Page 69 of Home Again

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As soon as the apartment doorknob turned, Sebastian was across the room. He flung the door open and yanked his uncle inside by his shirt.

“What?!” Armand choked out as he started to struggle.

Sebastian slammed the door shut and shoved the man to his knees. “Talk.”

“Bastian? Is that you, boy?”

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that Gideon was still at his computer, calmly watching what he was doing.

“You saw my text. I saw that it was read.” Sebastian was so many levels beyond pissed.

Armand looked frantically around the apartment, his gaze resting a minute on Gideon before focusing on Sebastian. He licked his lips. “Yes. Yes, I did, Bastian. I got your text. That’s why I’m here, son. I’m here to help.”

Sebastian squeezed the back of his uncle’s neck, cringing as the man’s greasy hair slithered over his hand. “I am, I’m here to help,” he said again.

Sebastian squeezed harder. “Try again.”

“What do you want me to say?” Now there was a pleading tone in his voice.

“I know you’re in it with Bradley Fontenot. I know you’re his partner. Now he has Gianna and he thinks you can get me to pony up five million dollars. I’d offer to trade your ass for her, but I think he’d prefer to cut off your dick and shove it down your throat before he’d give me Gianna. The man wants his money, and you and I both know you don’t have it. So what the fuck is going on?” Sebastian squeezed so tight that Armand squealed with pain. The only thing keeping him upright was Sebastian’s hold.

“I can’t think,” Armand wailed.

“Try.”

Armand started to cry. “It’s not just Bradley. I owe a lot of people. They’re all out for blood.”

“Like I give a fuck. Get your daddy to bail you out.”

“He won’t this time. I need your money.”

Armand started to cough and wheeze so Sebastian let him drop to the floor. He looked over at Gideon and shook his head. Then he looked back down at Armand and kicked him over onto his back. “I don’t have any money, you dumb bastard.” Sebastian bent down and patted down his pockets, pulling out his cell phone. He threw it over to Gideon who caught it. “Now tell me where Gianna is.”

“I don’t know,” he whined.

“That’s a goddamned lie. On the video, Gianna said you’re the go-between. You know where she is. You’re in on this.”

“I don’t know where Gianna is, and you do have money. Your dad and I both got money from Sebastian the first, our grandfather. It went into a trust and we got it when we reached the age of twenty-one. When your daddy died, your grandfather was the conservator of your money until you reached twenty-one, but after you cut ties, he had the family attorney do some finagling and somehow got it put over into his name.”

“You’re more drunk than usual,” Sebastian spit out.

“It’s true. It’s all true. I checked the balances, there’s at least eighteen million. More than enough to pay off Fontenot and the others.”

Sebastian stared down at his uncle. The man just lay there; he was so pathetic that he didn’t even try to pick himself up off the floor—what kind of man was he?

“If what you’re saying is true, why do you think Sebastian will use his money to pay off your other debts?” Gideon asked as he stepped up beside Sebastian.

“Bastian won’t know what accounts to look at or where the real paperwork is. I do.” The sly look on Armand’s face made Sebastian want to puke.

“I’ll be able to find it,” Sebastian assured him.

“Yeah, but not in time to rescue your little piece of tail.” Armand rolled over and got on his hands and knees as he attempted to push himself off the floor. Sebastian kicked him in the ribs and he flew over onto his back with a gasp. “Why’d you do that?”

“Because a miserable piece of shit like you deserves to stay on the floor.” Sebastian turned to Gideon. “Do you think you can access what Armand is talking about, so I don’t have to do business with him?”

Gideon gave Armand a withering glance, then looked back up at his friend. “Let me see what I can find out tonight. If I don’t have any luck by morning, we’ll be stuck using him.”