right now, they were unnerving.
“I uh, yeah. Fighting with you has me kind of out of sorts.” I admitted.
Her brow furrowed slightly, “You aren’t stressed about last night?”
“Why would I be?”
Without a beat of hesitation, Mason planted my hand on her stomach.
Oh yeah, that.
“ Modern medicine is amazing,” I assured her. “If Lavender came early, we’d figure it out.”
Mason’s shoulders tensed at our daughter’s name.
I knew she didn’t like Lavender , but the name was important to me, and she knew that.
For a moment, I feared she’d argue with me about it again.
Honestly, if she’d actually wanted to change the name, as long as she talked to me about it, I’d be fine…
maybe. I just wanted to be a part of the process, it helped solidify that Mason wanted me.
After a moment, she nodded. However, her gaze seemed heavy, like Mason couldn’t lift it off the counter.
“I dated Alex for years, but he was a little… different. So having disagreements like this is new.” I tried to explain, but I realized I had never really discussed Alex with her.
Mason had gone through her laundry list of exes and explained how each of them traumatized her in different ways, even if she didn’t call it that.
“How long were you together?”
I tensed a little bit as I scratched my head. I settled for Alex when I was seventeen, and he was almost thirty. He had been nice to me every day I stopped in for coffee, and that wasn’t something I was used to.
Outside of Mason, people had never been nice to me.
I was a man of the law, and I knew my relationship with Alex was borderline illegal.
But, I thought since it wasn’t sexual until I turned eighteen, it was fine.
It wasn’t until I started dating Mason that I realized Alex had groomed me.
The fact that I didn’t recognize his manipulation was mortifying.
“Eh, a few years.” Seemed like the best way to get my point across without telling her I wasn’t an adult when it started.
“And you guys didn’t fight? ”
I pressed my lips into a thin line as I turned away from her. “Not really. He just kind of gave me whatever I wanted, and that was that… can we not talk about this?”
Even now, a slimy feeling crept down my spine when I thought about Alex. He was an attractive man, but appearances didn’t make up for being a predator.
“Of course, I didn’t realize that was a touchy subject.” Mason apologized.
I breathed a sigh of relief as I turned to face her once again. I cocked my hip against the counter as I tried to get comfortable. The faux granite was cold against my bare skin.
“So, what did you need to talk about?” I was hoping she would share details of a fight she and Cameron had and that I could use that to deepen the wedge I was driving between them.