Never Gonna Happen - Cynthia Eden Page 0,29
lightning, and then the cops swarmed. They weren’t sharing info, so I thought I’d come out here and see what I could find…”
His words trailed away. He seemed to waver and pale a bit more. He should go pale. He should be freaking terrified.
Sebastian lunged toward him. “You were out there when the shots were fired.” He grabbed the reporter’s shirt front.
“I don’t—I don’t think you should be—”
“You took pictures of the scene, didn’t you?” He could see the truth in Gavin’s eyes. “Pictures of me and my lady.”
“When you get a story like that, you have to act. I mean, I only had my phone with me, but it’s top of the line and the camera on it was good enough for me to—”
“I want the pictures,” Sebastian cut through his words. “And I want them now.”
Gavin’s gaze darted away.
“Oh, hell, no.” Sebastian shook his head. “Do not tell me—”
“They’re already up on the website. It was a big story, man. My boss was thrilled. He knew other news outlets would want to pick up the details and link back to us so—”
Sebastian let Gavin go. Disgusted, he snarled, “You put her picture up on your site.”
A miserable nod. “It’s the news…”
“You know who she is. You recognized her, didn’t you?”
Gavin licked his lower lip. “Hard not to recognize Antony Kyle’s little sister. Just didn’t know the two of you were an item. That part right there was news, you know, it was—”
“Take the photos down. Delete any copies you have.”
Gavin gaped. “Dude, that’s like shutting the barn door after—”
“Come on my property again, and I’ll have your ass thrown in jail for trespassing. I’ve got cops on speed dial.” Well, one cop. “Don’t push me.” He motioned to the silent, watchful guard. “Escort his ass out of here.”
As Gavin brushed by him, mumbling some half-ass apology, Sebastian let his hand slip into the reporter’s coat pocket. And as easy as one, two, three…
Gavin walked out, not even realizing that he’d left his phone behind. Or rather, not even realizing that his phone had been taken.
By the time Sebastian walked back in his house, he had unlocked the phone, and he was scrolling through the pictures Gavin had taken. Like I’d really trust the guy to delete them on his own.
Sure enough, there was Sebastian, grabbing Alyssa. Scooping her into his arms. He zoomed in on the picture a bit, and Sebastian swore when he saw the expression on his own face—
“Did you catch him?”
He glanced up. Way up. Alyssa was on the second floor. Her hands were spread along the wooden railing.
“Was it the guy who shot at me?”
“No.” Sebastian tightened his hold on the phone. “Just a jerk reporter after a story. I’ve taken care of him.” He’d make sure all of the photos vanished from the website, too. But…shit, they’d already been recirculated on the internet.
Good thing he was talented at making certain things vanish.
“I have to do some quick work in my office.” He turned away from her. “Why don’t you try to rest a bit? We can talk again later.” He had to get those photos taken care of now. He hurried into his office. Sebastian fired up the computer, and his fingers flew over the keyboard as he went after his target and—
“You don’t want me to know something.”
His head whipped up.
Alyssa stood in the doorway.
He frowned at her. “You got down the stairs fast.” Like ninja fast.
“What are you doing?” She bit her lower lip. “Better question…what are you hiding from me?”
“The reporter who just got his ass tossed off my property? He took pictures of us outside the theater. The pictures are circulating on the web, and I’m making them vanish.”
Silence. Then… “Why?”
His fingers were poised over the keyboard. “What do you mean?”
“Why are you making them vanish? Is there something in the pictures that people shouldn’t see?”
“They—”
“You know what? I want to see them.” She strode forward. Moved behind the desk. Leaned in close to him and—
“Lavender,” Sebastian mumbled as he inhaled.
“What?”
He pulled in more of that scent. “When we first met, I didn’t know the scent you wore was lavender. Didn’t know shit about stuff like that. I could do anything with a computer, but hell, beyond that, I was pretty much clueless. Antony had to teach me how the world worked. Had to teach me what damn fork to use when I was at a fancy dinner. See, Uncle Sam skipped those bits of instruction.”
Uncle Sam had taught