Page 93 of Hate To Be Mine

“Yes. Rico was being aggressive. Making me uncomfortable. Sebastian saw that and stepped in.”

“By assaulting him.”

“By protecting me.” I met his eyes. “If anyone was inappropriate last night, it was Rico. Not Sebastian. Some guys are obtuse. They purposely ignore the signals. Sometimes, it takes someone quite literally punching them in the face to get the message. If Sebastian hadn’t punched him, I would have put my knee in his balls.”

Briggs paled.

But I was on a roll. It was my turn to save Sebastian. I could do it with words. “I live in Manhattan. I like to take the subway from time to time. I work late and walk alone. I’ve taken self-defense classes. I know how to take a man to his knees and blind him before throat-punching him. If Sebastian wasn’t there, I would have made sure Rico never used his little mister again.”

I had no idea what came over me. Maybe I was still drunk. Definitely a little drunk. The liquid courage was mingling with the caffeine in the coffee and I was afraid it had created a monster.

Briggs looked like he was choking. He reached for his tie and tugged. “I see.”

I forced a smile.

Briggs made notes on his phone. “The police are interviewing everyone this morning. I’ve already spoken with several crew members who corroborate your account. Rico has a history of this kind of behavior on other productions.”

“So what happens now?”

“I’m working with the Miratoan authorities to resolve this. Hopefully, we can frame it as a misunderstanding. Rico will likely be sent home. Sebastian will probably face a fine. But the production should continue.” He set down his coffee. “I’m sorry this happened. My brother… he wasn’t ready for this level of responsibility.”

The criticism of Sebastian sparked something defensive in me. If Briggs wasn’t careful, he was going to need to protect his family jewels as well. I was feeling a little feisty.

I slapped my hand on the table. Briggs looked up from his phone with surprise.

“Nope. Nuh-uh. You don’t get to say that. That’s not fair. He’s been amazing this past week. The campaign is incredible. Everyone’s been praising his work. He had one bad moment last night, but that shouldn’t overshadow everything he’s accomplished.”

Briggs sat back, studying me with those sharp lawyer eyes. “Is there something going on between you and Sebastian?”

My heart stopped. “What?”

“I think you heard me.”

“Are you asking as his lawyer or as his brother?”

He pursed his lips in thought. “Brother. For now.”

I took a breath. Considered lying. But what was the point? “He’s a surprisingly sweet man. But yes, it was a huge mistake.”

Briggs’s expression didn’t change, but I saw understanding flicker in his eyes. “That seems like the kind of conflict of interest that would get an insurance rep fired.”

“Yes.” I wrapped my hands around my coffee cup. “Like I said, a mistake.”

He nodded slowly. “I see.”

I didn’t know what he thought he saw but asking seemed like the wrong thing to do, so I stayed quiet.

“The campaign will be fine. I’ll make sure of it.” He stood. “If you need anything—anything at all—please let me know. And Ms. Simmons? Thank you for being honest.”

After he left, I sat at the table, staring into my coffee, feeling hollowed out.

Annika emerged from her room, already dressed. “Was that Briggs?”

“Yeah. Doing damage control.”

“I heard about the situation last night.”

I didn’t ask how she heard or what she thought. I just nodded and sipped my coffee, hoping it would keep clearing out the cobwebs the hangover had left in my head.