40. CHAPTER 40
SEBASTIAN
I picked up my phone and keys, pushing them into my tracksuit trouser pockets. I looked up as Hayden entered the living room, hands in his pockets. Jane must have let him in.
“Airing my calls now?” he said.
“No, It’s not like that. I’ve been busy with Aria.” For once, I could see a future for myself filled with happiness, and I was excited for everything we had to come. I wanted to give her the world. “What’s up?”
“We need to talk,” he said.
I nodded and settled on the sofa as he sat in the chair opposite, leaning forward. He didn’t seem his usual relaxed self, his body tense. I waited for him to speak, but the silence seemed to grow more intense the longer it stretched on.
“It’s Nicholas.” His voice was low.
Nicholas?
“I don’t want to know, Hayden, because if I do, you may not be able to stop me this time.” I tried to keep my voice calm, but I could feel the anger in it.
The last time Hayden had come to me about Nicholas was when he was trying to throw his weight around the organisation. That’s how we ended up fighting it out between us, and if it wasn’t for Hayden that night, I would have killed him.
“Everyone’s meeting in a few days about him. They asked for you to be there,” he told me.
I wasn’t part of that world anymore, yet they still tried to involve me in some way or another. In some ways, I wanted to be there still, away from this corporate world of dishonesty, back to the people who knew loyalty, the people I called brothers.
Aria’s face ran through my mind.
How would she react to it all? Would she understand? Would she want to be with me, knowing everything?
I’d left her once because of it all; I wasn’t about to give up everything I had found with her to go back into that world.
“You don’t need me there.” I ran my hand through my hair and stood up.
He nodded, his face showing every sign of him not being happy with my decision, but I didn’t care. He made his way out.
I glanced at the photo on the mantel, my granddad staring back at me.