Page 111 of Cohesion

“You hit like my mum,” he said, spitting out the blood onto the floor. He couldn’t give a shit what it did to the décor. Not that the run-down, piece-of-shit building they were in was fit for any kind of company. Half the place was already falling down around them. “And she’s fifty-two.” Theyou should be ashamed of yourselfwas implied. He was willing to say it out loud, though, if the message didn’t get across properly.

It did.

Arthur Mulhall punched him again, right on top of where he was already bruising. Sebastian couldn’t believe that he was getting beaten up by a guy namedArthur. If anyone asked, his name was Killian.

“I told you to keep your mouth shut,” he hissed.

Sebastian chose to take it as an honour that Mulhall himself was the one roughing him up here even if his lackeys had been manhandling him from his room and back. The hospitality was seriously lacking. Did they have a website? He was giving them one star and a scathing review.

“I thought you wanted me to tell you something?” Sebastian asked. “Can’t have it both ways.” He tugged at the bonds around his wrists. They didn’t budge, of course, but it made him feel better. The wooden dining furniture wasn’t the mostcomfortable in the world, and having his hands awkwardly tied behind it only made it worse. They could have at least given him a cushion.

He looked down at his socked feet.

And let him keep his shoes.

Was that so he wouldn’t run? Orcouldn’trun far? Flawed motive. He’d run as far as he needed to, even if he was wearing nothing, to escape this place.

“You think that smart mouth is going to save you?”

No, he had four men that were going to do that. He had no doubt in his mind that they would find him. All he had to do was hold out until then. HimandSpencer, who he knew was still alive, stowed somewhere else in this shithole.

“You have no idea what this smart mouth has done for me.”

“It’snotsaving you now. Youoryour boyfriends.”

Sebastian tensed, his heart dropping as soon as he did. The reaction had been too automatic to stop it when he knew he should have. That smirk of satisfaction was so fucking smarmy that Sebastian wanted to punchhim. As if he didn’t have enough reasons to want to already.

“Yeah, that’s right. I worked out why those four were always sniffing around you.” He pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket. “The things I’m going to do to them once I’m done with you? Even your nightmares won’t compare.”

“Go fuck yourself.”

“Quinn Hughes. William McMahon. Peyton Sinclair.Jericho Rowlands.”

Sebastian sneered wordlessly, ignoring the very real fear swirling like nausea in his gut. They were empty threats; all his men would kick this guy’s ass any day of the week, withtheirhands tied behind their backs.

“That’s right, I worked out his real name. None of you are safe from me. You took my revenge, and now I’m gonna make you feel it. You and your boyfriends.”

Sebastian’s gaze was drawn behind him when the two men who had been standing like statues at the door for the past hour exchanged looks. For a while, he’d thought they were just really detailed mannequins. Different from the thugs that dragged him from room to room.

“Did you say Rowlands?” the one on the left asked. He looked like a quintessential secret service agent, right down to the cliché sunglasses.

“Yes. Warren Boiler was a fake persona he used to trick my stupid fucking idiot stepbrother. I found his real name: nothing is ever hidden, not really.”

The two men exchanged another look. “When did you find that out?”

Maybe the other one didn’t speak. Maybe they were one person and had been split during a science experiment down in a government lab somewhere.

“What the fuck does that matter? We know who he is now, and he’ll be easier to find. You agreed to help me kill them all in exchange for a meeting with my contacts in Melbourne, and a healthy payday. That means you shut up, and you do what I tell you to.”

The secret service agent wannabe bent and whispered something in the other one’s ear. The other one wore a suit too, but it was obvious that he wasn’t comfortable in it. Maybe he’d prefer to be wearing leather or something with multiple belts and a whip. Or a long flowy elven robe fromTheLord of the Rings. Sebastian’s suit was getting pretty dirty from all the shoving and dragging he’d been through. Not to mention this place was filthy to begin with. He could use an elven robe rightnow. Did they get dirt on them? All the elves looked clean all the time in the movies. Made of Teflon.

The possible leather lover—probable—nodded and left the room.

“Trouble in paradise?” Sebastian asked. “I can point you in the direction of a great marriage counsellor if you need.”

“Why don’t we get back to where we were instead?” Mulhall suggested menacingly.

“I lost count. Should we start again?”

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