Never Gonna Happen - Cynthia Eden Page 0,13
quietly. “Because the last time I looked, you were business partners with her brother. I don’t think he’d love to find out that you were screwing his sister. Saying this as one of your best friends…maybe having the woman in your home isn’t the best idea. Put guards on her, sure, but send her back to her place. It will be a whole lot safer for you that way.” What could have been real worry deepened Winston’s voice.
The worry caught Sebastian off guard. “Why the sudden concern? Aw, wait, you do care—”
“I don’t want to see you hurt. I don’t want to see Alyssa hurt. The two of you together? That’s a recipe for disaster.”
It doesn’t have to be. She doesn’t hate me. I can keep her safe. I can make this work. “She doesn’t know the kind of danger that she could be facing. You don’t even know what we could be up against.”
“That’s because you’re a secretive SOB when it comes to your freelance work.”
He had to be. “Antony asked me to protect her, and that’s exactly what I plan to do.” His gaze swept the scene. “I need to be kept in the loop on this investigation. Anything you find out, you’ll let me know?”
Winston stared at him.
“Oh, come on. I’m not asking you to break the law—”
“You’re asking me to share confidential case information. Yes, yes, that’s potentially law breaking. Bending definitely. It’s—”
“If you get a suspect, you give me a head’s up. Okay? That’s all I’m saying.” Because he could do plenty of his own investigating through some not-so-necessarily-legal means. He’d gone back to the scene because he knew the cops would be looking for him. The longer he stayed away, the more suspicious things would appear. So he’d gone back for the meet and greet with Winston.
And, shit, how had the guy even remembered Operation Get Into Alyssa’s Good Graces? Sebastian had been sure that Winston had been drunk off his ass when he’d spilled those details.
Wait. Maybe I was the one drunk off my ass. Because Alyssa had been dating that doctor jerk and Antony had mentioned talk of a possible engagement and—Yep, guilty. I was the drunk one that night.
Sebastian glanced down at the glowing face of his watch. “I need to get back to her. If you have other questions, call me.”
“Oh, I’ll have other questions. For you and for her.”
Sebastian turned and took a few quick steps—
“Be careful.”
He tossed a grin back at his friend. “Worried about me? That is so freaking sweet. Thank you.”
Winston didn’t smile back. “Watch your ass with her.”
With her.
Sebastian’s grin faded.
“The rest of the world might not know how you feel, but I do. Protect her, fine, do your bit. But be prepared to walk away.”
Walk away? From Alyssa? His body tightened. “When she needs me, I’d never walk away.” Never.
He headed for the limo.
“But what about when she doesn’t need you any longer?”
Right the hell then, she did need him, and he was going back to her.
***
Her phone rang. Alyssa had been staring out at the dark night, her body too tense as she stood in front of the upstairs window in one of Sebastian’s many guest rooms, and when she heard the quick, hard peal of sound, she jumped.
The phone rang again. Alyssa spun around. When she’d first come into the guest room, she’d ditched her heels and tossed her bag onto the edge of the bed. She grabbed the bag now, fumbling until she got inside and her fingers closed around her phone.
She didn’t recognize the number on the screen, but her fingers still swiped across the phone. When her brother traveled for work, he would often call her from different phones, so maybe it was him. “Hello?”
“I missed you.”
The voice was low. Rather hard to understand. Had he said I miss you? “Antony? Is that you?”
“I missed you,” the caller said. The voice was louder. Rougher. Male. And not Antony. “But I won’t miss next time.”
The call ended.
She stared at the screen. Her breath choked in and out. Okay, if that had been a prank call, that shit had not been funny. She immediately dialed the number back. It rang. Once. Twice. Three times.
***
When Sebastian slid into the limo, he heard the phone ringing. Since his phone was currently in his pocket, the ringing didn’t make a whole lot of sense. Then he saw the small phone vibrating on the floorboard. It had been tossed a few feet away from the