Chapter 20
Sebastian
This is why I should stay single. Dealing with this kind of drama is stupid. I didn’t even know Emma when I was with Mercy, so it’s not my fault they’re friends. If I were smart, I’d walk away. And if she wants to sell her ass, I should let her.
But I can’t.
Just thinking about some guy putting his hands on her the way I have—or worse—is infuriating.
People filter out of the meeting room, but they’re intuitive enough to know to stay the hell away from me. I don’t know if it’s my eyes or my stance, but strangers are giving me a wide berth. Standing here and waiting for her to come out is hard enough, but knowing that Angel is in there telling Emma god knows what makes it even worse.
After an eternity, Angel walks out and gives me a smile. “Good luck,” she whispers before heading toward the lobby.
I’m about to barge into the restroom when Emma walks out. Her eye makeup is smudged, but it doesn’t look like she’s been crying. Thank god. I hate criers.
She stops two feet short of my chest and stands there, daring me to speak first. Whatever. I’m not playing games with her. I hold out my hand and wait for her to place hers in it. Once I’ve got a solid grasp on her, I guide her down the hallway and into a small conference room.
As soon as we’re inside, I close the door and lean against it so Emma can’t escape. She’s not leaving until we hash this out.
“What will it take to get you to reconsider?” I’m not even sure what I’m asking, but I need to know what she wants before we can move forward. I find it hard to believe she truly wants this job, but if she does, I need to know why.
Is she not being sexually satisfied? Is that something I can help with? Are there other issues? Is it purely financial? If so, what can I do to help with that?
“Reconsider what, exactly?”
Well, shit. I was hoping she would show her cards first, but I guess the ball is back in my court. “This job. Why do you want it?”
She rolls her eyes. “God, you’re dense sometimes.”
“What?” Am I missing something here? “Why?”
“Really?” She seems amused but not willing to budge when it comes to giving me any real information.
“Is it for the money? What if I pay you to not take it? Like, you can be exclusive to me. I’ll pay you weekly, and you don’t have to fuck strangers.” I’m grasping at straws here, but if we can keep our arrangement unchanged, I’m willing to pay a lot of money for that.”
Any humor in her face quickly dissolves, and she pushes at my side to move me away from the door. “You’re an asshole, you know that?”
Jesus, now what? “Yeah, I do. But you’ll need to be more specific here.”
“I don’t want your fucking money, Sebastian. I’m not a whore, I don’t plan to become a whore, and I wouldn’t even consider trying to compete with all your other whores.” She shoves harder, making me lose my balance because I’m more than a little stunned by her declaration.
“Well, why the fuck are you here?”
She turns to me, getting right in my face. “Why are you here?”
Dear god, we’re not doing this again, are we? “I told you, I’m an investor in the place.”
“You’re here for your friend? Because he asked you to come?”
“Yeah, but what does th—” Oh. Now it’s starting to make sense. “So you don’t—”
“God no!” She backs off, putting some distance between us. “I’m here because my friend asked me to be. It might not be obvious because of how I am with you, but I can assure you that I don’t have sex with just anyone. And money certainly doesn’t factor into my decisions.” She stares me right in the eye, daring me to contradict her. “Not ever.”
“I’m sorry, Emma.” I reach for her, but she backs away, leaving my hand hanging in the air between us.
“Don’t be sorry, Sebastian.” She drops her tense shoulders and gives me a sad smile. “It’s been great. Really. But I can’t see you anymore.”
“What? Emma, you’re overreacting.” Her eyes are glistening as I reach for her cheek. When she backs away, the sting of her rejection is intense. “I’m sorry I jumped to the wrong conclusion.”
“Good bye, Sebastian.”
~**~
How did everything go to shit so quickly? A few hours ago, I was joking around with Emma and planning to see her tomorrow night. Now… I don’t even know what happened.
Even though I feel emotionally drained, I’m too restless to think about going to sleep when I get home. Instead, I get on the treadmill and go for a run. I’m in the zone and just about to hit the seven-mile mark when Tim calls me. I hit the speaker button and slow my pace without fully stopping. “What’s up?”
“I can’t find anything on Emma that looks like she’d be hard-pressed for cash. Just regular debt. Credit cards and a car payment. But it looks like she’s recently started paying those off.”
“Yeah, okay. There might’ve been a misunderstanding.”
Tim sighs into the phone. “That’s the good news.”
Of course it is. Hitting pause on the treadmill so I can focus, I brace myself for whatever’s coming next. “What?”
“Ray hasn’t heard from the brother in a couple days. He thinks he might’ve had a run-in with some pirates.”
“Goddammit.” This is not what I want to hear. “Any chance Eli just took the cargo and got himself lost on purpose?”
“Ray doesn’t think so. Sounds like Eli was pretty anxious to get Renzo taken care of. Ray doesn’t think he would’ve bailed on the first job. And he’s known him for a while, so he’s concerned.”
“Fuck.” I grab the towel hanging on the rail and step off the machine, heading straight to my shower. The sooner I can wash this day off me, the better. “What is Ray’s plan?”
“He’s already sent a recon team out to check on things. There are a couple of groups sniffing around the business. One’s out of Russia, and the other’s out of Mexico. Those two are the most likely to grab a boat full of cargo and take off with it. Ray’s guys know where to look, so don’t worry yet. I just wanted to let you know what’s going on.”
“Yeah, thanks.” Emma will be devastated if anything happens to her brother. She said they are at each other’s throats a lot of the time, but I could tell she loves him. “Let me know what I can do. If Ray needs any additional resources, I’ll get them to him.”
“You know, you’re sure going out of your way for the brother of someone you don’t care much about.”
I hold back a groan to not further prove Tim’s point. “I never said I didn’t care about her. I just said I didn’t want to commit. But…”
“But what?”
“That might be changing.”