Nyssa rolled over in bed, slinging her leg over Sebastian’s naked torso and sighing happily. She didn’t know how long they’d been like this, practically glued together, but she’d loved every second of it so far and she couldn’t imagine ever wanting to stop.
Just then, as if on cue, her phone rang shrilly from where it had fallen, somewhere else in Sebastian’s condo. Nyssa groaned and rolled over again, burying her face in Sebastian’s neck, but the phone just wouldn’t stop. It kept going for a solid minute. “Goddammit!” Nyssa grunted, kicking her feet in annoyance before finally sighing in resignation and getting out of bed.
“Noooo,” Sebastian moaned out, still half-asleep as he reached for Nyssa’s arm to try to keep her in bed.
“I’ll be right back, baby,” she whispered. Nyssa reached down and wrapped her hand around Sebastian’s and brought it to her mouth for a sweet kiss before letting him go and getting up to follow the sounds of her phone into the main den area.
“I’m coming, I’m coming,” she huffed out as she hunted her phone down, finally finding it on the floor just inside the entranceway. “Jesus Christ, what is it, Kimmie? What’s going on?” Nyssa snapped into the phone after answering.
“Nyssa! It’s Katrina! She knows, okay! She knows! I’ve been trying to reach Sebastian all day to warn him, but I can’t find him. Is he okay? Are you okay? Has anything happened?” Kimmie asked in a rush.
“Whoa, whoa, Kimmie, slow down,” Nyssa said. “Take a breath. Maybe a couple of them. Start from the beginning. Tell me what’s wrong.”
“Katrina. Some little bitch heard you talking to me about the pregnancy and told her. She freaked out and called her dad to put a hit on Sebastian!”
Nyssa felt the bottom of her stomach drop out as panic swept through her, but then the next second she shook her head at herself, swallowing the bile that crept up her throat. It’s okay. It’s all okay, she reminded herself. “Okay. Well, so what? Right? It’s like you said earlier. Fuck Katrina. Sebastian will protect me. And he doesn’t need Giustini, either. We’ve figured it all out.”
“That’s just the thing, Nyssa! Katrina figured it out somehow. She knows that Sebastian has a way out of the Giustini business. She knows and she told her dad and he’s coming for both of you! I heard him!”
“Fuck,” Nyssa murmured, slowly walking back to the bedroom. “Okay, Kimmie, you need to get out of there. You need to get out of there as soon as you can, okay, and come here. I’ll text you the address.”
“Okay, okay, just—please—be safe, Nyssa! Please!” Kimmie panted into the phone before hanging up.
“Shit,” Nyssa said out loud to herself before sitting down on the bed to gently shake Sebastian awake. “Baby,” she whispered. “We’ve got trouble.”
She quickly explained the situation to Sebastian, who didn’t look anywhere near as concerned as Nyssa felt, at the very least. “I’ll get some guards over here, twenty-four seven, to make sure that the place is always protected. Will that help you feel safer here?”
Nyssa nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, that sounds good. Thank you, Sebastian.”
“You’re welcome,” he whispered, leaning in to kiss her cheeks.
A few minutes later, a familiar face showed up at the door, sweating furiously as she barged into the apartment the second Nyssa opened the door. “Jesus Christ, water? Can I have some water? I ran all the way here.”
“Yes, of course, come here, I’ll get you some water with ice,” Sebastian said, rushing to help Kimmie find a seat right next to the kitchen.
“Did anyone see you leave, Kimmie?” Nyssa asked, putting a hand on her friend’s shoulder to get her to calm down a little.
All the same, Kimmie kept panting desperately for breath, shaking her head as she wiped her sweaty face on the sleeves of her jacket. “I don’t think so. Everyone was kind of in a rush, you know, trying to avoid Katrina when she’s on the warpath. She’s… out for blood. Blood from both of you. She’s not going to rest until she gets it.”
“Well, then, she’s going to be sorely disappointed,” Sebastian said as he returned with a tall glass of water for Kimmie. “Here you go. Drink up.”
“Thanks,” Kimmie said. “Sebastian, can I ask you an honest question?”
“Shoot,” Sebastian said, going up to lean against the front door.
“How did you put with Katrina for so long? I mean, don’t you hate her? I know all the girls at the brothel do.”
Sebastian smiled. “You know, hate’s not a word I like to throw around lightly. So I’m not sure I’d say I hate her. She’s just… a rotten person. She’s got weeds where her heart should be. It’s impossible to love someone like that.”
Kimmie made a clicking noise from behind her tongue, her eyes darting from Sebastian to Nyssa and back again. Nyssa got a sinking feeling in her chest that Kimmie was about to say something inappropriate. If she knew her old friend, something ridiculous was about to come out of her mouth.
“What would you be able to love in a woman? Hypothetically, of course,” Kimmie said innocently, sipping at her water with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes.
Nyssa slapped her forehead with her hand in embarrassment, hiding her eyes while her face went hot. Goddammit, Kimmie, she thought, feeling her heart thunder in her chest like the stomping feet pulling a chariot. You couldn’t have just kept your mouth shut for once?
But when Nyssa finally got the courage to drop her hand from her face, Sebastian was grinning. His whole face looked full of light, like there were stars hiding behind his eyes, powering the engine of his heart. “Well, hypothetically… I like my women humble. You know, down-to-earth. Real. I like something I can hold in my hands, not someone I have to keep yanking down from a pedestal. I want someone… kind. Simple. Someone like…”
He trailed off, smiling and blushing a little himself, and Kimmie cleared her throat and began to talk about some mindless brothel gossip. Nyssa knew she was changing the subject on purpose, sparing both her friend and Sebastian from embarrassment. But still, she couldn’t help but feel gratitude for her friend’s silly actions. She knew what Sebastian wanted now, for sure. It wasn’t Katrina. It had never been Katrina.
It was her. It was them. Even with the world outside threatening to barge in and hurt them, for at least a moment, Nyssa couldn’t help but feel safe and loved.