Never Gonna Happen - Cynthia Eden Page 0,78

home? And if she really did shoot that guy to save me—”

“She did. Why are you having trouble wrapping your mind around that? It’s weird.”

He swallowed. Because if she did…if she shot someone for me…

The observation room door opened behind Antony. Winston stepped inside and shot a frown at them both. “What the hell is this? Party time? I’m in there, working my ass off, and you two are just standing around and shooting the breeze?”

“Give us a chance to work for you,” Sebastian said. “We need the laptop.” His voice was wooden. “Give it to me or Antony and we can figure out who hired the perps in minutes.”

“Uh, yeah, I already have cops going out to collect the laptop. Didn’t you see that part?” Winston motioned toward the glass. “Or were you busy with something else that was more important than the investigation?”

Antony pointed to Sebastian. “This idiot doesn’t get that my sister shot a man to keep him alive.”

Sebastian lifted his chin.

“Oh, didn’t I tell you that bit?” Winston nodded. “My bad.”

His bad?

“Alyssa told me all about it,” Winston continued in his seemingly casual tone. “The perp even backed up her story while he was drifting in and out of consciousness in the ambulance. Guy got chatty with the EMTs and the cop who’d been assigned to stay with him. While you were on the ground, the fellow was going to shoot your ass in the back because he’d gotten word he could eliminate you. But Alyssa shot him instead. I believe she actually wound up shooting him twice.”

Sebastian couldn’t move.

“Isn’t he acting weird about that?” Antony peered at Sebastian with squinted eyes. “Shouldn’t he…I don’t know…rush to her side and say how eternally grateful he is to her for saving his ass?”

“Sure, he’s being all weird. But I know why. He’s scared.” Winston nodded and stalked closer to Sebastian. “Because when a woman saves your life, when she’s willing to kill for you, a smart man holds tight and never, ever lets go.”

“Everyone says he’s smart.” Antony shook his head. “To me, he’s acting like a fool.”

“Again, scared.”

Sebastian growled.

Winston tossed a glance toward Antony. “He’s scared because he wants to run to her and he wants to keep her with him, but if she shot a man this time, what happens next time?” Winston’s voice softened as his stare returned to Sebastian. “I know you, Sebastian. And I know that’s what you’re thinking. She shot the perp this time. But what happens next time? Does she try to jump between you and a bullet? Does she kill the bad guy? Does she get herself killed?”

Another growl escaped from Sebastian. Harder. More savage.

“If she’s hurt while she tries to save you…” Winston’s lips curled down. “What do you do? You know, other than lose your ever-loving mind.”

The two men were between him and the door. “Get out of my way,” Sebastian ordered.

Neither man moved. “Why?” Winston put his hands on his hips. “You suddenly got somewhere you need to be? Like I told you already, I sent cops to retrieve the laptop. You’ll be notified when it gets here. In the meantime, your buddy Dex said he’d be moving Alyssa to a new location. He’s got her, so you can just mark that item off your to-do list.”

Sebastian’s heavy breathing huffed in and out.

“Hey, this way, you don’t even have to see her.” A shrug from Winston. “Don’t have to say thanks for saving my ass.”

Sebastian lunged forward. “Dex isn’t taking her anywhere. He screwed up with her last time—”

Antony put a hand on his chest. “And you’re screwing up with her now.”

“I want her safe.”

“Maybe being with you is the safest place for her to ever be.” Antony’s voice was more subdued. Less go-to-hell angry.

“Alyssa isn’t supposed to shoot people. She’s supposed to be happy. Blowing out birthday candles, making wishes.” He swallowed. “I wasn’t supposed to drag her down into my world.”

Surprise flashed on Antony’s face. “Is that what you think you did?”

“I dragged you down. Brought you into this mess when you had no business being a spy.”

“I made my choice. I did it. Not you.”

“You want out. You think I don’t see it? You want—”

“You want out,” Antony threw right back. “You want out because you want a different life. I’ve seen it for a while.” Antony cocked his head. “Is that why you were taking fewer and fewer cases? Because you thought you could slip out and try to make a life