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“I’m going to ignore him tomorrow,” Sebastian told Hermione.

She gave him a flat stare. Sebastian sighed, flopped onto his bed, and covered his head with a pillow.

Even his dumb cat was judging him.

Chapter 11

Normally, Sebastian was a morning person. However, after spending half of the night wide awake, tossing and turning, he really didn’t appreciate being rudely awoken by a phone call from his agent.

“...come on, get up—”

“Wait, what?” Sebastian said blearily, rubbing at his eyes.

Zoe sighed. “Did you listen to a word I said? The shooting for Gentleman’s Gentleman starts in four hours. Did you forget about the photo shoot? I hope you’ve been keeping yourself in shape and eating healthily.”

Sebastian thought guiltily about the ice cream he’d eaten the previous day while he fumed over Vlad’s words. “Of course,” he lied. He had known that he had the photo shoot coming soon, but the date had slipped his mind with all the excitement of the past few days.

“Good,” Zoe said. “Though we don’t want you looking too perfect. You know Gentleman’s Gentleman likes a more authentic, natural look. They’ll be shooting the first part of the photo shoot in your hometown—you do remember that, do you?”

Sebastian yawned, trying to wake up completely and failing. “Sure,” he said. He did remember. That magazine toed the fine line between fashion and art. The editors liked when their photo shoots told a coherent story or at least sent a meaningful message; they liked to use the model’s background for inspiration. It was quite different from Sebastian’s usual spreads in fashion magazines.

He had been a little hesitant about accepting the job at first. He wasn’t sure he wanted to share with the world what a loser he had been in his youth. It was Zoe who had convinced him that besides financial benefits, such a spread would also send a powerful message to all the struggling, depressed teenagers out there: that someone on the bottom of the social ladder could become very successful as an adult. That had finally convinced Sebastian to take the gig.

“Great, then!” Zoe said. “Just one more thing, love: you’ll need a bodyguard. The attack on you is all over the news. You can’t be seen in public unprotected—it’ll reflect badly on the agency. We’ve found someone for you, and he should be there to pick you up in half an hour.”

“Fine,” Sebastian said with a sigh.

“Good luck.”

“Thanks,” Sebastian said and hung up.

He looked at the clock. He hoped the agency would be able to find a decent bodyguard on such a short notice. Sebastian was neither stupid nor careless. The photo shoot was public knowledge. He would be outdoors for most of it. It was a perfect opportunity to attack him.

Trying to shake the knot of apprehension in his gut, Sebastian got out of bed.

After finishing his morning routine and getting dressed, Sebastian emerged from his room. He had to tell Luke he would be gone for the day.

Luke was in the kitchen. He wasn’t alone.

Sebastian didn’t let his steps falter when he saw Vlad deep in conversation with Luke. They both looked up when he entered the kitchen.

“Morning,” Sebastian said, pouring himself a cup of tea.

“Are you leaving?” Luke said.

“Yeah, for a photo shoot in my hometown.”

“Cancel it,” Vlad said.

Sebastian, who up until this point had been successfully ignoring Vlad, turned to him. “Excuse me?”

He had expected Vlad to avoid his eyes after what had happened last night, but he met Sebastian’s gaze dead on. “Cancel it,” he repeated. “My contact in the police just called. One of the arrested men talked. Apparently his friends are planning something big for today.”

Sebastian frowned. “Why today?”

“It’s National Coming Out Day, Seb,” Luke reminded him.

“Oh,” Sebastian said softly. “That completely slipped my mind.” He looked at Vlad. “Did the guy say what exactly those lunatics were planning?”

Vlad shook his head. “He only knows that they will attack two public LGBT figures today. After the attack on you failed, you’re an obvious choice. Those kinds of cults tend to get fixated on things.”

“How many people know you have a photo shoot today?” Luke said.

Sebastian pursed his lips. “It’s public knowledge. There’s no point in keeping it secret anyway, because most of the shooting is done in public places.”

“You’ll have to cancel it,” Luke said with a frown.

“I can’t,” Sebastian said.

Vlad scoffed. “Quit being a stubborn little idiot—”

“I really can’t,” Sebastian said, glaring at him. “I signed a contract. The magazine won’t delay the shoot. They have deadlines they have to meet.” He looked at Luke. “Don’t worry, the agency is going to send a bodyguard for me.”

The intercom buzzed. “That’s probably him,” Sebastian said, and went to answer it.

It took a good ten minutes before Luke’s security downstairs gave an all clear and the bodyguard was allowed to come up to the flat.