Rapture (McKenzie Brothers) (12 page)

Carla

“Okay, now it’s just us for probably five minutes I want you to tell me about Sebastian,” Lily insists, patting the cushion beside her as an indication she wants me to sit with her and with the wicked gleam in her eye, she wants more than a few words. “Carla, I might be pregnant, but that doesn’t mean I’ve lost my woman’s intuition…or my eye sight.” She grins at me while smoothing her top over her huge stomach. “Besides I’m not having sex right now since Michael read online that a man’s sperm can start labor.” She rolls her eyes. “I wouldn’t mind labor starting. I look like an elephant and it’s damn uncomfortable.”

I start laughing
, as I collapse into the seat she pats. “You only have a couple of weeks to your due date right?” Seeing Lily nod, I carry on, “Twins usually arrive early from what I’ve heard, so personally I think you’re doing really well hanging on to them.”

Lily rests her head back against the cushion before turning to look at me. “So, Sebastian.”

I feel like squirming where I sit with her looking at me in the all-knowing way. “What do you want to know?”

She smirks.
“Carla. I want to know everything. He’s my brother-in-law and a fine specimen and seeing as though I’m not letting Michael between my legs, I need second hand information and you’re the only one here.”

God, I’m glad I’d already finished my coffee because it probably would have choked me to death with Lily’s words.

“I thought you said Michael wouldn’t have sex with you.” Are we really having this conversation?
Unreal.

“He won’t put his cock in me.” M
y eyes widen at her bluntness, which considering the topic of conversation I should have been prepared for. “But he keeps trying to put his mouth on me.” She grins. “I told him if he refused to use his cock, then my legs and mouth were staying closed.”

I listen to her goin
g on about her sex life and then start laughing. In fact, I’m laughing so much, tears are leaking out from the corners of my eyes.

There’s no way she’s going to let me off the hook and as she knows there is something between us anyway I guess I won’t be given much away.

“Will you keep it to yourself for now, until we can tell Pippa?”

“I can do that. S
o spill.”

She’s infectious. “I’ve never been with Ramon in the way we’ve let everyone believe. Something happened and I agreed to pretend to be his girlfriend, not expecting to fall for his brother,” I lean back against the sof
a, closing my eyes, “but I did. I’m in love with Sebastian and I think I have been since we first met at your wedding.”

I turn my head to look at Lily. “We’ve been together these past three days. Today is the first day Sebastian has gone into the office s
ince he showed up at my door.” I offer a slight smile. “He didn’t want to leave me, but he had a meeting he couldn’t get out of.”

After a few minutes Lily breaks the silence.
“I noticed his attraction to you at my wedding. He couldn’t take his eyes from you. I’ve also noticed him watching you when he thinks no one is looking. In the time I’ve known him, he’s never been like that before.” Lily sighs. “I’ll be honest and say I was worried at first because I thought you were his brother’s girl, but as I watched you both the attraction between you was electric, whereas with Ramon you always just acted as friends. So it’s a relief to know there isn’t going to be any conflict within the family.”

“No conflict, although it was difficult and upsetting
wanting to be with him, but not wanting to break my promise to Ramon. It was more so for Sebastian because he thought I was sleeping with his brother. At least we’re together now.”

“Whose together now?” Lucien asks striding into the room and straight to Lily, placing a kiss to her cheek. “You okay?”

“I’m fine Lucien. I thought you were picking Sabrina up on your way here.” Lily pushes him to one side and then spots her friend hovering in the doorway.

Something’s going on here and I think that something is Sabrina and Lucien.
Sabrina sure as hell doesn’t look too happy with Lucien fawning all over Lily, which the rest of the family is used to. Even Michael’s accepted his brother’s coddling of his wife. Lucien on more than one occasion has spoken out calling her his sister, but I guess Sabrina not being around hasn’t helped with her perception of their relationship.

Lucien sits opposite us and glares daggers, for want of a better word, at Sabrina until she straightens up, and joins us by sitting as far away from Lucien as she can with
out being rude, which gets a raised eyebrow from him.

Sabrina completely ignores him and glances between
Lily and myself, but stays silent.

“How are you settling back into life in the states?” I ask wanting to break the tension that arrived with them.

“Just fine. I love the cabin Michael found me to rent, and the peace and quiet of where it is. The weather is an added bonus after raining for weeks before I left London. Anyway, enough about me, Lily, how are you feeling?”

I’m beginning to feel slightly uncomfortable with
tension between Sabrina and Lucien and I so wish I could be a fly on the wall when they’re alone…then again, maybe not as it’d be an explosive encounter.

“I feel like an oversized elephant and
Michael refuses to do anything to try and set my labor off.”

Trying not to laugh at the freaked out look on Lucien’s face is easi
er said than done. It takes him a minute to school his feature before he asks. “How? Dare I ask?”

I’m unable to control the snicker, which burst from between my lips. “You really shouldn’t have asked that, Lucien.”

He still looks clueless, but he won’t for long.

“A man
’s sperm can trigger labor when the due date is close and Michael refuses to, well you know, inside me.” Lily grins across at Lucien who looks damn uncomfortable now. “Lucien, are you feeling okay?”

Trust Lily to draw attention to his embarrassment.

“I’d rather not have that image in my head. So thanks for that,” he says standing up. “I think I’ll leave you ladies to catch up.” He bends and kisses Lily again before scowling in Sabrina’s direction, but turning to me he winks before walking out of the room.

Lily chuckles
. “I think I went a bit too far with him then, but it was fun. He doesn’t normally blush,” Lily makes the observation looking at her friend who ignores her.

“Lily, I need to be heading back to the city. I
have some things to do,” I say quietly, hoping to sneak off and avoid the tension in the room.

Lily takes my hand and pul
ls me to her for an awkward hug. “Seduce his socks off,” she whispers for my ears only.

I grin and after saying goodbye to a brooding S
abrina, I walk out of the living room and bump into Lucien, Michael and Elias, who I also say goodbye to before climbing into my car.

Michael and Lily’s house
sure has a lot of family back and forth. As I pull away from the house and drive slowly down the lane towards the highway, I can’t help be slightly envious of the close-knit family of the McKenzie’s. I love my own space, but knowing I have family close by would be lovely and something that I haven’t missed until I started hanging out with them.

Pulling out on to the high
way, I start speeding up when I catch a black SUV barreling towards me at a high speed through the rear mirror.

Trying
to keep my nerves at bay, I carry on driving at the legal speed in hope the SUV will pass, but glancing back it slows down and trails behind me right on the ass of the car.

Could it be Gary? I can’t make out the driver because of the tinted windows. How would he have gotten the money f
or a car that fancy? I’m stupid. I chide myself. Of course he will have stolen it, if it’s him. Why isn’t the driver passing me?

The car keeps weaving back and forth between this lane and the next, but he’s not ove
rtaking, and then I feel a jolt as the car pushes forward.

He bumps
my car. My fingers cling to the steering wheel in a death grip as my stomach turns and panic starts to set in. Watching the car pull back slightly, I reach for my cell, which I’d placed on the passenger seat and hit speed dial two, Sebastian.

“Hey babe,” he answers immediately.

“Sebastian, I don’t know what to do,” I say panicking. “There’s an SUV following me and they’ve hit the bumper once.” I start to cry. “I’m frightened.”

“Fuck, baby. Where are you?”

“I’ve left Lily and Michael’s about five minutes ago and heading back to the city.” I watch as the SUV pulls up to me again and clips the bumper, making me scream.

“Carla…Carla…
Fuck
, answer me dammit,” he shouts down the phone, sounding frantic. “I’m just ringing Michael. Hang on.”

“
Okay. I’m here.” I wipe the tears from my eyes. “There’s no one around to help me.”

I can hear Sebastian talking to someone in the background.

“Baby, I’ve called Michael. Dad and Lucien are on their way to you right now and I’m leaving. I’m just getting into my car.”

I hear his car door slam then a screech of
tires. It’s going to take him about twenty minutes to get to me. Time I don’t think I have as the SUV is speeding up to me again.

“Sebastian,” I cry, “I love you.
”

“Carla, don’t you dare do this.
”

The SUV hits the back end of my car at full speed sending me spinning across the road towards the
ditch.

“SEBASTIAN!”

Sebastian

As Carla screams, I swear to God that ten years were taken off my life. Carla is everything to me and the thought of her hurt and alone is killing me as I floor the gas pedal. The chance of getting a speeding ticket flitters through my mind, but following that, an image of Carla, broken and injured in her car nearly brings me to my knees.

Once I pull away from town, I
speed dial my Dad and pray they’re with her.

“Dad–
” I say as I hear my Dad’s voice.

“Carla’s fine, son,” he tells me before I can ask.

Everything becomes blurry so I pull over to the side of the road and swipe at my eyes.

“Son, you there?”

“Yeah. What…what did you find?” I need to know what’s going on as I put my head in my hands and listen to my dad tell me about the destruction of the car.

“It’
s totally destroyed,” he says, “nothing but bent metal to the front of the car. She’s damn lucky she’s able to walk away from it. If you ask me a combination of her seat belt and airbag saved her life. I’ve tried to ring Ramon, but he isn’t answering.”

Ramon? Then it hits me that my parents and other brothers have no idea what’s been going on with Carla or that she’s mine.

“He’s flying Dad. I’m on my way and should be there soon. Can I talk to Carla?”

I stay sitting in my car at the side of the road as I let the engine idle, not knowing how I’m going to react hearing the voice of the woman I love.

“Lucien’s taken her back to the house while I wait for the Sheriff. She refused to let us call the EMT, refusing to go to the hospital so we compromised and they’re going to check her out at the house. Her shoulder is hurting from the seat belt and she’ll probably have bruising on one side of her face where she smashed into the airbag. You’ll see soon enough if you’re on the way. I’ve got to go son, the Sheriff is just pulling up.”

Fuck! He hung up on me.

Trying to calm down, I rest against the back of the seat and close my eyes, taking some deep breaths. The last thing she needs to deal with today is me getting involved in an accident. So with that thought in mind, I pull away and try to keep my speed down, which is difficult as hell.

Gary needs teaching a lesson. A lesson, which I wouldn’t mind teaching the bastard. After today
, Carla isn’t going anywhere without someone, preferably me, with her. Even to the fuckin’ bathroom. I smack my fist against the steering column as my impatience to get to her starts eating at me.

My life before Carla was one long party. Other than my family I took nothing seriously, even work I’d blow off time and time again for the chance to spend a few days with a new hot body. Yeah, that was me. Fast cars and fast
er women. Women who knew the score and wanted what my body could offer them.

Until I met Carla I had no idea that all I wanted was a woman to call mine. A woman who I wanted to spend the r
est of my life with, bear my children and, most of all, a woman who would love me for myself and not because of the McKenzie name, which would lead to the McKenzie money, and today I nearly lost all that because of
him.

Because of the accident that he caused trying to kill her, he is going to pay for that when I get my hands on the fucker.

Slowing down, I pull over to the side of the road and roll the window down, unable to take my eyes from the wreck of Carla’s car.

“Hey
Sebastian.” I hear the Sheriff, but have trouble finding my voice. She could have been killed in that chunk of steel. “Sebastian? Are you alright?”

“No.
” I shake my head, finally dragging my eyes away and locate the Sheriff, Thomas Jefferson. Yeah, his parents loved history. “You catch the bastard?”

“Not yet,” he says leaning through the open window, “but I will.”

Not if I find him first.

“Keep me in the loop will you, Tom?”

“As best I can.” He steps away from my car and stands back watching me drive off.

As soon as
I turn the corner, I put my foot down, flooring the gas, praying Carla’s okay when I get there.