Total pages in book: 171
Estimated words: 164705 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 824(@200wpm)___ 659(@250wpm)___ 549(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 164705 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 824(@200wpm)___ 659(@250wpm)___ 549(@300wpm)
“No. Fuck that.” Sebastian jerked a shoulder forward, dislodging himself from my grip. “I’m not sorry at all.”
I shoved him out the doorway with all my might before this turned uglier than it already was. The nurse gaped at us, waiting for security to come. I realized she had a direct view of Sebastian’s face. Bare. Unmasked. Shit.
Her palm shot up to her mouth. “Oh, goodness.”
She didn’t bother to hide her wide-eyed stare, visibly shaking. At the sight of us, she stumbled backwards. Her spine hit the water cooler in the hall. The vicious urge to wrap my fingers around her throat and shake her until she closed her damn eyes seized my fists.
All of Sebastian’s progress – done. Erased. Gone in mere seconds. Just because someone had said something he didn’t fucking like. It could’ve meant anything, too.
Oh, goodness, your face.
Or oh, goodness, the fucking glass everywhere.
Sebastian sucked in a sharp breath, his eyes widening. He froze for a second before something dark and cruel washed over his face. His busted lips pulled into a smirk. He stalked toward her, slow and deliberate, his posture tall and daunting.
He wanted to scare her.
And that scared me.
“That’s right, sweetheart.” Seb got in her face, stopping a mere inch apart. “Take a good look. Have your fill. This is what a monster looks like. A demon. A freak of nature. Take it all in.”
He refused to move.
Sebastian forced her to soak it all up. The raised scar, the busted lips, the cratered cheek. The woman shook, trying to melt into the wall. I fisted the collar of his shirt, yanking him back.
This time, he let me.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” I kept my hands clamped around his bicep, though I knew he could outpower me if he wanted to. “Christ, you’re going to end up in jail at this rate.” I spun to the shocked nurse, my hands pressed together, though I hated her guts for making Seb feel less than. “I’m sorry. So, so sorry.”
With that, I shoved Sebastian outside the hall and into the reception area. Sometime in the past fifteen minutes, the room had filled up. Every single person stared at him.
He’d forgotten his disguise back in Dr. Perry’s office.
The receptionist who had hit on us gasped.
Sebastian swung back, stopping in front of her. “What’s wrong with your fucking manners?”
She yelped, scurrying under her desk. Obviously, she hadn’t expected us to hear her. Before this got worse, I nudged him out of the clinic and toward the elevators. By the time its doors slid open and I thrust Sebastian inside, we were both panting.
He clutched onto the bar against the mirror, glaring at his reflection. Sweat snaked down my neck, disappearing into my Henley, my mind going a mile a minute. This couldn’t get worse. Except it could. We could get sued. Blacklisted from every local plastic surgeon’s office. Outed on the evening news.
Sebastian’s jaw was clenched so tight, I thought his teeth would snap out of his mouth. “Happy now?”
“Seb …”
I didn’t know what to say. All I wanted was to make shit better for him. And I’d failed spectacularly. Again.
He wasn’t ready.
And, deep down, I wondered if he never would be.
The elevator pinged open.
“Just shut up and get me that fucking shell.” Sebastian stormed out, flipping the bird to everyone in the lobby who gaped at him on his way out. “And don’t talk to me ever again.”
Chapter Eighty-Two
Oliver
Romeo Costa: @OllievB, I just saw you drive by in your Land Rover with a man in the passenger seat. Something you want to tell me?
Ollie vB: That I have friends that aren’t you assholes?
Romeo Costa: The man had a ball cap, sunglasses, and a face mask.
Ollie vB: He’s a celebrity.
Zach Sun: No way is he a celebrity. If you had a celebrity in your house, you’d invite Annie Leibovitz to document him wiping his ass.
Ollie vB: For the right price, sure. But Annie seemed to be “busy.” Her loss, really.
Romeo Costa: Cut the crap. Who was it?
Ollie vB: None of your business.
Romeo Costa: Kind of looked like Seb.
Ollie vB: You literally just admitted you didn’t see his face.
Zach Sun: Where IS Seb again?
Ollie vB: India.
Romeo Costa: Wasn’t it Bali?
Zach Sun: Do you believe your own lies?
Ollie vB: The person next to me was my father, you dimwits.
Romeo Costa: Felix von Bismarck hasn’t made a public appearance in years. Not since Sebastian’s surprise move to India. Who are you trying to kid?
Ollie vB: Your asses, obviously.
Zach Sun: We want the truth, Ollie.
Ollie vB: Yeah, well. And I want a fucking break.
Chapter Eighty-Three
Briar
“Am I the only one who thinks the dress podium looks like a cake?”
On cue, Dallas’ stomach growled loud enough to trigger seismic sensors. She wiggled around on the bridal shop’s upholstered couch, rubbing her belly.
Yes. You heard right. Bridal shop.