Page 91 of Velvet Vaughn

“What the hell—”

Brad’s protest cut off abruptly as Remi shoved him inside and climbed in after him, pinning him against the far door before he could process what was happening.

“Go,” Remi instructed. Anja shifted into gear and took off.

Brad breathed heavily and blinked at the three faces surrounding him. The Escalade’s cabin reeked of alcohol, body odor, and whatever bad decisions had filled the hours before they found him. He squinted at Remi beside him, missed Anja’s eyes in the rearview mirror on the first attempt, found them on the second, then stared at Leo, who’d turned around in the front passenger seat.

Brad’s face scrunched in concentration before recognition finally broke through.

“Leo!” His whole body sagged with relief. “Thank God. I was napped.” He frowned. “Kid-napped. Kidnapped. That’s what I said. Grabbed off the street. Call the cops.”

“Nobody’s calling anybody.”

“What?” Brad blinked several times, each one slower than the last. “Why not?” He leaned forward, swayed, then caught himself against the door. “Wait.” He peered toward the front. “That’s your girlfriend driving.”

Anja’s eyes lifted to the mirror.

Brad pointed at Remi. “And you. You were in the office the other day.” His finger drifted several inches to the left of Remi’s face. “What’re you doing here?”

“We just want to talk, Brad.” Leo spoke evenly, but Remi caught the strain beneath. “That’s all this is.”

“Talk about what?” Brad gave a loose, incredulous laugh. “You don’t grab a man off a walkside to talk.”

“Sidewalk,” Remi corrected.

Brad frowned at him. “That’s what I said.”

“It wasn’t.”

Brad waved that away, nearly smacking himself in the face in the process. “Whatever. Sidewalk. Walkside. There was walking involved.” His attention swung back to Leo. “What the hell is this?”

Nobody answered him. Anja merged onto the highway, and the silence stretched long enough that Brad’s bravado started curdling closer to fear.

“Say something.” His voice climbed. “Somebody say something. You can’t just kidnap a guy and then not talk to him. That’s rude.”

“We will,” Anja answered from the front, her eyes flicking to the mirror. “When we’re ready.”

“This is kidnapping.” Brad’s hands had started to shake, though whether it was from the alcohol or the situation was hard to say. “Actual kidnapping. You people have no idea who you’re messing with.”

“Enlighten us,” Remi invited.

Brad flinched at finding him so close. “Back up.”

“I’m sitting still.”

“Well, do it farther away.”

Remi settled deeper into his seat. “Better?”

“No.”

“Good. Talk.”

“You’ll find out.” Brad attempted to straighten, but the door was doing most of the work of keeping him upright. “There’s going to be pell to hay for all of you.” He frowned. “Hell to pay.”

“We got there,” Remi assured him.

“Hell to pay from whom?” Leo wanted to know.