Keeping Me (Spy Chronicles Book 2)
Scarlett Haven
Wednesday, August 23
Babysitting and trust issues.
“I am so bored,” I say, hitting my hand against my bed in frustration.
“Don’t worry, Miss Sinclair. Your vital signs are good and your head is healing nicely. As long as it continues, the doctor will probably release you in the morning,” my nurse tells me, when she comes in to do a checkup.
The guys are gone on some kind of assignment, my dad is working, and I’ve been in this stupid hospital room all by myself since last night. Dad assures me that this hospital is the safest place in the world, and I believe him. I imagine assassins sitting on the roof, guns loaded, and ready to fire at anybody who attempts to break in. That probably isn’t far from the truth.
The nurse writes something down on her clipboard and then leaves the room.
“Ugh,” I groan, using an arm to cover my face. “This sucks.”
“Hey, Princess.”
I know that voice.
Without uncovering my eyes, I say, “Hello, Sebastian.”
I’m so bored that I don’t care that he hates me or that I hate him. I want company. Any company. I’m desperate.
Okay, hate is a strong word. I don’t hate Sebastian. In fact, I kind of like him. But I can’t let him know that.
I feel the bed sink near my feet, so I look over at Sebastian, who is now sitting on my bed. His lip is swollen and has a cut on it, but other than that, he looks completely normal, and not like he saved my life just two days ago.
“You look horrible,” he tells me.
“You really know how to sweep a girl off her feet,” I say.
Sander taught me sarcasm, and now I love using it.
“I’m sorry. Would you rather I continuously tell you how awesome you are, like Jaxon and his group?” he asks, his lip turning up on one side.
Two days ago, it was Nolan and his group.
“The day you start being nice to me is the day the world as we know it comes to an end. Why would I think that saving my life would change things?” I say, and then pause. “By the way, thanks for saving me.”
“I don’t think he was going to kill you. I think he just wanted to kidnap you,” Sebastian says. “But, you’re welcome.”
“It wouldn’t be the first time I was kidnapped. Or the second, ironically,” I say.
“You’ve been kidnapped?” he asks.
I nod. “If I understand correctly, the woman that I knew as my mother for thirteen years actually killed my biological mother and took me. I don’t know why. The woman didn’t like me very much. She should’ve saved herself the trouble.”
“What happened to her? The woman who kidnapped you.”
“I don’t know,” I answer. “Nolan just told me that they took care of her. After being here for four days, I realize that could mean a lot of different things, and I’m not sure I want to know for certain. She was horrible to me, but she was my mom for thirteen years.”
The words ‘torture training’ are going through my head and I cringe. Sure, the woman tortured me for years, but that doesn’t mean I want the same thing to happen to her.
“Is she the one who did that to your wrists?” he asks.
The bruises have almost faded completely. They’re just a little yellow and green. I rub at them, wishing it would just go away already. The people in this school are too observant and I am tired of the sympathetic looks.
“No. That would be Andrew, my stepbrother,” I say. “Well, not really my stepbrother, I suppose. He was my kidnapper’s husband’s son.”
“Is that all he did?” Sebastian asks. His voice is very calm, but I can that he’s angry, by the fist he’s making with his hand. His knuckle turn white.
“Andrew only touched me when he was hitting me. Or kicking me. Otherwise, he didn’t lay a hand on me,” I say.
His hand doesn’t relax.
“Why are you here, anyway?” I ask. “Isn’t school in session?”
“Your father pulled me out of class and told me I had two options. The first was to come babysit you. The second was to go home and never be allowed on the school grounds again. Basically, I had no choice,” he says. “Because, I can’t go home.”
“I’m sorry,” I tell him.
“You know,” he says, turning to look at me. “I never did like Nolan. Getting to take him on in a fight felt good, especially considering I won. Well, won is a strong word. But I held my own and he eventually ran. If you and Gage hadn’t been bleeding out on the floor, I would’ve gone after him.”
A chill comes over me when I think about the other option. What if he hadn’t won? Or what if he hadn’t been there?
“Yeah, but now you have to be in here. And I know you said you don’t hate me, but it kind of feels like you do,” I say. “I can tell that you don’t like me very much. Maybe you should have left me bleeding out on the floor.”
“Don’t take it personally,” Sebastian says. “I don’t particularly like anybody. But I would never have left you. Or Gage.”
“I love people,” I say. “Everybody is a mystery to me, and I like to figure them out. When I lived in Florida, I wasn’t allowed to talk to anybody. The few times I tried, I got starved. The most recent time, I was starved for a whole month. So back then, I would just people watch. I had conversations with them in my head. It’s nice to be able to talk to people now. I don’t even care that you don’t like me, because I like you.”