Page 19 of Restitution

“Are we going to behave, boys?” she asks, hand on her popped-out hip as she taps her foot. “Or will I leave you both to fester in your own stench alittle longer?”

“I’d rather die of an infection in my chest than behave for you. Wait, did you get even uglier? Unlucky, Archie-pops. I find shoving a bag over her face helpful when she’s being a greedy whore for my cock. You’re not very good at pleasing her, are you?”

As much as his words are cutting, I know Base hates himself whenever he’s sent to her room or when she slithers into his. I know the sickening feeling well. If she didn’t have a fail-safe in place that would see our families and loved ones killed upon her death, we would have strangled her by now.

Her eyes cast to Base, narrowing, the lights from the corridor shining in. “Careful, Prince, or I might need to tell your family you tragically succumbed to your injuries.”

We both look at each other. His brows furrow. “What?”

She sighs. “It seems your grandfather, someone I’ve successfully avoided this far, isn’t very happy that you’re in my care.”

Careisn’t the word I’d use.

Base stands and strides to the bars, grabbing them with one hand. He sneers. “Keep talking.”

She glares at him. But I think she’s used to his forwardness and attitude towards her. “We’ve come to an agreement. You will return to them tonight.”

My friend stands back, glancing between me and the woman who’s been terrorising him for the past year. He doesn’t seem even slightly pleased. “Kade goes with me, or I’m staying with him.”

She smiles wickedly. “I don’t think so. Kade is mine. The deal was – you for two hundred.Onlyyou.”

She arches a brow when we both stay silent. Base seems on the edge of exploding though. “I won’t pass up on two hundred million. You will leave tonight. This isn’t up for discussion.”

Two hundred million? Fuck, Base said his family was rich, butthatrich? Damn. They must be like kings and queens over that side of the world.

Yet – they know where he is and instead of blowing the world up to get him back, they offer a deal? It makes no sense.

“No,” Base says through gritted teeth.

“I’ll destroy all the evidence I have on you. A clean slate. It’s part of the deal. You will go, Sebastian.”

“I’m not leaving Kade behind.”

I give a long sigh. “Stop being dramatic and take the deal. I’ll be fine.”

“I’m not leaving you,” he refuses. “Not fucking happening. You die, I die, remember?”

Bernadette moves forward, pulling Base’s phone out of her purse. “I wonder if you’ll still say the same when you hear this. From a contact calledPrincess…”

Base straightens.

She inputs the password only she knows and places it on loudspeaker, his voicemail playing. Base is gripping the bars again, with both hands now, as if he’s ignoring the pain in his chest.

I sit up in my squeaky, metal bed as soon as my sister’s voice fills the deadly silence.

“Sebastian,” Luciella sobs, her voice muffled, the sound of a car engine humming around her. “I… Oh God. I… I was only there because I got your text, and then – and then – and then…” She cries out and starts hyperventilating. It causes me to stand up, rage injecting strength into me once more. “I’m so scared. They… they locked me in a trunk.” The way her voice changes, I know she’s covering her mouth as the engine cuts off and a door opens. “I think they’re going to kill me. I never got the chance to tell you how I really feel. I… I’m so sorry… for pushing you away.”

A deep, unintelligible voice sounds in the background, and it’s obvious they’re about to open the trunk.

“Please find me… please, please, please.”

She gasps as the trunk opens, screams and warns them not to touch her. One of them yells in pain and tells someone she bit his cheek. She must grab the phone back, because her voice is once again close. “Sebastian, they traded me for blackmail!” She cries even more, fighting against them. “Your grandfather sold—”

She’s silenced abruptly, and it curdles my empty stomach.

The call ends.

A guard grips my arm as I step forward, but I tug it out of his grasp. “Fucking let go of me.”