Page 127 of Victim or Villain
The world is a better place without these men in it, Sebastian had said.
He was right. The world was a better place without David and Jason in it.
It would be a better place if only men like Sebastian got to live in it.
Rhiannonand I stayed like that for a while. I cried, and she held me. She cried, and I held her.
When we stopped blubbering, she pulled away, wiped my tears, and told me how proud she was that I’d opened up. For a few moments, I was vulnerable. That would help in my healing journey.
For the average person, maybe that was true.
Rhiannon didn’t understand. I locked it all away because crying in her arms wasn’t enough. That wouldn’t help me. It couldn’t heal me.
My vulnerability opened the gates of hell.
She invited me to come to the dining hall for breakfast. The plan was to announce Delilah’s death and arrange a vigil in her memory. I told her I’d be back by dinner, but I wanted some time to myself.
I was only by myself for the time it took to get to my house, change my clothes, feed Honey, then drive to Sebastian’s.
It was just before 11 a.m. when I finished my trip up the gravel drive. The place looked just like it had this morning. Classic, dark, perhaps a bit eerie.
One of the curtains on the main floor fluttered when I pushed my door shut. I was halfway up the steps when the ones on the mansion pulled open. Sebastian stood in the threshold.
His smile didn’t reach his eyes. I doubted mine did either.
Exhaustion had taken its toll, judging by the dark circles and washed out color of his usual peachy cheeks. Since I was still wearing my makeup from last night, and I had cried most of it off, I was sure I didn’t look much better.
“Hey,” he said.
“Hey.” I was at the top of the steps now, glancing past him into the house. “Mind if I come in?”
He stepped aside and held the door open for me. “I don’t think I’ll ever tell you no.”
Once he heard the request I was about to make, that opinion could change rapidly.
With my feet on the hardwoods, I glanced up at the winding staircase straight ahead. It was one of those fancy foyers I’d only seen in movies. On the left, a cased opening to a formal living room with furniture worth as much as I made in a year, and the same applied to the cased opening on my right into the dining room.
If the circumstances were different, I would spend a while admiring all the architecture, all the attention to detail, the beautiful woodwork.
But the circumstances were what they were.
“I wanted to call,” Sebastian began, “but after the way everything went down, I figured you wanted some space?—”
“Is Lizzie here?” I asked.
“No, she left with Aubrey a while ago. They’re going skiing.” He cocked his head to the side. “Why do you ask?”
“No cameras around either?”
His thick brown brows crunched into his eyes. “There are a couple outside, but no, none in here. Why?”
Throughout my drive, I had known exactly what I was going to say. I knew what I had to do. I knew what was right, and I knew what was wrong. So did he. But it was damn near impossible to look into those kind eyes and remember he was the man who’d dug up two bodies last night.
“What’s going on, Gwen?” Sebastian reached for me, but hesitated, studying each move I made. “Is it about David? Because if you really want me to dig him up again, I can, but?—”
“No. I mean, kind of.” Swallowing hard, I shook my head. “No, I don’t want you to dig them up again. But yes, this is about him.”
He squinted at me. “Okay. I’m ready when you are.”
“I’m going to do it again.” Only after those words left me did my shoulders release. “I’m going to kill the man who killed Delilah. And I want your help.”
