Sebastian (The Beck Brothers #2) (2 page)

Sebastian heard a female voice snap at
someone and lifted his gaze to the front door. A gorgeous blonde walked in with
a fierce expression on her pretty face; her light hair was parted on the side,
and pulled back into a bun at the nape of her neck. She was wearing black dress
pants and a tailored white button down blouse, with her badge and gun clipped
to her belt. Sebastian had a flash of déjà vu. His eyes widened as he realized
who she was.

"You gotta be kidding me," he
muttered and hung his head. This was the bitch who bent his finger back at the
bar over a year ago.

The gorgeous detective moved further into
the living room, her shrewd gaze taking in everything. Finally, her eyes
settled on him. He saw the flicker of recognition in her eyes before her gaze
swept over the kids. Surprisingly, her gaze softened, and a small smile lifted
her pink lips.

"Mr. Beck, I'm Detective Reynolds,"
she introduced herself, holding out her hand.

Sebastian eyed it warily. "You going
to actually break my finger this time?" he asked, narrowing his eyes at
her.

She rolled her eyes at him. "Not if
I don't have to."

Sebastian snorted and shook her hand.
Before she could ask any questions, he heard Henry's frantic voice just outside
of the front door.

"This is my house! What the fuck do
you mean I can't go inside? My kids are in there!" Henry shouted angrily.

Sebastian glanced at the door, and then
back at Detective Reynolds, who had turned and walked to the door. She stepped
outside and Sebastian could hear her ask Henry for ID. He snapped at her that
it was bullshit, but must have shown his ID, because she stepped back inside
with Henry and Claire on her heels. Both looked terrified.

"Sebastian! What's going on? We
pulled up to see tons of cop cars," Henry said roughly, rushing over to
him and the kids.

Claire sobbed in relief and took the baby
from him, clutching him close to her chest. Ethan wrapped his arms around her
waist; she held him to her with one hand. The weight of what just happened
seemed to hit him out a nowhere and he just stared at Claire and the kids.
Jesus Christ, what if it had been Christian here watching the kids? What if he
hadn't woken up in time?

Henry's strong hands grabbed his shoulders
and shook him. "Sebastian?"

Sebastian flinched, his gaze flicking to
Henry who was right in front of him all of a sudden. "I...uh...someone
broke in the back door. I shot them," he whispered.

Henry's eyes widened in horror. He let go
of Sebastian and started for the kitchen. Detective Reynolds was right behind
him, calling for him to stop, asking him not to go in there. Sebastian squeezed
his eyes shut, and waited, as Henry's horrified shout came no more than a few
seconds later. He stumbled back into the living room with Detective Reynolds
in tow, a grim expression on her face. Sebastian looked at his brother, who had
turned deathly pale.

"Sebastian," he choked.

"I'm sorry Henry..." Sebastian
started. He knew that Henry had to be disgusted that he killed someone in his
house, but he really had no choice.

Henry gripped him up by the front of his
t-shirt and shook him hard. "Don't you dare fucking apologize to me!"
he shouted in Sebastian's face. His nostrils were flaring with the force of
his panting breaths. Sebastian frowned, confused.

Henry clasped the sides of his neck, tears
welling up in his eyes. "You...you killed someone to protect my
kids," he said, his voice trembling. Claire gasped behind him. Henry
blinked and the tears rolled down his face. "I don't know how I will ever
be able to thank you," he choked, dropping his forehead to Sebastian's.

Sebastian felt his own eyes well up. God dammit.
He clasped the back of Henry's neck. "You know I would never let anything
happen to those kids. Not as long as I'm breathing," he rasped.

Henry wrapped him up in a tight hug. They
both tucked their faces into each others’ necks. Sebastian just let the tears
slide down his face, not caring who saw.

Once they broke apart, Henry gave him a
pat on the face. "I love you, brother."

"I love you, too." Sebastian
nodded.

Claire moved forward. Henry took his
sleeping son from her arms and kissed him softly. Then he crouched down and
pulled Ethan into a hug, kissing him on the temple. Claire cupped Sebastian's
face, her eyes full of love and adoration. She gave him a kiss on the cheek and
hugged him tightly. Sebastian wrapped his arms around her.

"Thank you," she whispered.

Sebastian just nodded. He hadn't expected
the gratitude. He knew they would be thankful that their kids were okay, but he
had killed someone in their house. He thought they would be pissed off and
disgusted with him. He killed someone; nevertheless, they had nothing but love
for him. It eased his heart. He had been so afraid that they would cut him out
of their lives after this.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but I really
need to interview Mr. Beck," whispered the soft voice of Detective
Reynolds from behind Claire.

Claire let Sebastian go. "Oh yes,
I'm sorry," she said quickly, and wiped the tears from her face, as she
went to Henry and the kids.

Henry looked at Sebastian. "I'm
going to call mom and see if we can stay there for a little while until the
house is taken care of."

Sebastian nodded. "Good idea."

Henry nodded back, while he and Claire
got an escort upstairs, so that they could pack some bags. Sebastian scrubbed
his hands over his face roughly and sank back into the couch behind him. He
shoved his hands through his hair then leaned forward, placing his forearms on
his knees. He lifted his head to find Detective Reynolds sinking down onto the
coffee table in front of him.

"I need to ask you some
questions," she said, cocking her head to the side.

Sebastian nodded and cleared his throat.
"Alright."

She pulled a little note pad and pen from
her back pocket and flipped it open. "The two little boys are your
nephews?" she asked in an offhand manner.

"Yes," Sebastian said roughly,
having to clear his throat again. Damn his emotions.

"They're cute." She smirked.

Sebastian stared at her for a moment,
realizing that she was trying to lighten the mood a little. He smiled softly.
"Yes they are," he agreed.

"They were sleeping when everything
happened?"

"Yes, thank god."

Detective Reynolds nodded solemnly in
agreement. "Can you go back and start from the beginning, tell me
everything happened?"

Sebastian sighed but retold his story.
She asked questions throughout, making sure she understood everything
correctly. She asked where he worked and how he got so proficient with a gun.
She asked him if he had been drinking or had taken any drugs. She even asked if
he had anyone who would have wanted to hurt him. Sebastian couldn't help but
admire her. She was completely thorough in her investigation. Sebastian
answered all of her questions honestly, and she seemed to believe everything, for
which he was glad.

"Alright Mr. Beck..." she
started as she stood.

"Sebastian," he corrected,
looking up at her.

She gave him a nod. "Sebastian...I'll
be in touch," she said and handed him a business card. "Call me if
you remember anything else."

Sebastian nodded. "Will do," he
murmured, looking down at her card. Detective Raelynn Reynolds. Raelynn? That
was different; he liked it.
A lot!

She gave him a tight smile then headed
into the kitchen. Sebastian watched her go. Damn she had a nice ass, those
pants really showed off the heart shape of it. Henry and Claire came back
downstairs with four bags, and a couple of garment bags, that probably held
Henry's suits. Sebastian got up and grabbed a couple of the bags from Henry's
shoulders.

"Thanks," Henry said. "Listen,
why don't you come to mom's for the night? I don't want you to be alone."

Sebastian thought about it for a minute. His
mother and he had gotten into a huge fight, and he hadn't really been speaking
to her. She had been working on bettering herself, and she apologized to him
over a year ago, but he still wasn't sure what he wanted to do about it. She
had said some really nasty things to him, but he didn't want to be alone right
now either.

"Alright, let me make sure it's okay
for me to leave. I'll meet you over there," Sebastian said.

Henry nodded. "Okay."

Sebastian helped them get everything in
the car before he went back inside to find Detective Reynolds. He found her in
the kitchen, squatting down next to the body, gloved hands leafing through his
wallet. Sebastian cleared his throat to get her attention. Her blonde head
snapped up, and her now cold light blue eyes glared at him.

"Mr. Beck, you don't need to be in
here," she snapped, straightening up.

"It's Sebastian, and I just wanted
to ask if it was okay for me to leave," he said, biting back his
irritation at her three-sixty change in demeanor.

Her eyes scanned his face before she
looked back down at the wallet in her hands. She pulled something out of it
then walked over to him. She held up the driver’s license with the name and
photo of the man he killed on it.

"Did you know this guy?" she
asked evenly.

Sebastian stared at it for a moment then
shook his head. "Never seen him before."

She watched him intently. Probably trying
to decipher if he was lying or not. She nodded slowly. "Okay then, you can
go. We will lock the house up when we're finished, and will have a patrol car
sit outside for a couple of days. Once we get the body out of here, I'll call a
clean-up crew that can take care of the mess. Just don't leave the state,
Sebastian. I'll probably have more questions for you once this investigation
gets moving."

"Okay. Thanks for your help,"
he said quietly and turned to leave.

"Oh and Sebastian?" she called.

Sebastian turned his head, giving her his
profile. He waited for her to continue.

"You might want to seek counseling.
You shot and killed someone tonight. Whether it was in self defense or not, you
need to talk to someone," she said gently.

"I'll think about it," he
mumbled and left.

Chapter
2

Sebastian was completely exhausted by the
time he got to his parent's house. It was now 4:00 am, his adrenaline had worn
off a couple of hours ago, and he was ready to crash. He was just about to
slide his key into the lock, when the door flew open. His mother stood there in
her robe, tears streaming down her face. She grabbed Sebastian and pulled him
into her arms.

"Oh, my baby. Are you okay? Are you
hurt? Henry told me everything," she cried, stroking the back of his head.

Sebastian hugged her back, actually glad
for the comfort and love. "I'm fine, mom," he murmured.

Next thing he knew, his father's arms
wrapped around both him and his mother. "Jesus, son. I'm so glad you're
okay," he croaked.

Sebastian took a deep breath and let his
parents hold him for a minute. When he pulled back, they let him go. "I'm
okay. I was only thinking about protecting Henry and Ethan."

"And you did. You're a hero,"
his mother whispered, cupping his face. "You're my hero."