Read Online Play Me Right by Tracy Wolff - Free Book Online Page B

he’s kissing me and I’m kissing him and nothing else matters. Not the past, not the future. Not the pain we’ve caused each other nor the pleasure that is to come. In those seconds, wrapped in each other’s arms with the Strip lit up and spread below us at our feet, everything is perfect.
    It’s minutes—or maybe hours—before we come up for air. When we do, Sebastian walks over to the bar and pops a celebratory bottle of champagne. But when he goes to hand me a glass, he looks a million miles away.
    “What are you thinking about?” I ask, after pressing a soft kiss to his mouth to regain his attention. He hesitates, and I can tell he’s trying to figure out if he wants to tell me the truth. But I don’t want lies between us, no matter how small. My whole life has been filled with secrets, with things we just didn’t talk about. That’s not the kind of life I want to build with Sebastian.
    I tell him so and he nods, sets his glass of champagne to the side. Then does the same to mine. It’s only when he has my hands tight in his that he finally answers.
    “I was thinking about Dylan. About how he never had the chance to fall in love with a woman. How he never had the chance to build a life for himself away from all the darkness.”
    It hurts me to see him look so sad, so lost. Sebastian always knows what he’s doing, always knows what he wants. Seeing him look so uncertain hurts me in a way even my parents’ neglect couldn’t.
    “What happened to Dylan wasn’t your fault.” It’s not the first time I’ve said it to him and I’m pretty sure it won’t be the last. But that’s okay. I’ll keep saying it until it gets through. Until he believes me.
    “What happened to James isn’t your fault, either.”
    My eyes meet his and I want to argue with him, want to tell him that it was totally my fault. That I should have known better than to think Carlo would understand. Should have known better than to think it could turn out all right.
    But as I stare into Sebastian’s eyes, I finally understand the truth of his own guilt. Just like I understand that the best way to help him is to let go of my own feelings of culpability. It’s not easy, not something I ever thought I’d be able to do. But for Sebastian…for Sebastian, I think I’d do just about anything. Even this.
    “Maybe we could do something,” I tell him.
    “Do something?”
    “We can’t make what happened to them any better, can’t undo what they suffered. But maybe we could, I don’t know, start a foundation or something. For victims of violence. To help with medical bills, and help them get their lives back on track.”
    Sebastian looks at me for long seconds, and I’d almost think he hadn’t heard me except I can all but see his brilliant mind whirling with ideas. “We could do that. We could totally do that. We could even have services and stipends set aside for the families of victims. To help them get counseling or whatever they need.”
    I know he’s thinking of Janet now and somehow it makes me love him more. I don’t know how—out of all the pain, all the violence—I managed to find this man. Don’t know what I ever did to deserve him. But I’m keeping him.
    “We could name it after Dylan,” I suggest tentatively. “Maybe see if Janet wants to be involved somehow. It could help her get clean.”
    “Yeah. And you could run it.”
    “Me?”
    “Damn straight. Maybe you can finally put that Vassar degree of yours to work.”
    I start to smile as the idea sinks in. “Yeah. Maybe I could.”
    “We’re doing it, then. You’ll run the foundation and I’ll…”
    Something about the way his voice trails off makes my voice chill. “You’ll do what?”
    “From the moment I found out about Dylan, I’ve always known I would bring the Valduccis down for what they did to him. But now…”
    “Now what?” I ask, almost afraid of his answer.
    “Now, after what Carlo did to you? Bringing them down isn’t enough. I’m