Page 93 of Taken With Trouble

Serena

Sebastian leads me toa room that looks the exact opposite of the first one.

The last room was falling apart, with haphazard furniture and loose floorboards. This one looks like a hotel suite. A blood-red couch, over a white rug. Glossy white chairs under a glass dining table. I thought I was in an abandoned building based on the lack of sounds outside and the setup of the hallway. But now I’m wondering if I’m somewhere else entirely. A home? An apartment complex?

I never met ‘The Boss’. For the entirety of our relationship, I assumed whenever Sebastian talked about him, he meant a real boss. But the way he prattled on about him painted the man as a god. A man with that power is the most terrifying, knowing of the heinous atrocities he would have done to earn that title.

There is a small chance he’s nothing more than an insignificant, egotistical man, but I don’t feel like I’ll be getting that lucky.

No, luck has never been on my side. Not when I was sent away by my grandmother. Not when I was left at the boarding school, never to return home. Not when Sebastian found me and took advantage of my youth. I’m not making it out of here. But that doesn’t mean I’ll give up.

Ford shoves me into a chair, and I fall into it so hard it nearly topples over. “Such a gentleman.”

He scowls and stands in the corner of the room. How can he not see the irony of this? At the FBI, he was a top dog, the center of the room. Here, he’s a corner decoration.

I wonder if Hadley is around here somewhere. Could I appeal to him? Likely not. Hadley and Ford had always been good friends. They’d never turn on each other.

Sebastian sits on the red couch and leans back, propping his ankle on his opposite knee. His pitch-black eyes glint, eager like something big is about to happen.

“I gave you an option,” he says. “Are you ready to take it?”

“Never.”

“I think you’ll change your mind soon.”

“I’d rather die than be with you.”

His grin fades, and he rubs a hand over his bristled cheeks. “Was I really that bad? I showered you with expensive gifts and trips. I was the first man you loved; you said so yourself.”

The first man, not the first boy.

My face burns at the memory of my lapse in judgment. All the growing up I had to do. “I was eighteen. Barely old enough to think for myself. I made a mistake.”

“I never thought of you as a mistake. It’s a shame you got rid of the freckles. I loved them.” His eyes rove over my face. “But those lips make up for it.”

I suck in my lips.

“You can’t hide from me, darling,” he says, scooting forward on his seat until he rests his hand on my knee. “I’ll always find you.”

“You hardly did any work.”

His eyes flash. “You want me to put you to work?”

I roll my eyes. “Is every word out of my mouth a euphemism to you? I bet we couldn’t even carry an intelligent conversation.”

“Who needs conversation?” He waggles his brows, my words flying right over his oversized and empty head.

“No wonder you need someone else to think for you.”

His smile freezes. “I can—”

There’s a knock on the door, and Sebastian stops talking. I brace myself for the arrival of the ‘The Boss’.

A man is shoved through the door so hard and fast he faceplants into the ground. He pops up, a ridiculous smirk on his face.

I blink. “Liam?”

Chapter 41