Danger Calls Read Online Free Page A

Ryder and he makes you happy. I would never wish anything different for you.”
    â€œBut you want something different for yourself?” she pressed, apparently hearing something behind his words.
    â€œI want the Happily Ever After, but with someone simple.”
    â€œSomeone not like Melissa—is that it?”
    Sebastian was finding it difficult not to confide in his sister since they’d never kept anything from each other before. He didn’t want to start now. “There was something between us,” he said, although he didn’t quite know what to call the night he and Melissa had shared.
    â€œSomething, huh? You think you can just make that something go away?”
    â€œI’m trying, although it’s not easy,” he stated flatly. “There are other things in my life that keep me busy.”
    â€œLike your games? And your hacking?” Sebastian flinched as he heard the echo of his father’s words lashing out at him. Like father, like daughter.
    Diana must have realized she’d struck a sore point, for she apologized instantly. “I didn’t mean to condemn.”
    â€œDidn’t you? You sounded just like him. RoboCop redux.”
    Her color paled at his rebuke and her generous mouth thinned into a tight line. But she still reached out and laid a hand on Sebastian’s leg in an effort to soothe the sting of her words. “ Hermanito , I’m sorry. It’s just you and I are so different that way.”
    â€œDon’t I know it. Didn’t Dad tell me often enough that I should be more responsible? That I should care about school more.” His sister started to speak but Sebastian silenced her with an angry wave of his hand. “You know what I remember best about Dad? Besides watching him die in your arms?” He paused, although he expected no answer to his question. “I must have been thirteen or fourteen. I was playing a game up in my room and Dad came in. He sat beside me, watching the screen but not talking. I tried to explain the rules, but after a few minutes, Dad mumbled something about wasting time playing games when life was so much more important.”
    â€œHe just couldn’t understand you,” Diana said, much as Sebastian expected she would. He adored his sister and trusted her judgment, but Diana had never grown beyond her hero worship of their police-officer father. She didn’t realize that while being a champion to others, their father had often put his family second and ignored a son who was totally different in temperament and interests.
    â€œDo you think Melissa could understand me?”
    â€œI haven’t thought about it,” Diana admitted.
    â€œShe’s uptight and über-responsible. I’m a no-strings-attached kind of guy.” He looked away from his sister. He didn’t want her to see his confusion or his guilt. Despite his best efforts these last three months, he hadn’t been able to forget Melissa.
    More than most, he knew the hardship of conforming and being bound by another’s conventions. Sebastian sensed that Melissa’s life was not her own, that she needed an escape from the burdens she bore. He wanted to ease the weight off her shoulders. He hadn’t felt that way in a long time—as if he could help someone else. Be someone worthy for her. But he’d both disappointed and angered her tonight with his hesitation.
    Funny how much it was like the situation with his father all over again.
    After a long silent moment he turned to face his sister, not knowing what to expect. Certainly not the little Mona Lisa-like smile on her face. “Seems to me you’ve been thinking about it way too much, hermanito .”
    Sebastian stood, took a breath, about to tell her that he didn’t want to talk about it, when Diana surprised him by saying, “I’ve got to get some sleep. Hasta mañana .” She rose and gave him a quick kiss on the