While Ramone crafted two coffees, Sebastian and Leslie exchanged glances, each reassuring the other. They’d made it through the hardest part of this meeting, getting in the door.
Bringing the coffees across the room and setting them in front of them, Ramone said, “Now tell me what happened. Don’t worry about putting me in danger, even as strong as they are, the Russian mafia can’t touch me.”
Leslie took a deep breath, it was important that she tell this story the right way. She needed to raise both sympathy as well as Ramone’s protective instincts. “I went to Las Vegas last spring with my friends and we ended up at a tattoo parlor, where some of the group were going to get tattoos.” She paused for effect, although the prospect of telling the story once again, even after so many months, was upsetting.
Sebastian sensing her unease, slid closer to her on the couch and put his arm around her, giving her the courage she needed to continue. By the time she’d told the story there were tears running down her cheeks and they weren’t fake. It wasn’t so much the experience that had her emotional, it was the thought of Sebastian or someone else she loved getting hurt causing the tears.
Regardless of the source of her tears, they worked. Ramone stood up and began to pace around the room while Leslie dried her tears and got herself under control. Sebastian gave her a thumbs up when Ramone’s back was turned.
“I don’t know how much help I can be to you in this situation. I don’t have any ties with the Russian mafia since they don’t have a presence here. But, I can inform my people to let me know if any of these guys show up in town. I will also let everyone know that you two are under our protection, which should help some too.”
Leslie could feel Sebastian relax against her. This was exactly what they had hoped for, the protection that Ramone could offer was substantial. None of his people would come after them for a reward, if Ramone was protecting them.
“Thank you, Ramone. This is more than I should ask of you, but I need to protect my wife any way I can.”
“Sebastian, you and I go back a long way. It’s the least I can do, but after this I think we’re even.” Ramone said, sitting down again.
Leslie had noticed that he had been limping as he paced around the small space, she could sense a small tear in one of the tendons in his knee. Before she could stop herself, she said. “Ramone, it may be none of my business, but I can tell that you hurt your knee.”
“Is it that obvious? I tripped over my dog when I was running the other day, I thought I was covering it up better.”
“I only noticed because I’m a physical therapist. Would you like me to take a look?” Leslie asked, innocently.
Sebastian knew exactly what she was doing, she’d heal Ramone’s knee and he’d be even happier to help them. They both waited while Ramone considered this, not sure how he would take the suggestion.
“I think that would be okay.” He finally said.
Leslie got up from where she was sitting, crossed the room and put her hands on his knee. She bent it a few times, pretending to be testing the joint but in reality she was concentrating all her energy on healing it.
By the time she got up just a few minutes later, Ramone had a strange look on his face. “Wow, whatever you did made my knee feel much better.”
“Just stay off of it for the next few days and you should be good as new.” Leslie said, standing up, a look of satisfaction on her face. “You shouldn’t have too much more trouble from it now.”
Sebastian got to his feet as well, this was the perfect time to make their escape. “We really need to get back on the road. You’ve been a great help to us, Ramone, I’ll never forget it. You will be getting an invitation to our wedding reception next spring.”
“Anything I can do to help a friend. Here’s my card, if there is anything else I can do to help let me know.” Ramone said, standing up to walk them to the door.
Leslie almost laughed at the look on his face when he gingerly went to put his weight on the knee and no pain resulted. He looked from the knee to her, then shrugged his shoulders. They walked out of the office together, Ramone leaving them at the elevator with good wishes.
They were both silent until they got to the car, afraid to say too much until they were safely out of the building. Once they were in the car and on their way to their next destination, Leslie finally said. “That wasn’t so bad. It’s hard to believe that Ramone is a criminal, if I didn’t know better I would have thought that he was just a businessman.”
“Well, in a way he is. Even though he’s got his hands in a lot of things that aren’t really legal, he also runs some legal businesses that provide a good income as well as hiding some of his less than legal enterprises.”
“All I know is that I’m glad he’s on our side.” Leslie said, finally managing to get her nerves under control.
“That was really smart to heal his leg. He’s going to remember that for a long time.”
“I couldn’t resist. So, where to now?”
“This visit will be a little different than the last. Terrance is a longtime friend as well, but in this case he first met the family through Garrett when they were kids and attended the same camp. He doesn’t owe me any favors, but he’s a family friend. He’s spent quite a bit of time at the ranch, he stays with Garrett when he needs to get away.”
“That doesn’t sound so scary.”
“He’s a pretty scary guy, but not for us.”
They drove to what Leslie considered the worst part of town, parked in a secure garage, then walked a block to a bar that looked a lot like the one she’d ended up in that awful night last spring. Sebastian noticed her hesitation as they approached the door and pulled her close to him.
“It’s going to be okay, Terrance is a friend. Just stay close to me until we find him.” He said, opening the door and leading her inside.
Leslie surveyed the room and discovered that she wasn’t as out of her element as she’d worried she might be. The room was filled with mostly African American men, with a few women interspersed though out. There was complete silence as all eyes turned to them.
Leslie knew that there could be just as much prejudice from these people as from anyone else and was prepared. But, before anything could happen, a deep, loud male voice called Sebastian’s name from the back of the bar.
As she watched, an extremely large black man got to his feet and began to head their way. The crowd parting to let him pass. “Sebastian Terrell. What brings you to my neck of the woods?” He said, pumping Sebastian’s hand. Then spotting Leslie, he stepped back and looked her up and down, his eyes finally resting on her wedding ring.
Putting his arm around Leslie, Sebastian said. “Terrance, I’d like you to meet my wife, Leslie.”
It took Terrance only a minute to absorb this news, then he roared with laughter. “I knew I liked you from the minute I met you. Now I know you have incredible taste as well. It’s nice to meet you, my dear.” He took her hand and kissed the back of it. If any other man had tried that she would have pulled her hand back, but she immediately liked Terrance.
“Thank you, I think so as well.” Sebastian said, a flash of jealousy flashing in his eyes.
“Don’t worry my friend, even as beautiful as your new bride is, I won’t steal her from you.” Terrance said, his booming laugh filling up the room. “Come join me at my table.”
He gestured to the bartender, then turned and led the way to the back of the bar and a large table tucked into the corner. Leslie hesitated for just a second, the situation reminding her of Vegas just a bit too much. Sebastian squeezed her hand, giving her the courage she needed.
Once they were seated Sebastian wasted no time explaining the situation to Terrance, Leslie’s tears weren’t needed this time since they were here to ask a favor of a friend instead of calling in a debit owed. By the time Sebastian had finished his story, Terrance was shaking his head in amazement.
“Girl, you rea
lly managed to get yourself into a mess. What can I do to help? Do you need a place to hide out? I can tuck you away in places they won’t ever find you.”
“We’re going to head into the mountains above the ranch until it’s time for Leslie to testify, but there’s a price on her head. I need you to make sure none of your people decide to try for that reward.”
“I’ll put the word out. We’ll also keep our eyes open for any of these guys that might come into town. I don’t like the idea of these guys running around my territory. Have you talked to Ramone?”
“Yeah, we just left there. He’s going to help from his end too.” Sebastian said.
“That’s about the best you can hope for, pretty much covers the city. I was sorry to see that you got hurt. How’s the knee?” Terrance had obviously decided the topic was closed and moved on.
“Leslie is a physical therapist with amazing talent. Thanks to her, it’s good as new.”
“That’s good to hear, wish I could say the same for my back. It’s making me realize just how old I’m getting, can’t hardly ride my horse anymore.”
“Let me take a look at it, maybe I can help.” Leslie said, knowing when to take a good opportunity that was handed to her.
“I don’t know, I’ve seen plenty of doctors and they all say the same thing, surgery.”
“Trust me, you want to let Leslie take a look.” Sebastian said.
Terrance didn’t answer, just got stiffly up from the table. Now that she wasn’t so nervous she could clearly see how carefully he was walking. It was clear that he had some spinal damage that was really inflamed. They followed Terrance back to his office, and watched while he locked the door.
“You want me to lay down or something?”
“No, just turn your back to me.” Leslie said, already focusing on the inflamed area of his back.
She put her hands on his back and ran them up and down, focusing on the disks that were damaged. Terrance began to relax almost immediately, as she soothed the tight muscles and healed the disks. She’d never healed this deeply before, but found that with focus she could.
When she removed her hands, Terrance turned to face her, a look of disbelief on his face. “How did you do that? My back feels good as new.”
“Most of your pain was coming from the tense muscles around the disks. I just relaxed those muscles.” She said, hoping that explanation would be enough.
“Hmm.” Terrance thought about that for a while, as he bent this was and that, testing his back. “I think you did more than that, but whatever it was, I feel great.”
“I’m glad I could help.” She said, returning to Sebastian’s side and taking his hand.
“Terrance, as much as I would love to stay and get caught up, we really need to get on the road. It’s getting late and we still need to pick up supplies and hit the road.”
“Stay safe, I’ve got you from my side. When this is all over, I expect you both at my house for dinner. Leslie should meet my wife, since we spend so much time at the ranch with Garrett.”
“That’s a deal.” Sebastian said, shaking his hand.
Once they were back in the car, Leslie breathed a big sigh of relief. “That wasn’t as bad as meeting with Ramone and thank you for not making me tell that story again. Terrance seems like a nice guy.”
“Yeah, if you’re on his good side. But I wouldn’t want to make him mad.”
“Well, I don’t think I have to worry about that. You know I’ve never done that before.”
“Done what?” Sebastian asked, distracted by a car that appeared to be following them.
“Healed something so deep. I’ve never been able to do that.”
“I’m glad you discovered it today. We’ve done everything we can here to protect ourselves. We need to pick up enough supplies for three weeks and get on the road. It’s a three hour drive up to the ranch and then we’ll have to load everything.”
Leslie only nodded her head, suddenly exhausted from the long day. “Suddenly, I’m exhausted. Maybe we should find a room somewhere and get some sleep. Michael told me that most people get caught when their on the run because they get too tired and make bad choices.”
“I guess you’re probably right. I’ve been up for almost 18 hours already and you’re not far behind me. How about we get a few hours of sleep? You’re right we’ll both feel better. We’ll get as far out of the city as we can, then find a room.”
“Thank you, I can hardly keep my eyes open.”
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have pushed you so hard, but I just wanted us to get somewhere where I can protect you better. I think we’re being followed but I can’t tell.”
“How could they have found us so fast, it’s just not possible?” Leslie said, turning in her seat to look over her shoulder.
The car Sebastian had been worried about turned off, relieving them both of the worry. He took the next exit off the highway and found a small hotel and got them a room. They took only enough time to strip out of their clothes, then collapsed into bed. They were both asleep in minutes, too tired from the long day to do anything else.
As she was drifting off to sleep, Leslie thought about all the people Sebastian knew and how strange it was that he had relationships with men who were less than reputable. It was a side of him she’d never seen and in her opinion a true sign of how good a man he was. She knew how lucky she was to have found him, but sad to think that she might have to let him go someday.
Chapter 10
They were up and on the road only a few hours later, each still sleepy but feeling better after a few hours of sleep. The first stop would be a store where they could get everything they needed to spend an extended period of time in the mountains. If it had been summer, it would have made it much easier, but instead there would already be snow in the high country.
Sebastian pulled into the parking lot of the store, cut the engine then said. “I don’t think anyone followed us, but I wonder if it’s a good idea to leave the car here alone.”
“I’ve been watching carefully and I haven’t seen anyone. I think it should be safe enough to leave the car. We’re almost out of the city, they won’t find us here.”
“Okay, let’s go. We have a lot of shopping to do.”
“I’m ready.” She said, pulling a big wad of cash out of her bag.
“I guess you are.” He said laughing. “I like having a woman who carries a large wad of cash around with her.
They spent almost two hours gathering everything they would need in the mountains. Between cold weather gear and nonperishable food, they filled three shopping carts before they were done. They just managed to get everything stuffed in the car, then hit the road again.
“Will you drive? I need to call both Donovan and Garrett. Garrett doesn’t know that we’re coming. I thought it would be better that way. I’m going to have him meet us at the tail head. That way we won’t have to go all the way to the ranch, it will save us time.”
Leslie concentrated on her driving while, Sebastian made several phone calls. By the time they’d reached the turn off for the ranch, he had everything arranged. “Okay we’re all set. Garrett is going to meet us with the other equipment we need and some horses.”
“I worry that we’re getting more people involved and they’re your family. My parents are safely in Europe and we’re putting yours in danger.”
“If your parents were here, I’m sure they would be doing everything they could to help. Stop worrying about it, they know how to protect themselves at the ranch.”
“Okay, if you say so, but I owe them big time.” She said, still not sure about the plan.
“If you don’t mind, I’m going to get a little more sleep. It’s going to be a long trip up the mountain.” He said, reclining his seat and closing his eyes.
“You should, I can ride, but you’re going to be the one with all the responsibility.” She said, realizing that he was already asleep.
> It took another hour to get to the small town that had grown around the ski area. It was hard to believe that she was married to the man who owned this, well part of it but still. She’d never imagined even having a fraction of the wealth that Sebastian had. She suddenly realized that he hadn’t made her sign a prenuptial agreement, which was kind of surprising considering he was a billionaire.
As she approached the turn she would have to take to get to the back roads they wanted, she saw the car that had been worrying her the entire trip turn off on another road. Breathing a sigh of relief she took the turn. She’d have to wake Sebastian up soon, they weren’t far and she didn’t know where to go from here.
He woke easily and was happy to see that they were almost there. “It’s not that far now. I told Garrett to meet us at the forest service trail head. He’ll take our car back to the ranch and put it in one of the barns, it won’t be found.”
As she rounded the next corner, she could see a man and woman standing in the parking area, they had a string of horses waiting on the trail. She was suddenly nervous, she’d met so many new people over the last few days, and now here was not only his other brother but his girlfriend as well.
She’d listened to Sebastian’s conversation with his brother, who had clearly had no idea what had been happening. Donovan and Daphne had promised not to tell anyone, and they’d obviously kept that promise. Thinking back, she’d realized that he hadn’t told them about the marriage, it would have been much easier if he had.
“You didn’t tell Garrett that we got married.” It was more of a question than a statement, but she didn’t know what else to say.
“I’m sorry I just forgot. It’s not like I’m trying to hide it.”
“I know, but isn’t he going to be upset when he finds out.” She was worried what he might say when he saw her. She knew lots of mixed race couples but also understood it sometimes took the family a while to get used to the idea.
“I wouldn’t worry. Garrett is a great guy, he just wants us to be happy. In fact he’ll probably think it’s a great idea.”
Be Mine Forever (Brothers From Money #2) Page 10
