I threw my hands up in the air. What had he expected me to do? Trust his word, and hand him back the gun? And again, he hadn’t answered my initial question: what the hell was he planning on doing with me?
“Oh, I’m sorry I didn’ttrustyou,” I growled, “after your brother threatened tohave me soldinto a brothel.”
His fist clenched.“I was handling it.”
I laughedderisively.“Youreallyseemed to have it under control.”
“Stop being a brat. I saved your fucking life. Would a bit of gratitude kill you?”
“Gratitude?” I fluttered my eyelashes like a 1920s movie star. “Oh I’msograteful you tied me up, and kidnapped me.”
He leaned back, and crossed his muscular arms across his broad chest. “I can guarantee you being in this house isfarbetter than being tied up in my brother’s basement.”
A shiver ran up my spine, and all the fight in me fled. No, I couldn’t end up there again.
Sebastian sighed and stood up from his chair.“I’m going to fix us some lunch. You were lying earlier when you said you weren’t hungry,” he said.
I stared at his back,unable to believe what I was seeing. Hewasturninghis backon theveryperson who had held him atgunpointand taken him hostage.Someonewho was very capable of doing the exact same thing again. I had promised him to be good, but come on. He hadn’t stayed alive in the underworld by being this trusting.
Despite the temptation of taking back control of this situation, I remained in my seat. I shouldn’t push my luck. I wasn’t being tortured, and I was still alive. And he’d listened whenever I told him to stop. I’d refrain from stealing his gun. For now.
“I can heat up someleftover pasta,” he called from the kitchen.
“Whatever,” I said with an eye roll.But I was secretly grateful.
He was right: I was starving.
???
A half hour laterSebastianwas placing the dishes in the Miele dishwasher. We somehow got through the meal without me throwing a ceramic plate athim, or attempting to jump for the gun hidden in his suit jacket.
When he was done with the dishes, he stepped back into the hallway and motioned for me to follow him. He opened a doornearthe kitchen and I followed him in.
It was an oversized bedroom with open views of the city. There was a large king sized bed facing the windows.
I raised an eyebrow at him.
“This’ll be your bedroom while you're staying here-” he started saying.
“Staying here?” I shook my head. “Stop acting like I’m your guest. We both know I’m your hostage.”
Chapter 30
“Hostage?” Sebastian snorted. “More like pain in my ass. In order to be a hostage, you’d have to actually serve a purpose.”
“If I’m such a pain in the ass then let me walk out that door, and never bother you again,” I said.
“Sure, walk right out that door and into my brother’s arms. I’m sure that’ll end well for you.”
I sucked some saliva down my throat at the mention of his brother. He had a point, but I didn’t have to admit it.
After a few moments of silence he continued his speech from earlier with a little more sarcasm laid in.“Make use of whatever you’d like. If you don’t like the clothes in the drawers,” he inclined his head towards the glossy built-in drawers along the left side of the room, “then let me know, and I’ll have my men get you other pieces. There are healing ointments in the bathroom. You should use them.”
Sebastianstepped back into the hallway.“I’ll be in my office. I have a lot of work to catch up on,”he said.
Did he expect me to feel guilty because he was behind on work due to me? Not happening.
But there was one question that I needed the answer to before he left. “How long am I ‘staying’ for?” I couldn’t resist using air quotes.
