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I chuckle softly, “Missed me already?”
“I always miss you.” He leans down, his mouth pressing against my temple. “Sorry you had to deal with that.”
“It’s fine. I just didn’t expect her to be here.”
“Trust me, you’re not the only one.”
“You didn’t have to lie, though. You could have gone with her for brunch.”
“Oh, I didn’t lie.” Rubbing at my cheeks, he lets his palms slide down my sides and onto my back, pulling me closer. “We do have plans.”
“Oh, yes? What kind of plans?”
Sebastian’s deep laughter rumbles in the room. “That’s for me to know and you to find out. But first…”
With that, he crouches down, his arms wrapping around my legs as he lifts me up.
“Sebastian!”
“I think we have some unfinished business to tend to.”
* * *
SEBASTIAN
“So, what is this mysterious place you wanted to take me to?” Penelope asks as I wait for her to get out of the car.
My fingers lace through hers as I shut the door.
This.
This is exactly what I needed after the debacle in the kitchen. I wasn’t really surprised to find my mother waiting for me. What surprised me more was that I hadn’t seen her in the car at the airport. There was nothing my mother loved more than control, and I took that away from her when I decided to leave against her advice. If you ask her, I was just devastated by losing a friend. That was it. I didn’t have any other problems that I couldn’t take care of on my own. Her son wasn’t an addict. Was that the reason Dad died? Were people around him choosing to ignore his issues for the greater good of the label and his brand? Or did somebody try to offer him some help, but he was too far gone to accept it?
Did it even matter? He had been gone for years, and there wasn’t anything that I could do to change that. Just like I couldn’t change my mother.
I could feel the tension when I walked into the living room. I didn’t know how long she and Penelope were alone, but I could only pray it wasn’t too long.
At least Penelope didn’t show any signs of running for the hills.
Yet.
There was still tonight’s dinner, though.
Forget about the fucking dinner. Now’s about Birdy.
Penelope’s head is tilted to the side, an old and slightly faded ball cap sitting on top of her head once again. Which is a good thing because the reporters had gathered behind the gate to my house, and I had to drive around in order to ditch them before we could come here. And even that didn’t guarantee they wouldn’t find us eventually, and I wanted peace for what I had in mind.
“Impatient much?” I tease, rubbing my thumb over the crease between her brows.
“Maybe just a little bit,” she lets out a sigh. “Maybe I’m just not good with surprises.”
“You’ll like this surprise.” Letting my hand fall, I take a step back. “C’mon, to the right.”
Penelope extends her white cane, and we start walking toward the building.
“I still don’t get why we couldn’t bring Henry.”
“Because he’d get in the way for what I have in mind. Besides, I don’t want to risk something happening to him or you if we have to flee.”
