Chapter 2 - The Gilded Cage
My blood ran ice-cold. The warmth in the room seemed to evaporate instantly.
"What?" I stammered, stepping back toward the library door. "No... no, I'm just a physical therapist. I don't know anything about your business or your medical team. I just came to examine you for the ten thousand dollars."
Sebastian reached into his coat pocket, pulled out a thick leather checkbook, and smoothly signed his name to a blank slip. He held it out to me.
"Write whatever number you need to keep your son alive for the next year," Sebastian said coldly. "Fifty thousand. A hundred thousand. Name it."
I stared at the check, my pulse hammering in my ears. "What’s the catch?"
"The catch," Sebastian said, leaning back into his titanium chair, "is that you don't leave this estate."
"No!" I yelled, my composure shattering. "I have a son! Oliver is eight years old! He’s at home with a babysitter who leaves at midnight! He needs his medication, he needs his breathing treatments—I can't just stay here!"
"Gabriel has already dispatched a medical team and a private security detail to your apartment," Sebastian replied calmly, as if discussing the weather. "Your son is being transferred to the private medical pavilion on the east wing of this estate as we speak. He will have round-the-clock pediatric care, the best respiratory equipment money can buy, and a private chef."
"You kidnapped my son?!" I shrieked, taking an aggressive step toward him.
Two heavy mahogany doors swung open instantly. Gabriel and two armed guards stepped into the room, their hands resting on their sidearms.
Sebastian didn't raise his voice. He held up a hand, stopping his men in their tracks.
"I didn't kidnap him, Clare. I protected him," Sebastian said softly, his grey eyes locked onto mine. "The moment you walked into this house and touched my back, you became the most dangerous person in Chicago. If my enemies—or my treacherous allies—find out what you discovered, they will not simply kill you. They will use your son to force you to lie, or they will end his life to keep you silent."
I sank into a leather armchair, burying my face in my hands. A dry, shuddering sob escaped my throat. I was trapped. I had walked into a den of wolves looking for rent money, and now the bars of the cage had slammed shut around me.
"Why me?" I rasped through my fingers, looking up at him. "You have millions of dollars. You could hire a team of elite international doctors to do this in secret."
"Because I don't trust doctors," Sebastian spat, his voice laced with pure venom. "Doctors take bribes. Doctors read reports written by other doctors and follow protocol. You... you looked at me with your own hands. You didn't care about my name, my money, or my reputation. You saw a mechanical problem and you named it."
He maneuvered his wheelchair closer to me, until his knees were inches from mine.
"You are going to break down that scar tissue, Clare," Sebastian murmured, his voice dropping into a raspy, irresistible command. "You are going to prepare my body for that surgery. And until I stand on my own two feet and crush the snake who put me in this chair... you and your son belong to me."
"And if I refuse?" I whispered.
May you like
Sebastian reached out, his large, calloused fingers gently touching my cheek, wiping away a stray tear with surprising gentleness.
"You won't refuse," he said softly. "Because you love your son. And deep down, Clare Bennett... you want to prove every elite doctor in this city wrong."
