Till Forever Falls Apart (Till Forever #2)

Prologue

Sebastian

Four Months Ago

“How long are you going to be?” Aria asked, looking up at me.

I shouldn’t be leaving her. Not after everything she’d just been through with Jason.

But I had a lead on one of his men.

And I’d vowed to make every one of them bleed for what they did to her.

“Not long. I promise.”

I pulled her into my chest, kissing the top of her head, and she wrapped her arms tightly around my waist. It was as if she thought that if it was tight enough, I wouldn’t be able to leave.

Acid swirled in my stomach.

I had to.

I couldn’t allow any of them to get away with it.

I tilted her head to meet her eyes. Those little moon-like eyes of hers were still dark. They’d lost their sparkle.

“Serfina is downstairs, but you don’t have to go down if you don’t want to. You can stay in the bedroom.”

She slowly pulled away, nodding, and climbed back under the covers.

My heart fucking ached, seeing her like this; it was like someone was stomping on it over and over.

Slowly, I made my way out of the room and gently closed the door, ensuring I didn’t make a sound. I didn’t want to scare her.

As I reached downstairs, I stood in the living room doorway, where Serfina was sitting on the sofa.

“How is she?” she asked.

“Broken, and I don’t know how to fix her.”

She got up and made her way over, hugging me. “She’ll get through this. She’s got all of us.”

“Take care of her for me.”

“Always.”

I gave her a half-smile before walking to the front door and leaving the house. It was raining, so I dashed for the car, slid into the driver’s seat, and ran my hand through my wet hair to pull it back from my face.

Something cold pressed against my temple.

I froze, the familiar metallic scent faintly hitting my nose, and flicked my eyes to the mirror to meet the stare of a man I never wanted to see again.

“I wouldn’t start the engine just yet,” Callum said.

“You’ve got some fucking balls to come here and put a gun to me outside my own house,” I hissed. “What the fuck do you want?”

“I needed to make sure Aria was ok. I owed her that much.”

I snorted, letting out a small laugh. “How the fuck do you think she is after what your brother did to her?” I turned to face him. “What he did to her for four years?”

Rage burned, mixing with the acid in my stomach. Fucking Callum Brown thought he could come to London and threaten me?

“I did what I could for her, and she knows that.”

“He hit her, bruised her, scarred her for life, and you ‘did all you could’? You’re clearly not all there. If that were my brother, he wouldn’t have had a chance to lay a finger on her. I would have killed him myself.”

“Let’s not forget the reason she ended up with Jason in the first place. Didn’t you abandon her? If anyone’s to blame, it’s you,” he taunted.

Fog raged through my mind as I lunged, trying to grab him, but he pulled the slide of the Glock—a warning that he had no issues pulling the trigger here and now.

I wanted more than anything to fuck him up, but Aria ran through my mind.

She needed me, and there was no way I’d leave this earth without her.

“I didn’t come here to start a war, but I will if that’s what it takes. I just needed to know Aria was safe.”

I clenched my jaw, those flames deep inside trying to ignite, but I had to stop them before I lost control.

“The only reason she’s safe is because she’s with me, and I’ll do everything in my power to keep it that way.”

He tilted his head, his eyes roaming over me like he’d got his answer, then his lips parted. He hesitated before he spoke.

“Was it you?”

“Was it me what?”

“Was it you who killed my brother?”

I narrowed my eyes. There was no way I’d ever tell him it was Aria. I’d protect her in this life and the next. No one, not even Callum, would ever find out.

“Yes. Now, get the fuck out of my car. If I ever see you in London again, I’ll kill you.”