Chapter 9
“Who would send someone after you?”
“I d-don’t know. I only know what he said. And that was that he wanted to have a little fun with me before he had to take me back to his boss. He started undoing his pants and I just freaked out. I c-couldn’t let him…”
“You did so good, Sprinkles. So good.” Sebastian was back on the floor, sitting next to Emma, who still refused to move to his couch. He couldn’t stop himself from pulling her into his side, needing to hold her to remind himself that she was going to be alright. He waited for her to fight the possessive move, but when she settled herself deeper into his chest, his heart clenched tightly. Damn, the beautiful brunette baker had already stolen his heart.
The elevator chimed and the doctor Sebastian had contacted walked out.
“Hi there, I’m Dr. Jacob Rahni.” He extended his hand out to Sebastian, who returned the gesture.
“Jake? What are you doing here?” Emma didn’t open her eyes, but clearly she already knew the doctor.
“Hey, Em. I saw John out front and he filled me in on what happened. You feeling okay?”
The doctor took one look at Emma and turned to stone, and Sebastian could see he was equally as angry about the whole situation. He placed his hand on her ankle, and Seb saw him squeeze down gently, as if trying to provide her with emotional support.
What was their history together? They were clearly friends, but had they ever been more? The possessive caveman in Sebastian’s chest was making him want to ask right then and there, to kiss Emma in front of the doctor so he knew she was his, but Seb knew it wasn’t the right time. So instead, he made a mental note to ask Jackson about it the next time they were together.
“Aside from having my leg cut open by a guy who attacked me in my apartment, yeah, I’m okay.” Seb tightened his hold on her. “But I’m a little confused why you’re here and we aren’t at the ER to see you. The EMTs said I needed to go in to get stitched up.”
“It’s technically my first day of my own traveling practice. You’re officially my first patient, Emma, although under the circumstances I guess I wish that weren’t the case.” He bent down and began removing the bandage the EMTs had tied around Emma’s leg.
“I didn’t know you were leaving the hospital.”
“Yeah, I kept it all hush-hush until the paperwork went through. I loved being in the emergency room, but I know I can better serve our community this way. Too many people refusing to see a doctor because of the time it takes to travel in to Bell Ridge. This way, I can make house calls and see people where they are most comfortable.”
“I would have gone in to get the stitches, Seb. You didn’t need to get Jake out of bed.”
“It’s a service he offers, Sprinkles. I’m going to use it when someone I care about is hurt.” He watched her whole body go still, even her chest stopped moving as if she was holding her breath.
“Em? You okay?” Jake asked.
“Yep. Can we start sewing me up so I can maybe open my eyes without feeling like I’m going to hurl all over the place?”
He raised a questioning eyebrow at Seb, but continued to talk to Emma.
“Tell me about your injuries. Did you get knocked on the head?”
“Yeah, the jerk slammed my head into the wall, but that’s not why I’m queasy. I can’t stand the sight of blood.”
“Okay, well, we need to get your leg taken care of and then I’ll need to run a concussion evaluation on you. We might end up taking a trip to the ER anyways.”
“I’m totally going to be a big wimp and keep my eyes closed while you stitch me up, which is a real shame because you are the most handsome doc in all of Clarence County,” she sucked in a large breath. “I’m ready whenever you are.”
“Ahhh, now there’s the Emma I know and love,” Jake laughed. “It would be easier if you were up off the floor, unless you’re still woozy, then I don’t want you trying to move.” Turning to Sebastian, he asked, “Is there a bed you could carry her to so I can properly suture her leg while she’s more comfortable?”
“Of course,” he responded at the same time Emma tried to sit up.
“No, that’s okay, Jake. I’m okay.”
“Sprinkles.” Sebastian couldn’t hold in the growl as he scooped her up into his arms and marched towards his bedroom. Yes, there were two guest rooms available in his apartment, but there was no way he was taking her into one of those rooms. “You can follow me,” he called over his shoulder to Jake.
* * *
“Here.” Sebastian walked out of his closet. “Let’s get you out of that dress and into something more comfortable.”
“I can just change back at my place.” Clearly that wasn’t what he wanted to hear. The scowl he gave Emma brought a flush to her cheeks.
“When did you get that tattoo?” he asked as he turned back towards the closet, catching her completely off guard.
“When did you see my tattoo?” Her hand went to the back of her neck, where the small crescent moon lived.
“When I held your hair up off your neck in the alley earlier.”
Of course he would have seen it then. Her heart ached, and she rubbed her hand over her chest trying to ease the physical pain that followed her memories. She wore her hair down for a lot of reasons, but the main one was to always cover up her biggest secret. The thing that threatened to crush her into a thousand tiny pieces of ash that would never be able to be reassembled.
“It’s nothing. Weren’t you ever young and impulsive?”
“Of course I was. But just in a different way, I guess.”
“Don’t tell me there are some little Sebastian’s running around in the world.”
“No way.” His eyes went big and she had to stifle a laugh. “I didn’t mean it like that. I was thinking about how impulsive I was signing up for the Navy.”
“I wish I could see pictures of you from then.”
“No you don’t,” he laughed. “I was scrawny and awkward. You wouldn’t even recognize me.”
“I find it hard to believe Mr. Big Muscles And Tight Suits was ever scrawny.”
“Yeah, well, the Navy changed me in more ways than one,” he said, sitting on the edge of the bed by her feet.
Her dress was already torn and ripped, but she couldn’t help the gasp that left her lungs as Sebastian grabbed the hem and ripped the fabric apart.
“Seb! Stop! That could have been fixed! I can’t even imagine what this dress cost.”
“Would you ever want to wear it again, Em? Because all the good memories I have from earlier tonight of you wearing it for me are overshadowed by the fear in your eyes that swallowed me whole as you slammed into my chest in the alley.”
She chewed on her bottom lip. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”
“Lift your arms. I’ll put the shirt over you and then we can take the dress away. I’ll have Natalie dispose of it in the morning.”
“No.” His eyebrows raised in surprise as Emma allowed him to bring the shirt down over her body. “I just mean, you don’t have to have Natalie take care of it. Put it over by my purse. The sheriff’s department might want it for evidence.”
“You’re right,” he nodded in agreement. Lord, she was absolutely exhausted. The softness of the shirt, mixed with how much it smelled like Sebastian, called her to snuggle down in his bed and give in to sleep, but there was something nagging at her. Something she knew she needed to share with Sebastian.
“I’ve been thinking about who could be behind this.” Emma was leaning against the headboard, her arms wrapped tightly around her body. Sebastian grabbed a pillow and propped her freshly stitched and bandaged leg up on it. The cut was throbbing, but Jake had written her a prescription for pain meds and an antibiotic that Seb was having filled that very minute. Where he’d found a pharmacist to get the medication to him at this late hour, she didn’t even want to know.
“Who?” Sebastian’s gray eyes pierced straight through her stomach and she swallowed roughly, knowing all she was about to share with him. “You don’t think it was that creep who wouldn’t take no for an answer at the auction, do you?”
“Alan? God, no. I mean, he might be persistent, and not able to take a hint, but I don’t think he would hire someone to kidnap me from my apartment because I didn’t agree to go out with him.”
“Well, I told John to check him out. I don’t like how he was acting at the auction. It’ll be good just to know where he was tonight.” Seb sighed, running his hand over his face. “So if not the town creep, who?”
Should she say it? Something about the night finally broke the wall that was holding all her secrets safely in her own mind. Surely just saying this one thing wouldn’t cause everything to unravel.
“My step-father. I haven’t seen him since I was eighteen.”
“You have a step-father?” Sebastian’s eyebrows drew together and she didn’t understand the confusion that was written across his features. “What happened to your life as a Gilbert girl?”
“Oh my god, Seb. Gilmore girl. My life as a Gilmore girl.” She smiled, unable to stop the laugh that bubbled up in her chest.
“I guess I only gave you half the story earlier. I’m not used to sharing about that part of my life.” Emma sighed and wrapped her arms around her stomach. “My biological father was a deadbeat. Left my mom when she was six months pregnant with me. Never met him and I honestly know nothing about the man. It was always just me and my mom until I was fourteen. Those were our Gilmore Girl years. But then, my mom introduced me to this guy she’d been seeing for a while. I had no idea.”
“Why do you think it could have been him?”
“I didn’t know it at the time, but he was involved in some shady things. My mom’s treatments were expensive. I should have questioned where he got the money from, but I was so naive, completely wrapped up in my own teenage drama.”
“Did you not have a good relationship?”
“My mom was my everything. She loved him, and he loved her, but I was sort of the packaged deal. He was decent, at least until she died. I was in my last year of school, so we kept living together because I had no other family, but things got uncomfortable.”
“How, Emma?” Seb growled.
“He would drink. A lot. And he got physical when he drank.”
“Physical?”
“He’d hit me. But the last time, before I…left….he tried to…” God, she didn’t want to think about that night. She’d been up late trying to study for a test in her chemistry class, when he’d stumbled home black-out drunk. No matter how many times she’d screamed at him to get out of her room, he just wouldn’t listen. He’d even said he just wanted one night with her in order to remember her mother. What sort of sick man thinks like that? She was able to lock herself in the bathroom for the night, but a knock came at the front door a few hours later and her whole life changed in that instant.
“I want his name, Emma. And where he lived the last time you saw him.”
“I’m probably wrong, Seb. I’ve been able to hide from him for years. There’s no reason why he’d know I’m here. I just keep getting the feeling someone is watching me, and I haven’t been able to shake it.”
“I still want his name, Sprinkles. There’s no way I’m not going to pay him a visit after what you just told me.”
They sat in a heavy silence for several seconds before she finally had the courage to speak.
“Lawrence Wilson,” she whispered. “God, I haven’t said his name in years. I feel like I just unleashed a shadow monster back into my life.”
“You don’t have to worry for a second, Em. I’m going to figure out if he’s been here, and if he has, we’ll make sure he never comes back.”
She rested her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes and taking in a deep breath.
“Thank you, Sebastian. I’m sorry to have taken up so much of your night. Or I guess, morning now? I’m going to head back to my place. I swear I can hardly keep my eyes open.”
“Why do you have to be so stubborn?” He ran his fingers through her hair, tucking a few strands behind her ear before lifting her chin with his thumb.
“I thought you liked that about me?” she teased, eyes still shut and a slight slur to her words.
“There is so much I like about you, Emma, if I started listing all the things, you’d never get the rest you need. You’re apartment is a crime scene, and I doubt they are ready to release it back to you right now. So just lie back and keep your eyes closed. You’ll just have to stay here and we can figure things out later today.”
“Y-you want me to stay here? In your bed?” The thought of him holding her, snuggled all safe and warm against his chest, sent her heart into overdrive. Not that she would ever admit that to him, but she didn’t think she would protest too much if he tried.
“Yes. I won’t be able to sleep if I don’t know you’re safe. And I want to make sure I’m around if you need anything.”
“But where are you going to sleep?” Her eyes popped open and searched his.
“I think you know where I’d like to sleep, but if you aren’t okay with that, I’ll take one of the guest beds.”
“You’d do that for me?”
“Of course I would, Sprinkles. I think you’d be surprised with how much I’d do for you.”
“You can sleep in here,” she whispered. “But we will have to build a pillow wall between us. I’m not a one-date-and-sleep-together kind of girl.”
“Noted,” he laughed. Sebastian helped her get comfortable in bed, even fluffing the pillows behind her head. It was simultaneously sweet and ridiculous, but left her with butterflies fluttering around in her belly nonetheless.
Emma watched as he walked over to his closet and began to change. He was still in his suit from the fundraiser, well the bottom half anyway. He must have been in the process of changing when she called, panicked in the alley.
She couldn’t help but smile at the mismatched look he was sporting with the Navy shirt he had pulled on when they’d gotten into his apartment. It was the first time she’d seen him in anything other than a suit, and she drooled at the sight of his muscles pulling the fabric of his casual shirt tight across his chest and arms.
“You’re going to get undressed right there?”
“Enjoying the view?”
“That’s not why I was asking.” She licked her lips as her eyelids drooped.
“Go to sleep, Sprinkles,” he laughed again. “I’ll be there in a few minutes, but you should try to rest now.”
She closed her eyes, but before the exhaustion could pull her under, she felt the mattress shift, and strong arms wrapped around her, shifting her until she was against his chest.
Emma had never felt safer.