Page 18 of The Predator
SEBASTIAN
Elyse stares at me with something akin to horror. Tears slip down her cheeks again, and each sob makes my heart clench tighter in my chest. “I won’t marry a murderer. I won’t. I don’t want you. I don’t want this. I want to be free. I want to leave. Just let me go. You don’t owe me anything. I don’t want your protection.”
Something twitches in my jaw as I try to keep my tone even. The words pour out before I can stop them. "Not that I need to remind you, Little Prey, but you have no room to pass judgment. Looks like murder is the common denominator between us.”
It’s a low blow, but it’s all I have in my arsenal. That, and she truly doesn’t have any room to judge me. Not when she doesn’t know the truth.
I shove the reminder of that night and the blood on my hands to the back of my mind.
“I don’t care. I won’t marry you!” She thrashes around, and I tighten my hold on her once again, my muscles burning with the effort. My patience slips further and further away with every second that passes. I’ll never get her back to the Mill in this state.
I bite back a growl and shake my head. I hate to do it but I don’t have any other options. Keeping her calm and safe is allthat matters. I’ll deal with the repercussions of my actions later. If she grows to hate me after we’re married then so be it; at least I won’t carry the weight of her death on my shoulders.
Turning, I yell for Lee out the window. "Where's your stash?"
He grins back at me from the front of the car. “Around. What do you need? Uppers, downers, something for a good time?"
Lee and his fucking jokes.I glare at him, letting him know I’m not fucking around.
He gets the point and rolls his eyes. “You’re such a cock block, Sebastian. Always brooding, always serious.”
“Don’t do this. You don’t want to marry me.” Elyse says, trembling in my arms, her face a mask of exhaustion and fear. She’s pleading with me to leave her to the wolves, and I can’t. I tried once, when I took her to London, and it didn’t work out. I won’t ever do it again.
I spare her a look. “I do, though. I’ve never wanted anything more in my life.”
Lee walks over to the window, reaches into his pocket, and pulls out a small plastic bag. Without saying a word, he presses a pill into my hand. I bring my hand up to a bit of light, open my palm, and peer down at the little white pill. There’s no lettering on it, nothing to help me identify what it might be.
“What is it?”
"The solution to your problem." He winks playfully.
“I’m serious, Lee.” I growl. “What is it? I don’t want to give her something that might make things worse.”
“Relax. It’s just a Xanax. It’ll calm her down, make her compliant.”
I don’t want to drug her, but I also can’t hold her in place for hours waiting for her to calm down, and once we get back to The Mill and start the paperwork things will get worse.
"Perfect. I’m going to need your car to get us back to The Mill. Text Aries and tell him to get there asap, because we have officialMill business. That should be a good enough excuse to get him out of whatever the hell it is he’s doing with his father.”
“Yes, sir.” Lee smirks, with a mock salute, and then hands me the keys to his Jeep. Easing my grasp on Elyse, I tug the keys to my Porsche from my pocket and pass them to him. His gaze examines me from the inside out. “What’s the plan?”
“Aries will marry us as soon as he gets to the Mill. With my last name, her father won't be able to touch her.”
His expression sobers. “Are you sure this is what you want to do? Marriage is commitment.”
That’s a loaded question.Am I sure?No. I’d love to do things the right way with Elyse, to give her what she really deserves—time, and room for love to grow—but that’s not the option we’ve been given.
“If I could do it differently I would, but I can’t.”
He nods, and I know he understands. Life is nothing more than trial and error. Things don’t always work out the way you hope, but I have to believe they work out the way they’re supposed to. That’s the way it is.
Turning my attention back to Elyse, I ready myself for a fight and pinch the pill between my fingers. She’s staring down at her hands, a haunted expression on her face.
Does she see blood on her hands? Does she feel guilt?
I hate knowing she went through all of this alone, that she was forced to protect herself when it was my fucking job. My self-flagellation won’t ease her pain, though, or make her forget what she did. I can’t change the past, only the future, and that’s what I plan to do. Ensure her safety for as long as she is breathing. It’s going to be a while before she makes peace with what she had to do, but eventually she’ll be okay.
"I know you’re afraid of what’s going to happen next, but you don’t have to be. You’re not alone. I’m right here. I’ll protect you.”