Page 36 of Corbin
“Yes. I did not harm her. I’m on her security detail, assigned by Beckham Security.” He hoped that could be confirmed. Corbin lifted his hands to prove he was no threat. He ground his teeth in anger and moved to the side. She’d put all this in motion and now strolled away with the casualness of someone with no worries. If nothing else reminded him of when he’d known her as a teen, being tossed aside for others to deal with did.
Still talking to Corbin, the shorter officer with a thick neck and skin the color of strong coffee, said, “Please pull out your license.”
“I’m going to reach into my back pocket for ID, okay?”
“Yes. Use one hand and leave the other up.”
Once Corbin withdrew his wallet, the second officer with freckled skin cuffed him.
Givenchy and her driver headed for the car. She stopped before reaching the sedan and called out, “He didn’t harm me.”
Corbin twisted his neck to toss her a look ofyou’re-not-helping.
She frowned at him.
Really? He rolled his eyes and ignored her.
The first officer nodded. “Thank you, Ms. Givenchy. We’ll handle this.”
Corbin crushed the urge to blast her for all the trouble she’d caused him. This already had the earmarks of a disaster.
Two doors had yet to slam on the sedan, and the car made no sound of driving away. Corbin heard her driver urging, “We should go.”
“Just a minute,” she said, then walked briskly back to Corbin and the officers. “I’d like to ask this man something.”
The officers looked at each other. The short one said, “As long as you don’t get too close.”
With him cuffed, she evidently felt safe walking up to him, but the officers didn’t move far enough away for her. She used her charming voice. “I’m fine. Would you give me a little privacy?”
Once they stepped to the rear of their squad car, she turned on Corbin. “You’re Corbin, aren’t you?”
She did know. His brain disconnected from his mouth when he realized she’d finally acknowledged him.
Possibly irritated at receiving no reply, she snapped, “Just tell me the truth about why you’re here and I’ll consider dropping charges.”
She’d consider dropping charges for what?
He had not harmed or threatened her. He was now on law enforcement radar. He wanted to be fully cleared and not allow her to throw out a token of dropping charges.
He took a quiet breath to keep his tone polite with witnesses nearby. “There is no reason to drop charges because I committed no crime. I was doing my job,Givenchy.” He’d said her last name like a curse since he couldn’t spew a curse when Adrian had asked him to behave in a situation like this.
But damn, he was pissed. They see each other for the first time in years, and that’s all she had to say? No sorry or asking how he’d survived what she’d done to him?
“Unbelievable,” she muttered. “I try to give you a break after all you did, and you still want to act like an ass.”
“After allIdid? That’s priceless. Let’s keep this professional. You go ahead and behave like an overindulged celebrity, and I’ll stick to doing my duty as a security guard trying to follow orders. That is if I get out of jail before next year. At least the police might be more objective than goons.” Yes, he was pissed.
Maybe she’d had so many men he was nothing more than a fleeting memory from her past.
That ground on his nerves. He couldn’t say why.
Movement near the building caught his eye. He squinted to see men who weren’t around before now squatting behind garbage cans.
She followed his gaze. As she did, two photographers stood up and pointed their cameras with huge lenses their way.
Once they realized she knew they were there, three of them jumped out and hurried forward, snapping shots as they came.
“Damn. Look what you’ve done to me this time.” She wheeled around to glare at him. “The blasted paparazzi.” With that, she abandoned any further conversation and raced to the sedan where her driver held the door open. She dove inside, and he slammed the door, then got in and peeled out of there with paparazzi racing behind.
