Chapter 13 #2
Ava turns onto the main road heading out of Eternity Springs.
“I don’t think this is a lie. For it to be a lie, you’d have to have asked him if he was behind the order, and he’d said no.
Omission, yes. But it’s with your happiness in mind.
He’s trying to support you any way that he can.
Trace is right behind us. Do you want me to lose him? ”
I swivel around to look at Trace, ten yards behind us. “You can lose him?”
“Oh, easily,” she laughs. “You don’t get carsick, do you?”
“Uh, no? Wow!” I shout as Ava hits the gas and we take off. Trace is momentarily shocked, and it takes a moment for his big truck to pop into gear before he tears after us. Ava whips into a neighborhood, tires squealing as she shouts with glee.
I grab the door handle and the seatbelt, close my eyes, and pray for survival.
“Dang! I thought he was a goner that time,” Ava says. I peek my left eye open to see her frowning at her rearview mirror, while we’re still traveling top speed down a residential street.
“Ava, focus,” I finally hiss.
“Oh. Sorry. Let me think. What road should I take? Oh, I got it!” Tires squealing again as we whip back onto the main road. I hear her put her window down.
“What are you doing?”
“Shh. Listening.”
“For what?”
“Isabella, be quiet!”
I sit silently, eyes tightly closed, until Ava says, “Yes! There we go!”
“What?”
“I heard a train. Sounds like it’s coming across the Aspen View Trail crossing, which means it’ll be to the Oakwood Lane crossing in about two minutes. And if I time it perfectly --”
“We can lose him because of the crossing signals,” I finish. “That might work. Unless he barrels through anyway. Can he fit between the crossing poles?”
“Doubtful. Plus that crossing is only two lanes, whereas the other crossings are four. More space to work with.” More tires squeal as we turn onto Oakwood Lane. She speeds up as we approach, and I hear a train horn signaling its approach .
“There are the lights,” I tell her, turning around to see Trace a football field length behind us. “We should be good.”
“Better safe than sorry. Hold on!” Ava shouts as she pushes the gas pedal again, crossing the tracks right as the poles come down. We both scream as the car goes completely airborne, slamming down on the other side with a rattle. “Shit. Hope that didn’t hurt Darla too much.”
“Darla?”
She smiles sweetly, like we didn’t just break multiple city and county laws. “My car. Her name is Darla. She’s perfect.”
“Okay,” I murmur, suddenly a little wary of Ava.
“So you wanna give me directions to Sebastian’s place? I just know he lives outside of town,” Ava says.
“No. I think I’m going to stay at my apartment tonight. I’m not ready to confront Sebastian. A night away will help clear my mind. I should probably move back anyway. No reason to still be at his house if my apartment is good as new.”
“I thought you were there because of the scary guys your ex-boyfriend was associated with,” Ava says with a worried look. “You should keep staying with him, Isabella. That’s more important than some stupid fight about a bakery order.”
I don’t answer her. It’s dumb. I know it is.
But I feel like every man I’ve ever cared for has lied to me about one thing or another.
Yes, a bakery order seems trivial. But it always starts small like this.
Then he’ll lie about who he met for lunch, or what that text message is about that he just deleted.
Then he’ll come home late from something.
And suddenly, I’ll find him in bed with another woman.
Even angrier now, I look down as my phone rings. Sebastian. I decline the call, and it immediately rings again. Fucking Trace, the damn tattletale. Five texts come through simultaneously, letting me know Sebastian is furious. Great.
I decide to power down my phone. Juvenile? Yeah, a little. But I need a break from all these men deciding my life for me. Lord knows as soon as my brothers hear about this, they’ll be full of opinions as well.
Sighing, I resign myself to the fact that I’m probably never going to fully trust another man, and will end up a spinster with eighty-seven cats.
My apartment looks different.
It doesn’t look like me anymore, and I don’t know how to process that.
Every other day, more of my things have appeared at Sebastian’s house, leading me to believe the man is slowly moving me into his home. Like a covert operation, where he thinks I wouldn’t notice.
My stand mixer sits on his counter.
My throw pillows dot his couches.
My family pictures are randomly placed throughout the space.
How would I miss all of that?
But even if all those things were here, it still doesn’t feel like home.
In only a few short weeks, Sebastian feels more like home to me than this place ever did.
Sighing as I lock the door, I sit on the couch and pick up the remote. Looks like it’s a perfect opportunity for me to catch up on all the chaos of this season’s Love Island .
As I’m beginning the second episode, I hear the exterior door to the complex open with a loud thwack, and I know. I just know it’s Sebastian. Standing, I look around the apartment, trying to decide if I should hide, barricade the door, or open it and deal with him head-on.
Fuck this. I’m ready for a fight .
I open the door at the same moment he’s sliding a key into the keyhole, and I gape at him. “Why do you have a key to my apartment?”
He glares at me. “Who the fuck do you think cleaned this place up? And keeps bringing your shit home?”
My internal girl — as quiet as she is — screams. He referred to his home as mine, and I actually love that.
“Has it ever occurred to you to ask me before doing things, asshole?”
“Has it ever occurred to you that a lot of what I do is for your fucking safety? And that I will take care of your safety However. The. Fuck. I. Want. Because I’d rather die than have anything happen to you?
Has that ever occurred to you, Isabella?
” His eyes are wild as he slams the door closed and pushes me against the wall.
“You were alone in this apartment for ten fucking minutes — TEN MINUTES — and a dickwad got to you. I’ve never been so scared.
Why don’t you see that? Don’t you see how gone I am for you? ”
He brings his hands to my head, cradling it gently, even though his body vibrates with adrenaline and emotion. Closing his eyes, he rests his forehead against mine, and I grab onto his arms as tears fill my eyes. I feel awful.
“I fell in love with you the first moment I saw you,” he confesses, so quietly I almost don’t hear him.
The words are spoken slowly against my lips, like he hopes the words go directly to my soul.
“I knew you were it for me. I was willing to wait until you were ready. Until you finally saw me as I saw you. Until then, I protected you the only way I could, by ordering from your bakery. I knew you’d never accept it from me directly, so I did it through the MC and had other people pick it up weekly.
Even if you didn’t want me, or my love, I could give you financial peace. ”
“I’m sorry,” I whisper, not sure what else to say. Tears cascade down my cheeks as I study him. Sebastian looks completely heartbroken and miserable. I hate that I did that to him.
“Instead of asking me about it, you take off with your psychotic employee — who, by the way, really should get her license taken away for all the laws she broke today, — almost get hit by a train, and then hide out at your old apartment. Instead of coming to me. Instead of trusting me. Fuck,” he lashes out as he steps away from me.
His hands drop from my face as he stares up at the ceiling. “I can’t keep doing this. I can’t.”
My stomach drops as I take in his words. “Can’t keep doing what?”
“This.” He gestures between us. “You and me. I can’t keep waiting, desperately hoping you’ll finally see me.
That you’ll trust me. You’re never going to see me like I see you.
Hell, you’re never going to see yourself like I see you.
As an exquisite, gorgeous, breathtaking creature who steals the breath straight from my lungs.
I have to stop waiting for you. I have to move on. ”
“No,” I whisper brokenly as he continues backing up, and I reach out blindly to him as tears block my vision. “No. Wait.”
“I can’t wait anymore, Naranja . I can’t.
It’s not fair to me or my daughter. I want a partner.
A family. And if you aren’t willing to give that to me, then I need to move on and try to find someone who will.
” His face is laced with pain as he smiles sadly.
“If you feel you are comfortable moving back here, I’ll have the men transfer your things back, and I’ll keep someone on watch outside your door night and day until we find the bastards that came here. ”
“Sebastian,” I say, sniffling. “No.”
“It’s okay. You can’t help how you feel. Neither can I. Goodbye, mi Amor .” As the door closes behind him, I fall to the floor as sobs wrack my body.
He just gave up on me!
Wait. No. I will not continue blaming others for what I caused .
I pushed him away.
I gave up on him.
This is absolutely my fault.
As soon as the tears stop falling, I head to the bathroom to clean myself up, before making a series of phone calls.
I have a bunch of apologies to make, and a man to save.