We hang up, and I up the level of the treadmill again.
Hold on to the love you have. Don’t let her twist it into something ugly.
I focus on those words for a bit. Sebastian and I managed to forge a strong love, quickly in spite of everything Crystal has done to torment us. There can only be good things for us once this bitch is locked back up where she belongs. If Sebastian and I can make it through this, we can make it through anything.
More of Mark’s words filter into my mind.
It’s like she’s everywhere, yet nowhere.
For days, I’ve been wracking my brain to figure out why Crystal came after me. Since this is about Sebastian and her obsession with him, why didn’t she go after Arianna? Sebastian had been flashing her around town like a new toy for four days before Crystal threw the acid on me. But why me? I wasn’t the one portrayed as his girlfriend.
Then it hits me like a ton of bricks standing right in front of me the whole time.
I jump off the treadmill and race out the gym door to the elevators, my bodyguard in tow.
Sprinting off the elevator when it opens on the top floor, I reach Sebastian’s door and bang rapidly since I didn’t take my keys.
A wide-eyed, worried Sebastian flings the door open. “What’s wrong? What’s going on? Is she here? I knew you shouldn’t have left the apartment.”
He pulls me inside, slams the door, turns the dead bolt, and slides the chain lock.
“She’s not here.” I huff and puff, trying to catch my breath. “I figured it out.”
“Figured out what?”
I drag another breath of oxygen into my lungs. “Why me?”
“Why you?” His brow furrows in confusion. “I’m not following, and you’re scaring the shit out of me, Devin. What the hell is going on?”
“How she knew it was me,” I blurt out. “I figured out why she went after me and not Arianna.”
He raises his eyebrows, waiting for me to continue.
“It was something Mark said when he just called me. It’s like she’s everywhere and nowhere at the same time.”
“Okay?”
“Friday,” I begin to explain. “After Mario swept your office, we were talking about us. We thought no bugs meant in the clear, right? Remember? When we were leaving your office, you ran into Crystal. I never thought anything of it because she had a valid reason for being outside your office. She heard us. She was spying. That’s how she knew it was me and not Arianna.” My anger rises, and I run my hands through my sweaty hair.
“Fuck!” Sebastian roars.
