Thedriver approached the black door and swung it open. The original man kept his sight trained on my head as I stepped out of the car with my hands up. The other men rushed towards me, so I now had five sets of machine guns pointed at me from only a few feet away.
A door silently openedatthe back of the garage.
Sebastian wore a black Tom Ford suit. The slim fit pants strained against hismuscularthighs as hestrodetowards us.
“Sir,”the voice of the man who’d originally ordered me out of the car had suddenly become much more respectful.“We still need to search her.”
“Go ahead,” Sebastian said, leaning against a black Bentley.
“Hands up, and spread your legs,” Sebastian’s man ordered.
I did as I was told, while glaring at Sebastian. I managed to keep a flush off my face, even though the memory of him teasing me about how much hewouldenjoy watching the cops search me came unbidden to my mind. From the hungry look in his eyes, he had the same line of thought.
I forced my mindto focuson the severity of the situation. If Sebastian said no to my request for money…
He wouldn’t. He needed this information, or else he wouldn’t have been hounding me down to take him up on his offer.
A handsqueezedmy leg, and I held back anyindicationof the pain sweeping through me. Thankfully, I’d had the foresight to tuck my gloves into the hem of my shirt sleeves, and my black socks underneath my black workout pants. Thanks to my new wardrobe, courtesy of the shelter, it’d be impossible to see the mishmash of bruises from any angle. Now I just needed to make sure the pain didn’t read on my face.
“Only five men to search me? I think you might be underestimating my abilities,” I said.
Two rough hands began working their way up my thighs, and I continued to keep any hint ofdiscomfortoff my face.
“What abilities? The onlyoneI’ve seen so far is your ability to beg.” Sebastian smiled, leaning his corded arms across his chest.“Andthatcould use some work.”
“Good thing begging isn’t a requirement for ripping your head off,” I said.
The guard'spointed shoe kicked the fleshy back of my knee.Rough hands pushed my shoulders downandmy knees slammed against the concrete. Itried to keep my expression relaxed.Breathe.This is nothing. The cold steel of a gun barrel dug intomy cheek. Yesterday, Iwould’vebeen able toresist the attempt to shove me to the ground.This pain was making me weak.
One moment, I was debating snapping the guards’s wrist, consequences be damned. The next second, Sebastian grabbed the man by the suit jacket, and ripped him off me. My mouth dropped open as Sebastian tossed the bulky guard across the room like a sack of potatoes. I’d beenseriouslyunderestimating his strength.
“You’ll treat my guests better, or you’ll be finding a new job,” Sebastian growled at the slack jawed guard.
When the guard weakly nodded his assent from the concrete floor, Sebastian pointed at the door, silently ordering his dismissal.
After the door clicked closed Sebastian held out a hand. I rolled my eyes and stood up on my own. Achiness gripped at me, but I focused on keeping any indication of it off my face.
“Excellent hospitality,” I said.
Sebastian’s jaw clenched, and his eyes narrowed as they swung in the direction ofanotherguardhesitantlyapproaching me to finish the search. This guard barely touched me before he declared,“I’m not detecting any weapons, sir.”
“But,” the guardcontinuedhesitantly as if already regretting his next words, “I would typically recommend a more intensive search.”
Instinctively,my jaw tightened. ButI forced it into a relaxedposition, not wanting Sebastian to sense my discomfort. If they took off any of my clothing, they’d see the bruises. I couldn’t let Sebastian thinkI was desperate.
“No weapons?What happened to my knife?”Sebastian asked.
“I don’t needitto kill you.” Icouldn’tresistthe jab, so I began stiffening my musclesin case the guards went for round two.
“Don’t even think about it,” Sebastian growled, his darkened expression turningtowardsthe guard.
Sebastian grabbed my arm with a gentleness that belied his expression and guided me toward the door he’d entered from.
“From the way you're taunting my men, itsounds like youwanta more invasive search.” He leaned towards me, and whispered in my ear,“I canassistwith that.”
I elbowed him in the ribs, and he shot a glare behind his shoulder at an approaching guard.
“Are you trying to get yourself killed?” he asked.
