She stiffened, gaze flying up to his in shock. “What? You do?”
He nodded, pulling her against him even when she pushed against his chest. “Let me explain before you freak out, all right?” She reluctantly nodded, and he continued. “Rufus showed up to check in on you after you left, and mentioned you’d met with my mother. I figured out she’d said something, and stormed over there to give her a piece of my mind.”
Chelsea bit her lip. Boy, she hadn’t covered her tracks well, had she? She’d been in such a daze, so utterly fogged with misery and unhappiness that she hadn’t been thinking clearly. She should have said something to Rufus. He’d been nothing but kind and she’d completely forgotten about him.
“My mother told me about the video. She thought it was voluntary. When I told her it was a crime, she was apologetic.” He made a face. “She fucked up bad, and she knows it.”
Chelsea shook her head and patted his chest. “She’s trying to protect you. Like I am.”
“Do you think I care about that video? The only thing I care about is that someone’s using it to hurt you.”
“I’m not the target, Sebastian. You are. You—”
“I know. And that’s why I’m here to tell you that I gave the video to the police.”
Stunned, she jerked away from him. “But—the blackmailer—”
“Is in custody. Remember you said you had a case that got mishandled and never went anywhere? I convinced the police it was worth looking at again.” He gave her a crooked smile. “Talked to the police chief, made a few generous donations, and, well . . . Seems that asshole was rather proud of himself. They were able to identify him in the video because he had a prison record.” His voice softened. “He’s not going to be able to hurt anyone again. The best lawyers money can buy are going to make sure of that.”
Chelsea stared up at him.
“Say something, love. Please. Did I do wrong? I just wanted you to get justice. I—”
She flung herself at him and kissed him, hard. He was the best man ever. Her lips crushed his in a ruthless kiss. And she wasn’t in her gear, and she didn’t feel the same kind of arousal, but she was still pleased because she enjoyed it. She enjoyed branding Sebastian with her mouth and claiming him as hers.
When she pulled away, he looked a little breathless, and she felt smugly pleased with herself. Her hand stroked down the front of his shirt. “You did that for me, Sebastian?”
“Chelsea, I would do utterly anything for you. How can you not know that?” He gestured at the roller derby building. “You want a sport? I will totally buy you the entire league. You want a house here in Austin so you can skate with Pisa on weekends? I will buy you a private jet so you can fly in and skate. You want an island? I know a realtor—”
She put her fingers over his lips, silencing him. “I don’t want any of that, Sebastian.”
“I love you, Chelsea. Come home with me, please. I don’t give a shit about the blackmailer. It’s taken care of for now. And even if something came up later, I would rather have you at my side than anywhere else. We’re strongest together. We make each other whole.” He took her hand in his and laced his fingers through hers, then brushed his lips over the back of her hand. “I’m lost without you. Like my mother without her plastic surgeon.”
Chapter Twenty-six
An awful giggle escaped her at that. “That is a horrible comparison.”
“And here I thought I was doing better.” He tilted his head, pretending to think, even as his arms went around her waist. “Like . . . Lisa and a TV camera?”
She gasped. “Lisa—did you hear? I saw an article about her and a sex tape, too.”
“Believe it or not, but that was planted.” Sebastian shrugged at Chelsea’s gasp. “I know. My mother suggested the idea to cover up our tracks while I went to the police, and to stall the criminals. No one would put out a sex tape at the same time as another, because you want to get maximum attention. So we figured that would fend someone off for a bit and give me time to go to the police.”
“But Lisa . . .”
“Is thrilled,” he said gently. “She wanted a huge story line for this season and now she has one. My mother’s thrilled, too. There’s no sex tape, really. It’s all fabricated for tabloids. They’re going to put out a few cease and desists, and Lisa’s going to have a million interviews, and they’ll release a few fake stills from it, and then people will just assume it was privately purchased. It’s not like your situation at all, love. I promise. No one’s hurting Lisa. She was so excited over the thought that my mother actually had to stop her from truly filming a sex tape.”
Chelsea blanched. “She wants to be famous that badly?”
“More than anything.” He shrugged. “This way, everyone gets what they want, I guess. Lisa gets her fame, my mother gets a story line that’s sure to bring in viewers, and I get my wife back, if she’ll have me.” He kissed her hand again. “Unless she’s happy in Austin.”
“And if she is?” Chelsea was breathless.
“Then I move to Austin so I can just be near her until she’s ready to come back to me.” His lips nibbled at her knuckles. “I’ll wait forever for you if I have to.”
“I don’t want to be in Austin,” she admitted, the familiar ache in her throat returning. “I want to be with you. But, Sebastian . . . I’m all fucked up. I can’t be the wife you need.”