Unhinged (Unhinged #1) Read online

  “Feeling better yet?” Sebastian’s arm brushed against me as he moved closer to the rail, setting his empty beer bottle on the top.

  “Much,” I said a little too quickly, turning to face him.

  Whether it was the alcohol or my own desire, I wanted to question him, to find out what that niggling was in the back of my mind. “Are you really a mechanic?” I asked bluntly, gripping his jacket closer to my body.

  Sebastian took one step toward me. I took one step back, but my butt hit the concrete railing, effectively halting my getaway.

  “I’m a mechanic,” he stated, his voice low, seductive. He was looking into my eyes as though he could see right through me, as if he knew what I was thinking.

  If he knew, I’d be mortified because right at that moment, I was thinking about kissing him. Wondering what his lips would feel like against mine, and if I would be able to taste beer on his tongue.

  Sebastian’s finger came up and traced a line down my cheek. I leaned into his touch, unable to resist. “What is it about you, Angel?” Sebastian asked, but I sensed that the question was rhetorical so I didn’t answer.

  I allowed my gaze to drop to his lips, willing him to move just an inch closer.

  He did and our lips grazed one another’s, his breath warm against my mouth. My eyes closed and I prayed he would kiss me, that he would do something to suppress the ache that had taken up residence between my thighs.

  I’d never wanted a man the way I wanted Sebastian.

  Never.

  “Your boyfriend’s probably looking for you.” His voice was much lower than before, darker. I could practically sense the hunger in his tone.

  I opened my eyes, drawing away from him slightly so I could see his face. My pulse was pounding furiously, my breath coming in rapid gasps. I wanted to say something, but the words didn’t come.

  So as I stood there memorizing the swell of his bottom lip and the ring that decorated it, the slight crook of his nose, the dark, thick lashes that framed his incredibly beautiful eyes, I didn’t tell him that he was wrong. Aaron wasn’t my boyfriend. I wasn’t even the right gender for Aaron, but for some reason, I didn’t want to correct Sebastian’s assumption. I didn’t know anything about him, other than he wasn’t who he said he was. Sure, maybe he was a mechanic, but the fact that he was at a party, dressed to the nines in what I could only assume wasn’t a rented tuxedo, looking every bit like a man who had money and wasn’t put off by it, told me he hadn’t been entirely truthful.

  I didn’t need that in my life. For whatever reason, Sebastian had felt the need to lead me on, to make me believe otherwise and although my body was set to slow boil when he was around, it wasn’t in my best interest to acknowledge it. He was a bad boy. One I should run away from, not run toward.

  And I was smarter than that.

  Sebastian broke away, peering over his shoulder and I turned to see Aaron coming toward us.

  “There you are,” Aaron said softly, his eyes pinning Sebastian in place.

  Aaron rarely looked angry, but as he glared at Sebastian, I could feel his ire. Why was he so pissed?

  Without saying anything, Aaron worked his jacket off, pulled Sebastian’s from my shoulders and handed it back to him before wrapping me in his warmth. He didn’t say a word to Sebastian though and that was what made the moment so awkward.

  “Let me take you home,” Aaron suggested, putting his arm around me and pulling me against his side. I was tempted to push him away, to ask him what his problem was, but I was too shaken to do so.

  “Good to see you, Payton.” Sebastian’s voice was still soft and seductive, almost as though he was keeping a secret from Aaron. “I look forward to seeing you again.”

  Oh, hell.

  This was one of those testosterone contests. Who had the bigger balls and all that nonsense. I didn’t respond, just nodded and leaned into Aaron a little.

  When Aaron led me away from Sebastian, I was tempted to look back at him, wanting to know what he was thinking.

  “Don’t do it,” Aaron muttered under his breath, his arm wrapping tightly around me.

  “Do what?” I tilted my head back so that I could look up at him.

  He just smiled as we walked inside.

  We had just made it to the front door when Mr. Trovato came down the stairs.

  “Payton,” he called, causing me to turn toward him. “Leaving already?”

  “Yes, sir,” I said, just as Aaron said, “She’s not feeling well.”

  “Well, thank you for coming. I hope you had a good time.”

  “I did,” I lied. “Thank you for inviting me.”

  I felt a set of eyes watching me from across the room, and I looked past Mr. Trovato to see Sebastian leaning against the wall, his legs crossed at the ankles as he stared at me.

  I quickly turned my attention back to my boss, but not before both Aaron and Conrad were looking over at Sebastian.

  Conrad met my gaze again and I saw his irritation in the brown depths, but then it was masked quickly. “Take good care of her, son,” he said to Aaron, sparing him a brief glance, then looking at me and adding, “And I’ll see you on Monday.”

  Unable to speak through the desert that had taken up residence in my throat, I nodded my head and after receiving my wrap from the butler/man, I allowed Aaron to lead me outside. I managed, I still don’t know how, not to look at Sebastian again.

  The valet brought Aaron’s car around quickly and I kept my mouth shut until we were safely inside before I punched Aaron in the arm. “Why did you do that?” I exclaimed.

  Aaron laughed and rubbed his arm. “What did I do?”

  “Why did you make Sebastian think we were together?”

  Sure, I had allowed Sebastian to believe Aaron was my boyfriend, but it was something else entirely for Aaron to act so possessively.

  “You’ve got a lot to learn, kiddo.”

  “Don’t call me that,” I shouted unnecessarily. “I’m older than you.”

  “By a minute.” Aaron chuckled as the gates opened allowing us to leave the estate.

  “By a month,” I corrected him as I closed my eyes and rested my head against the back of the seat, snuggling into Aaron’s jacket. “You still didn’t answer me.”

  “Doll, you’ve got a lot to learn about men.”

  “Tell me about it.” I was referring to the testosterone overload I’d been in the middle of just a few minutes ago. “In the meantime, why don’t you enlighten me?”

  “It’s all in how you play the game,” Aaron stated.

  “I don’t want to play the game,” I retorted.

  “We all play the game, doll.”

  “But thanks to you, Sebastian’s gonna think I really do have a boyfriend.”

  “Maybe. But that’s what you want.”

  I turned my head toward him and peered at him through one eye. “Why’s that?”

  “Because men want what they can’t have. And, sweetheart, I just set the dominos in motion. Sebastian isn’t gonna be able to stop thinking about you.”

  “Wait.” I studied him briefly. “How do you know his name’s Sebastian?”

  Aaron chuckled, sparing me a sideways glance. “Because you just said it was.”

  “Oh.” Closing my eyes, I returned to my original position, my head facing forward, eyes closed. “It doesn’t matter anyway. It’s not like I’m gonna see him again.”

  “Oh, honey, you’ll see him again. Probably sooner rather than later.”

  The gentle hum of the tires on asphalt lulled me to sleep. As I drifted off, I didn’t bother telling Aaron that I hoped he was right.

  Chapter Twelve

  Sebastian

  I should have snuck back to the guest house when I’d had the chance. If I had, I wouldn’t have just spent the last few minutes staring out into the darkness with a woman I knew I needed to stay away from. But the silence had been comforting, her presence even more so. I could’ve stood there all night, listening to her sof
t breaths, letting the spicy sweet scent of her perfume tease me.

  She had all but dared me to kiss her. How I refrained, I still don’t know. It had taken everything in me not to pull her against my body and crush my mouth to hers just to see if she tasted as sweet as I suspected she did. As it was, when my lips brushed hers, I’d nearly come like a fucking teenage boy.

  I should’ve kissed her.

  And then her boyfriend had shown up and ruined the moment. The chaos in my head returned the instant he stepped outside, as though whatever filter Payton provided had been interrupted. I don’t know what it was, or whether I was just conjuring up crazy bullshit in my head, but I’d felt an overwhelming peace when I was near Payton tonight.

  She calmed me, even when she wound me up at the same time.

  I’d spent the last couple of hours watching her from the shadows of the ballroom, not wanting her to know I was there. It had been hell on earth watching her laugh, talk and dance with the tall guy who’d arrived with her. At one point, I had envisioned shooting out his kneecaps just because he was with her and I wasn’t.

  My sister had come over briefly to talk, only to give me a hard time when she caught me watching Payton. Aaliyah had a huge grin on her face when I asked her about the guy Payton was with, having seen the three of them talking shortly after Payton arrived. She informed me that his name was Aaron, and she went on and on about how funny he was and how cute the two of them were together.

  I knew her well enough to see through her. She’d been trying to get a rise out of me, but it hadn’t worked.

  Little witch.

  But now Payton was leaving with the blond guy and my night had officially gone to shit.

  “Sebastian.”

  I rolled my eyes at the sound of Conrad’s voice. I could hear the click of his Italian loafers on the marble floor as he approached. Slowly, I transferred my gaze from the front door over to Conrad’s face.

  “Stay away from her,” he commanded, his voice rough, his eyes beady.

  “What?” I twisted to face him as I stood to my full height. We were nose to nose and I was tempted to punch him in his fucking mouth. I hated when he treated me like a goddamn child.

  “You heard me,” he growled quietly. “Stay the fuck away from her.”

  “Or what?” I taunted.

  “Don’t push me, Sebastian. She’s off limits to you. Do you understand? I’m not gonna sit by and let you ruin her.”

  Ruin her?

  What the fuck.

  I laughed, but there wasn’t an ounce of humor in it. “Right. ’Cause that’s what I do. I ruin women.” I took a step closer, our noses nearly touching as I narrowed my eyes on him. “I’m not you. I don’t use them and throw them away. That’s your M.O. Not mine. And if you know what’s good for you, you’ll take your threats elsewhere, old man.”

  Conrad didn’t back down, but I saw a glimmer of fear in his brown eyes. He knew not to push me. I had a fragile grasp on my temper most of the time as it was. He knew that.

  Realizing we’d gained an audience, Conrad took a step back just as I turned to walk away. When he put his hand on my arm, it took every ounce of willpower I possessed not to turn around and nail him between the eyes with my fist. I glanced down at where he was gripping my arm tightly, then back up to his face.

  “I’m serious, Sebastian.”

  I shrugged his hand off. “So am I.”

  With that, I turned and walked away. I noticed Aaliyah was watching me from across the room, her eyes wide. She’d seen Conrad and I go toe to toe before, but just as I did, she knew that one of these days I was going to lose it.

  That, or I was going to implode.

  Half an hour later I was in my workout room, Holler Til You Pass Out by 3OH!3 blaring from the speakers, sweat pouring from my face as I pummeled the heavy bag hanging from the ceiling. The bass reverberating off the walls matched the pounding in my skull and the throbbing in my knuckles.

  While I threw one punch after another, gasping for air as I exhausted my muscles, I pictured Conrad’s face on the bag.

  This was my stress reliever, something I relied on to keep me sane. That and racing. Those were the only two things that helped to quiet the voices in my head, to calm the fury that pounded in my blood.

  I stopped moving, my chest heaving as I wrapped my arms around the bag, trying to keep from falling to the floor.

  My thoughts immediately drifted to Payton.

  She had calmed me in a way I’d never known before. In a way that no amount of punching a faceless enemy or redlining a powerful engine to its breaking point ever could.

  For as long as I could remember, I’d battled the fury that was a living, breathing thing inside me. Chaos was how I referred to it. A constant state of chaos that had a stranglehold on me.

  Stay away from her.

  My father’s words invaded my thoughts, a red haze clouding my vision momentarily.

  In all the time that I’d known the man, after all the warnings he had dished out, all of the threats he made, never had I wanted to defy him so badly.

  But for the first time, it wasn’t to get back at him.

  It had nothing to do with him period.

  I wanted Payton. I wanted her with a passion I’d never experienced before. I wanted to hold her in my arms, to lay her out beneath me and bury myself so deep inside her that she no longer thought about any other man. I wanted to own her, to possess her.

  It was crazy.

  I was crazy.

  Pushing away from the heavy bag, I retrieved the bottle of water sitting on the window sill. Staring out into the night, I could see my reflection on the window glass. The crazed look in my eyes was something I’d gotten familiar with. I knew what was inside of me. A beast that needed to get out.

  No amount of adrenaline had ever extricated the turmoil though, and Lord knows I had tried. Too many times.

  I downed the rest of the water and tossed the bottle into the small recycle container in the corner. Placing my hands on the wall above the window, I leaned forward, trying to see past the reflection into the night and that’s when it came back to me.

  Payton.

  The dreams.

  It was her I’d seen, even before I met her.

  She was the one I’d been drawn to, the reason I hadn’t wanted to wake up. Closing my eyes, I tried to conjure up the image of the woman who infiltrated my dreams, the way she looked then. She was just out of reach.

  Just like Payton.

  Stay away from her.

  As Conrad’s words bounced around in my head and images of Payton’s face continued to drift through my mind, I knew what the right thing to do was.

  For her sake, I needed to stay away. I needed to pretend we never met, ignore the fact that I was obsessed with her.

  There was only one problem.

  She unhinged me.

  And I wasn’t strong enough to resist her.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Sebastian

  One week later

  Thursday

  Wiping the sweat from my face with the edge of my T-shirt, I allowed the wrench to fall from my hand and land with a shrill clatter on the concrete floor. The sound was surprisingly reminiscent of the noise that was clanging inside my head. Even with the music blasting, I couldn’t block out the frenzied thoughts bouncing around inside my skull.

  The garage door was open, the chilly November wind whipping through the open space, but it did little to cool me down. My skin felt hot, my blood was racing through my veins. Although I could usually get myself under control by working, that wasn’t even helping today.

  “Fuck,” I growled, thrusting my hands through my hair, then sliding them down to the back of my neck.

  I paced the floor just like that, my eyes on the ground, my hands gripping my neck, the muscles pinched tight.

  I’d been strung tight as a bow since last Friday. Six days ago.

  The last time I saw Payton.

  I could still
feel her breath on my lips. I was kicking myself in the ass for not kissing her, for not taking her into my arms and holding her, touching her. I just wanted to know what she would feel like against me. If I could have done anything differently about that night, that would have been it. It was the only damn thing I could think about.

  And it was slowly killing me.

  It didn’t help that Conrad was watching me like a hawk. If I didn’t know better, I would have thought he was tracking me. Maybe he was. I actually wouldn’t be at all surprised.

  If it weren’t for my sister requesting that I have dinner with them every night, avoiding him would have been a hell of a lot easier. But it was hard for me to say no to Aaliyah. So, every night, I had to endure my father’s scowl at the table. He would purposely bring up Payton’s name and every damn time his eyes would be on me. So far, not since the night of the party, he hadn’t warned me to stay away from her, at least not verbally, but I knew he was thinking it. I could tell by that tell-tale gleam in his eyes that he was just waiting for me to defy him.

  Just so we’re entirely clear, I fully intended to defy him, but it had nothing to do with getting back at him. Not this time.

  From the moment Payton walked out the front door with that blond guy, the noose had continued to tighten around my neck and it wasn’t easing up. The longer I waited before seeing her again, the more frustrated I was becoming.

  I had dreamed about her again. The night of the party. I don’t know if it was because I’d been thinking about her, or trying to decipher the original dream, but she’d appeared out of thin air. Waking up had been brutal. Reality could be a cold bitch sometimes.

  Reaching down, I grabbed the wrench I’d discarded and as I was standing up, the music cut off suddenly and I heard someone clear their throat. I knew without looking who it was.

  “Yes?” I asked my father, not bothering to look at him.

  “I need an estimate on when you’ll have that finished.”

  Yep. Just as I thought. He was there to ride my ass about the project, wanting me to be finished already. I’d told him a hundred times, I didn’t know. He obviously wasn’t accepting that answer.