Chapter 183

She squinted at the still water, then back at Sebastian. “Are you sure there are even fish in here?”

Sebastian smirked. “Don’t underestimate my pond. These are fish I raised myself.”

Just as Stephanie was resigning herself to boredom, Marco and Lorenzo arrived. Marco immediately noticed her lip. “Whoa, what happened to your mouth? Got bit by something?”

Stephanie froze, avoiding eye contact. She cleared her throat and looked away.

Marco, oblivious, glanced at Sebastian. “How does that even happen when she’s with you? Some bodyguard you are.”

Sebastian’s gaze turned ice cold.

Marco raised a brow. “What? Am I wrong? Whispering Bay’s right by the water; maybe your pest control sucks.”

Before Marco could further incriminate himself, Lorenzo elbowed him. “Shut up, man. Seriously.”

Lorenzo leaned in. “You ever had a girlfriend?”

“What’s that got to do with anything?”

Lorenzo rolled his eyes so hard they nearly fell out. He seriously wanted to kick Marco into the pond—maybe soaking that brain for a while would finally knock some sense into it.

Seeing Lorenzo's clear displeasure, Marco finally understood. His eyes flicked from Stephanie to…Stephanie again.

Stephanie, feeling his stare, grew nervous. The last thing she needed was Marco connecting the dots and blurting something outlandish.

“I’m going to check out the flower field,” she said, bolting without waiting for a reply.

Marco watched her run off, then turned to Sebastian, who remained unfazed. “Wait…Was that you?”

Sebastian gave him a deadly glare, and Marco instantly swallowed the rest of his sentence. If it were any other guy, Sebastian would have already ripped him apart. But this calm? It had to be him.

Macro sucked in a sharp breath. “Damn. That’s messed up.”

The next moment, Marco yelped as a sharp pain shot through his calf, nearly dropping him to his knees. “Seriously? You didn’t have to go that hard! Did I say something wrong? She’s still just a kid!”

Lorenzo stepped up, patted Marco’s shoulder, and said calmly, “She’s been legal for years.”

Everyone around Sebastian knew exactly how he felt about Stephanie. The only one still clueless was Stephanie herself. Honestly, it was a miracle Sebastian hadn’t snapped after chasing her all these years.

Hearing she was of age, Marco quickly fell silent—but the look he gave Sebastian still held plenty of judgment.

Just then, the fishing line jerked—a big catch. Without missing a beat, Sebastian reeled it in and smacked the fish right into Marco’s face. The slap of the tail, along with the overwhelming fish smell, nearly made him gag.

“Sebastian, what the hell!” Marco tossed the fish into the bucket, glaring.

Sebastian’s tone was casual but firm. “Watch what you say around her. Scare her off again, and I’ll make sure you regret it.”

That sent a chill down Marco’s spine.

“Scare her? You should be more worried about her scaring me!” The king of wolves doesn’t raise sheep—just look at how Stephanie’s been handling Chris Ashford and the Hart family lately. Word was, most of Chris’s injuries were thanks to her. Before coming over, Marco had even heard Chris was rushed to the hospital again; apparently, his fractures were serious. There’s no way Stephanie wasn’t involved. No one would believe otherwise. As for the Hart family, rumor has it they’re practically begging at her feet these days.