Never Gonna Happen - Cynthia Eden Page 0,12

Whistles from Winston were bad.

“Why is Alyssa at your place?”

“Because I wanted her safe.” He looked to the left and saw Isaac pointing at him. Sebastian pointed back with his middle finger. Then he focused on Winston once more. “I have great security at my home. And I left two guards with her. No one will be getting to her tonight.”

“Is that a possibility? You think this wasn’t a random attack? You think someone was specifically targeting Alyssa?”

Tread carefully. “You saw the footage. What did you think?”

Winston rolled his shoulders. Then he gave Sebastian a congenial smile. “I am going to be chief of police here, by the end of the year.”

“I know it. Congrats.” Every paper in the city had been touting Winston. He was on target to be the youngest chief the city had ever seen. Winston and his mom had emigrated from Jamaica when Winston had been little more than a toddler. His mom had busted ass for him, working hard and doing everything she could to give her son an incredible life. Now that he was grown up, Winston’s mission was to make his mother proud.

Sebastian knew he was succeeding at that mission.

“You don’t get to be chief by overlooking important facts,” Winston informed him.

“I would think not.”

“You don’t get to be chief by being a dumbass.”

“Absolutely not.”

“So, my friend, why are you treating me like I’m a dumbass?”

“I—”

“Cut the BS and tell me straight, does this have anything to do with the other work that you and Antony are involved with?”

Immediately, Sebastian glanced around. “I need you to not say that shit in public,” he growled.

“And I need you to answer the question.”

“Dammit, maybe, okay? I need to talk with Antony and figure out more.”

Winston whistled. “Is your maybe actually a yes?”

“It…I got a text from Antony, all right? He said he was in trouble and for me to look out for Alyssa, so that’s what I’m doing. I’m helping a friend. I’m protecting his sister. I’m—”

“Moving Alyssa into your home?” There was a whole world of meaning in those careful words.

“I have her there just for the night. Just long enough for me to figure out what is happening,” he gritted. “Stop trying to make this into something else.”

Winston blinked. “It’s an attempted murder investigation, why would I possibly make it into anything else? Isn’t that more than enough? Or is there something you need to tell me about? You know, something that involves you getting Alyssa into your bed—I mean, your home for the night.”

Sebastian gave him a look of disgust. “If I didn’t like you, I’d hate you right now.”

“Ah, the way Alyssa hates you?”

That was just insulting. “First, she doesn’t hate me. And second, I have got to stop oversharing with you when we have guy night.”

Winston rubbed his chin. “Since when doesn’t she hate you? Because I specifically remember you telling me that Alyssa Kyle hated your guts with a passion.” He jerked his chin toward a still-talking Isaac. “But, a few minutes ago, I had that fellow Isaac over there telling me that you interrupted his date like a jealous lover and you dragged Alyssa away from him.”

Back up. Sebastian’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. Was his buddy playing him? “Thought you said Isaac didn’t mention me.”

“Is that what I said?” Winston seemed to ponder things. “My bad. What I meant was that he told me you stole his date. You know, right before someone tried to shoot Alyssa.”

“Protecting her,” Sebastian enunciated clearly. “Not stealing. Protecting. That’s what I was doing.”

“Right.” A pause. “By any chance, is this part of Operation Get Into Alyssa’s Good Graces?”

He scraped a hand over his face. “You would remember that shit.”

“Well, you went on about it at length one night. You were going to show her what an awesome guy you were. Going to convince her that you could be counted on. That you were—I believe you called it—uh, hero material?”

“Fuck off.”

Winston shook his head. “You can’t tell a detective to fuck off. Might make him mad. Might make him cuff you.”

“I can tell one of my best friends to fuck off when he’s pushing too far. And like I explained to you already, Alyssa doesn’t hate me.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because she told me,” Sebastian replied with way too much satisfaction.

“You know, I always thought Operation Get Into Alyssa’s Good Graces was really just code for Operation Get Into Alyssa’s Pants.”

Sebastian surged forward. “It’s not like that!”

“It had better not be,” Winston said