Chapter 142

Sebastian didn’t answer, and then he and Abigail heard knocking at the door.

“I’ve checked the room. Get some rest,” Sebastian said to Abigail, who was sitting on the edge of the bed. He turned and headed for the door.

Abigail watched him leave the room and close the door behind him. She couldn’t shake the feeling that whenever she brought up Clark, Sebastian seemed to be running away from something.

Abigail couldn’t sleep, so she pulled out her phone to play a puzzle game. She’d been playing Candy Crush for years and had cleared thousands of levels.

Before going to prison, Abigail used to rank nationally, but after three years away from it, she’d dropped way down the leaderboards. Still, she’d made it past level 3000.

While she played games in her room, James and Warren were grilling Sebastian downstairs.

“You can’t keep hiding this forever. Anyone can see she’s the loyal type. When she first went to prison, she got picked on constantly. If Clark hadn’t helped her out, she wouldn’t be where she is today. Maybe you should just come clean,” James said with obvious amusement.

Sebastian shot him a cold look but didn’t respond.

“Great advice there, genius,” Warren said, barely containing his laughter.

“Hey, I’m just saying what I see. It looks like she’s telling you that if you let her meet Clark, she’ll be ready to date you.” James leaned back in his chair, clearly enjoying Sebastian’s predicament.

“I think she’s already suspicious. Why else would she make a request like that?” Warren looked at Sebastian, who remained silent, with a knowing smile.

Sebastian frowned, “I’ve been thinking the same thing, but telling her the truth won’t do her any good.”

“What if we get some really ugly guy to pretend to be her boyfriend? That would kill her hopes for good,” James suggested.

Sebastian and Warren both rolled their eyes at him.

“Lies always get exposed eventually, or you end up piling lie on top of lie. I’d say don’t do anything that stupid,” Warren said. Sebastian nodded in agreement.

“Well, if that won’t work and nothing else will work, then just don’t date anyone,” James said, getting irritated.

Sebastian looked over at Warren, who reached out and patted his shoulder. “Then you’ll just have to keep trying. The problem is you made a terrible first impression on her. There’s no getting around that.

“The nicer you are to her, the more she thinks you are a player. Everyone says guys who are too attentive are just smooth operators with tons of experience…”

“Just shut up already,” Sebastian felt frustrated. ‘I should have kept my mouth shut that day,’ he thought.

They all went to their separate rooms after that.

Abigail didn’t fall asleep until after four in the morning. At eight o’clock, James woke her up by knocking on her door.

She opened the door with tired, unfocused eyes and looked at him standing there. “What do you want?” she asked with a sigh.

“Jet lag keeping you up? I was thinking we could go out for breakfast, but if you’re this tired, maybe we should just order room service,” James said.

“Yeah, I couldn’t sleep. I’m not messing up your plans, am I?” Abigail leaned against the doorframe and yawned.

“Not at all. We don’t start until tomorrow anyway. Worst case, we’ll just have them push it back a bit,” James smiled.

Abigail nodded and started to close the door.

Warren walked by and glanced at her. “Get some rest then. We’re going out to explore the city. I’ll tell the hotel to send up food whenever you wake up.”

“Sounds good.” Abigail nodded again. She closed the door, went back to bed, and flopped down to continue sleeping.

James and Warren headed over to the dining table where Sebastian was still eating breakfast. “She’s dealing with jet lag and didn’t sleep well. We’re going out for a walk.”

“You guys go ahead. I’m staying here.” The moment Sebastian heard Abigail wasn’t going, he immediately turned down their invitation.

“Fair enough.” Warren shrugged with a knowing smile. “Good luck, man. With an opportunity like this, if you don’t make any progress, you’re really hopeless.”

“Just eat your breakfast, will you?” Sebastian grabbed a piece of bread and threatened to shove it in Warren’s mouth.

Warren took a bite right out of Sebastian’s hand. “Thanks.”

“Take it, before I smear this bread all over your face.” Sebastian looked disgusted.

Warren reached out and took the bread from him.

Abigail slept until the afternoon and only crawled out of bed when her empty stomach started cramping up. She figured everyone else was out, so she didn’t bother changing clothes or fixing her messy hair before walking out of her room.

Abigail headed straight for the hotel mini-fridge and found some water and bread inside. She tore open a package and started munching on it while looking around for the hotel phone.

When she turned around, she saw Sebastian sitting on the couch watching her. She nearly jumped out of her skin. “What are you doing here?”

“We’re in a foreign country. I wasn’t comfortable leaving you alone in the hotel,” Sebastian said, then added, “I’ll have the hotel send up some proper food for you.”

“Okay, let me go brush my teeth first.” Abigail felt mortified. She didn’t know whether to swallow the bread in her mouth or spit it out.

“Just finish eating first. A few more minutes won’t kill you.” A slow, teasing grin spread across Sebastian’s face, amusement flickering in his eyes.