Chapter 41

-Sebastian-

"I love you," I recalled as I drove into the warehouse where my "associate" told me James was.

I remembered the look on Jianna's face when I said those deathly three words.

I was sitting at a stop light when the reverberating, "Ummm...What did you just say?" response came back into my mind.

I closed my eyes briefly until I heard someone honk behind me and snapped me out of my thoughts.

As I neared the warehouse, I tried to push the thoughts away and get my head in the game. I need to take care of this and fast.

I pulled into the warehouse parking lot, got the Glock I had taken, and tucked it into my jeans. I can't believe I had to do this to save Bucky's ass.

I'm more enraged that I had to leave Jianna than drive across town to pick Bucky up from whatever he got himself into this time.

As I went inside, I heard soft footsteps coming from the shadows. I tried to adjust my eyes in the darkness, but as I scanned my surroundings to find out where the muffled footsteps were coming from, I saw a door with a light illuminating from the bottom. I walked in its direction and started hearing angry voices and someone grunting in pain.

"Pull the trigger, James. Or she dies. Either way, she's dead anyway." said the voice.

I know that voice. I've heard that voice before. FUCK!

I barged in just as James was about to pull the trigger.

"JAMES! STOP!" I yelled. He looked at me, confused.

"DROP THE GUN, BUCKY!" he looked at me and pointed the gun at me.

"Sebastian. What the fuck are you doing here? How the fuck did you find me?" he asked.

"WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU?" yelled the woman behind James.

She pointed her gun at me. "Ohhhh... Sebastian. You're the other man." She chuckled. "You think you can stop this? That's cute."

"Who the fuck are you?" I glared at her.

"Someone about to fuck up your life," she said chillingly.

I looked at her perplexed.

"What the fuck is that suppose to mean?" I demanded.

"You'll find out soon enough," she said in a sing-songy tone. "Now let "Bucky" finish what he needs to do, and you can have him back."

I looked at James; he had been beaten up and bloodied, but his hand that was in the trigger of his gun was still.

"Bucky. Don't do it." I pleaded.

"If I don't do it, she will." he looked at me. "I have to do it. I can't let anyone take her away from me again."

I felt a pang of sadness in my chest. Bucky had always been a pain in my ass, but seeing him like this hurt me deeply. I had to think of something quick before he made a decision he would regret for the rest of his life.

"Bucky, put the gun down. You don't have to do this. We can fix this. Just put the gun down." I tried to reason with him.

But he just shook his head. "I can't, Sebastian. You don't know what she means to me. I can't lose her again." He said, his voice breaking.

The woman behind him just laughed. "Oh, how sweet. But I'm afraid your little love story will have to wait. We have business to attend to first." She said, her voice cold and menacing.

I could see the desperation in his eyes, and I knew I had to act fast. The woman behind him looked amused as if this whole situation was nothing but a game to her.

But I knew better. I could feel the danger emanating from her, and I knew that if I didn't stop her, she would come after Jianna and me next.

I took a deep breath and stepped closer to Bucky. "Listen to me, Buck. You can't do this. You have to let her go. Killing her won't solve anything and'll only worsen things."

"Vanessa. Please. Let her go." James pleaded. "Take me. Kill me. Just let her go. She had nothing to do with what happened to us."

"But James," she approached him and caressed his face. "I'm just starting to have fun."

She straddled him and started kissing him. Bloody lips and all. I saw the disgust in James's demeanor, and he appeared to be not kissing her back.

I averted my eyes, and that was the first time I could take a good look at the girl Vanessa wanted James to kill. And my heart dropped.

"Jianna?" I gasped.

But she didn't look up. No. It can't be her.

I called to her again. "Jianna?" I whispered.

But again, I received no response.

I discreetly took my phone out and texted Asher.

***" Is Jianna still in my room?"* **

I waited for a response. Then my phone vibrated.

***"Yes boss. As you instructed, I've been standing by her door, and everyone is on high alert, so I had them patrol every 10 minutes. Why?"***

I breathed a sigh of relief. I looked to see if Vanessa had noticed I had my phone out, but she was busy with James.

***"Make sure she doesn't leave. I'll be back soon."***

I put my phone back in my pocket just before Vanessa finally let James breathe.

"Mmmm. I've missed that." Vanessa purred at James and then bit some air before his face.

She stood up, turned around, and looked at me again. "Now, Mr. Cross. You either turn around and let James do what I want him to do, or I shoot you where you stand. Your choice."

I was taken aback by her threat. But then I realized the best solution for this problem.

"Look, Vanessa. It's Vanessa, right?" I was stalling, and she could tell. Her scowl was starting to turn into fury.

"Get to the point, Cross. I'm not a patient woman." she seethed.

"You know I am richer than god, right? So name your price." I said calmly.

She looked at me, surprised.

"I'm not interested in your money, Cross. I'm interested in making James pay," she said, still pointing her gun at me.

"I'm saying that everything has a price," I said, sounding as confident as possible.

She chuckled. "You think money can solve everything? You're so presumptuous, Sebastian."

"I haven't been wrong yet," I replied.

She looked at me, still bewildered. But then she started lowering her gun.

"20 million dollars. That's the price of his head. But know that this is not over." she glowered.

"Done," I concluded.

She scoffed and snapped her finger. A man suddenly appeared behind me with a gun pointed at my head.

"You see, Mr. Cross. You were never going to get out of here if worse comes to worse. My associate here was going to have a bullet in your head once James pulled the trigger." she chuckled.

"20 million, Sebastian." she snapped her finger again, and they started to walk away. She stopped in front of the woman who looked like Jianna.

"Guess it's your lucky day, Barnes." she looked at him and looked at the woman, then smiled the most sadistic smile.

Then, she pulled the trigger.