Sebastian (The Beck Brothers #2)
Read Sebastian (The Beck Brothers #2) Online
Authors: Andria Large
This is a work of fiction. Names,
characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s
imagination or are used fictitiously, and are not to be construed as real. Any
resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, businesses, or persons,
living or dead, is entirely coincidental
.
Copyright © 2013 by Andria Large. All rights reserved. This
book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced, scanned, distributed, or
used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the
author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Printed in the United States of America
Second Printing, 2013
ASIN:
B00CF7IM1U
Kindle Direct Publishing
kdp.amazon.com/self-publishing
Acknowledgements
First,
I want to say thank you to my husband and my girls, who have been nothing but
supportive of me. Second, I want to give a shout out to my friend, Jessica
Carroll, who started me on this crazy journey; without her and her blog, no one
would have ever heard about the Beck Brothers. And last but not least, to my
editor, Megan Hershenson, who worked tirelessly, to make my work sound better
and more professional. And of course, thanks to all my fans, I love you all!!!
Chapter 1
How the hell Sebastian got roped into
this he will never know. One kid was kicking and screaming because he didn't
want to go to bed, while the other wailed because his brother woke him up with
his screaming. Fucking Henry and Claire. He was never letting them go out on a
date again. Sebastian bounced two-month-old Henry in his arms while he waited
for Ethan to stop having his fit. What the hell had made him volunteer to
babysit? It was Claire and her pleading blue eyes. She had said that she and
Henry needed a date night, and that he was the only one she trusted with the baby.
Sebastian, being his arrogant self, thought that he could handle two kids at
once. What an asshole!
A screaming four-year-old Sebastian could
handle, but the baby broke his heart. His arms were flailing, his face was
bright red, and his little bottom lip was sticking out. Ethan was on the floor
in the living room, kicking and pounding his fists on the floor. Sebastian had
had about enough of the four-year-old. He put Henry in his swing and turned it
on with the music, then picked Ethan up by his arms, which immediately went
limp. Sebastian gritted his teeth. He hated when the kid did this.
"You can go have your fit in your
room, mister,” Sebastian snapped, tossing Ethan over his shoulder.
Sebastian stomped up the stairs while
Ethan beat his little fists on his back. Did he do this for his parents? He was
going to have to find out. Once in Ethan's room, he dumped the kid on his bed,
turned the nightlight on, then left and shut the door firmly behind him.
Sebastian sighed heavily and headed back downstairs to deal with the still
wailing Henry.
Sebastian thought that he wanted kids. He
snorted to himself, not after tonight. Fuck this shit. Babies were cute and all,
but he was going to be happy to give these two back. Not that little Henry was
a problem, he didn't really know any better. He was just doing what babies do; however,
Ethan and the fits he's been having all night were irritating as fuck. No
wonder Henry and Claire needed a break.
Back in the living room, Sebastian turned
on the video monitor and set it for Ethan's room. Ethan was curled up under his
covers, fast asleep. The kid had obviously been tired, at least one was out;
Henry was still whining a bit in his swing. Fortunately, he wasn't full out
crying anymore, though his little lip was still sticking out. He glanced at the
clock; the kid was probably hungry again. Sebastian left him in his swing and
headed into the kitchen.
He prepared a bottle of breast milk that
Claire pumped ahead of time, and went back into the living room where Henry was
gearing up for another bout of screaming. His face grew red, and his itty-bitty
fists started pumping. Sebastian went over and scooped him up, then went over
to the glider, and settled into it. As soon as the bottle was in Henry's mouth,
he started sucking away. His little hand wrapped around Sebastian's thumb, his
bright blue eyes staring up at him.
How he had become so comfortable handling
a baby was a mystery. He'd never even held a baby until Henry was born. It just
seemed like second nature to him; Claire had called him a natural, and every
time they were together, she somehow commented on how great of a father he
would make. Well, he was content with just being an uncle, fuck you very much,
especially after tonight. This was the first time he actually babysat all by
himself. He was proud of himself. He thought he was doing a damn good job so
far.
Sebastian burped Henry when he was
finished. The kid practically passed out when he was done, so Sebastian brought
him upstairs and put him in his bassinet in Henry and Claire's room. When he
got back downstairs, he flopped onto the couch and turned on the TV. He rubbed
his suddenly tired eyes and tried to focus on
Sons of Guns
, his favorite show.
Sebastian jolted awake, not even
realizing he fell asleep. His heart pounded as he looked around the living
room. Something had woken him, but he wasn't sure what. He checked the monitor;
both kids were still sleeping. He checked the clock on the wall; he had only
been asleep for an hour. That's when he heard the scratchy-scraping noise
coming from the back of the house. Adrenaline raced hard and fast through his
body. Someone was trying to break in.
No fucking way!
Sebastian stood up quickly and pulled his
Glock 23 out of the ankle holster he always wore. Working as a gunsmith in a
gun shop made Sebastian a bit paranoid about going anywhere without his gun. He
has heard so many stories and has seen so many weirdos buy guns that he was
wary of people he didn't know. So Sebastian got a permit to carry as soon as he
turned twenty-one, and has been carrying a gun on his person ever since.
The scratching continued. It sounded like
someone was trying to pick the lock on the back door or something. Sebastian
left the lights out as he crept along the wall of the hallway that led to the
kitchen. As he peeked into the kitchen, he could see the backdoor - the top
half of which was glass. The only problem was that the glass had a shade in
between the panels and it was closed, so he couldn't see who was on the other side.
If it was Henry and Claire, then they should have come in through the garage
door; whoever was at the back door was not welcome.
Sebastian saw the small flash of light
cross the window. Fuckers had a flashlight. They must have climbed the wrought
iron fence that surrounded the property because they couldn't just walk up the
driveway, there was a gate. Sebastian heard one voice curse while another
shushed the first. Okay, so far he knew there were two, maybe more. He knew he
should call the cops, but he left his phone on the table in the living room,
and there was no way he was going back and letting these assholes get any
further than the kitchen. Sebastian had the kids to protect, and he'd die
before he let these scumbags get anywhere near them.
The lock clicked and the world seemed to
move in slow motion. Sebastian let out the breath he had been holding and
waited as the door opened. He knew the laws in Pennsylvania, and as soon as
those shit-heads entered the house, he was going to shoot them. He was
defending himself and the lives of two children, and not be at fault if he
managed to kill someone. Not that he really cared either, as long as Henry and
Ethan were safe.
Sebastian saw two figures step into the
house. He immediately dropped into his shooting stance, aimed, and pulled the
trigger. There were only two of them, and they were both wearing dark clothing
and skullcaps. Sebastian had a reputation for being one of the best shooters in
the state, so he knew that he would hit whatever he was aiming at, even in the
dark.
Pop, pop...Pop, pop!
The lead guy dropped like a sack of
potatoes; no scream of pain or anything. Sebastian knew in that moment that he
had just killed a man. The second guy spun around and screamed in pain as he
slammed into the doorframe, scrambling to get away. Sebastian let him go,
worried the gunshots would wake one or both of the kids. He watched as the man
disappeared into the darkness of the backyard. Sebastian waited, his gun still
trained on the backdoor, just in case he decided to come back.
"Uncle Bastian, I heard a noise,” hearing
Ethan's sleepy voice from behind him a minute later.
Sebastian didn't move. "Listen
closely bud, go get me my phone off the table in the living room," he said
in as calm a voice as he could manage.
Sebastian heard Ethan's bare feet slap on
the hardwood floors toward the living room. He came back a minute later.
Sebastian just held out his hand behind him until Ethan pressed the phone into
it.
"What are you doing?" Ethan
asked curiously.
"Ethan, I need you to go back up to
your room and shut the door. Don't come out until your parents or I come to
get you. Do you understand?" Sebastian asked in a low serious voice.
Ethan must have understood the
seriousness of the situation because he said okay and quickly did as he was
told. Sebastian called the police, and then moved to the control panel in the
hallway that worked the gate to the driveway. Sebastian hit the button to open
the gate and went to the front door. He opened it quickly before moving back
into the kitchen and turned on the light. Tucking his gun in the back of his
jeans, Sebastian moved toward the man sprawled out just inside the backdoor; a
pool of blood was spreading out from under his head. Holy shit! Sebastian blew
half the guy's skull off. He swallowed back the bile that rose in his throat, refusing
to throw up.
A few cops barged in the front door,
while some appeared at the back door. Sebastian was ordered to put his hands
up. One of the officers moved up behind him and pushed him against the counter,
ordering him to place his hands on the top of it and spread his legs. Sebastian
did as he was told. The officer asked Sebastian what happened while he frisked
him; meanwhile, the other officer removed Sebastian's gun from his pants,
popped the magazine, and ejected the bullet from the chamber, placing them all
on the counter out of Sebastian's reach.
Sebastian told the officer what had
happened in as much detail as he could remember. Sebastian could hear both kids
crying and he couldn't help but glance at the ceiling repeatedly. The officer
seemed to notice his distress, and let him go to the kids, to bring them into
the living room.
Sebastian cradled Henry in the crook of
his left arm, while he held Ethan tightly against his leg with his right. Ethan
was hugging his thigh, his head resting against Sebastian's hip, as he rocked
them slightly side to side. Henry had settled back down, and Ethan just sniffed
and rubbed his eyes.