says.
Everyone disappears to see what Heaven is talking about which leaves me with Owen.
“You’re going to be okay,” Owen says as a piece of glass falls into the tin. “Sebastian won’t let anything happen to you.”
“Sometimes you can’t always protect the people you love.”
“That’s a load of shit,” Owen says. He concentrates on my feet, making sure to pluck out every piece of glass there is. “You can always protect the people you love, or you can die trying.”
“I don’t want him to die because of me.”
Owen gently places my foot against the floor, giving me a break, before checking the other foot. “You don’t get it, do you? He was dying every day without you. He finally got his reason to live again. If anyone should be afraid, it’s Kendrick. Sebastian will go to the depths of Hell and the top of Heaven if it means saving you.”
“You believe in that?” I ask.
“I don’t know. Gotta have faith in something, though.”
“Think it’s worth it? Faith?”
Owen pulls another long piece of glass out of my foot and plops it in the tin. “You’re asking the wrong guy.”
“But you just said to have faith in something.”
“I didn’t say I did, though,” he corrects me and goes back to fixing up my feet since I am a complete train wreck.
If I think about it, I know exactly where my faith lies.
Sebastian is my faith. If there is one thing I believe in, it is him.
Chapter Twenty-Three
SEBASTIAN
I own you, pet.
Those four words have haunted me since I saw them three days ago in the bathroom after Heaven turned the shower on. I was ashamed of myself. I thought it was all in her head for a minute when I didn’t see the message on the mirror. How fucked up is that? I thought her trauma had finally caught up with the best of her.
And I feel so goddamn guilty for that split second of not believing her.
She isn’t safe anywhere. Officer Howard said the restraining order did go through, so we have that on our sides.
That damn arrest warrant I have is still there. I figure it is only matter of time before I get arrested. I already contacted our lawyer, Ezekiel Hoffman, and let him know what is going on. He is on his way to Trinidad. He isn’t the kind of lawyer who walks the straight and narrow. Jaxon found him making a gambling deal outside of the racetrack in San Diego.
Zeke won three million on that race.
None of it was legal money.
He is the kind of lawyer guys like us need. He doesn’t judge. He doesn’t care. He just wants to get fucking paid.
The end dollar is all that matters. Isn’t that how it is for everyone?
“How are your feet?” I ask Gabriella as she slides into her flip flop.
“I’m fine, Sebastian. Stop fussing over me. I’m okay. Owen said they didn’t even need stitches. They were all pretty shallow. I was more hysterical knowing—”
“He was here. I know. I just don’t know how he got by the security.” There is no way he is as good at hacking as I am. Kendrick is smart, but I am smarter. I checked all the security cameras, but they didn’t catch anything. I couldn’t even find a section of the tape that had been paused or erased somehow, but I will. He did something, and I plan on figuring out what.
He is too fucking close. He was in my fucking house. My room. He watched my girl.
Mine.
Not his.
He thinks he owns her?
Fuck him. She isn’t the type of woman to be owned. She is like everyone else when it comes to being abused so long—she got worn down, the fight got tiring, and eventually she felt like she had no choice but to give up.
But now?
Gabriella is the kind of woman that fucking owns. She is the player in the wicked game. She has no idea the power she consumes, the ability she has to send me to my goddamn knees; if anyone has the control here, it is her.
Kendrick is underestimating her, and I can’t wait until Gabriella gets her revenge. It is going to be sweet.
Not bitter.
I won’t miss the fucking asshole.
“I don’t know, baby. Maybe we should stay here. I’m not … I’m not comfortable going out. You could get hurt.”
She slaps her knees with her hands and stands. “You are not going to take this away from me. You said you’d take me kayaking in the ocean to