Alone (6 page)

Would she still love her husband? Would he
love her or continue to hurt her?

So now she lay in her marital bed, with
her husband in the hospital, praying another man would come to
her.

Serenity’s e
motions churned; a guilty, sick
feeling, with a spark of something else—hope?

You don’t even know his
name.

Almost imperceptibly, the air moved
around her, a tiny change in the molecules, like the air right
before thunder rolled across the sky. She held her breath, too
scared to turn around in case she had imagined things, but knew she
must.

He stood framed in her bedroom window
wearing the same long overcoat she first saw him in. His shock of
dark hair set off his serious green eyes. The hard set of his jaw
erased the usual playful teasing expression he wore.

Even though she had expected to
see him, the sight of another man in her bedroom shocked her and
she pulled
the sheets closer, as though they might protect
her.

Serenity dared to speak. “What are you
doing here?” She wanted to be brave, but the shakiness in her voice
betrayed her fragile state. “You can’t just come barging into my
bedroom in the middle of the night. Do you have any idea how creepy
that is?”

For a moment, he didn’t
answer.
Did
his stern expression mean he was still angry
? But then he smiled and took a step
toward her.

“
I couldn’t stay away,” he
said.

“
Don’t you like to use the
front door?”

He smiled again, glancing at the floor, as
though hiding a joke from her. “I’m sorry, you’re right. I should
have used the door. Sometimes I forget these things.”

He gestured to the end of her bed,
“May I?”

Serenity looked at the empty space, the
sheets smooth and undisturbed, and nodded.

She couldn’t tear her eyes from him as he
crossed the room with an unworldly grace. He sat down beside her,
his weight creating a dip in the mattress.

His presence was so
intense
and took up more
physical space than normal people. The overcoat he wore stretched
across broad shoulders. His hands, large and inviting, lay folded
in his lap. Beautiful and intense, his face betrayed
nothing.

She wanted to grab hold of him and
never let go.

“
What’s going on here?” she asked
in a hushed voice. She was scared, both of the stranger who had
suddenly appeared in her room, and of her husband finding out.
Though her common sense told her Jackson lay in the hospital, miles
away, the fear continued unabated. Would he somehow sense another
man had been in their bedroom, or would her stranger leave
something for her husband to find?

“
You need to explain what’s
happening?” she said.

Her
fears amounted to nothing in this
man’s presence. Nothing existed except for him. Intensely aware of
the space between them, she longed to close it. She wanted to
reached out and touch him, explore every arch and curve of his skin
with her fingertips.

“
What part should I explain?” he
said. “Who I am, or why I’m here?”

“
Everything. I need to know all
of it.”

“
I’m not sure I
can.”

Serenity lifted her eyes to his, her lower
lip trembling. “I don’t believe you. You’re hiding something from
me.”

He pressed his lips together. “I’ve
never done this before. I don’t know where to begin.”

“
At least tell me your
name.”

He smiled. “I can do that much,” he said,
and then, as though they were being introduced at a formal party,
held out his hand. “Sebastian,” he said. “Sebastian
Bandores.”

She smiled back and took his hand. His
fingers were cool from the night, but she didn’t drop his hand; she
didn’t ever want to let go.

“
Serenity,” she told him.
“My name is Serenity.”

“
I am honored to meet you,
Serenity.”

“
Your accent?” she asked. “You
aren’t from here, Los Angeles.”

He laughed. “I cannot believe I still
have an accent. I was born in Spain, but I have spent many, many
years in America.”

Serenity took the nugget of information
and stored it inside her heart.

“
And what about your name?
Serenity,” he said her name slowly and carefully, as though tasting
each syllable. “Unusual, but beautiful.”

She shrugged and glanced away, unable to
take the compliment. “My mother was a modern hippie,” she said, by
way of explanation. “The kind that liked to interpret free love as
being a slut, and smoking weed as taking and drinking whatever the
hell she could get her hands on.”

Serenity couldn’t hide the bitterness in
her voice.

“
What happened to her?” he
asked.

“
Drug overdose when I was
fourteen. She went to a friend’s house for a party and I never saw
her again.”

“
I’m so sorry,” he told her.
“What about your father?”

Again, she shrugged. “I never knew who he
was. I don’t think my mother did either. After she died, my
stepfather took charge of me, but I was nothing more than a
housekeeper to him. He was free and easy with his fists if I didn’t
do things exactly the way he liked. I counted myself lucky he
didn’t want anything else other than cooking and cleaning from
me.”

Sebastian shook his head. “I’m
sorry.”

“
You’ve got nothing to be
sorry for.”

He reached out and touched her thick,
dark hair. Her curls ran through his fingers like silk. “You have
no idea how beautiful you are?”

She turned her face away, embarrassed.
Serenity had never seen herself as beautiful.

“
My husband will be out of the
hospital tomorrow.” Mentioning him filled her with embarrassment,
though Sebastian already knew she was married. “I can’t stand the
thought of spending another day with him.”

“
Then you understand what
must be done.”

Adrenaline surged up inside her; the
thought of leaving more petrifying than anything she had ever done.
Taking years more of beatings terrified her less.

He reached out, fingertips barely
brushing the soft skin of her cheek.

“
Take me with you!” She
threw out the request, a crazy appeal to someone who was little
more than a stranger.

“
I can’t. You have no idea
what you’re saying.”

Tears filled her eyes. “I don’t care. You
must want me, too. Why else would you be here?”

“
I wanted to make sure you
were all right.”

“
Stop saying that! I’m
not
all right!” Tears
flowed down her cheeks. “Isn’t that obvious? I’m so fucking far
from all right I don’t even know what it means anymore.”

“
Whatever you’re doing with
your life, it can’t be worse than the hell I live in.”

Angrily, she
wiped at the tears and stared at
him in amazement. “Then enlighten me? Explain why you came here,
yet you’re willing to let me go back to my old life?”

He looked away, unable to meet her gaze.
“It’s impossible. I will never make you happy and however bad your
life seems now, it can be worse.”

“
Why? Are you
married?”

He laughed—a small, cold, frightening
sound.

“
I want to take you with me,
Serenity. I want it more than anything but, the damage I would
cause is much worse than anything
he
ever managed.”

“
So let
me
make the choice!” she begged. “If you want
me,” she moved closer, closing the gap, the air between them
crackling. “You must let me make the choice.”

She sensed him wavering for a moment, a
second of indecision, and then he pulled away. “I won’t,” he said.
“I can’t.”

He stood up and stepped back, taking with
him time, space, and everything between.

Sebastian disappeared.

“
No!” she yelled at the empty
room. Throwing back the sheets, she leapt to her feet. “Come back!
Please come back.”

The room was empty, the drapes
flapping in the breeze, as if he’d never been there.

Serenity fell to her knees, sobbing, from
shock, partly. The rest of her hurt, mourned the loss of him. How
could he come into her life and leave again so quickly?

Who was he?

They hadn’t so much as kissed and already
he held her heart in his hands. The thought of straying from her
marriage never crossed her mind before, no matter how bad things
got. Of course, she’d thought of leaving Jackson. What sane woman
wouldn’t? Never for another man, though. No one else had so much as
caught her eye.

Sebastian.
His name whispered through her
mind like a caress. This whole thing was crazy. She needed to get a
grip.

After all, wasn’t she ignoring the
obvious? How did he move like that? To be in one place and then
suddenly, no longer be there? People didn’t do that. Not without a
stage and props and a whole heap of people backstage helping make
the illusion work. Tricks were the only explanation; a combination
of smoke and mirrors and distraction, not real magic.

D
id Sebastian disappear in such a way using
tricks? Or was Serenity admitting she believed in magic?

She laughed into the empty room and
clamped a hand over her mouth.

The laugh, too close to the hilarity of a
crazy person, scared her.

Crazy…

The idea flickered in her mind, a
dangerous flame lighting a fire of self-doubt. Perhaps Sebastian
didn’t even exist? Maybe her sick mind conjured up his strange way
of moving and her obsessive attraction to him?

Her heart tripped a beat. She didn’t want
to go there, but her mind pulled the idea closer. She thought back
to times she’d seen him. Had anyone else been present? Had she
witnessed him interacting with another person?

With relief, she remembered the woman
in the hospital canteen. He had spoken to her and she took money
from him. Serenity knew she hadn’t imagined the woman. Then she
remembered the coffee he bought and how it burned her mouth. She
hadn’t imagined that, had she?

Suddenly exhausted, Serenity tugged her
sweater over her head and pulled off her jeans. She dropped the
clothes over the edge of the bed and slid under the covers. The
sheets were smooth and cool against her skin and she sank into the
mattress with pleasure. Her bedroom window stood wide open, the
drapes pulled back. A light breeze swirled around the room, gently
lifting the material. She knew the morning light would wake her,
but she was too tired to get out of bed to close them.

At least tomorrow she wouldn’t have to
worry about Jackson questioning her about work or calling her
there. She would tell him they gave her an emergency family day to
take care of him. He would believe the excuse and it would buy her
another day.

Another day to figure out what the
hell was going on with her life.

Serenity reached out and flicked the
switch on the bedside lamp. The room plunged into darkness and she
quickly fell into a deep, troubled sleep.

Chapter Six

The sound of a bell
ringing dragged
Serenity from a deep sleep. She tried to ignore it but the
insistent jingle forced her awake. She opened her eyes,
heavy-headed and disoriented, trying to figure out where the sound
came from.

The telephone.

Sebastian!
The thought got her moving. Not
even pausing to pull on any clothes, she scrambled out of bed and
raced down the stairs, praying the phone wouldn’t ring off. She ran
bare footed across the carpet and into the living room, crossed to
the telephone and snatched up the receiver.

“
Hello?” she said. Her voice came
out thick with sleep and breathless from the brief
sprint.

“
Serenity?”

Her heart dropped with disappointment. The
voice didn’t belong to Sebastian but to her ex-boss.

“
Yes, Peter,” she cleared
her throat. “I’m here.”

“
I’m sorry to call you so early,”
his voice came through the receiver, not sounding the slightest bit
apologetic. Serenity flicked a glance at the clock on the DVD
player. Almost eight-thirty.

“
I’m glad I caught you
before you went out,” he continued.

“
I don’t have anywhere to go
now, Peter,” she reminded him. “You made sure of that.”

There was an uncomfortable silence
from the other end and a smiled touched her lips, pleased she’d
made him feel awkward.

“
I take it you’re not
calling to offer me my job back.”

“
I’m sorry, Serenity, office
protocol. You were on your third warning.”