9. Sebastian
Sebastian
“Isaid no.”
“And I wasn’t really asking you for permission.” Joe narrows her eyes at me across the table.
“Do you want me to come, Joe? I can get on the next flight out and be there by this afternoon?”
“I can come too,” a deep voice, who I now know as Lawson, says in the background.
“You guys, it’s fine. You don’t need to come out here,” she says softly into the speakerphone. “I promise I can handle this, and I have these guys.”
“They should have never even let Dad near you in the first place,” Jasper snarls.
Joe decided she wanted to call Jasper this morning and tell him what happened before he saw the five of us plastered all over the news. It’s safe to say he’s beyond unimpressed with our inability to keep her out of harm’s way.
And I think it’s even safer to say that the four of us are equally, if not more so.
“Because they did such a good job of keeping you from him in the first place,” Jasper snarls.
Joe sighs. “Jas, he would have found me eventually. He’s been trying to get in touch with us for years, neither of us just cared enough to find out why.”
“And we still don’t,” he clarifies.
“Which is why I’m going to go talk to him.”
I tightly grip the handle of my coffee cup. “Josephine. No.”
“I’m not asking, Seb. I’m going down there to talk to him. Alone. You guys can watch through the glass and be right there the whole time in case I need you, but I need to do this by myself.”
I lean forward on the table and level with her.
I can feel Luca’s eyes on me, Dante’s on Joe’s while Enzo reaches his hand out to intertwine with hers.
It was only a short time ago when the mere thought of reading a letter from this man sent Joe into a panic.
But as I search her eyes, I see clearly that something has changed.
I watched it happen in the back seat of that car.
She’s only afraid of the memories of him.
She’s afraid of all of the terrible things he’s done to her and her family.
She’s no longer afraid of the man who stands before her.
I know that I have to let her be the fiercely strong woman we all know she is.
The silence stretches on for another moment before Jasper’s voice rings through the speakerphone.
“Listen. guys, I know better than anyone who the man is sitting in that room. I also know better than anyone how little of a chance you have at winning this argument with my sister aside from chaining her to a bed.”
I raise my finger in the air. “Actually—”
“Don’t.” She points hers right back at me.
Another pause. “Okaaaay. I’m going to pretend like I don’t know what is going on with the four of you and my sister.
” Jasper’s voice sounds beyond uncomfortable, and Josephine’s face morphs from stern to mortified in a split second.
“But it’s clear that the four of you care for her deeply.
So I’m trusting you to have her back on this.
And despite everything that happened yesterday, I’m trusting you to keep her safe.
I don’t know exactly what the four of you are into, because it’s clear you’re more than a couple of businessmen, a security guard, and a computer genius.
” Luca, Enzo, Dante, and I all share a quick look, and Jasper snorts a humorless laugh.
“Yeah, I know how to do my own research. Anyway, I don’t know exactly what it is you do outside of office hours, but I do know that Joe isn’t an idiot, she wouldn’t trust you if she felt she wasn’t safe.
But know this”—suddenly Jasper’s voice drops, and I can only imagine the glare he’s giving the phone, likely resembling the one his sister has been trying to give me—“if anything else happens to her, I will hold each of you responsible. She’s the only family I have left. ”
“Hey,” Lawson interjects.
“You know what I mean,” Jasper clarifies. “Am I clear?”
Even though the five of us, Joe included, are abundantly aware that Jasper is no match for us, our training, or our skills, we understand the point he is trying to make, nor do we want to deny what he’s asking of us any more than he does. We all share a look before we answer in unison, “Clear.”
Josephine smiles softly.
“And Joe Joe?”
“Yeah, Jas?
“You don’t go down there without one of them on the other side of that door. Promise me?”
Joe pauses for a moment, and I can feel the ache in my teeth as I clench my jaw. The thought of her in that man’s hands, the thought of him having the opportunity to hurt her again, has my blood boiling.
“Promise me, Joe?” Jasper snaps.
“I promise,” Joe finally answers, but there’s something about the look on her face that isn’t sitting right with me.
“Call me when you’re done, okay?”
“I will. I love you, Jas.”
“I love you too, Joe.”
The line goes silent, and she looks at each of us as we sit around the table, barely touched plates of breakfast in front of each of us.
“You sure this is how you want to handle this, Sweetheart?” Enzo asks gently.
“Yes,” she answers without any hesitation. “If he wants to keep trying to destroy my life, the least he can do is look me in the eyes as he does it.”
For a moment, I let my eyes wander to Luca.
It’s extremely rare that I’m the one exhibiting this kind of behavior and for him to remain calm.
But it’s almost like he can sense how on edge I feel, just like I sensed it in him the day Enzo and Joe were cornered in the cafe.
However, his meltdown was far less subtle than I’m hoping to be right now.
Somehow, the two of us have always known what the other needs without us having to express it.
Yet, when I look at Joe looking at me, I can tell I’m being far more transparent than intended.
Sighing, I push my plate to the side and stretch my arms across the table, turning my palms up toward her, waiting for her to grab them.
Letting go of Enzo’s hand she places both of hers in mine.
I brush the pads of my thumbs across the small scrapes on her knuckles and confess, “I just don’t want to be responsible for him hurting you again. ”
“None of what happened was your fault. It wasn’t any of yours,” she clarifies as she quickly looks toward the rest of the guys, before meeting my stare again.
“You are the reason we’re still alive. Without you, we would be dead in the middle of Seventh Street.
You saved me. And you”—she looks at them all again—“saved us. We are not responsible for the actions of my father or the Bratva, but we sure as hell are going to find out exactly what is going on here. I just need you all to trust me. Trust that I can handle this.”
“We will be outside that room the entire time. One word and I’m busting through the door, Joe,” Dante’s deep voice commands.
“I know you will, Big Guy.” She winks at him before looking at Luca. “You’ve been uncharacteristically unopinionated. You’re okay with this?”
Luca exhales an exhausted breath, and just as he’s about to speak, Enzo interjects, “He’s probably still in a post-sex coma.
” Luca and Joe share a look, and Dante, Enzo, and I all smirk.
“Please,” he clarifies, “You thought the three of us wouldn’t notice the minute you left the room after everything that happened yesterday? ”
Joe laughs softly and rolls her eyes before refocusing her attention on Luca and raising a brow. “I think you’ve more than proved you can handle yourself when it comes to your dad. But just know, that’s where the solo flying begins and ends, Josephine.”
“Yes, sir.” Her soft smile lingers as she looks from Luca back to me.
I give her hands a gentle squeeze. “I love you, Joe.”
None of the guys outwardly acknowledge the four words that just left my mouth, nor do they know that this isn’t the first time I’ve said this to her. But I’m not going to clarify that fact, nor am I going to be shy about saying it just because they haven’t. No more wasting time.
“I love you, Sebastian.”
And even though none of them have said it to her, as far as I’m aware, as the silence in the room lingers, you can feel it coming from every single person. Love for one another that someone would be happy to stumble upon once in this lifetime, let alone four times over.
Love for our family.
The sound of Enzo’s fork hitting his plate cuts through the silence. And after he shovels a pile of his breakfast into his mouth, he mumbles, “So I guess none of us are going to work today? Who wants to be the one to call Clara?”
It only takes a split second for each of us to shout, “Not it!”