by Victoria Sue
Gray stared incredulously. Was this man for real? Was he really trying to guilt Seb again?
Armitage reached out for his son’s hand, and Seb took a half-automatic step backward into Gray. Gray quickly put his hands on Seb’s shoulders protectively. Armitage’s nostrils flared in irritation. “Detective, I really must insist on an arrest.”
“So must I,” Seb said defiantly and took a step away from Gray.
Gray’s heart crashed into his ribs at the words, and he stared at Seb in resignation.
Carter nodded but ignored Gray and took a step toward the bed. “Quinn Armitage, you have the right to remain silent—”
“What?” Armitage interrupted incredulously. He looked at Gray for some reason, then back at Seb. “What on earth is going on?”
“I would have thought that was obvious, Dad,” Seb said dryly. “They’re called your Miranda rights. I’m sure you’ve seen plenty of cop shows. But if you mean why are you being arrested instead of Gray, I expect because Detective Carter understands Gray was protecting me. Oh,” he added as if it was an afterthought, “and you are being arrested I suspect for fraud.” He screwed his nose up. “I’m not sure of the exact offense.”
Armitage stared at his son as if suddenly no one else was in the room. “And who am I supposed to have defrauded?”
Gray’s head shot up at Armitage’s preternatural tone.
Carter stepped forward. “I’ve just had a very interesting conversation with Mr. Welsley.”
Gray glanced at Seb, who luckily noticed. He didn’t think he dared touch him at the moment. “Simon Welsley is Dad’s chief accountant at A.T. Holdings.”
“I haven’t defrauded anyone,” Armitage shot out. “You voluntarily gave me your inheritance. The funding for all the research has been covered.”
Seb shook his head sadly, as if he still couldn’t believe what Armitage was spewing.
“I’m not talking about Mom’s money. This was never about that, and I’m more than capable of earning my own. You diverted research grants illegally—”
“The enhanced don’t have any rights,” Armitage spat out, his face going a mottled red color and completely ignoring everything Seb was trying to say.
“But unfortunately for you, stockholders do,” Carter added dryly.
Armitage’s lips parted, but he made no sound and turned to Seb. “Everything I did was for you.”
Gray tried not to gag.
“No, I really don’t think it was,” Seb replied. “I think it may have started that way, and right up to this afternoon when you let McKay drug me against my will, I might have believed you.”
“Sebastian, son—”
“Don’t call me that,” Seb snapped out, and Carter finished reading Armitage his rights. Ignoring his dad’s spluttered cries, he whirled around and left the room.
“Seb.” Gray caught up with him quickly, reaching for him, and Seb willingly let him pull him into his arms. He counted a few heartbeats before Seb pushed back and Gray let him go, assuming Seb wanted to talk and needed to see Gray’s lips. “Shall we go home?”
“Mr. Armitage?”
Gray looked up and was surprised to see Ringo staring at them. Seb followed Gray’s action and turned to look at Ringo.
“Mr. Armitage,” Ringo repeated.
“Call me Seb.” Gray watched as Seb took another step away from him.
“The car’s outside when you’re ready.” With a smile at Gray, Ringo turned and walked to the end of the corridor.
“What’s going on?” Gray asked in bewilderment. What on earth was Ringo doing here?
“Ringo works for Diesel,” Seb replied as if that explained everything.
“So do I,” Gray said, stating the obvious, completely baffled. “And you don’t need anyone else to look after you.”
Seb stared at Gray. Very carefully he lifted his hand and pushed the hair, which was getting too long, out of Gray’s eyes. “I actually don’t need anyone looking after me at all. There were never any threats. It was all a ruse to convince me to stay at home and not get any ideas about independence.”
Gray stiffened, and Seb brought his hand lower, gently placing a finger on Gray’s lips to silence him. “All my life I’ve been thought incapable of making my own decisions, caring for myself, and in the last two years, nearly three, behaving like an adult. I have to take a little responsibility because I haven’t done anything about it, but that stops today.”
Gray took a step forward, and just as quickly, Seb took one back to avoid him. “You made it very obvious to the guard when you arrived that the thought of me being a threat to anyone or anything was completely ridiculous, and while I hope that speaks to the faith you have in my character, I’m worried you think I’m incapable of taking care of myself at all. I’m going to get my life sorted, and then if you are still interested in getting to know me as Seb, not as someone who needs looking after, get in touch. Ringo is simply here with me for the next few months while the trial is on and I need someone I can trust to drive me.”
“I can drive you,” Gray said brushing his fingers through his hair then clutching Seb’s shoulders. He swallowed. “Don’t, please.”
Seb gazed at him. “For how long?”
“As long as you need,” Gray vowed. He was in it for life.
Seb took a step nearer. “But I want more. I don’t want you there just to look after me because you think I’m incapable of looking after myself. I want you there because you don’t want to be anywhere else, and unless we give each other time, I will always wonder if you are with me because you want to be or because you feel you have to be.”
Gray froze. Seb’s words ricocheted around his brain. “No.” He shook his head. “Don’t. Seb, please.”
But Seb just turned around and followed Ringo out of the door, and out of Gray’s life.
Chapter Twenty
“SHE’S ADORABLE,” Seb murmured and put his face near Indigo Grayling Rawlings, inhaling baby powder as he cuddled her. Pink beamed.
“And she has two”—Pink held her first two fingers up—“check it out, two color names to choose from.”
Seb didn’t trust himself to speak. Indigo was completely gorgeous. She had every one of Rawlings’s men wrapped around her little finger in exactly the same way as both her elder sister and her mom did. Seb felt a small movement at his feet and glanced down at the black retriever, who was sniffing at the bundle in his arms with apparent curiosity. “See, Bentley.” Seb tilted the baby so his dog could see her. “Isn’t she pretty?”
Pink’s new housekeeper patted him on the head in agreement in exactly the same way she had done all his life, before taking Tabitha’s hand and leaving the room.
He felt the other hand on his arm and jerked a little until he saw it was Rawlings looking at them both. His pale blue eyes darkened in understanding, even though Seb tried to cover his reaction. His longing for another touch.
Pink stood and reached for her daughter. “Come on, sweetie, nap time or you’ll get grouchy.” Seb felt the gentle kiss Pink dropped on his hair and watched her follow Mrs. P and Tabitha out of the study.
He turned to Rawlings. It was the first time he had seen the man in three long months. Deciding to take his new driver’s license out for a spin, Seb had driven up to the estate. Pink had visited him, but Rawlings had respected his wishes.
“He’s not here.”
Seb’s lips parted, and he sighed. Rawlings wasn’t going to run around the subject, then. It had backfired. Seb’s wonderful plan to meet Gray as an equal had been taken the wrong way, and when Rawlings had told Seb the courage it had taken Gray to come to the hospital, Seb could have cried, because he had effectively thrown it back in Gray’s face and told the stubborn man who loved him more than himself that he wasn’t needed.
A week after the shooting, the surgeons had hurriedly removed the tiny implant still embedded under Seb’s skin that he hadn’t been aware of. Rawlings had received Gray’s resignation letter but ignored it. Gray had t
urned up at the hospital to see his new niece when she was born but managed to do so when Seb wasn’t there.
And then this morning Seb had gotten an email from Ethan Devlin’s manager confirming that on Saturday, April 21, he would be opening for Mr. Devlin at the Philips Arena. Tickets were already completely sold out.
For the first time in three months, Seb had thought he was going to throw up. He’d stared at the email for what seemed the longest five minutes of his entire life and then replied cautiously. Ethan Devlin’s assistant—Randy—had confirmed his office had been in touch with Gray and Gray had asked that the email be forwarded directly to Seb to confirm all the details.
Which meant that somehow, even though Seb hadn’t been in touch with him, Gray must know at the very least that Seb was now very healthy and could easily cope with the concert.
Or at least Seb didn’t have any vertigo attacks anymore. Coping with the thought of singing one of his songs in front of thousands of people was making him feel decidedly nauseous. And did Gray asking Randy to speak to Seb directly mean he was letting Seb manage his own life as Seb had asked him to, or did it mean he simply wasn’t interested?
Which was why Seb was at Rawlings’s home. He felt he had one chance and one chance only.
He stared at Rawlings. “I want to employ your security company—one night only, April 21—as personal protection while I perform three of my songs.” Seb swallowed, willing Rawlings to understand everything he didn’t say. “I don’t need long-term protection, but as I hope this to be the start of a successful career, I may need you on a regular basis.”
Rawlings paused infinitesimally and then drew a large pad toward him. “Perhaps you can list your requirements, and I’ll see what I can do.”
Seb smiled. “First and most importantly, it has to be someone I can trust absolutely in my personal space. Someone who would protect me even if he thought I might hate him for doing his job.”
Diesel paused with the pen held in his hand. “I think I know just the man.”
GRAY STOOD in the wings of the stage. As soon as Rawlings had called him he had come, and fully intended on never being anywhere else. They were just doing an extra rehearsal to acclimatize Seb, and although the techs had seen Gray, he knew Seb hadn’t, not yet anyway.
He’d been stunned when Rawlings had spoken to him. Rawlings had quoted word for word Seb’s requirements, and Gray instantly agreed to take the job. He had taken various other jobs but he refused to leave the country. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Ringo, or that Seb was able to care for himself, he just wanted to be there if…when Seb needed him.
Quinn Armitage had recovered and was now facing prosecution, and Gray was thankful. Not that he cared if the man died, but he knew Seb—much as he had feigned indifference at the hospital—would be glad not to have that hanging over him.
Gray had spoken to his sister a few times. He forgave Seb as soon as he had calmed down, and he’d listened and agreed with her suggestions. Pink had insisted Seb needed time to start living his life and be allowed to grow up. If he went from being smothered by his father to being smothered by Gray’s overprotectiveness, it would come back to bite them both on the butt.
And then she’d played the best hand. Told Gray he would always wonder if Seb was with him because he was frightened of being on his own, not because he chose to spend the rest of his life with him.
Because he loved him.
Or at least she hadn’t said exactly those words, but the implication was there, and she had been right. It had killed Gray to stay away, but he needed to be sure, and so did Seb.
Gray fisted his hands, ashamed to find them jittery, and he stared out at the massive stage where Seb was singing and pausing every time the techs asked him to. He was so damn good. So beautiful, even if he had cut his hair a little, and he looked fit. Gray had never realized how much tension Seb carried around with him until he saw it gone from his face.
It was a good look.
The thought that Seb didn’t need Gray anymore nearly had him running from the stage, but then that was what Pink had meant, and Seb’s list to Rawlings had been pretty specific. There was only one man who would protect him like that, and Gray prayed that was what Seb had meant.
Rig stood up and caught sight of Gray. He paused and grinned, and Seb immediately whipped his head around to see what Rig had heard.
One of the researchers from the company that bought out Armitage’s was desperate for Seb to try some new hearing aids. But according to Pink, Seb declined for the present and said he had everything he needed, or almost everything; she had repeated the last words to Gray with an arched brow. Gray knew Seb hadn’t told anyone about his ability to hear at incredible distances or different frequencies, and neither would Gray or Rawlings. Seb just wanted to sing, and Gray wanted to make that happen. It wouldn’t be easy. He knew the record company had wanted to photoshop out the scar on Seb’s face when they took the photographs for the new single, but Seb refused.
Seb’s eyes widened when he saw him, and Gray stared into the warm green depths. Suddenly he couldn’t stand another second of being apart, and even if the first step toward Seb was so fucking hard, the way Seb ran to meet him made every other one worth it. Seb jumped as soon as they were within touching distance, and Gray opened his arms and caught him reflexively.
“Gray….” Seb’s words were garbled, his breath hitching, his face wet against Gray’s neck. Gray closed his eyes and opened his heart.
“You’re here,” Seb whispered.
“You look amazing,” Gray said when Seb lifted his head to look at him.
“I wasn’t sure you’d come.”
Gray huffed. “As if I’d leave this job to anyone else. No,” he said before Seb could respond. “Actually I do trust Ringo, Diesel, or Mac, but I couldn’t stand another second of being away from you.”
Seb beamed. “I know Pink will have kept you up-to-date on everything.”
Gray hesitated, not sure what he should admit to.
Seb bit his lip. “I’m sorry.”
“You don’t have to apologize for anything,” Gray said quickly. “It killed me not to be here for every rehearsal for no other reason than I like to hear you sing.”
“I had a lot of things to prove to myself. That if you were with me, it was because you wanted to be, not because you felt like I couldn’t live without you.”
“Why?” Gray’s voice sounded raw even to him. “I can’t be without you, so why would I not want you to feel the same?”
SEB SHOOK his head at the pain in Gray’s eyes. He hadn’t meant that. He hadn’t meant that at all.
Gray cupped his chin. “I love you. I know you can live without me, but I can’t live without you, so can this experiment be over now please, and can we just go home to that fancy new apartment you’ve bought?”
Seb laughed and stopped because if he wasn’t careful he would be crying. “I don’t need a bodyguard.” The words were confident but contained a question even then.
“Good,” Gray said. “Because you aren’t a job for me. You’re my life.”
It had been exactly the answer he was looking for.
April 21. Saturday night.
“THEY’RE GONNA love you,” Gray pronounced with complete confidence and caught Seb’s hand to stop him pacing around the dressing room. “Same as me,” he added as he looked into Seb’s gorgeous green eyes.
Seb smiled—said, “love you too”—and all the anxiety seemed to drain out of him. He leaned into Gray, and Gray held him. Not because he needed holding up, but because he didn’t. It hadn’t been easy forging their new relationship. Pink had been right that going from protector to lover wasn’t seamless for Gray. He wanted to forbid Seb from driving on his own, shopping without him—even though Gray hated any sort of shopping—and visiting the recording studio where Seb was working on his first album. Quinn Armitage had asked to see Seb many times, but Seb wasn’t interested, and Gray was glad.
If Gr
ay had intended a kill shot that day, Armitage would be dead. They’d had no choice but to enter the building by force. The guards outside had capitulated quickly and said the surgery was imminent. There would be no talking McKay out of anything.
Seb had just looked at him quietly for a few seconds after Rawlings had let that little detail escape when they had all been around for the barbecue to celebrate Tabitha’s birthday, but he had held Gray’s hand especially tight for some time afterward, so Rawlings was forgiven.
Seb leaned back, and Gray absently brushed some powder from his shirt. “Wait—did they put makeup on you?”
Seb grinned at Gray’s outrage. He could usually tell the nuances in Gray’s phrases now. Knew that when he drawled out the word “fantastic,” it was anything but, especially when he’d gotten a request from a pop-star wannabe who had seen him accompany Seb to the recording studios and offered Rawlings a ridiculous amount of money to have him be her bodyguard. Gray only took one-night contracts now.
There was a knock at the door, and Seb’s new manager—Bill Richards—put his head around the door, swallowing nervously. “The visitors you warned me about are here. It wasn’t easy to get them through.” He stood back, and then suddenly the dressing room was very full of what seemed to be huge-ass people. Gray’s pulse sped up, even though he knew who they were, as the first blond-haired, blue-eyed god strode toward him with his hand out. “Gray Darling?”
Gray registered the keen gaze, the Glock strapped to his thigh, and the scar identical to the one on Seb’s left cheek. “Talon Valdez,” Gray replied and shook the huge hand. They had spoken on the phone. He turned to where Seb was hugging a much smaller guy, and they were laughing.
“I can’t believe you got us front-row seats,” chuckled the man, who Gray assumed was Finn Mayer, Talon’s partner on the human-enhanced FBI team down in Florida.
Another man with an identical scar—who had to be the size of a house—also grinned. “I think they’re moving us, actually.” He rolled his eyes. “Some assistant took one look at us and stammered out if we were on the front row, no one in any of the ten rows behind us would be able to see anything.” Gray watched as the other young man, complete with a blue streak in his hair, punched the giant playfully on his arm to get him to move and then also threw his arms around Seb.
