Stitches

Sebastian drops into his chair and heaves a sigh. I immediately walk around the back, my hands moving to his strong shoulders and kneading. “I’m so happy you’re finally home,” I murmur, before softly kissing my way down his neck.

“Griff’s not here yet, I see,” he remarks. “Have you heard from him?”

“No, not since earlier. You?”

He shakes his head tersely. “He’s avoiding me.”

A ball of dread slowly sinks into my stomach, but I can’t help asking, “You don’t think he’d go back to her, right? I know he doesn’t want to, I know he’s happy with us, but you don’t think he’d let her… blackmail him or anything, right?”

“Is there something she could blackmail him with?” he asks blandly. Too blandly. I think he’s fishing.

“I don’t know,” I answer, since it’s not exactly a lie.

Sebastian is quiet for a minute while I rub his shoulders. Finally, he says, “I’m going to put up a security camera on the front porch. I don’t want you answering the door anymore before you check to see who’s there.”

I nod my head, even though he can’t see me. “That’s probably not a bad idea. I’ve grown to dislike the element of surprise.”

“I need to know what she said to you,” he states.

I fall silent. I know he expects an answer and he knows I’ll give it to him eventually, but my loyalty is torn. Griff asked me not to talk to Sebastian about this until he took care of it, but then he went silent. Does that mean he doesn’t have anything to report back, or is he just waiting until he gets home?

I’m quiet for long enough that my husband speaks a little more firmly, in case I need a reminder of his expectations. “Did you admit to sleeping with him?”

“No,” I say quickly, since at least that much is true. “No, I didn’t. It seemed like she knew anyway, but I never verified.”

He nods. I think I did a good job until he bursts my bubble with a solemn, “It doesn’t matter, then.”

“Did I do something wrong?” I would hate to be responsible for making Griff’s life harder.

“No. That she knew enough to show up on our doorstep is bad enough. The lawyer she hired has been known to play dirty, to send out bait and trap men if he needs to. Doesn’t even need to trap Griff because I already gave him you. Should’ve waited. Didn’t think about his stupid infidelity clause.”

“Infidelity clause?”

“He had a good prenup, but he included this dumb fucking clause as a courtesy to her. If she cheated, she got nothing, so he made it even. If he cheated, it would nullify the prenup and he’d give her half of everything. It seemed safe at the time because he knew he wouldn’t cheat.”

“But he didn’t cheat.”

“I know that,” Sebastian says, patiently. “But now he’s having sex with you, and since you two already had a close relationship prior to the split, the fact that you’re intimate now matters. He’s still not legally divorced, and Ashley is claiming you two had an affair first, and hers was in response. If she can prove he cheated before he can prove she did… we’re both fucked.”

My heart sinks. “You, too? Ashley can hurt you?”

He nods once, his head barely moving as he stares off at nothing. “Yeah. The little whore can fuck me, too, and I never touched her ass.”

My hands still on his shoulders and I move around to take a seat on his knee. “Well, what are we going to do? How badly can she hurt us?”

“I don’t know,” he tells me, settling his hands on my waist and peering up into my face. “I don’t know what Griff is doing right now, but probably making things worse would be my guess.”

“You should call him,” I advise. “You should tell him to come over for dinner. We all need to get on the same page. If they’re trying to say he cheated with me, does that mean I’ll have to talk to the lawyers? Won’t it go away once I tell them our relationship didn’t turn physical until after he and Ashley were already separated? He had already kicked her out before that first night. I asked him.”

Sebastian shakes his head. “I doubt it. Griff had feelings for you long before then; they’ll just think you’re lying. It doesn’t matter though; I’m not going to let anyone talk to you about this. They’ll twist it all up. Twist you all up.” Giving his head another firm shake, he says, “No, that’s not going to happen.”

I lean against him, running my fingers through his soft, dark locks. “So, what do we do?”

He’s pensive, but he still manages a reassuring smile for me. “I’ll figure it out.”

22

Sebastian