12. Sebastian

12

Sebastian

I t had been a long week and Sebastian was glad to have a chance to relax Saturday night. He hung out with Rory, Anthony, and a few of the other Griffins at Howlers'. They were talking about the upcoming ride when Anthony grinned.

"Don't look now, but your favorite person in the world just showed up."

Sebastian groaned but didn't turn around. "Please don't tell me that she's here."

"I won't tell you, but you're about to find out anyway."

Sallie was wearing her usual outfit of a midriff halter top that barely had enough fabric to cover her nipples and micro denim shorts. They were so short that her butt hung out of them. Sebastian had no idea how she found it comfortable to ride like that.

She sidled over and plopped down in Sebastian's lap, wrapping her arms around his neck. Sallie licked and bit his neck. He stood up, dumping her on the floor.

"Knock it off. I already told you that I'm not interested."

Sallie quickly jumped up and pressed up against him.

"You've had a lot to drink. You need to go home and sleep it off," Sebastian said.

"I know that you want me. I felt your dick move while I sat on your lap," she purred, reaching between his legs.

He swatted her hand away. Sebastian bit his tongue to keep from blurting out the mean comment that what she felt was his dick shriveling up, trying to get away from her. He chose to ignore her comment.

"Sallie, go home before you embarrass yourself even more."

She pouted and looked at him for a long minute as though she was trying to figure out her next move. Deciding that tonight was not her night, she ran her hand down his arm and left.

He sat back down and finished his beer with one swallow, then ordered another.

"Something needs to be done about her," Anthony said.

"Yeah, but what? I've already talked to her brother. He said she was out of control. It's not like he can whoop her butt and ground her to her room," Sebastian said.

"She might figure things out eventually," Rory said.

"Probably not. I might have to get you to issue a restraining order," Sebastian joked. "She's not to come within fifteen hundred feet of me, especially without being fully clothed."

"I think it's a little sad," one of the female Griffins said. "She is obviously lonely and is fixated on Sebastian. She doesn't have the self-respect to find a man without using her sexuality."

"You could set her up on a date," Anthony suggested. "Maybe take her shopping and coach her on how to get dressed before going out."

"I might just do that," she said. "I could film it and call it the Biker Make-Over Show, starring me."

Everyone laughed and Sebastian finally relaxed. After a huge steak and another beer, he decided to call it a night. It really had been a long week and he was tired.

Even though he didn't set his alarm for the next morning, his eyes popped open at six and he was wide awake. He told himself that he could go back to sleep and get a few more hours, but he didn't listen to himself.

Growling, he got up, made breakfast, swilled coffee, and went to the mountain for a run. It wasn't the same without Talia. He enjoyed running with her. It was almost as though they belonged together.

He shook his head to get rid of that thought. However, he still couldn't help but think about the fact that she used to have a crush on him and she gave her virginity to him. Did she sense something then that he missed or refused to see? She was six years older now and obviously still had some type of feelings for him.

Sebastian felt conflicted. On one hand, he didn't want to take advantage of her, especially if what she felt for him was simply an extension of a young girl's crush. On the other hand, she was a twenty-four-year-old woman – not a little girl. He was four years older than her, which wasn't that much.

Talia is a smart woman with common sense and is quite capable of making grown-up decisions for herself. Stop overthinking things and just see where things go.

Still not satisfied, he finished his run, went home to shower, and completed some paperwork. When he felt like his eyes would explode out of his head if he stared at his computer a second longer, he headed out to the Griffins' clubhouse. He might be safe from Sallie there. There were only a few people there, but he managed to stay occupied with a couple games of pool and darts. He thought about leaving so he could greet Talia when she got home but thought that would be a little too much like stalking.

Sebastian left for the office before Talia did. He spent the day running down the names of the guards at the compound and following money trails. Before they went in, he wanted to know every tiny little bit of information possible. He didn't like surprises.

Rory sent over additional information to be traced as well. He had the street names of other dealers, as well as their suppliers. He created a diagram of all the known players so far that looked like a complicated spider web. Sebastian sent two of his employees to track down and have a friendly chat with the suppliers, trying to determine whether Kenneth was the head guy or if he was just higher up on the food chain.

That evening Rory buzzed his phone. "I have a lead that sounds promising. He says that he has physical proof of who the head honcho is. However, the man insisted that he was terrified and would only meet you at ten by the river. You have to go alone."

"That sounds a little suspicious, don't you think?"

"Yep. I'll leave it up to whether you want to go. If you do, I strongly suggest that you take some backup."

"How promising is this lead?"

Rory sighed. "It sounds good, but then the poisoned apple that the wicked witch gave Snow White was beautiful."

"I'm not sure what you said makes sense, but I get what you're trying to say." Sebastian laughed.

"It's what happens when you have a daughter who wants to be a fairy princess and a ninja warrior all at the same time. Cat is the living embodiment of a mixed metaphor."

"Where at by the river?" Sebastian asked.

Rory gave him the location and Sebastian said he would go.

"Be careful, Little Brother."

"You know it."

Sebastian called Anthony and Julian into his office and told him about the plan.

"It sounds like a trap," Anthony commented.

"It probably is, but it still might get us useful information. If we can capture them alive, then they might be able to tell us something we don't know," Sebastian said, looking pointedly at Julian.

"What I'm hearing is that you don't want me to pick them up and drop them in the river or set them on fire," Julian said.

"That is what you are hearing," Sebastian said.

"My guess is that they are expendable people who don't really know much and have been sent out on a suicide mission," Anthony said.

Sebastian nodded. "Likely so, but you never know."

Ten rolled around. Anthony and Julian took their places, and Sebastian approached the lone man standing in the moonlight. He didn't see anyone else, but that didn't mean they weren't hiding in the trees.

"Dimitri?"

"Yeah."

"Rory sent me. You have some information for me?"

"I do. The boss wants you to stay out of his affairs. People who don't mind their own business tend to get hurt."

"Is that so? Tell your boss it's too late for that and he's going down."

"I don't think so," a voice from behind Sebastian said.

Sebastian stepped next to Dimitri and turned around, so his back wasn't to the supposed informant.

Five men stood in a half circle in front of him. The one in the middle, who was holding a gun, said, "We didn't think that you would actually fall for this. We knew that Rory would send you, the almighty Sebastian. Just think, of all the people in the world, we get to be the ones to bring you down."

Sebastian smiled and said, "You think so?"

"Yeah." He raised his gun, pointed it at Sebastian, and fired.

Sebastian ducked right before the man pulled the trigger. At the same time, a large wolf exploded out of the darkness and pounced on the shooter from behind. The other four men scrambled for their weapons. Julian appeared out of the darkness, blowing fire on the two closest ones, while picking up the other two in his claws.

Sebastian shifted, ripping through his clothes, and pounced on Dimitri. He slashed Dimitri's face and chest with his large claws, and the informant lay still on the ground. He was still breathing.

Screaming could be heard from the darkness. Sebastian shifted back and used zip ties on Dimitri. Anthony had subdued the shooter and had zip ties on him as well. He was screaming that he was going to go to the press about freaks.

The two burned men were alive but moaning on the ground. Julian flew back into the area still holding the two men and dropped them, not too gently, on the ground. The three men quickly dressed with the spare clothes they brought, and then called the authorities.

"They are freaks. They turned into animals and attacked us," the shooter screamed. "Everyone will tell you."

Sheriff Alex Greene grinned. "It sounds to me like he needs to be put into the mental hospital."

"That's about right," Sebastian said. "Or you can hold him for twenty-four hours and then put him back on the street with the word that he fully cooperated and will be given immunity for his information."

"I like that idea," the sheriff said.

Sebastian grinned as the six men were read their rights. Four of them were taken to the police station and two of them were hauled off to the hospital. They would likely survive the burns.

"Hopefully, the sheriff will get something useful from them," Julian said. "I'm really sick of people who get rich from hurting others."

"I'm with you, Brother," Sebastian said. "Now, though, all I really care about is a shower and bed."

He actually managed to for in a couple of hours it was the next morning. Sebastian smiled when he saw that he had a text message from Talia.

I was thinking about you and wondered if you had time to go for a run this afternoon after I get out of school. Then, I'll make dinner and we can hang out.

He felt like a teenaged schoolboy when a thrill ran through him at the thought of hanging out with her.

That sounds great. See you tonight.