20. Sebastian

20

Sebastian

S ebastian wrapped his arms around Talia and pulled her close to him. It felt good to hold her. It felt right.

"You're pretty incredible, you know that?" he said, kissing the top of her head as she nestled against him.

Talia made a purring sound and said, "Thanks. You're pretty awesome, too."

"I don't think I've ever felt this relaxed," Sebastian said. "Better than the massaging chairs they rent in the malls."

"Glad I could be of service," Talia teased. "I feel pretty good, too."

"I did my best to make that happen," he said.

"I'll give you an eight out of ten. Next time, you can throw in a back massage. Maybe rub my feet and my temples."

"You think?"

Talia giggled. "I do have very high standards, you know."

Sebastian chuckled. "High standards, huh. I guess I'll have to up my game next time. Massages, waving a large leaf over you to cool you off, and feeding you chocolate covered strawberries while you take a bubble bath."

"Ooh, that sounds like a date."

They fell into a comfortable silence and then Sebastian said, "Let's change the sheets so we can get some sleep."

"Who wants to sleep?" she asked.

She moved on top of him, kissing his chest, and tracing kisses on his jawline. He wrapped his arms around her and they made slow sensual love, both reaching their peak at the same time.

Talia collapsed on top of him. When they both caught their breaths, she said, "Now we can change the sheets."

They quickly cleaned up and she used a new toothbrush before they fell back into bed together. Once again, he pulled her close to him.

"I love…" She started to say. "I love spending time with you."

"Me, too," he said, wondering if that's what she originally started to say.

She soon fell asleep and was snoring softly in his arms. He smiled and realized that he had fallen in love with her. A warmth flowed through him and surrounded them, as though they were in a cocoon.

"She is my fated mate," he whispered into the darkness. "Who would have guessed that the awkward little girl from my past would come to be my world?"

He fell asleep comfortable with the knowledge that she felt the same.

Talia was up early and made breakfast. She told him that she had to stay late after school for professional development, and kissed him briefly before flying over to her house to get ready for work.

He wanted to tell her that he loved her, but he wanted to wait until they could actually sit down and talk about what that meant for their future.

The next couple of days were exceedingly busy for Sebastian. He and Talia texted, but they didn't have a chance to actually see each other. Still getting used to the idea that he found his fated mate, he was bemused by how much he actually missed her.

Julian and his team managed to capture Kenneth, and the feds took custody of him. He started singing like a robin. Meanwhile, Sebastian's guys tracked down the rest of the men on Rory's list. It didn't take too much persuasion for them to turn state's evidence and give up the top dog.

Sebastian was surprised. He looked more like a low-level businessman than the deadly boss of a gang. Lewis Rhodes was extremely short and stood only five feet, four inches tall. He was extremely thin and wore large, wire-framed glasses. His gray suit was very ill fitting. Lewis sported a very bad combover.

He stared at the man in the interrogation room. "This is the man that twenty some odd people were terrified of?" he asked incredulously.

"Yes," Sonia said. "He rose up through the ranks. His appearance made him seem very benign when, in fact, he was a highly effective assassin. No one saw it coming. By the time he became head of the organization, his reputation had people shaking in their boots. No one would eat with him, ride in a car with him, and everyone refused to cross him."

Sebastian rubbed his chin. "How are you going to make the charges stick?" Sebastian asked. "He'll end up being like the Teflon Don and get away with all of his crimes because people are too terrified to testify."

"John Gotti, he's not," Rory assured Sebastian. "My client and a few others will get immunity for testifying against Lewis and Kenneth. A couple of the other mid-level players are also testifying. They will all be relocated to other states with new identities. Lewis and Kenneth will be going to prison."

Lewis refused to say anything to Sonia and asked for a lawyer. He looked at the two-way mirror and called out, "Rory Garner. I know you're back there. I'll pay you handsomely to represent me. You're the best in the state."

Sebastian looked at Rory, grinned, and raised his eyebrows.

Rory shook his head and smiled back. "There's no way. I have boundaries and morals."

About an hour later, Sebastian's phone rang. "I have a problem. Savvy called, frantic. She said that a couple guys approached her and the kids. One of them said that if I didn't help Lewis out, they would pay the price. She stunned them with a spell and managed to get the kids in the house. Colby called the police. She broke the spell right before the cops showed up, but they weren't talking. I confronted Lewis and he said there would be others, unless I helped him."

"We'll be over," he said.

Sebastian, Anthony, Jordan, and Lacey took turns guarding Savvy and the kids, with Colby's help. Colby, Amy, and Rosa were bear shifters and loved Savvy and the kids as much as they would if they were their own children.

While Jordan and Lacey were on duty, Sebastian researched Lewis. "Bingo," he yelled and picked up his phone. "Rory, Lewis has a wife and three young kids. I have an idea. Can you arrange for us to talk to Lewis this evening?"

Rory said he could and several minutes later texted Sebastian. Six tonight, at the jail.

Lewis didn't look any tougher in his orange jumpsuit. He actually looked like a child who had been beaten. Sebastian wasn't fooled by his looks. Word from the chief was that the other inmates were terrified of him and didn't associate with him at all. Lewis was kept in a cell by himself to make sure that he didn't hurt anyone.

"How's Savvy and the kids?" Lewis asked Rory, smirking.

"About the same as Jean and your three kids," Sebastian said, steepling his fingers.

Lewis tried to hide his reaction, but the slight jerk and paled face gave him away. He stared defiantly at Sebastian and didn't say anything.

"Here's the deal," Sebastian said. "You stay away from Rory's family, and I stay away from yours."

He sneered and said, "What? You're going to turn into a bad guy and go after an innocent woman and children?"

"Innocent, my ass." Sebastian chuckled. "There are several charges your wife could spend a lot of time in prison for. I'm very good at what I do. Right now, she can go to prison for aiding and abetting a known criminal who is involved in drugs, human trafficking, gambling, and a number of other crimes. She can also be implicated in those crimes as the two women who take care of your house were not making minimum wage. They've already told the prosecutor that they were abused, not given any time off, and forced to work long hours with minimum food or pay. Your wife goes to prison and your kids get farmed out in the system. Actually, they might be better off away from your and Jean's influence."

"You're blackmailing me?" Lewis asked incredulously.

Sebastian leaned back in his chair and grinned. "Call it what you want. However, charges for Jean's past transgressions might be dropped if you call off your dogs permanently and leave my family alone." He leaned in close to Lewis and said in a low, deadly voice, "If not, I will dig up every charge I can nail on her from human trafficking and slavery to jaywalking, and I will bury her under the prison."

He leaned back again and waited for Lewis' response.

"Fine. Done. Just leave them alone," he said.

"You'd better make it happen because if there is so much as a foreign footprint around Rory's property, your wife will pay the price."

With that, Sebastian and Rory left the room, leaving Lewis shackled to the table. Thirty minutes later, the chief called Sebastian and said Lewis had made a series of phone calls ordering everyone to stand down.

Sebastian smiled with satisfaction. Finally, the situation was taken care of and he could breathe. He was about to head home when his phone buzzed, letting him know he had a text.

Going to bed and wanted to say goodnight. If you're free tomorrow night, I'll make dinner and we can watch a movie.

He texted back, Sounds great. What time?

I have a meeting after school with a parent, so maybe about seven?

His fingers moved quickly over the letters. I'll be there.

The next day seemed to take forever. He figured that he earned a day off, so he went for a run in the morning. Sebastian decided that he was going to tell her how much he loved her and ask her to go through the mating ceremony with him. He mowed the grass and did chores he'd neglected as he waited impatiently for seven to roll around.

During dinner, she told him about her day and he told her a little about the case he had helped wrap up, although he couldn't tell her all the grisly details. He helped her clean up after dinner, and they snuggled on the couch together to watch one of the John Wick movies.

He shook his head when he discovered she was asleep. Their discussion would have to wait.

Sebastian gently caressed her face. "Talia. Honey."

Her eyes fluttered open and then she sat up quickly, shocked. "I'm so sorry. I can't believe I did that."

"It's understandable. I'm going to head home and let you get some rest," he said.

He hugged her and brushed a kiss across her lips, before heading home. Their conversation would have to wait for another day.