Page 33 of Home Again

“Grandpère, we can’t afford to have me leaving on bad terms, now can we? That would be bad for my political image.”

Lazar leaned back in his chair and gave him a considering look. “You’re right. Goddammit, you’re absolutely right.” He looked at the other men in the room with a broad smile. “He has a knack for this, boys. He’s going to go far. He’ll be sitting in D.C. before you know it.”

Sebastian walked out of the office before he had to listen to his grandfather stroke his own dick anymore. He walked down the hallway to the kitchen to see if Neil and Ophelia had arrived back from visiting their daughter and grandkids yet. If he could just get a hug from Philly, he knew he could cool down. When he pushed in the swinging door to the kitchen, he found Gianna sitting at the table instead.

Shit. As much as part of him wanted to see Gianna, and get a hug from her, the rest of him wanted to avoid her. He knew she would want to start trying to get involved in the past, and he wanted her safe.

“Hey, Sebastian,” she smiled up at him. “I made coffee, want some?”

He took his mostly full glass of bourbon to the sink and poured it down the drain. Then he grabbed a mug from the cupboard and poured himself some coffee and sat down at the table with her.

“Big goings-on in the office, huh?” Gianna asked.

“You could say that.” Sebastian concentrated on her beautiful face, allowing that to wash away some of his anger.

She stared at him. “Are you going to share?”

“This doesn’t concern anything we were talking about the other night. I wish I could say that my grandfather has some kind of dementia, but instead, it’s his normal delusions of grandeur.”

“So no answers from your grandfather yet?”

Sebastian gritted his teeth. “Nope.”

“Shoot. I’m so sorry, Sebastian. Do you think that after those men leave he’ll sit down and give you some?”

He slammed his mug of coffee down so hard that hot liquid splashed on his hands. “I should have known he wouldn’t provide anything.”

Gianna winced. “But isn’t that why you’ve been doing some of your own investigating?”

He rubbed the back of his neck, but it didn’t help loosen his tight muscles. “Yeah,” he admitted. He shot up from his chair so fast, it tipped backward on the linoleum floor. “I’m just pissed I bought into his shit for even a nano-second.”

Gianna rushed up to stand beside him. She rested her small hands against his chest. “No matter how bad our relatives are to us, we will always have a little part of us that will believe that they are redeemable.”

Is she right? Or am I just an idiot?

Gianna’s eyes flashed. It was like she was reading his mind. Then the little sprite reached up and grabbed fistfuls of his hair and pulled his head down as she went up on tiptoes and smashed her mouth against his.

Just how much bourbon did I drink?

Sebastian couldn’t believe the sheer power of her kiss. Her tongue swept across his bottom lip, and he opened up and let her taste explode into his mouth. He reached down and cupped her ass, forcing her to wrap her legs around his waist. Gianna whimpered into his mouth as he strode across the kitchen and hoisted her up onto the counter.

One of Gianna’s hands trailed down the front of his shirt, as she started kneading the muscles of his chest. Her whimpers heated his veins and sent the blood rushing to his cock. Sebastian tangled his fingers into her hair and pulled hard, forcing their lips to part. Gianna’s eyes drifted open.

“Don’t stop,” she protested.

“I’m not.” Her scooped-neck top had been driving him crazy, so he tugged it down and was rewarded with the sight of her beautiful breasts overflowing a red lace bra. “You’re gorgeous,” he whispered as he bent forward.

Shit!

He yanked up her top, then pulled her face into his chest just as the kitchen door opened.

“Well lookie here. Seems like Gee is willing to put out for a war hero.”

Sebastian looked over his shoulder at his uncle. “Armand, turn right around and leave.”

“I don’t think I will,” he said as he sauntered to the middle of the kitchen. “I want to know when you and our little renter have gotten so well acquainted.”

Gianna shoved hard at Sebastian’s chest. “Step back.” Her voice was firm.