“My father supports many causes.” He drank from his glass and met my eyes. “Perhaps the school is one of them.”
It was all I could do not to reach across the table and smack the bastard. “Your father supports causes that benefit him. This wasn’t for charity, Sebastian.”
He set his glass down. “I thought the purpose of this meeting was to discuss Fonthill.”
“You’re right.” I nodded. “Was Fonthill the one who shot my parents?” He started to balk, but I held up a finger before he could reply. “I’m not finished. See, before my parents were murdered, my sister attended Brightwood Academy for Gifted Children. I always thought it meant academically gifted students, but it’s actually geared toward students who show psychic gifts, isn’t that right?”
He opened his hands like he had nothing to hide. “You know more about this place than I do.”
I yanked my napkin out of my lap and threw it at him as I got out. “Screw you, Sebastian. Your lies are all the answers I need.”
He caught my wrist as I started to leave, and my eyes narrowed. “Let. Me. Go.”
He kept his voice low, but his tone was clear. “Sit down or you get nothing.”
I glared at him for a moment, and part of me wanted to keep right on walking, but the temptation of finally getting answers to my parents’ deaths was too strong.
I slid back into my side of the booth.
He wet his lips and leaned in closer to me. “Nero does have an interest in Brightwood Academy. My father keeps spies in place to report to him on possible candidates for future projects. I am not privy to all of his decisions.” His eyes locked on mine. “I don’t know if he gave Fonthill the order to kill your parents.”
“Was he looking for my sister when he sent you to seduce me?”
Sebastian rubbed his forehead. “I have told you before that I wasn’t sent to seduce you. Your witness was my target.”
“What if you’re wrong?” Instinctively I reached to touch his hand but recoiled my fingers when I realized what I was doing. Sebastian glanced at my hand and then back up to my eyes.
Anger bubbled up inside of me. This was a man I could never trust. Not fully. “I understand Severino is your father, but on some level you must know you’re still a pawn to him. My witness was supposed to testify against a company bringing in prescription drugs from Canada illegally. Does that sound like something Nero would be interested in? He could have given you that assassination assignment because he suspected I might be Nadya’s sister.”
His brow furrowed. “If you had a sister from Brightwood Academy that interested Nero, my father would have just taken her.”
“That’s what I’m saying Sebastian.” I rested my elbow on the table pressing my fingers to my temple. “Maybe that’s why he had Fonthill kill my parents. Severino thought he would be able to step in and take my sister. He could pose as a long-lost uncle or something.” I straightened in my seat. “He may have already had the false documents prepared before he ordered the hit. I took my mother’s maiden name when I joined the police force, so there’s a good chance Severino had no idea Nadya had an older sister. After I got word about the shooting, I went to Nadya’s school and took her away. We moved and enrolled her someplace else. I was trying to hide her from the killer.”
“And you believe my father found her again and sent me to you?”
“I believe there are no coincidences when Severino is involved.” I sighed. “I’m looking for answers, Sebastian, not more questions.”
His eyes searched mine, and I wished I had Nadya’s ability. Could she reach across this table, touch him, and somehow sense if he was lying? When things settled down, I’d have to ask her.
He spoke soft and slow. “‘Seeker of truth, follow no path, all paths lead where truth is here.’”
I rolled my eyes. “I don’t have time for your poetry. I should go.”
“I’m trying to tell you that regardless of who pulled that trigger, it won’t change that your parents are gone. That is the truth.”
Emotion churned in my stomach, but I grit my teeth to keep it buried. “If Nero ordered the hit on my parents, then it is highly possible that your father sent you to me with an ulterior motive. I want to know what it was.”
“I’m sorry. I can’t help you.” He set his napkin on the table and reached for the check. “Enjoy your lunch.”
“You owe me an answer, Sebastian. You claimed your feelings for me were real, so prove it.”
He snatched up my hand, bringing my fingers to his lips before I realized what was happening. His nostrils flared as he inhaled the scent of my skin. “Why would I bother to prove myself to you when you’ve already settled for a wolf, Carina?”
His eyes flashed as he released my hand and walked away.
I caught my breath while I watched him pay for the expensive meal neither of us enjoyed. After the door closed behind him, I got up to follow. He spun around when he got to his car, stopping me in my tracks.
“My patience has worn thin. I have a wolf to track.”
I nodded. “I know.” We stared at each other for a moment as I struggled to find words. “Did you bite me to get to my sister?”
Sebastian stared at the sky and shook his head, finally meeting my eyes again. “I already told you—I know nothing of your sister. You were bitten because my father found out I loved you.” His brow creased. “I thought I had kept my secrets, but somehow he’d discovered it. The choice was to make you one of us or leave you behind.”
“You don’t know what love is.”
“Perhaps you’re right.” He slid his hand into his pocket, glancing down at the pavement. “But I have worked at Nero long enough to know that if I left you behind he would have had you killed. You already knew too much.” He shrugged and lifted his gaze to meet mine. “The choice was made.”
I wasn’t sure if I was relieved or if I’d just ripped open a deep wound. “So as far as you know, Severino didn’t connect that Nadya was my sister.”
He shook his head. “As far as I know.” His dark eyes held mine, and he lowered his voice. “He is aware of her now, of course. In Fonthill’s last report he mentioned discovering your sister. He told us he planned to use her to barter for you.”
“I figured as much.” But it still made me sick inside to hear it confirmed. With a sigh, I held my hand out to shake his. “Thank you for answering my questions.”
He stared at my hand and finally took it, pulling me into his arms. I stiffened. I guess he noticed because he let me go. “I would have given you the world,” he whispered.
I stepped back shaking my head. “All I wanted was honesty.”
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Aren
Adam and I walked down the barn aisle in silence. Jason got an emergency call and had to go to the hospital. Gareth went back to his motorcycle shop, and Luke guarded the house while Lana and Nadya gave the twins their baths. Adam stopped in front of the Bruce’s stall. He stroked the bay stallion’s thick neck.
“I’m going to call the Pack together tonight,” he started. “We have to figure out how to stop Fonthill. Lana can’t sleep at night she’s so worried, and keeping the Pack on twenty-four-hour guard duty is making everyone punchy. We need to take action.”
“I’m all for action.” I waited for the other shoe to drop.
“I want you to be there when we plan this. Alone.”
And there it was.
I groaned. “Sasha saved our asses up at the cabin. She’s not our enemy.”
He started to open his mouth when a vehicle groaned in the distance. My body tensed. With our enhanced hearing, I could already tell the engine was too large for a car, but it also didn’t sound like Jared’s truck. And it definitely wasn’t Gareth’s motorcycle.