Page 81 of Vexatious Queen

“Whatever you were planning on doing with them. If you do, I can promise that if there is any part of you that loves and still wants Ivy, that it will never happen. And I will not be put in the position of lying to her about this,” I said.

“Oh, I see. You won’t lie to Ivy, but you’ll lie to me about who your father is for months,” he said.

“That’s not remotely the same. And those girls inside are more than friends.”

I pointed at the door.

“Don’t insult us both by pretending otherwise. And I only just found out the truth about my father. I’m still trying to process.”

“So, in the meantime, you continue lying to my father, who thinks you’re his.” His voice rose. “And I’m the manipulative one? That’s rich.”

“Your father isn’t exactly innocent, no matter what you want to think.”

I held up my hands.

“I’m not here to fight with you, Sabastian. I just wanted to come and explain why I hadn’t said anything, but clearly you’ve already made up your mind, and…” I glanced at the door. “Moved on.”

I walked away, but only got two strides before he grabbed my arm.

“What?”

He sighed. “I’m not having sex with them. I swear. We were assigned to a group project together. My roommate will be back in twenty minutes.”

“Then why be so cagey? Why not just say that?”

He rubbed the back of his neck.

“Cause I was annoyed with you, and…”

“Wanted to be an asshole. Got it,” I said, rolling my eyes.

Sabastian winced.

“Look, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about my dad. But you don’t want to believe anything negative about yours, so it’s hard to talk to you.”

Sabastian leaned against the wall, the hallway’s dim overhead lights catching the blond in his hair.

“If I wanted to know more, would you tell me?”

“If I can, yes. There’s a lot I’m still trying to piece together. But your father and Lawrence being best buddies should’ve been a red flag.”

He looked down at his feet, and for just a moment, he reminded me of the little boy I knew when I was younger.

“Do you blame me for Ella’s death?”

“Did you know where Lawrence was hiding out?”

Sabastian’s head snapped up.

“No. I swear. When he visited, I never heard anything but normal business talk. Sometimes they went to the cigar lounge, but I wasn’t invited. Did I know Lawrence was dangerous? Yes. But not…that insane. I had no idea about the shit at Volatile or with the O’Briens.”

Sucking in a deep breath, my eyes wandered over his face, and there was nothing that screamed liar. That gave me a little bit of comfort. Thinking that my stepbrother didn’t care what happened to the O’Briens, Neil, or even Mya hadn’t been sitting well.

“You believe me, don’t you?”

“I do. But I also think you could’ve asked questions if you wanted to. But let’s be honest, you didn’t want to help Nash, and you didn’t think that it would come to this.”

He swallowed hard. “Okay…yeah. I haven’t slept much thinking about that.”