Never Gonna Happen - Cynthia Eden Page 0,10

over his features. He smiled, his dimples flashed, and she couldn’t read him at all.

“That’s the thing,” Sebastian rasped. “No one ever sees the real me.”

Before she could respond, he caught her hand and tugged her from the limo.

At least I’m home. At least I’ll be able to get away from him soon. At least—

Alyssa staggered to a stop. “This isn’t my house.”

“No, it’s mine.”

She knew that. He was tugging her forward, she was trying to dig in her heels, but it wasn’t working and she was having to triple time it in order to keep up with him as Sebastian headed toward the freaking sprawling cabin—mansion, more like mansion—that overlooked the Blue Ridge Mountains. A million stars were glittering overhead while the lights blazed inside his home. The illumination spilled from all of the floor to ceiling windows in the massive structure.

“I don’t want to be here,” Alyssa huffed. “Sebastian, stop.”

He whirled toward her. “I will apologize in advance for this.”

“What?” Alarm flared through her. “What are you apologizing for?” Before he could respond, she heard the sound of another vehicle approaching. Alyssa glanced back and saw a dark SUV screeching to a stop behind the limo. “Who is that?”

“Security. They will keep an eye on you while I go and talk to the cops—”

“When did you call security?” He hadn’t been on the phone in the limo.

“Before I picked you up at the theater.”

Shock rolled through Alyssa, and then—

He scooped her up. Tossed her over his shoulder. “I’m really sorry.”

“Stop!” She surged against him. This was not happening. A million times not.

But he tightened his hold on her. Headed for the mansion. Took her in the mansion, and this was a bad dream. A nightmare. It had to be because there was no way that Sebastian Ridgeway was carrying her into his house as she tried to hurtle herself away from him. Sure, Sebastian was often over the top. The media loved his wild antics.

But this wasn’t some PR stunt designed to grab more headlines. This was her life.

This was—

He put her down on the couch. She bounced.

He grimaced. “You are going to be extra pissed about this, aren’t you?”

“You have no idea.” She blew a lock of hair out of her eyes.

“But at least you’ll be alive.”

Two men in really bad suits rushed inside.

Sebastian pointed at Alyssa. “You keep her here. You make sure that her skin is not so much as bruised. When I get back, I expect her to be in perfect condition.”

She looked at his security goons. Then she looked back at him. “When you get back, I will be gone.”

Those dimples…They winked at her. “Want to bet on that, sweet—um, Alyssa?”

She surged off the couch and stood toe-to-toe with him. But since he was so tall, she did have to tip her head back to glare up at him. “This is called kidnapping, and it’s illegal. You don’t get to hold me captive. That might be your kind of kink, but it’s not mine.”

Did someone snicker? Maybe a goon?

Sebastian sent a killing glance at the guy. Then his smile—slightly strained—came back to Alyssa. “It’s not a kink. Though I’ll be happy to tell you about all of the things that turn me on—later. For now, this is about keeping you safe. It’s about protecting you. So, be pissed. Hate me, keep right on doing it the way you always have. But you’ll be alive. Now, I need to go before the cops get too antsy.” He whirled for the door.

“I don’t hate you.”

Sebastian stopped. Stiffened. “You don’t?”

“Well, correction, I am starting to hate you because you just kidnapped me!” And if he thought she was going to sit at his place, all calm and cool, he had better think again.

His head turned as he glanced back over his shoulder at her. “I need you to trust me.”

No humor. No smirk. No dimples.

Just seriousness. He was hardly ever serious.

“There are things happening that you don’t know about. I need you to stay here until I can get a handle on the situation. The reason I came to that theater box tonight—it was because I’d gotten a tip that something might happen to you.”

What? Now she could feel the blood leaving her face. Hello, light-headedness. She’d wondered why he’d been at the theater, but with everything else happening, Alyssa hadn’t exactly gotten the chance to question him hard about that. Or, heck, did I even ask him about it at all? Some parts of that