Page 20 of Home Again

Her phone rang. Sebastian saw the name Jada Harlow appear on the screen. “Didn’t you call back Jada?”

“I was too tired. Shoot, I probably really worried her.” She swiped her phone. “I’m sorry Jada, I’m fine. I promise. Sebastian put ice on my head and it’s cold. He gave me pillows. He says he’s not apprehending me, instead he tried to make me guess why he tried to help, but now he wants to know what I was looking for in the office and I don’t know what to tell him.”

“Breathe, Baby,” her friend whispered.

Gianna closed her eyes. When she opened them again, Sebastian saw she had her shit together, and that she was once more like the woman he had met in the kitchen.

“Got it.” Her eyes slid over to look at Sebastian. “What were you doing in Lazar’s office in the middle of the night?” she asked him.

“Wondered when you were going to ask me that,” he said with a grin.

“Well, I’m pretty sure that even with your secret SEAL senses you couldn’t have heard me come downstairs with the wind howling like it is.”

That stopped him short. “That’s twice you two have mentioned me being a SEAL. Wanna tell me what’s going on?” he asked quietly.

Gianna’s eyes went wide. “Shoot, Jada, I’ll call you back. Seems I stepped in it.” She ended the call.

“Yep, you stepped in it. Textiles huh?”

Gianna attempted to push up into a sitting position, but Sebastian pushed her back down on the couch. She glared up at him. “SEAL, huh?”

“Yep. Plus, I’m the one who actually is a member of this family, so it’s my prerogative to check out every room in the house. You, however, aren’t. So how about you tell me what in the hell you and your little friend were looking for in Lazar’s office?”

“Answers,” she said succinctly.

That hit him like a punch to his solar plexus. How many years had he been after answers? Wasn’t that the reason he had been planning to go through his grandfather’s office tonight?

“What questions do you need answers for?”

“That’s none of your business.” Her expression was determined.

Sebastian needed to try a different tack. Remembering what he’d heard the two women talking about he tried again. “Who is Etta Rose?”

“She was a madam. She ran a really exclusive escort service years ago.”

Well, he sure as hell wasn’t expecting that.

“And why do you think you’re going to find information on Etta Rose in my grandfather’s office?”

Gianna huffed out a breath and her eyes narrowed. “It’s a long story.”

Sebastian put his right hand on the back of the sofa and leaned in. “Well, aren’t we lucky? I’ve got the rest of the night for you to tell me a bedtime story. So talk.”

“Etta Rose used to run a service out of New Orleans. She would recruit young women from the universities there, like Loyola and Tulane. The girls would make good coin and end up graduating free of debt.”

“Are we talking escorts or prostitutes or both?”

“I know that there was sex involved,” Gianna said slowly.

“I take it since you’re investigating dear old Grandpère I should assume that her business encompassed Baton Rouge?”

“Oh yeah. From what Jada and I have been able to piece together, the members of the state legislature were big-time customers.”

“So what does this have to do with you?”

“Why do you think this has anything to do with me?” she asked.

Sebastian looked at her. If she could have, she would be crossing her arms across her chest, or curled into a defensive ball. He’d been wondering why she’d been sucking up to his uncle when he could sense her distaste. Then there had been moments of real concern about whether he'd eaten. Now it was all making sense. Gianna was a marshmallow. It was obvious as hell that she had some kind of personal stake in whatever she was investigating. Something overwhelmingly personal. Now all he had to do was get her to tell him what it was.

“Talk to me Gianna, maybe I can help.”

“Look, nobody’s heard from Etta Rose for at least fifteen years, so what makes you think this has anything to do with me? I’m just trying to track down some old information.”

Her gaze slid sideways to look at the far wall. Sebastian growled with frustration. “Fine, it has nothing to do with you.”

Gianna flinched, and Sebastian sighed. “Look, just get some rest and keep the ice on your head. I’ll come back and check on you, okay?”

Her lashes fluttered shut. “Okay,” she murmured.

What in the hell was going on?