Page 87 of Taken With Trouble

The man’s smile disappears, and a scowl emerges in its place. His shoes tap over the concrete as he ambles toward me. “Liam Hawthorne.”

“Seems my reputation precedes me. I’m sorry yours doesn’t.”

His dark eyes turn icy. “Sebastian Sanchez.”

The man Serena used to love. Now that I see him in person, I must admit, he’s kind of a silver fox with his tanned skin and full beard. I can see it. I don’t like it, but I get it.

“Sebastian…” Itry out the name, then scratch my chin. “Sorry. It’s not ringing any bells.”

He steps forward and punches me in the stomach. I double over, coughing on the lack of air in my lungs and the pain radiating to my bad arm. Perhaps Ishouldlearn to shut up.

“Careful, dear old Grandad is getting awfully sick,” he sneers.

I stand back up slowly. “Oh, right. You’re the guy who takes old people for fun. Where is my grandfather, by the way?”

“Where’s my box?”

“Sorry, Seb. This isn’t my first negotiation. Bring him in.”

His nostrils flare—impressively I might add. He could fit quarters in those massive gaps. “This isn’t my first negotiation, either, and I believe I have the upper hand.”

“I could change that for you if you like.”

This seems to puzzle him, and while he tries to piece it together, I risk a glance around the room. There’s another door in the corner. That has to be where they’re keeping my grandfather. If I have to make a break for it, I’ll run there… hopefully before they shoot me.

“Where’s the box?” he asks again.

I unzip my bag and pull it out. “Where’s my grandfather?”

Sebastian yells to no one in particular, and his voice echoes spectacularly through the room. Ten seconds later, the corner door opens, and my heart drops. My grandfather stumbles in, both eyes purple and swollen. His limp is more pronounced than ever. He’s aged ten years in two days, he’s broken and frail.

“You’re going to pay for this,” I growl at Sebastian.

Sebastian laughs, his evil laugh bouncing off the empty walls. “The old man still had some fight in him, but I think we fixed that quite nicely.”

I lunge forward, snatching Sebastian’s thick neck with my palm. Four guns click in my direction.

He shoves my arm off him with a sneer. “The box.”

I match hisglare. “My grandfather.”

Sebastian stares me down for a solid sixty seconds while I wonder if I can make it out of this alive. He hasn’t asked for Serena yet, so as long as she’s safe, I’ll take it.

Sebastian nods to his man, who releases my grandfather. My stomach knots, and my eyes burn as I watch the man I look up to struggle to cross the floor toward me. When he’s close, I grab him, holding his frail body like the life raft he’s always been for me.

“What a touching reunion.” A gun clicks again, and this time it’s inches from my grandfather’s face. “The box.”

“Will you let me walk out of here?”

Sebastian’s phone chimes and he pulls it out. An eerie smile flits over his face as he looks back up at me. “Sure. I don’t care about you.”

“Yet you put a bounty on my head?”

He shakes his head. “Wasn’t me.”

“I don’t trust you.” Why would he let us go?

“I don’t trust you,” he retorts.