Black Platinum (In the Shadows Book 6) Read online

  “Whoa, hold on. Is Banks truly a danger? He didn’t come across as threatening. He was just forthright and curious.”

  “He’s not a threat per se,” he begins, lowering his arms.

  “Then no, I won’t be going home with you.” When I grab my purse and open the bathroom door, my husband stalks after me into the living room.

  “This isn’t up for discussion, Talia.”

  “You’re right, it’s not.” I open the apartment door and wait until he joins me in the hall so I can lock the door. “I love that you’re protective, Sebastian, but this time it’s unwarranted. I have to meet Cass for drinks in ten minutes. I suggest you go home and catch up on your sleep. Now that you can.”

  Sebastian opens his mouth to say something, then closes it. He stays broodingly silent while he follows me to my car. Once I’m seated in the driver’s seat, he holds the door as I start the engine. “This discussion isn’t over.”

  I sigh. “Send Theo if you wish. I’ll be at Fine Tapas for an hour, then I’ll be coming back here to sleep.” Before he can say anything else, I close the door and drive off.

  “Can you believe him?” I grumble at Cass as I set the small tracking device on the table.

  “Where’d you find it?” she asks, picking it up to look at it.

  I sigh. “I found it in my wheel well after my husband showed up at the apartment.” When her eyebrow hikes, I smirk. “He promised never to put a tracker on my phone, so how else would he know how to find me?” Knowing my husband’s penchant for redundancy, I checked the other wheel wells too, and sure enough I found a similar looking device in the back right one. Sneaky man thought he could hide it from me. I tossed the second one in the gurgling water fountain as I walked through the restaurant’s back patio on my way inside.

  “Why didn’t he have his guy hack your GPS?” Cass asks as she sets the device back on the table.

  “Whose side are you on?” I mutter, shaking my head. “He knows that I know how to turn it off, but at least I know how he found me at the apartment.”

  Cass’s eyes widen. “I was just there.”

  “Oh, I know.” Once I finish relaying what just happened in the bathroom, she sets her gin and tonic down, then flips her long dark hair over her shoulder and gives me the side-eye. “Wait…so you’re just expecting me to skip over the part where you went down on your man, completely breaking your deal that you wouldn’t have sex with him until the wedding, and go straight to the girl sympathy part?”

  “Yep, it’s been a hell of a day.” I lift my glass of sparkling water and take a sip. “And for the record, no sex occurred, certainly not on my part.”

  Cass purses her lips doubtfully, then nods toward my glass. “You sure you don’t want something stronger?”

  “No, Sebastian has me too wound up. If I drink anything, the sugar will make me toss and turn all night. I didn’t sleep well last night and need to catch up.”

  “You can always have one of these,” she suggests, lifting her cocktail.

  “You know I hate gin,” I say, wrinkling my nose. Sighing, I lift my shoulders and let them fall. “Please tell me everything’s going to run like clockwork for tomorrow’s rehearsal. I need to hear some good news right now.”

  Cass pulls a folder and pen out of her big purse and quickly flips it open on the table. “Mina and I have our dresses—seriously, thank you for choosing classic black—and of course the Blake men already own their tuxes. The flowers are ordered, your favorite caterer is confirmed with all the foods you requested. Delivery times and locations are confirmed with each of the vendors.”

  I smile as she meticulously checks off the list while talking. “Thank you for saving me, Cass. This will be like riding a bike by the time your wedding rolls around.”

  “My pleasure. You know I love creating fairytales. Though it’s so much more fun when it’s real life instead of in photos.” She grins, then continues down the list. “I’ve coordinated with the church about the rehearsal. Pastor Meyer expects you, Sebastian and the rest of the wedding party to be at the church at four-thirty tomorrow.” Pausing, she glances up from the paper, dark eyebrows raised over light brown eyes. “By the way, the pastor’s only letting you two slide from counseling because of his longstanding relationship with the Blake family.”

  “So it has nothing to do with the fact we’re already married?”

  She snickers at my sarcasm, then returns to her list. “The RSVPs are flooding in. Though, I’m surprised I haven’t seen one from your aunt.”

  The knowledge the invitation is still sitting in my purse burns through my mind, but Cass knows nothing about my aunt’s past actions, so I just wave and mutter, “Don’t worry about it.”

  “If you say so,” she says, then lifts her eyebrows. “Speaking of family…when I pressed Mina, she confessed that her mother was the one who asked her for a photo to put the engagement announcement in the paper at Adam Blake’s insistence.”

  My immediate irritation that Sebastian’s nasty stepmother, Isabel, was the one who submitted the announcement to the paper completely slips away. The fact she did it for Sebastian’s father means that Adam is trying to rectify all the years he didn’t acknowledge his illegitimate son by making a big deal over a Blake’s upcoming wedding. That makes my heart melt.

  Cass pauses when her phone beeps with a text. She smiles and taps out a response, then sets her phone down and starts to go over the itinerary once more.

  I raise my eyebrow. “Who was that?”

  “Oh, that was Mina asking if I was truly taking care of your entire schedule for the wedding so you had nothing to worry about.”

  I lift my glass to her in salute. “Did you tell her that you are?”

  As Cass nods, I get a text from Mina.

  I just checked with Cass to make sure you’re not overloaded with wedding stuff. Thank you so much for watching Josi tonight, Talia. You have no idea how relieved I am. It’ll be my first time leaving her and who better than with her godparents. Can you believe it…this will be my first night out since she was born! On a date, no less. I’m so excited! Thank you again! I told Sebastian I’ll pick her up around eleven.

  Tapping out a “you’re welcome and have a good time” text to Mina, I mutter, “He has no shame” as I put my phone in my purse and lay a few dollars on the table.

  “Wait? Where are you going?”

  “My husband just found a way to force me to come home.”

  “Really?” She laughs, intrigued. “How?”

  “Godparent duty. Any other time I would look forward to babysitting little Josi for an evening, but the timing of this visit has Sebastian’s fingerprints all over it.”

  “You’ve got to give the man props for being inventive,” she says, eyes dancing with amusement.

  “I don’t have to give him anything. And get that smug look off your face. You’re NOT winning this bet.”

  Her eyebrows shoot up innocently. “I didn’t say anything.”

  “The only thing missing is you rubbing your hands together in glee.

  Snickering, Cass lifts a pinky finger to the corner of her pursed lips in a Dr. Evil impression.

  “Ugh. I’m out of here. Night, Cass.”

  “Don’t forget…tomorrow at four-thirty at the church for rehearsal!” Cass calls after me.

  I turn and blow her a kiss before I walk out the door.

  Chapter 4

  Talia

  Sebastian is sitting on the couch with Josi tucked against him when I step off the elevator into our penthouse apartment. The adorable sight knocks some of the frustrated wind out of me.

  “Look who it is, Josi-bean!” He lifts the TV remote and lowers the sound on the sports recaps. “Aunt Talia’s home.”

  Josi’s curly blonde ringlets bounce as she swivels her head in my direction. She instantly smiles around her bottle and waves her arms but doesn’t stop sucking.

  When I move to sit down on the sofa and hold my finger out for her to clasp on
to it, he says lightly, “What are you doing here? I thought you were having drinks with Cass?”

  I rub my thumb over Josi’s tiny fingers curled around mine. “I can’t believe you used godparent babysitting duty to get me to come home,” I say in a light tone to keep Josi from sensing that I’m not super happy with him.

  “You didn’t need to come home, Talia. We’ve already had dinner and are just chilling with an after dinner cordial.” Sebastian pauses and lifts the bottle up to see if his niece is done. Josi begins to wail and he immediately plops it right back into her mouth, murmuring, “Sorry, Bean. You stopped sucking. Yeah, I know your aunt can be very distracting.” When she smiles at his deep voice and makes contented gurgling sounds around her bottle, he flicks his gaze to me. “Josi and I have got it covered.”

  She’s still clutching my finger tight as she begins to lightly pat her uncle’s big hand holding her bottle. Of course now I feel foolish for assuming he orchestrated this entire evening with an agenda in mind. Apparently, he’s better at this babysitting thing than I realized. Watching Sebastian and his niece together makes me feel like an intruder horning in on their blissful evening. Still, that tracking device is burning a hole in the bottom of my purse. When did he put it on my car?

  Just as I smile down at Josi’s adorable face, he says, “Am I supposed to give her a bath? While we’re in there, I think I’m going to work on this potty training thing. Diapers are a pain. I’ll bet I can teach her to use the potty in a day.”

  I snap my gaze to his in an “are you kidding me?” look. Uh yeah, I don’t buy that innocent act for a minute. He definitely engineered this. Just like he’s going to pretend he didn’t put a tracking device on my car. “You can’t give her a bath. We don’t have any baby soap or shampoo. I’m sure your sister will give her one in the morning.” I pull the diaper bag on the floor next to the sofa over and retrieve a diaper, the wipes, and the changing pad. “And you are not going to freak this child out by hovering her little butt over the toilet and commanding that she go potty.”

  He frowns at me. “Of course I won’t hover her over the toilet. She can sit up on her own now. I’ll just set her on the seat.”

  I arch an eyebrow. “She’ll fall in. Baby’s need a baby potty to learn to use the bathroom, which doesn’t happen until they’re at least eight months older than she is right now, by the way.” I lift the diaper stuff I pulled out. “Do this once she finishes that bottle.”

  “Don’t diapers last all day? They need to make diapers like camel humps.”

  Men. “She needs a change now,” I say, shaking my head.

  “How can you tell—” A pause, then his nose wrinkles. “Never mind.”

  Silently dying of laughter, I walk over to the bookshelves to retrieve a couple of books I bought for when Josi did come to visit.

  “I set the portable crib up in the guest bedroom. Mina says Josi usually goes to bed around eight.” He pauses to look down at Josi and she stares up at him with adoring eyes. “Though she doesn’t look sleepy to me.”

  “You should keep her on her routine as much as possible,” I suggest, handing him the books. “These should help.”

  “Where are you going?” he calls after me once I start toward our bedroom.

  “I’m changing clothes.”

  “But—” He holds the diaper up, a hopeful look on his face.

  “You said you’ve got it covered,” I say, before entering our bedroom.

  Sebastian doesn’t know that I stayed just inside the doorway, listening to him. I have to cover my mouth to keep from snickering when he says, “Did you see how deftly your aunt avoided doody duty?” The rip of her diaper precedes Josi’s giggles of delight. “All right, all right. Quit squirming or I’ll have to call you Jumping Bean from now on.” Josi giggles again and a few seconds pass. “There, now you’re ready for the next explosion. How about we go get our jammies on? I think your mom set them on the guest bed…”

  As his voice fades into the guest bedroom, my amusement turns into surprised appreciation and my heart swells. For all his tough guy exterior, I had no idea how patient my SEAL-trained husband could be with kids. What if I’m a terrible mother and freak out with a new baby? Thoughts about my mom’s indifference after I was born, and then her suicide, creep into my mind, spreading like a disease. Sebastian said he wants a family one day, but watching over a toddler like I did with Amelia is nothing compared to the exhausting, never-ending vigilance of taking care of a newborn.

  Mina said Sebastian really helped her when she first got home from the hospital as a single mother. At the time, I assumed she meant for moral support, but after watching how comfortable he is with Josi, he truly was the best big brother ever to her. I consider myself beyond lucky to have married someone who’s not afraid of raising kids, while at the same time his easy confidence makes me question if I’ll ever be as naturally relaxed as he seems to be.

  Sighing over my unease, I kick off my heels, then slip out of my dress. I start to open my dresser drawer and my gaze snags on the picture that I had drawn for Amelia of our names inside two hearts. Even though the same “Two Lias” picture, along with a photo of our goddaughter is inside the locket I’m wearing, Sebastian also had the artwork printed and framed for our bedroom. I kiss two fingers and press them to the glass, my heart twisting for her loss. “He would’ve charmed you too, sweet Amelia.”

  I couldn’t prevent her tragic death, but I was a good big sister. The fact we weren’t blood related never mattered. The memory of her little body squirming close in a hug might be bittersweet, but it helps ease my worry a little as I pull out my favorite pajama set. Once I’m dressed, hopefully I’ll get a chance to cuddle with Josi before she falls asleep.

  Sebastian’s deep voice floats from the guest bedroom as he reads “Guess How Much I Love You” to his niece. He’s leaning against the headboard, Josi tucked into the crook of his arm. It’s such a sweet moment, I turn and retrieve my purse. Setting it on the island, I quickly dig through it, pulling things out of the way to retrieve my phone, then quietly grab a shot and send his sister a text with the image.

  Uncle Seb has her completely enthralled!

  Mina’s quick Awwww, he’s the best reply pings on my phone, drawing Sebastian’s attention.

  “Aunt Talia’s come to read too. Then it’s off to sleep for you.”

  When he tickles her belly, Josi’s peals of laughter make me smile. I step into the room and pull her blanket from inside the crib, then lift the other book from the end of the bed and lean against the headboard bedside my husband. “Are you ready for Goodnight Moon?

  Josi’s eyes widen and she smacks her hands together. “Oon, Ahhya.”

  Sebastian glances my way, then back to Josi. “Did you just say Talia?”

  Crawling into my lap, Josi grabs her blanket in a tight hold, then settles her back against my chest and smacks at the book in my hand. “Oon! Oon, Ahhya!”

  When I don’t start reading right away, she puckers her little lips and looks right at her uncle. “Bye-bye.”

  I can’t help but burst out laughing when Sebastian shakes his head and says, “Guess I’ve been dismissed.” Leaning over, he kisses Josi on top of her head, then slides off the bed. “Night, Josi-bean.”

  The moment he pulls the door partway closed behind him, Josi turns her big light green eyes up to me and pats my cheek. “Oon.”

  I kiss the inside of her hand and snuggle her tiny body close. Pushing my nose into her soft curls, I inhale her baby powder smell before reading the opening lines of the book.

  Josi asks me to read Goodnight Moon again as soon as I’m done. The little tyke finally dozes off right at the very end of the second round. Lifting her, I lay her down in her crib and smile that even in sleep, she never lets go of the blanket.

  Turning down the nightstand lamp all the way to dim, I walk over to the door and lean around it, watching her as I begin to pull it closed. I freeze when the hinge creaks and Josi stirs and whimpe
rs. After a couple of sighs, she falls back to sleep. I exhale and pull the door the rest of the way until it’s shut.

  The living room lights are out and Sebastian has changed into lounge pants and a dark t-shirt. He’s standing next to the wall of windows, his wrists folded at his back. New York’s cityscape creates an impressive backdrop in the distance. He’d poured me a glass of red wine and set it on the table near the windows. What is he thinking about?

  “The view is always impressive,” I say as I move to stand beside him.

  He glances my way, his gaze sweeping over me. “I absolutely agree.”

  My face heats when I realize he’s referring to me, but just when I turn to say something, he shifts his attention back to the city. “As payback for something I did that pissed him off when I was young, Banks told Hayes where to find me. And because Banks led Hayes straight to me, that’s the night I lost my mother.”

  “I’m so…sorry, Sebastian.” My stomach pitches and I know my face must suddenly be very pale. “I wish you had told me. I had no idea.”

  “I honestly never thought the two worlds would collide.”

  Glancing my way, he slides his hand under my hair and cups my neck, running his thumb down the side of my throat. “Once I learned of Bank’s part in my mother’s death, I called a police buddy of mine and told him where to find an entire warehouse of goods. Banks had been stashing stuff there since I was a teen. I knew they couldn’t tie it to him, because he was always a careful bastard, but the loss would leave a dent. As far as I was concerned, we were even.”

  “Except you didn’t expect me to interview him.”

  He frowns, his thumb pausing on my skin. “Now that he knows I have someone I care about, that’s dangerous leverage.”

  I lift my eyebrows. “Today’s engagement announcement would’ve clued him into that anyway.”

  His fingers tighten slightly on my neck. “I haven’t had a chance to rip into Isabel for that yet.”

  “My understanding is that your father requested the announcement be sent out.” I try to gauge his thoughts, wondering what he’s thinking. “Adam is trying, Sebastian. Let your father be proud of his son.”