“Have your own personal driver?” Fayth joked.
“At least until I get my license, yes,” Summer asked with a smile.
“You aren’t used to the real world, are you?” Fayth said knowingly.
Summer shrugged, not sure what to say to that. She wasn’t, but she was learning.
It did unnerve Summer slightly, that Fayth could see how out of touch in the real world she really was. If the red haired girl knew how much different Summer was now, six months later. She was stronger in more ways than anyone expected, and she knew, for the most part, what needed to be done to survive.
A text message came through Summer’s phone, scaring her, causing her to jump in her seat as the Samsung phone was in her pocket.
Pulling it out, she saw that the text was from Heidi, which confused Summer as she was just a few tables away.
Don’t look. One of J’s men
~Heidi
Summer was tempted to look, but instead just put the phone back into her pocket, turning her attention to Fayth, who looked at her in concern.
“Everything okay?”
“As well as it can be,” Summer said quietly, wrapping both of her hands around the now cold cup of coffee.
“Hmm,” Fayth said, looking at Summer like she could see through the girl, before turning to look outside. “Looks like it could be a big snowstorm this time.”
“I wouldn’t know,” Summer whispered to herself before looking outside. The clouds were increasing in the sky. “How much snow do you usually get here?”
“Depends on the storm,” Fayth answered in thought. “Sometimes just a few inches; sometimes a few feet. This one time,” she said, her eyes lighting up as she looked at Summer. “We have maybe a foot, but high winds. It knocked the power out for like a week. One day it was snowing like crazy, and the next it was like summer!”
“Crazy,” Summer huffed out with a smile.
“It was!” Fayth laughed.
“Excuse me?” spoke a man, maybe in his late twenties. He had a black hoody on, the hood up over his head, hiding most of his face from view as he kept his eyes downcast. Summer could just make out his pointy chin that was covered in hair.
“Yes?” Fayth asked, turning her body half way towards the man, while Summer was ready to run as far as she could. The man had an alarming vibe with his slouched shoulders.
“Have you seen this woman?” he asked, his voice low, showing a picture of a brown haired girl with big round eyes at Fayth first, then to Summer.
“Who is she?” Fayth asked, studying the picture a second time while Summer, surprisingly, hid her reaction.
“My cousin,” the man said. “I haven’t seen her for months, which is unlike her.”
“Hmm,” Fayth said, tilting her head. “I haven’t. I am sure I’d remember such a lovely thing like that.”
“Oh, thank you,” the man said, quickly moving on to a couple other tables, asking the same thing.
Fayth waited for the man to leave before addressing Summer, and giving her enough time to make sure she didn’t panic. Summer was impressed she was able to not react, and knowing that it could happen helped her more than she’d thought.
“I’m here when you want to talk, Grace,” Fayth stated with soft eyes. “I’m on your side, whatever that may mean for you.”
Summer gawked at Fayth, knowing she had figured it out on her own. Would that mean that others would too?
She had to keep her mind and body calm as not to alert anyone to the turmoil going on inside her; that would lead to disaster. She’d defiantly bring this up with Sebastian, which would hopefully help her figure out what to do.
Chapter 11
“Don’t get your panties in a twist,” Sebastian said, hardly sparing Heidi a glance. His voice was not quite rude but more forceful than it needed to be.
He sat in his office, looking over the top of his opened Apple laptop. His brown eyes studied the person he considered a sister. He glanced at Summer, who sat in the chair, wringing her hands in worry. Something had made her question her purpose here, but what?
“Sebastian!” Heidi said, flipping her hands up in the air. “That man was looking for Summer! You have to do something!”
“And what exactly do you think I should do?” Sebastian asked in reply, his voice cold as his eyes hardened at the woman. Although his voice was hard, detached, his posture was relaxed in his office chair, hands folded on the desktop. “Go kill him? Sure, why not. That would give John exactly what he wants; Grace’s location. So, again, what should I do?”
“I’m sure Gabriel will be able to do something,” Heidi shot back, just as hotly as his feelings were.
Sisters, he thought with a mental sigh.
Sebastian chose not to reply to that statement, knowing his brother well enough that he would take the same action: do nothing. It would draw attention, attention that they did not need. To him, it seemed like the man was only a puppet and John knew that whoever was in charge of Summer’s safety would instantly go after the said puppet.
They still had to bide their time. There would be a time later to draw attention when needed when Summer was stronger. Strong enough to fight on her own if need be.
“How are you handling this, Grace?” he asked instead after glancing at the computer monitor.
“Okay,” Summer answered. Yes, she was slightly shaken up, but knew it had been a possibility for this to happen. She did worry if there would be more men that came looking here for her, and who would possibly have to pay the price for looking like her.
“The truth,” Sebastian demanded, sitting up straighter, his eyes staring her down in a soft manner. He knew it wouldn’t take much to drag out her fears, and he wanted to hear them, then sooth them the best he could, in any way he could. For as much as he had been there to help with Chase's upbringing and training, Summer would always be the closest thing to a child for him in his eyes.
After a sigh, Summer spoke her worries and fears out loud.
“What if that man, or others, go after anyone that looks remotely like me? What if they kill those girls? Or force them to do what I had to do? What will happen to anyone that looks like me even the slightest bit?” Summer quickly shot out, tears gathering in her eyes at the idea of what could and most likely would happen to so many innocent people.
Part of her tears was from wanting her husband. He snuck up on her thoughts constantly, and when she least expected it every time. There still had yet to be any word on Chase, either from Gabriel or the news, and it was getting on her last nerve. And it had only been a week, barely.
Sebastian stood and walked around the desk, kneeling down in front of Summer. Once her watery eyes met his, he began to talk, his voice low, soothing like a father would be.
“I don’t really know, Grace. I have no idea if John is having his men take everyone that resembles you, but you are one of a kind. No one could ever be just like you are. His men may be just scoping places, then will do more in-depth work to make sure they do in fact have the right girl.
“But truthfully, I don’t care what happens to anyone, but you alone,” he said. At his words, Summer sucked in a surprised gasp, although she shouldn’t have been surprised. Sebastian was not the type to hold back what he thought, and the least of all to her. He told her exactly what she asked to hear, what she wanted to know.
“You, Summer, are what matters. You will be the one that can help Chase, no matter if he’s alive or dead, to accomplish what he started. He always had ideas to make this world of his, one town at a time, a better place.
“So to me,” he said, laying his hand over hers. He kept his voice soft, ignoring the protests from Heidi, who should know well enough by now that Sebastian would do anything for the girl before him. “To me, Grace, you are my only concern. I promised I would keep you safe, and I will do that until I no longer can. Fuck those men who are looking for you. If they even try to lay one hand on you whatsoever, they will disappear and John will never know th
ey went missing on my turf.”
“But,” Summer said, trying to clear her throat as her voice came out husky and tear-filled. “All the girls that will be subjected to what I went though. They can’t live like that; no one can.”
“There’s more than one Summer out there, and I’m sure they go by nicknames, and none of them are like you,” Sebastian was quick to say. “They won’t be subjected to the way life was for you, at least not right away. John will want to make sure he’s chasing the right girl, which will not be found until you are ready. And you are far from ready.”
“You have so many people on your side, sweets,” Heidi said, her voice just as quiet. “For some reason, you win people over by your beliefs and youthful innocence, even with knowing how awful the world is behind closed doors.”
“I don’t mean to,” Summer said, sniffing back tears.
“We know you don’t, but John wants you, just because Jason did. You are pretty inside and out,” Heidi said before Sebastian was able to reply. She leaned forward in her chair, making sure that Summer heard her loud and clear. Summer was an amazing person, giving light to the darkness.
Summer laughed through her tears, more amused that the world saw her that way. She was normal; didn’t see how she could stand out so easily. Surely there were others that were better suited for what needed to be done by looks alone. Summer also never thought she’d think of herself as normal.
“When John does find you, on my terms only, you will be prepared. He won’t expect you to know how to defend yourself. He preys on weak innocent brown haired girls, always has. He’s been on the strange side for many years, and seeing you as you are, only drives him mad with this need to have you. No matter that he knows how wrong it is.
“You will be strong and ready to face him head on,” Sebastian said, drawing her attention back to him as he still knelt before her. She looked down slightly at him.
A vision of Summer standing before John – however, he looked, – with the man bowing, begging for mercy. It was appealing to have that sort of power, but she still wasn’t sure she’d be the person to hold that type of appeal. She did give a watery smile as her chest expanded in a deep breath.
Could she actually take on that sort of power? Would everyone see it that way?
“That a girl,” Sebastian said, patting her knee, knowing things were starting to be pieced together in her mind, finally. He knew from the first time he laid eyes on her that she was destined to be more. More for the world, bringing together families that were long lost.
He never did believe in a god, but there had to be a higher power that gave him reason to make sure Summer was trained to be powerful. The entire issue would be taken care of, together, Summer and Chase would both be feared, but respected. That in turn, would be what would change the world. If the Prince was indeed dead, the Princess would have enough people on her side to make sure that things went as planned, either way.
“Now, because of that pig that came knocking, there will be more. It’s only a matter of time before John starts looking for you himself, but I hope that will be months away still. I do think we need to start picking up speed,” Sebastian went on, standing. His own knees crackled as he muttered something about getting old with a grimace.
At Summer’s widened eyes, he was fast to continue on. “Not too much, but you need to start learning some bigger tricks. John won’t go easy on you one bit if he does happen to get his hands on you.”
“But he won’t,” Gabriel said, walking into the room. “You,” he pointed a black gloved finger at Sebastian, “Need to get a better system. I can get in, and so can the Devil.” His light brown eyes hard with power.
Gabriel wore all black, and no one had heard him drive his car up the driveway, nor enter the house. Sebastian had normally kept the alarm set at all times, but with Heidi, who was used to coming and going as she pleased, he hadn’t thought to check and make sure it was set again after they returned home.
"That would be your wife's fault as well as mine," he said turning his glare on Heidi for not resetting it.
Gabriel's hair was cut to just below his ears since he had to stop and get it cut after his last ‘job.’
“Now is not the time to be slacking on anything,” he said, glaring at his brother.
“I could have shot you, and maybe I will for you running your mouth,” Sebastian growled out, stopping himself from stalking towards the man. He really was tempted to punch him for talking like that to him.
Gabriel laughed, turning his back on the room muttering about taking a shower since he didn’t seem to be welcome yet. Heidi followed him, demanding what he was thinking walking into the house with such an attitude, their voices fading.
“I hate brothers,” Sebastian muttered, sitting down heavily in his chair.
“You should treat him better,” Summer said, her tears long forgotten. “He was right, you know.”
Sebastian glared at the girl before softening his look. He could never treat her with that amount of malice. “I know. I could have killed him if I didn’t know it was him. But I did. He’s been outside for the better part of an hour drinking in his fancy car he stole a few states over.”
“Oh,” Summer said, blinking. She wasn’t sure how to take that.
“I was watching him the entire time. He pulled up a few minutes after you got back. I want to think he was following you both, but I’m sure Heidi would have called him on it before he ever walked in here,” Sebastian said, turning his computer around, letting Summer see exactly what he had been keeping an eye on.
There in the driveway, right in front of the garage, was a silver Lamborghini, a dent in the side.
What had that man been up to? Summer thought, still not sure how to take it all. There was so much she had yet to learn to be able to understand.
"I will teach you more basic computer skills, like hacking into a few things, and knowing how to work this, and any, surveillance,” Sebastian stated easily.
“I know some,” Summer said sheepishly. She had caught on to the few things that Chase had shown her quickly, and could figure almost any program out within minutes, which she was proud of.
“Why do you care so much?” Summer asked, tilting her head to the side after he turned the screen back to the way he liked it after a few silent moments.
His eyes quickly looked at her. It wasn’t something he often thought about and had to think before answering.
“I care because the world is an unjust place. So many people think they can have a say on how they can just do whatever, without paying. I agree with Chase’s plan to fix all that, and he has made a huge step in doing so already,” he said, slowly saying his words as he still tried to figure out how to word his answer in a way that she’d be able to understand.
“I care about you, Grace. I care more than I should for many reasons, all of which you already know. You are a Princess, and you should be treated as such.
“I want to teach you how to rule the world in an extremely short amount of time, which may seem impossible, but doable if we can put our minds together, and with a lot of help from those two upstairs.
“I care because you were to be a princess from the time you were born, and Jason did everything he could to make sure you weren’t. I hope that by taking the time to teach you what you should have known already proves that I do care.
“I care enough that I am willing to give up my life to help you and to keep you alive. At any cost,” he ended, his face a mask of sincerity as he spoke the truth. He was not one to lie, especially to the Princess.
“You can’t die to save me, Bash,” Summer said, shaking her head. She wasn’t sure to be happy that so many people were willing to die to keep her alive, or saddened by that fact. It was a bit overwhelming.
“We will die either way. I’d rather die for you, my Princess than for my brother who is the devil incarnated,” Sebastian said, his eyes filled with a knowledge he wasn’t willing to share yet. It was a lot to take o
n and he didn’t want the girl he viewed as a daughter to worry about that yet. “And everyone on your side will feel the same. I guarantee that.”
Summer realized for the first time just how much Sebastian cared about her, she wished he could have been her father. He cared like one. And maybe in time, she would be worthy of being his daughter he always wanted.
Chapter 12
Gabriel was not at all forthcoming on what he had been doing. Sebastian knew it was something that would not be acceptable towards what they were trying to accomplish, once it was out in the open. There was little he could do about it. Gabriel worked for himself, not anyone else. He worked for money and protection, keeping off the radar. Even if that meant he had to do things he wasn’t a fan of. That was how he was; who he was.
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