Rose In Bloom (11 page)

“I’m certain him being in jail hasn’t been easy on you, Mr. Larson.”

“No, it certainly hasn’t.” he says, taking another long sip. “Brandon is a world-class fuck up, that is for damn sure, but no son of mine belongs behind bars. It is why I had it taken care of.”

“Had what taken care of?” I ask, now more curious to what his hidden meaning is.

“Brandon was released yesterday from prison. It seems my son’s arrest wasn’t handled properly. I have no doubt my son got a little too rough with that stripper girl, but come on! I hardly think it was headed towards rape. Thorne showed up and she got scared of getting caught. I know how these things work. Hopefully, my son has learned his lesson and will move on from the bitch.”

Don’t fucking call her that! As far as Brandon goes, he’d better stay the fuck away from her or I will cut his dick off and feed it to him.

“What about your son? If we are doing this, he can’t be a part of it. It is way too risky to involve him. I’m sure you don’t want to risk him being put back behind bars,” I say, trying to control my voice. The truth is that I want him as far away as possible from Skylar.

“Brandon won’t be an issue. I can more than assure you of that, Mr. Drake.”

“I’m glad to hear that then. I will make all of this disappear if you help me bring him down. In the process, you will pretty much be handed Thorne Enterprises on a silver platter for the taking. What do you say, Mr. Larson? Do we have a deal?”

“Tell me, though, Mr. Drake, what exactly do you have to gain from this? In the end, you will walk away with nothing.”

“No, Mr. Larson, I plan on walking away with everything,” I say, standing to shake his hand.

“I’ll be in touch.”

Sebastian

After Skylar and her sister had left the bar, I ended up staying until almost 3 am trying to console a heartbroken Nik. After Kylie had left with that guy, he was beside himself with grief. The girl he had kissed to get back at Kylie had ended up hanging on him most of the night. He’d kept pushing her away until she’d finally left with another guy from the bar.

“Go get some sleep, man,” I say. Keeping a tight hold around his torso, I use my free hand to open his bungalow door. This walk over here has already exhausted me and I plan on kicking his ass for getting this wasted. Looking over at Kylie’s place, he stares at the light that is still on.

“She’s probably in there fucking him right now,” he says, dropping his head. I’ve never seen him like this before. Regardless of being drunk, Nik is always fun, never letting a girl get the best of him. But Kylie Reynolds got the best of him, the minute he eyed her in the club almost a year ago and his world hasn’t been the same since.

“You don’t know that,” I say, trying to push him on in the door. Maybe if he sleeps the alcohol off, he’ll be all right for the wedding tomorrow afternoon. Well, let’s put it this way, he better or I will seriously kill him.

“All I want is for things to go back to like they were,” he says sadly.

“Talk to her then. Tell her how you feel.”

“I’ve tried to, but every single time I open my mouth to fix things, I fuck things up and make it worse.”

“You know, all you have to do is walk across from your front porch and talk to her.”

He stumbles as I help him over to the bed. When I release his arm, he collapses back against the pillows. Nik covers his face with his hands and lets out a loud frustrated groan.

“And what if she is with that guy? I don’t think I can handle it. I’ll end up losing my shit and killing him.”

I throw the blanket back over him and sit the trashcan beside him, just in case he starts puking.

“Sleep it off, dude. I’ll check on you in the morning.”

“Yeah, whatever. But it better not be fucking early!” Rolling over, he grabs the pillow beside him and covers his head with it.

I roll my eyes up at his stupidity and let myself out. The night air hits me and I smile. This time tomorrow, Skylar will be my wife.
Forever
. Heading in the direction of our nearby bungalow, I see it is completely dark inside. Quietly, I let myself in, careful not to wake her.

Pulling my shirt over my head, I toss it over the nearby chair and step out of my sandals. I walk across the large space towards where our bedroom is in the far back. As I approach our bed, I almost gasp at the magnificent sight in front of me. The bright moonlight shines down on her beautiful face, making her glow like a vision from heaven itself. I literally feel the breath being knocked out of my chest. Her long dark waves look even darker against the bright white silk sheets. Unable to move, I can’t help but stand here and admire her. Her legs are tangled in the sheets with one completely exposed. She’s lying on her side with one hand under her pillow and the other resting on her stomach.

My heart pulls for a moment when I think about the fact I’d almost lost her to Lucas. I don’t know how I would have gone on, knowing she chose to have a life and family with someone else. I don’t know why I hate Lucas so much. Well, other than for obvious reasons, of course. But I think I hate him because I know deep down he deserves Skylar, where I know I don’t. Whether or not I deserve her, I can’t live without her. Even through everything, she had chosen me. I will never let a moment in my life pass by, without her knowing just how grateful I am to her for giving me this chance.

Unfastening my belt, I allow the shorts to drop beside the bed. Lifting up the covers, I slide in behind her and kiss the back of her bare shoulder.

“Sebastian,” she whispers and I melt. God, if she only knew what it does to me when she says my name like that.

“Shh. Go back to sleep baby.” I urge, pulling her tighter to me and lacing my hand through hers. Closing my eyes, I silently pray that I can make tomorrow one of the best days of her life.

I’m in an old building. Where am I?

“Help me! PLEASE, someone help me!” I hear Skylar screaming, but I can’t find her. Her cries grow even louder and more terrifying.

“PLEASE! Sebastian!”

“I am coming, baby! Where are you? SKYLAR!”

Every room I run in ends up being empty.

“SEBASTIAN!”

My chest is killing me. I can’t breathe. Then I see her, lying on the floor in a pool of blood. Her clothes are ripped, her face bruised. She isn’t moving. Oh God, why isn’t she moving? Brandon’s face appears from the shadows, wiping a blade with the hem of his shirt. A sick, perverted look is plastered on his face as he adjusts his pants.

“SKYLAR!” I scream and run to her, but my attention turns to a gun in his hand. The same gun pointed at her body.

An evil laugh erupts from his mouth, causing his body to shake. The laugh grows louder and louder. The click of the gun engaging sends terror through my body.

His eyes settle back on her, his aim dead on.

“NOOOOOOOO!” I beg, running to her. The gunshot deafens me as I watch her body jolt from the contact of the bullet.

It is over. I have lost her.

“NOOOOOO!” I scream, bolting up in the bed. Blinking open my eyes, I see that it is morning. My chest frantically heaves as I try to bring myself back to reality. The bathroom door flies open and a panicked, frantic Skylar comes running into the room.

It is just a dream. She is safe. Everything is all right.

“Sebastian! Are you all right?” Her face is full of concern and terror.

I can’t tell her about this right now. I won’t ruin our wedding day.

“Baby, talk to me,” she urges, coming around to my side of the bed. Turning my body to face her, she climbs into my lap and wraps her arms around my neck.

“It was just a bad dream. Everything is fine. I promise.”

She is completely unconvinced.

“Baby, you promised me, remember? Let me in.”

“It was seriously one of those dreams where someone was playing a cruel joke on me. I’m fine. I promise.”

“Sebas-“

I cut her off, which makes her frown in anger. She stands and places her hands on her hips.

“You look awfully fucking hot when you’re mad, Ms. Rose. Or should I start calling you Mrs. Thorne?”

“Hmm… I don’t know. I’ve been thinking about not changing my name at all now.” The huge smirk on her face tells me she is completely joking, but the arrogant bastard inside me doesn’t take the joke well. She’d better take my damn name. I want the world to know she is officially mine.

“Oh really?” I tease.

“Yes, really,” she returns.

Wrapping my arms around her waist, I bury my head in her chest and pull her closer. She steps between my legs and takes my hair in her hands.

Her soft touch is all I need to calm my racing fears and silence the demons raging inside of me. It returns the lost breath in my body, the paused beat of my heart. In just that one touch, she holds both the power to heal me and destroy me. I surrender to her. She owns every part of me. She is my lifeline… she is my soul. Skylar Rose is my everything, my forever.

Grabbing her firm ass in my hands, I push her closer into my hardness. She climbs up on the bed, placing one leg on each side to straddle me. I look up into her eyes and become lost in their clear vibrant turquoise color. As much as I want to lose myself in her right now, I know this is going to be a big day today. Grabbing both of her hips, I carefully roll her to her back. Her sweet laughter is enough to melt any man’s heart.

Taking her hands, I pin them above her head using only one of my hands.

“Hey! No fair! You had me distracted! I could have totally taken you on this one.” She tries to pretend she is strong enough to overtake me, but she isn’t.

Laughing, I move in closer to her face, my eyes zoned in on tasting those luscious plump lips.

“Un huh. Not until the wedding,” she teases and I bypass her lips and bite straight onto her neck.

“Mess with me too much and you’re going to be wearing a hickey the size of Texas on your neck,” I tease, before releasing her.

Pretending that I’m going to chase her, I jump forward. Skylar shrills and scampers off to the bathroom.

Minutes later, she opens the bathroom door, sticking out her long leg into view. I watch her slide her panties down her leg and then hold them out the opening of the door. If she is trying to taunt me, it’s more than effective. She spins them with her fingers a few times before throwing them out in my direction. The door locks behind her and I growl when I reach down to pick them up. Bringing them up to my nose, I am debating on tearing the damn door down to get to her.

Goddamn, it should be illegal to smell this fucking good.

Once I hear the shower running, I walk over and retrieve my phone from my shorts pocket. I need to make sure everything is going as planned. Absolutely nothing can go wrong today.

I have just hung up my phone when her phone begins ringing. Thinking it must be Kylie or her sister, I pick it up off the dresser to answer it. When I glance down and see Lucas’ name at the top, I see nothing but fucking red. Angrily, I clutch the frame of the phone so tight that the case snaps. Part of me wants to answer it, but I refuse to let him ruin this day for us. I hit reject on the phone and turn it off. The bathroom door opens and Skylar smiles at me as she secures the towel around her body. Discreetly, I slip her phone in my shorts pocket. Kissing her on the forehead, I grab my bag. All my stuff for the wedding is thankfully over at Nik’s bungalow, since that is where he and I will be getting ready.

“I know the girls will be here soon, so I’m going to go check on Nik.”

She secures her arms around my neck and smiles. “I love you so much, Sebastian Thorne. I can’t wait to become your wife.”

Cupping her face in my palms, I return a smile to her. “And I can’t wait to call you my old lady,” I tease, earning me a cute smirk and hard smack on my chest.

“Oh, you! GET OUT,” she yells, waving her hands to shoo me towards the door.

Chuckling, I turn to walk out, savoring her laughter in the background.

I meet a beaming Nik carrying his shoes and shirt in his hands as he walks away from Kylie’s bungalow.

“I take it things went well in there.” I joke, nodding towards where he had just come.

“Yep, had to straighten my woman out.” He winks, slapping my shoulder.