Another kick to his stomach was delivered smoothly, this time by Sebastian, and he coughed out more streams of blood.
Sebastian didn’t intend to waste his precious time on a mere rat like Brandon. Neither could he let the words of a no-good skunk affect him, especially when he owned the fucking city.
“Touch my wife again or come within 10 meters from her, and that would be the end of you!” he threatened coldly, his gaze unyielding. “I don’t negotiate. You either follow my lead or suffer the consequences.”
Brandon was then beaten black and blue by his men before being returned to the Smith’s villa looking like a shadow of himself.
**********
After wiping his hands clean as if he had touched some dirty garbage, Sebastian stormed out of Villa Santorini, the last remnants of adrenaline coursing through his veins. He couldn’t shake the feeling of rage that churned in his gut, but as he climbed into the back seat of his sleek black Bentley.
Soon, his thoughts drifted back to Kourtney. She was the one who mattered-she always had been.
“Drive back to the hospital,” he ordered.
Jamie, who was in the driver’s seat, hesitated, his hands gripping the steering wheel tightly.
“Uhmmm… Sir, something came up!” His voice trembled slightly as if fearing the wrath of his boss.
“What happened?” Sebastian asked, his tone sharper than he intended.
“Mrs Woods… she ran away from the hospital,” Jamie replied, glancing nervously at Sebastian through the rearview mirror. “She’s at her best friend, Lilian Powell’s house.”
Sebastian’s brow furrowed, and his face turned ashen, but in the back of his mind, he had expected this.
He had expected nothing less from Kourtney.
The woman was stubborn.
Very stubborn!
He couldn’t help but admire that about her, even if it drove him crazy.
“Drive to the address.”
His voice was firm despite the tension radiating from his body as he leaned forward, his mind racing with thoughts of her.
He couldn’t believe she’d left the hospital, and a wave of frustration washed over him. He had intended to go back there for her, to apologize for the chaos that had ensued, but now he was on his way to track her down again like a lost puppy.
As they sped through the city, he found himself rehearsing words in his head. What was he even going to say to her?
Apologizing was not in his repertoire.
Sorry? It wasn’t even in his collection of words.
That felt foreign on his tongue. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d apologized or said the word “sorry” to anyone, including those he had wronged.
It was as if he was suddenly trying to speak a language he didn’t understand anymore… A language he had long forgotten.
“Okay, how about this,” he muttered to himself. “Kourtney, I’m sorry I was a total jerk. I didn’t mean to-” He quickly shook his head, dismissing the words as they tumbled out in a jumble of awkwardness.
“Ugh, no! That’s too soft,” he groaned quietly, running a hand through his perfectly styled hair. “Kourtney, I-uh, I acknowledge my misdoings?”
He chuckled at that, imagining her rolling her eyes at his overly formal tone.
“Sir?” Jamie interrupted, glancing back at the chuckling Sebastian with a confused expression.
“Nothing,” Sebastian snapped, then sighed.
Just how could he tell anyone he was trying to figure out how to say sorry without sounding like a complete idiot?
He tried again inwardly, in his thoughts. “Kourtney, I realize that my actions were less than stellar, and I sincerely regret-”
“Nope! Too much like a robot!” he muttered, practically whining at this point.
He continued to practice a few phrases in his mind, each one more ridiculous than the last.
“This is ridiculous,” he murmured under his breath, feeling the weight of his predicament crash down on him.
The dilemma of finding the perfect words was infuriating. He leaned back against the plush leather seats of the car, staring out at the city lights blurring past. It was always the same; he could dominate a boardroom, but when it came to matters of the heart, he felt utterly lost.
It was a funny thought-this billionaire mogul, who could command empires with his voice, reduced to a mumbling fool trying to find the right words to say to a woman.
“Why does she have to make this so hard?” he grumbled, feeling the heat of frustration rise in his chest. It was absurd that a god-like man like him was even in this position, flustered and panicked about a stupid apology.
The more he thought about it, the more frustrated he became.
How had he gotten himself into this mess? He could have handled things differently, but the thought of her betrayal had sent him spiraling into a dark place.
And then, it hit him-all these troubles he was going through were caused by some certain someone or people.
“Find the culprit who put those pictures on the internet,” he ordered Jamie, his voice dropping to a low, menacing growl.
The thought of anyone trying to tarnish Kourtney’s reputation made him so furious. He wouldn’t let that slide; he could unleash hell if necessary.
He clenched his fists, imagining all the ways he could make those responsible pay.
“I want names, addresses, everything!”
***********
After getting out of the taxi, Kourtney sighed bitterly. Standing in front of Lilian’s house were no other than Sebastian’s bodyguards-the same ones she had left at the hospital. She thought she had succeeded in outsmarting them, but she had failed woefully.
They even got here first before her!
‘How,’ she wondered.
They were here. Does it mean that Sebastian was here too?
Seems like she could never truly escape from that man.
Just how pathetic was her life?