Sebastian

“I’m here,” Den says quietly as he steps off the penthouse elevator and moves to stand beside me by the window.

We wait in silence for the sunrise. As the soft rays begin to peak over the horizon, I fold my arms at my back. “You know, I honestly don’t believe there’s such a thing as coincidence…” I cut my gaze his way. “Like your MI6 buddy suddenly coming to Manhattan looking for work right when it became apparent Talia needed her own bodyguard.”

Den turns to face me, eyebrow hiked. “Since when has Talia not needed a full time guard?”

“I’ll give you the touché but not the pass.” When he doesn’t say anything, I continue, my tone drilling, “I’m also fucking excellent with timelines…”

Den turns toward the glass once more. Inhaling deeply, he closes his eyes against the morning sun. “I called Alexander and asked him to come interview with Adam the day after the bomb went off.”

“We didn’t know the bomb was meant for Talia at that point,” I say, my tension growing. “Did you know about her pregnancy?”

His eyes open and he unbuttons his jacket to slip his hands into his pockets. “Her pregnancy solidified my decision, yes.” He dips his head. “Congratulations, by the way.”

The question festers in my mind. I start to speak, but Den cuts me off.

“And before you ask if she told me, she didn’t. The moment the bomb went off, her hand went straight to her stomach. It’s a reflexive thing, a mother’s instinct. She didn’t even know she did it.”

Hearing the truth eases the tightness in my chest; I’m more than thankful he stepped up. I clear my throat and nod. “Thank you for watching over her. She’s—”

“An inherently good person. There aren’t enough of them in the world.” He glances my way. “That’s why they need people like us.”

An unspoken agreement passes between us before he looks down at his watch. “You have to be at the airport in two hours.”

“Thanks for coming. I know you were supposed to have today off.”

“I wasn’t going to let your driver take you to the airport anyway.”

“Our driver is highly trained, Den.”

“Not like me, he’s not,” he counters.

He’s got me there. I rub my chin, eyeing him. “In a battle of the best overall, I wonder who would win, a SEAL or an MI6 agent?”

He cracks a confident smile, then shrugs. “Your honeymoon should start the moment you leave this building, Sebastian.”

“Point taken. I shouldn’t be more than an hour.” With a curt nod, I pick up the folder from the table and head for the elevator.

My phone rings as I exit the elevator on the top floor of Blake Towers. “Blake.”

“I’m in house cleaning mode and I need some info,” Banks’s deep voice rumbles in my ear.

“Why haven’t you lost my number already?” I snap, tucking the folder under my arm.

“Blackie, Blackie. I’m a bit hurt. I thought we’d bonded through our ordeal.”

“What do you want, Banks?”

“Just following up now that you’ve tied the knot. Talia mentioned that she tried to give me a heads up, so that means someone else at the Tribune ratted me out to the police. You don’t happen to know who that was, do you?”

I promised Talia I’d let her handle her affairs at the Tribune, because I didn’t want to put her job at risk, but now that she’s no longer there, this scenario works for me.

“You’re far smarter than you look, Banks. Do the math. It wasn’t my wife, nor was it her guard.”

“You mean it was that annoying, curly haired guy?”

Though Nathan deserves a good pounding for putting my wife and child at risk the way he did, I know firsthand just how hard Banks can hit. “You did have a stolen painting on your wall, Banks. Make sure any punishment you dole out takes that into account.”

“You going soft, Blackie?”

“You tell me? How’s your nose?”

“Fucked up. You still owe me a check.”

“I just paid it, with information.” Hanging up, I pull the door open to the executive suite and walk through the empty admin’s area to my father’s office.

“As promised, my BLACK Security contract,” I say, handing my father the folder.

“You’re an early bird this morning.” Standing, he walks around his desk and sits in the matching leather seat opposite me. “You didn’t have to bring it personally. You could’ve emailed it.”

I gesture to the folder. “You should read over it.”

“Right now?”

When I nod, he starts to open the folder, then pauses, his blue eyes full of excitement. “Congratulations on an amazing wedding and baby announcement. I’m beyond thrilled, Sebastian. Being a grandparent…is wonderful.”

“As opposed to being a parent?” I smirk that he’s talking as if I’d spent my early years with him.

“No, no…grandparents get all the fun and none of the responsibility” He shakes his head, then sighs. “I know I missed your childhood, but I hope it’s okay to talk to you about being a parent. I do know a thing or two about being one.”

Shaking my head, I smile, strangely not angry like I usually am when the subject of my past comes up. “It’s fine. Have a look at the agreement and see if it’ll work for you.”

Adam opens the folder and skims through it. “Seems fairly straight forward,” he says as he turns the last page. Moving the papers, he lifts another set, his brow furrowed. “This is an investment contract.”

“It is.”

His blue eyes lift to mine. “But you said you didn’t want me to be involved.”

“No, I said I didn’t want you to buy me out. I want to expand my business to the corporate sector and for that I’ll need an investor.”

He flips through the pages once more. “This is impressive, Sebastian. I can see so much potential in the corporate world. The need for security on every level is growing by leaps and bounds. Even the international markets could be an option.”

I chuckle that he’s already thinking ahead. “Talia said the same thing. This expansion is her idea.”

“I’m not surprised at all. I’m all for this. How soon would you start taking on corporate clients?”

“Whoa.” I hold my hands up. “We’re not expanding yet. I want to use Blake Industries as a training ground for my employees. We’ll get all the kinks out and start the expansion after that, but first we need to learn what value we can bring and where.”

My father snaps the folder shut, his eye shining. “Not that I wish your honeymoon time away, but I can’t wait to get started on this.”

I stand and button my suit jacket, holding out my hand to him. As my father clasps my hand, I say, “Read over the fine print and send over any changes. We’ll hammer out any negotiable sticking points once I get back.”

“Will do. Have a wonderful time with Talia, son. You both deserve it.”

As I pull my car out onto the road, I smile thinking about Talia. And our baby. I can’t believe I’m going to be a father. I feel like opening the top of my sports car and shouting the news to the whole world. Knowing how she felt and why she didn’t tell me about her job, I think it was for the best that I didn’t know about her job situation before I asked her to come work with me at BLACK Security. But, holy shit, am I’m glad that I didn’t know about the baby beforehand, or she’d never believe that my offer for her to work at BLACK Security wasn’t just some machination on my part to get her out of a dangerous job and under my protective wing.

Would I have done just that? Hell yes, truth be told. I would have done whatever it took to get her out of that job, but at least this way…we won’t have that as an issue between us. I want my family surrounded by people who only care about their well-being and that’s exactly what Talia and our child will get.

And I think she knows she’s truly an asset at BLACK Security. With a mind like hers and mine working together…the sky’s the limit.

My phone buzzes and when I press the speaker, Talia’s out-of-breath voice pops through. “Where are you?”

“I’m on my way back,” I say, my whole body tensing. “Is everything okay?”

“We’re leaving in twenty minutes and I just realized I don’t have any sunscreen. A redhead in the Mediterranean without sunscreen? I might spontaneously combust the moment I get off the plane. Argh, what was I thinking?”

Here’s a woman who outsmarted and trapped a mastermind homicidal cop, and who took down a backstabbing kidnapper, but she’s freaking out over a bottle of sunscreen?

“What are you laughing at? Is the idea of me going poof that amusing?”

I didn’t even realize I was laughing. “I’m sorry,” I say, sobering. “I’ll grab some sunscreen on my way back.”

“Whew, okay, crisis averted. Now where are my sunglasses? My bathing suit is already packed, and I’ve got three notebooks and plenty of pens—”

“Talia?”

“Yes?”

“We’re going to have a great time.”

“I know we will.”

“You know why?”

“Because you’re picking up my sunscreen?”

“Because we’ll be together, Little Red…and that’s all that matters. Just you and me…”

She takes a deep breath and sings-songs, “And little noodle too.”

I bark out a laugh. “And little noodle too.”

Hanging up, I punch on the gas, a wide smile on my face.

God, I really do fucking love that woman.