Page 30 of Home Again

Gianna knew she’d won the battle when Sebastian unlocked all of the file drawers and had her help him go through them. The desk files held nothing of interest, but finally, they hit pay dirt with the last drawer on the credenza.

“Holy guacamole, do you see this?” Gianna exclaimed.

Sebastian chuckled. “You’ve been pointing to the same invoices for two minutes, cher. Kind of hard for me to miss.”

“They’re invoices from Rosie Ettabaum! That has to be her. Catering, my butt.”

“Calm down there. This does not solve all of our problems.”

She liked that he was now sitting on the floor with her. She’d always studied and sketched on the floor, and when she started to go through the files, Sebastian had sat down next to her. It felt good.

“What do you mean it doesn’t solve all of our problems? Now we know who she is, and Jada can track her down.” Gianna had already pulled out her phone and was dialing. When she got Jada’s voicemail, she hung up and instead texted her to call back.

She looked up and saw Sebastian taking a picture of the invoice.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m sending this to my guy. This should help with the investigation he’s doing.”

“Should Jada and your guy be working together?” Gianna asked.

“We’ll see,” he murmured, as he divvied up the pile of papers and gave her half. “Let’s get through these. I don’t know about you, but I’d like to get a little bit of sleep before my grandfather gets here, and it’s already six in the morning.”

Gianna looked down at her phone, surprised to see that Sebastian was right. “Wasn’t there flooding? Will your grandfather be able to make it here?”

“I don’t know how much has changed, but he’s been known to take a helicopter from the state capitol, so I would expect to see him here today. Haven’t you noticed the helicopter pad?”

Gianna shook her head.

“Yeah, well. He likes his perks.”

She looked at the man who was seated next to her. “Was there any time that you actually liked your grandfather?”

“No. My earliest memory of him was when he was yelling so loudly at my mother that spit was hitting her face. I thought he was going to slap her.”

“Did he ever hit her?” Gianna asked.

“No.”

Gianna swallowed, then asked. “Did he ever hit you?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

She reached out to stop him from leafing through the papers in his hands. “Yes, it does.”

He set the papers on the floor and gave her a soft smile. “Cher, it was a long time ago, it really doesn’t matter. I’m grown, and I’m fine. But the fact that an adult would abuse a child? That tells you a whole hell of a lot about the man. So do I think he could have something to do with both of our mothers’ deaths? Yes. Yes, I do.”

Gianna lowered her head and blinked fast, not wanting him to see how badly his words had affected her.

“Hey,” he reached up and tipped her chin up. “It’s okay. Like I said, it was a long time ago.” He tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear. “And Gianna, when I read the police report about you I wanted to cry too. I couldn’t imagine any parent not wanting to love and care for you.”

Her chin wobbled. “Stop.”

“I can’t.”

She watched in fascination as he bent his head and his lips met hers. It started out as a sweet and tender kiss, but as soon as her lips parted, heat raced through her veins. Her hands shot up and speared through his hair, needing to make sure he didn’t leave her. Teeth and tongues clashed. Sebastian tilted her head to get a better angle and the kiss went even deeper. She heard his groan then she moaned as he pulled her up into his lap.

The stubble on his chin scraped along her cheek as he traced kisses down her jaw.