Carmen
I backed away, grabbing the few other bags and debating. Just a few minutes and I’d know if what Sebastian had found was true. I moved quickly, exiting and keeping close to the wall. The cafe was only steps away, the scent of spices filling my nostrils the second I walked in the front door.
I continued to look over my shoulder as I rushed toward the counter. “Is there a phone I can use? It’s an emergency. I have cash.” At least Sebastian hadn’t taken away my entire world. My father had made certain I always carried at least a few hundred dollars with me at all times.
The woman behind the counter faced me, glancing up and down. “Sure. Long distance?”
“Yeah. Like I said, I have money.”
She gave me another look then shook her head. “It’s all right, honey. Looks like you could use a break.”
I gave her a smile before scampering toward the landline phone, my hands shaking so badly I could barely dial the number. I was honestly surprised when my father answered the phone, his gruff voice sending both a chill down my back and butterflies into my stomach. “Daddy.”
There was absolute silence.
“Why are you calling me?” he asked, as if my call was an interruption.
My heart ached even before I asked the question, but there was no time for anything else. “Did you make a deal with Sebastian Sturm that I belonged to him?”
There was another hesitation.
“Did you?” I snapped.
“Business is business, Carmen. You always knew that. He owns you outright.”
Owns me. I was forced to blink away the tears, stunned by his admittance. “And Mother is okay with that?”
“Your mother does anything I tell her to do. You’re aware of that. As long as the money continues to flow into the house, she is very happy.”
Swallowing hard, I could feel my blood chilling. “You are an absolute monster.”
“I assure you, Carmen, there are worse men that you could end up with. The good business this will create is invaluable.”
“To whom, Father? Yourself?” I knew he wouldn’t answer. He didn’t have the balls.
“I suggest you make the best of your situation. Now, if you don’t mind, I have a meeting to get to.”
He simply ended the phone call. Sebastian had been right all along. I’d never mattered. I resisted slamming and breaking the phone, very carefully placing it on the receiver. Numb wasn’t the word for what I was feeling. “Thank you,” I said absently as I walked toward the door. Who cared whether an assassin shot me dead? What did it matter?
“What do you think you were doing?” Sylvie’s voice was laced with both concern and anger. She stood just outside the cafe door, her arms folded.
“I had to talk to my father. Just leave me alone.”
She ripped off her sunglasses, squinting from the bright sun. “Are you fucking out of your mind? Sebastian is going to be pissed as hell. Come on. I’m taking you home.” She jerked me by the arm, pulling me down the sidewalk.
“What about the weird guy?”
“I don’t know. He disappeared.”
Sighing, I had difficulty feeling my feet. “What does it matter anyway?”
“What does it matter? Jesus, Ms. Garcia. Sebastian actually gives a shit about you and you continue to combat him in every step.”
“Yeah, well, have you ever been kidnapped before then told that it was because of a business arrangement gone bad? Then to find out that your father actually has no issues with it, perhaps was in on the planning of it?”
Sylvie sucked in her breath but continued moving. “That doesn’t mean you can go off halfcocked. Then I’ll have to be the one to clean up the mess.”
“I’d appreciate if you’d lay off the macho routine. You know, I might appear to be some fluffy princess who has been pampered her entire life, but I can hold my own against creeps and thugs. Now, you can take me back and dump me off because I know you have no desire to be hanging around with a girl like me.” Huffing, I managed to jerk out of her hold, even taking several steps ahead of her.
The gorgeous and very surreal turquoise ocean was merely a few paces away, the rolling water and the scent of the sea drawing me in, a reminder that I was only a few hundred miles from home. Home. As if that had ever been real. I was sick to my stomach, colors swirling in my mind’s eye.
“Look, I’m sorry, but Sebastian asked me to protect you and that’s what I’m going to do,” Sylvie said as she flanked my side.
“Or he’ll punish you, even kill you?”
I could tell she was taken aback. “Sebastian requires professionalism and loyalty. What I give him is respect.”
Her words simmered in my mind. I remained quiet, trying to ratchet down my frustration. She certainly wasn’t to blame. “No, I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be taking this out on you.”
“I know this must be difficult on you, but I do believe that Sebastian cares about you.” Sylvie’s head never stopped moving as we worked out way down the sidewalk, no doubt headed for her Charger.
“I’m not certain about anything any longer. Who could that man have been?”
“Maybe nobody, just a tourist or a frustrated husband,” she said as we crossed a street, making a turn toward the parking garage.
“But you don’t believe that, do you?”
She shot me a look. “What I know is that there is someone hell bent on killing you and that’s just not going to happen on my watch.”