Danger Calls

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know your parents were dead.” Sebastian reached out and covered her hands with one of his. “Have you talked to Diana about your suspicions?”

Again Melissa eased away from his comforting gesture. “Ryder and I told her about the crash. And the journal. She’s not sure we should be worried, but thinks it can’t hurt to get some more information. We gave her the details we had.”

Sebastian considered all that Melissa had revealed, and all that she hadn’t. She was unsure around him. That was clear from the way she withdrew every time he tried to make some overture. He knew from their night together, she wasn’t used to being close to people, not even in a friendly way. Could they work together, given what had happened between them? And she obviously believed there was a possibility the journals—and the people connected to them—were in danger.

With the exception of his sister, Sebastian kept away from emotional complications. Maybe it was selfish, but the life he had chosen spared him from dealing with the expectations of others, his father in particular. Sebastian had found his own way and was happy with it. He wasn’t sure he was prepared to be anyone’s champion.

“I need to think about this.”

Her head jerked up and her eyes widened with surprise. “You’re not sure you can do what we want?”

Sebastian rose. He rocked back and forth on his heels as he said, “Tech stuff is a slam dunk. I’m a whiz at that. But the rest—”

Melissa jumped up off the sofa. “Whatever happened before, it won’t happen again.” She stressed that promise with an emphatic slash of her hand.

He wished it were that simple. “Well, thanks for that little ego boost,” he quipped and, before she could answer, continued. “I’m not sure I want to be involved. I kinda like my solitary life. Plus, being a hero is more up Diana’s alley than mine.”

“B-but you helped before. When Ryder was hurt,” Melissa said.

Sebastian shrugged. “No choice then. You needed me—”

“We need you now. There’s no one else we can trust with Ryder’s secret.”

He wasn’t going to leap without thinking about it first. His father may have believed him to be thoughtless in his rebellion, but in fact, Sebastian’s decisions had always been studied and logical. Right now, logic was telling him that it made no sense to become more involved in Melissa’s life.

Melissa, with her by-the-book personality, was a challenge to the comfortable world he had created for himself. She was also a possible danger to his safety, if it turned out she was right and the crash that had killed her parents hadn’t been an accident. And worse, although he didn’t want to admit it, she was a real risk to his heart, regardless of everything else.

He didn’t want to seem callous, but it made no sense to carry on with the conversation until he’d had time to consider everything without the pressure of Melissa hovering nearby. She was a distraction he didn’t need. He motioned to the door and Melissa hurried to it, the lines of her body tight with anger.

As she stepped out, he gently grasped her arm. “I didn’t say no, Melissa. I just need to think about it.”

With a curt nod, she strode off. He lingered by the door, watching her go, wishing he could have immediately said yes. Despite his mixed emotions, something about Melissa Danvers intrigued him.

When Sebastian closed the door he’d intended to try out an amended version of his latest game. But as he took hold of the joystick and loaded up the program, his mind drifted back to Melissa.

Forcing himself to concentrate, he made sure the changes requested by the computer game manufacturer were working. He was just completing the first level when he heard the grate of a key in the lock. “Well look who’s finally home.”

“I have an early morning,” Diana answered as she entered the apartment.

Sebastian gave her a puzzled look.

“Ryder’s still weak. He needs to rest—”

“And he’s not about to get it with you around,” he said with a knowing grin.

Diana smiled and grabbed the squeeze balls from the desk. She juggled them at a speed well beyond what Sebastian could manage. But then again, Diana never did anything at normal levels. Including picking a boyfriend.

“Show-off,” Sebastian teased and Diana playfully tossed the balls at him in response.

Sebastian managed to catch them all as his sister peeked at the screen. “What are you working on?”

Rising, Sebastian blocked Diana’s view of the monitor, leaned on the edge of the desk and crossed his arms. “Hacking into classified FBI files to see what’s new with my sis and her furry friends.”

She crossed her arms and stood before him, impatiently tapping one sensibly-soled foot. “Ryder’s not furry.”

“Oh, yeah. That’s right. He’s just life-challenged?” He cocked an eyebrow.

Diana tried to see around him, but Sebastian dodged left and right, blocking her view. With a huff, Diana finally said, “You’re not hacking me, right? I mean, I know you could do it, but you didn’t. Right?”

He grinned and stepped aside to show her the frozen scene in the game. “I could, but I won’t because you’d have to bring me in.” He held his hands out in front of him, pretending he was about to be handcuffed.

His sister slapped his hands away. “Cut it out, hermanito. Concerned brother slash hacker extraordinaire that you are, you wouldn’t put me in that difficult a position.”

Sebastian joined her on the couch as she kicked off her shoes. He watched his sister intently as he said, “Things are tough enough, aren’t they? What with Ryder and stuff.”

Diana met his gaze squarely. “I’m assuming Melissa came by?”

“She did. Explained her problem. I’m not sure what to do,” Sebastian admitted.

“About her or the project?”

“The project and nothing but the project.”

“Funny. My radar hinted the two of you had connected.”

Sebastian tried to laugh off the suggestion. He was hesitant to admit he and Melissa had shared a night together. “Yeah, like a wrong number kind of connect.”

Diana rose from the sofa and placed her hands on her hips, drawing open her suit jacket slightly. She scrutinized him much the way she would a suspect. “Guess I was wrong.”

“Yep. Major League error.”

His sister smirked, confirming she recognized the lie for what it was. She playfully chucked him on the chin. “Little bro, you may fool some women with that pretty-boy face, but not this girl.”

Ruefully shaking his head, Sebastian said, “We’ve been through too much together, huh?”

And wasn’t that an understatement of gigantic proportions? In the year after their father’s death, Sebastian had tried to help his sister cope with the pain. His sister had always been the strong one—until their father had been killed and Diana had fallen apart.

Diana had entered a dark and dangerous world, and Sebastian had thought he could somehow keep her from totally going over the edge. So he’d gone with her to clubs for those who liked to live precariously; been by her side on many a late night. Tried to make sure that in the numbing haze created by one too many tequila shooters, Diana did nothing that would harm her.

The defiant streak inside of him had responded to the make-no-excuses, take-no-crap kind of life. In that blurry world of alcohol and angry music, he’d finally discovered peace. He’d realized there was nothing wrong in walking his own path, rather than toeing his father’s line. His dead father, who he’d never been able to please anyway.

Rebellion suited Sebastian and gave him a place where he was free of his pain. But the freedom had been an illusion, and a dangerous one at that. The partying and drinking had only numbed his guilt over never having lived up to his father’s expectations.

It had taken great strength to untangle all the conflicting emotions within himself, to deal with Diana’s pain, and his own, and find a way back to who he really was. It hadn’t been easy, but it had made him a stronger man.

Years later, he had finally accepted that he could never have been the son his father wanted. The best he could do was be his own man.

“There’s a lot going on now, and I’ve dragged you into it again, haven’t I?” There was an edge of anguish in his sister’s voice that Sebastian hated to hear.