Page 107 of Blood and Thorns

“Hmm.” Sebastian’s upper lip curved. “I’ve never called youbellebecause of your name.”

“No?” I frowned, hooking my arm over the back of his neck when he lifted me once more, only to gently lay me down into the water.

“Bellemeans beautiful.”

Oh.

“You’re going to get wet,” I whispered, unsure what to say.

Sebastian smirked, pulling out his arms to find he was indeed soaked. Tucking my knees to my chest, I watched as he unbuttoned his shirt before removing it entirely.

He stood with his chest bare, the flames from the candles creating harsher lines across his skin. Reaching for a cloth, he wet it in the water before gently washing it along my arm.

“Is my dad okay?” I asked, the words so quiet I didn’t think he’d heard them.

His movements paused for a beat, and after the moment he continued to gently wash me. “He’s alive, if that’s what you’re asking.”

I pulled my bottom lip between my teeth. “I didn’t know he would be there. I wasn’t running. I didn’t–”

“I know.”

A lump formed in my throat, as if I’d swallowed frost, and I shivered despite the heat from the water. “Please don’t hurt him,” I whispered.

Sebastian washed across my shoulders. “Did he give you the drink?”

That frost shattered into a million icicles, cramping my stomach and turning my blood to ice. “Sebas–”

“Did he give you the drink?” he repeated, his voice stern yet somehow still gentle.

I couldn’t look at him, simply hugging my legs tighter to my chest. “Yes.”

“Do you think he knew what waited for you in that bathroom?”

Now, all you have to do is gain his trust before you can strike. I’ve set up…

“He wouldn’t…” My voice cracked, unable to understand that the man who’d fathered me could do such a thing. That he thought so little of his only daughter that he could hurt her in such a way. Yes, he’d pushed me to take his place, to carry his debt.

But this was different. This was calculated. Deliberate.

The sobs finally broke free, tearing through my ribs as if each one came directly from my heart. It didn’t matter that I tried to calm myself; I couldn’t seem to stop them.

“Arabella…”

Pain tore through me, my head pounding and my heart breaking. “Why… why would he do that?”

A muttered curse, followed by a splash. Sebastian had stepped into the bath, trousers and all. Slipping his much larger body behind mine, he pulled me against him.

“Tout va bien se passer,”he whispered against the top of my head.“Cela ne se reproduira plus, je le promets.”

I closed my eyes, calming myself with his heat at my back. I don’t know how much time passed with him simply holding me, long enough for the water to cool and the bubbles to pretty much disappear.

“I grew up in Paris,” Sebastian said after a while, his voice deep, and yet soft as it brushed over me. “With two brothers.”

Laying my head against his shoulder, I looked up at him. “There were two more of you?”

“Hmm.” He brushed his fingers down my arms, his chest vibrating against my back. “Noah and Beau.”

I could hear the sorrow in his words. “What happened to them?”