The Man Without Rules (33 page)

The Ginge Fringe

The library was cool and quiet save for the low chatter from the corner where Mariss and her employees were setting up their equipment. There were three other models present; the military man, the kid with the tattoos and piercings, and of course, the ginger named Paul.

Paul and Mariss seemed to be enjoying themselves. As Sebastian approached, their conversation was quiet enough that he couldn't hear, but then Paul said something and Mariss barked a loud laugh before she covered her mouth with her hand. Paul laughed at her, though he kept it quiet, but his eyes. The look in the man's eyes made Sebastian want to strangle them both.

"Careful," he said as he approached them. "She'll take you for a ride,
then
dump you on your arse. Isn't that right, Red?"

Mariss blinked at him. She tilted her head to the side with a questioning look, but didn't say anything.

Sebastian chuckled and moved past them. Juliet sat in a bright red beanbag chair against some bookshelves. She had a children's book in her hands. As she flipped through the pages she bounced her foot up and down.

"Juliet," Sebastian said in greeting. She didn't even look up to acknowledge his presence. He couldn't believe she was really that angry with him, but no matter.

He continued to a row of chairs settled beneath a window. From here, he could see Mariss and the others working. Paul was flirting hard. If Sebastian didn't know Mariss as well as he did, he'd have thought she was flirting back, but the more he watched the more he realized she was only reacting, not flirting.

"Mr. Boa, hair and makeup is in the next room."

Sebastian nodded at Brit. All of Mariss' office women were icy toward him and he couldn't really blame them.

After his hair and makeup was done and he slipped into his wardrobe, Sebastian was sent back out to join the other models. He sent a quick text message before silencing his mobile and tossing it on a chair.

The photo shoot was just like any other. Sebastian posed and smiled and frowned and read, as did the other models. Mariss took a certain liking to anyone that wasn't him. Seeing her touch, tease, and joke with the other models hurt more than Sebastian wanted to admit, but he reminded himself that she'd felt nothing for him. Mariss was simply using his body and his money, and he didn't feel so bad about what happened halfway through the shoot.

Four women marched through the door of the library a few moments after Sebastian and the other men finished their lunch break. They were scantily clad, but all of them beautiful in their own way. Sebastian perked up just seeing them come through the door.

"Ah," he said as the camera continued to click.
"My birthday present."

Two of the women skipped right into his arms. The other two pet his arms, shoulders, and back like they couldn't get enough of him. He caught Mariss' expression out of his periphery.

"Your mother sent them for you?" she snapped.

Sebastian grinned, perversely loving that he was getting under her skin. "Yes. She thought I needed some class in my life."

Mariss eyes widened and her jaw dropped as an expression of shocked amusement took over her sour expression. She nodded. Sebastian saw her take the jab as a challenge as she turned away,
then
turned back.

"Shirts off," she said.
"
Just
the men."

"Is this shirtless in the library?" Brit asked.

"Yes. No, Sebastian." Mariss held out a hand and he stopped in the middle of unbuttoning his shirt. "I said just the men."

Sebastian quirked an eyebrow, but Mariss maintained a straight face as everyone else laughed.

"Well, go ahead. Let's have your shirt off then."

Mariss smiled and shook her head. "Not me. I'm the picture of class so I keep my clothes on. The women can pose, but they aren't getting paid. That's your job anyway, isn't it?"

Sebastian shook his head. He couldn't help but be entertained by the exchange. He finished taking his shirt off and pulled his undershirt over his head in one smooth motion. When he looked up, Mariss was watching him, but she quickly looked away, down at the phone in her hands. He handed his discarded clothing to one of his birthday gifts as his mobile phone vibrated in the chair where he'd left it.

There was a text from Mariss that
said,
:The
hell do you think you're doing? They aren't models, I don't want them, and I'm not paying for
them.:

Sebastian chuckled.
:They're
here at my request. I'll worry about "compensation" for them. ;):

He put his mobile down and looked up. Mariss shot him a glare that only made him grin. He made sure it was the one that made her swoon, but she turned away, the icy look never fading from her eyes.

"Alright!"
Mariss called. "I want you with the Marine," she said to a blonde. "If you're going to be in the shot, you're going to be where I want you. You can be with Ginge.
No, not you."
She waved the redhead out of the way. "I don't want you hanging off someone you could be related to."

"Just because we're both gingers we have to look related?" Paul asked.

Mariss grinned at him, her whole face lighting up.
"Yep.
I want you with one of the brunettes. Tattoos, you get the other two women, um."

Sebastian watched her pause to think, tapping her bottom lip with her finger. He grinned. She was playing his game and she was good at it.

"I want them on either side, holding a book in front of your chest like they're holding it for you to read. One leg cocked up like they're going to wrap it around you. Yeah, just like that.
Asshole?"
Mariss turned to him and snapped her fingers like she was calling a dog. "You can
lay
on the floor in front of them. On your side and make sure your muscles are nice and big. Do you need to do some pushups or something?"

Sebastian got the feeling she was being serious about that last bit, but he gave her a dirty little smirk anyway and got into position on the floor in front of the other men, his head rested on one hand and one knee bent. Someone put a book in his hands and he held it up, flexing his biceps, pecs, and abs.

"Is this enough muscle?" he
asked,
his voice low.

Mariss' eyes raked over him. She coughed, cleared her throat, and said, "That'll do." She turned and took a seat next to Juliet. They eyed him as they spoke to each other quietly. Sebastian's ears itched to know what they were saying.

He put on his best smolder and let the photographer get some more shots. They shifted a few times. Each time, Mariss made him lie or sit on the floor, apart from the other models and she wouldn't allow him to pose with any of the women he'd brought, which he found to be quite funny.

"What are you doing?"

Mariss voice cut through the chatter half an hour later. Sebastian followed her gaze to Paul as he paused in the middle of undoing his belt.

"I'm taking my pants off," he said as if she should have already known.

"Don't do that. This is 'Reading is Sexy' not 'Sex in the Library'."

Paul grinned. "We can make it sex in the library."

"No. Paul!"

The man had his pants off faster than Sebastian could have done, which was impressive. He wore a pair of white underpants which he tugged on a little to show off the bright orange hair that decorated his groin.

"Ho-ly shit."

Sebastian turned at Juliet's exclamation. Every woman's eyes were fixed on the model.

"He matches," Brit said.

Sebastian looked to Mariss. She was staring like she'd never seen anything that impressed her more. There was a hunger in her eyes that reminded Sebastian just how little he really did it for her. After all, no one could do her like the husband, right?

Seething, Sebastian crossed his arms over his chest. "You don't have to get undressed for Mariss to take notice," he said. "She's already got her eye on you."

Mariss turned to him and frowned. "What?"

"You've been eyeing him all day. Looking for a replacement, now that we've decided to part ways?"

"What the hell is wrong with you?" she
asked,
her cool demeanor slipping. He could see that she was pissed and it made him smile.

"Ah. Hit a little too close to home?"

"Oh, this must be because I wouldn't let you finger your birthday ho's all day. I don't understand where the attitude is coming from."

"Don't you? Anyone would be perturbed to find out they were being used. Did you get all you wanted out of me?"

Mariss face went empty. All emotion leaked away until he was staring at a blank wall. It was frightening.

"Take a break," she
snapped,
her voice empty. "Come with me." She speared Sebastian with a look that said he'd better not argue or that person who liked to cut people was going to come out. He followed her across the library, well aware that he didn't have a shirt on and the old librarian biddies were staring with their mouths open.

Mariss ducked behind some bookshelves and dragged him with her.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" she
asked,
her voice low. "Is it not enough that you've dragged my name through the mud these last few weeks and taken away my funding? Can we not just get through this shoot and the party tonight so we never have to deal with each other again? Is that too much to ask?"

Her words were a slap in the face, adding insult to an injury that he'd foolishly inflicted on himself when he couldn't take no for an answer. Sebastian searched her face, hoping to find some kind of attraction or desire or anything he'd seen there before. But there was nothing. Instead, her eyes were full of fury, yet dead at the same time. She felt nothing for him. She never had.

"No," he replied. "That's not too much to ask. How many more shots do you need?"

"That's it? That's all you have to say? I know what you're doing, Sebastian, even though I don't know why you're doing this. If you're mad at me fine, but don't fuck with my career and don't fuck with my life."

Sebastian sucked his teeth and crossed his arms over his chest. "You don't know why? Mariss, you are the most arrogant, manipulating person I've ever met and I'm British. I know arrogant.
But you?
You weed your way into people lives, fucking with their minds and hearts for your own sick pleasure. You are the worst kind of person, Mariss Red, but the real shock is that I fell for it. I fell for you and your games and your lies."

"Lies?"

"Yes, lies. You portray yourself as this innocent business woman who wants nothing but her dear sweet husband, but you want so much more than that. You're a money hungry, power-mongering bitch."

Mariss' eyes went wide.
Finally, some emotion.
But it wasn't the emotion he'd expected. Sebastian had expected Mariss to grow angry and hit him. Instead, she gave a cold, sharp laugh.

"First of all, my husband is not sweet. He is many things, but sweet isn't one of them. Second, how the hell do you think I got where I am today? By being nice? I think the part about me being a bitch is the only thing you got right there, but you can believe whatever you need to believe. I'm done with you-"

"Sebastian Boa?" A deep male voice spoke from the front of the library.

Sebastian turned the corner to find a police officer standing just inside the door. Mariss came around to stand next to him.

"Did you call the police?" he asked.

"No," Mariss answered and Sebastian almost believed her.

"Sebastian Boa?" the officer asked.

"Yes, that's me."

The officer and his back up came to him. The next thing Sebastian knew, he was being slammed against the nearest bookshelf while he was frisked and cuffed.

"This isn't funny, Mariss," Sebastian said. The side of his face was mashed into the shelf by a hand on the back of his head.

"This isn't me," Mariss replied. "I didn't call the police."

"Sebastian Boa, you are under arrest for the rape of Mindy-"

"Mindy!" he shouted.

Sebastian stared into Mariss' empty, yet confused face as he was dragged from the building and shoved into the back of a police car.

Hagey

"Do you know what happens to men like you in prison?"

Sebastian shifted his arms, trying to get into a more comfortable position. The cuffs rattled against the metal table.

"They love fresh meat.
Especially rapists."
The female cop stopped to evaluate his expression before she continued. "A man like you, who could get any woman he wanted? What am I saying? You do get any woman you want! So what happened? The consensual
sex get
old? Needed something newer and a little more hardcore to get you off?"

Sebastian didn't say a word. He stared ahead, watching her occasionally as she passed across his line of sight. Her badge read Copenhagen, but he'd heard several of the other officers refer to her as Hagey. She was pretty - even though she worked in a male-dominant environment - with dark hair that hung to her shoulders. It was styled to have some shape and her brown eyes were made a bit more dramatic with some dark, well-applied eye shadow.

He could tell that it unnerved her when he looked at her and he fought the urge to laugh. She was attracted to him, or had been at one time. He couldn't tell, though, if her discomfort now was because she believed he'd raped someone or because she didn't believe it and she still wanted a shot at his bed.
Or kitchen floor.
Or shower.

Sebastian sat back in his uncomfortable chair with his arms stretched out before him. He took a deep breath and sat quietly.
Waiting.
His lawyer should have been here by now.

The door opened and a head poked in. Copenhagen sidled over and they had a short conversation in whispers.

"What the hell is she doing here?" Copenhagen exclaimed a few moments later.

"Mr. Boa is being released into my custody." Mariss' voice preceded her into the room.

Sebastian sat up, stunned.

Mariss shrugged. "No one else wanted to claim responsibility for you. Not even Hellena."

That stung.

"Why would you associate yourself with someone like Sebastian Boa?" Copenhagen asked. Her tone was frosty and bitter.
And maybe a bit disappointed.
So it was that she was fantasizing about taking him here on the table with her male colleagues watching.
Interesting.

"Because I know he wouldn't rape anyone. He doesn't need to and he spends too much of his time fighting against rape. Mr. Boa, were you
mirandized
?"

Sebastian shook his head. "No. No one read me my rights."

Mariss turned to Copenhagen and motioned to the cuffs. "Well?"

"You cannot be serious! What fucking idiot… Williams!" she shouted and left the room.

"As soon as we get your cuffs off you'll be free to go," Mariss told him.

"Why are you here?" Sebastian didn't mean for his voice to come out so frosty.

Mariss locked her gaze on his and took a deep breath. There were so many emotions in the look she gave him.

"We're business partners," she finally said. "That means, when you get yourself into trouble because of your own stupidity, I will have to bail you out. You convinced my benefactors to pull out. All I have left is you and I cannot afford to lose you too. Despite what I said in the library today, tonight won't be the last time we work together, but we don't have to work together closely." She bit the words out like she wished she could bite his head off. "I'm going to find someone to get your cuffs off."

Mariss turned on her heel and marched from the room like a woman on a mission.

Of course.
The launch party at his club was tonight. She needed him to make his appearance. Sebastian tried to cross his arms, forgetting that he was still tied down to the table. The cuffs cut into his skin and he stopped. It didn't do him any good to pout.

He shook his head at himself. Was he really pouting over Mariss Red and her rejection of him?
Pitiful.
He wished he had some Scotch.
Or some Bourbon.
Anything at the moment would be good.

Mariss returned a few moments later with Copenhagen, who looked like she'd just eaten a mouthful of something bitter and swore under her breath as she released his cuffs. Sebastian couldn't fight the urge to rub his wrists.

"We will be keeping an eye on you."

"Yes, I'm well aware that this isn't over." Sebastian reached into his pocket out of habit, only to remember they'd taken his wallet when he was booked.

"I hope you didn't have any money in your wallet when you were arrested," Mariss said. "It'll be gone."

"Only British notes," he answered.

"You may have lucked out then."

Sebastian retrieved his effects from the front desk under Copenhagen's watchful eye. They hadn't taken his money. He took a card from his wallet and handed it to her.

"You'll find I am very cooperative on many different levels," he said, making sure she was aware that he wasn't speaking only about the case. He winked. "If you need anything at all, don't hesitate to ring me."

Copenhagen took the card. She sneered at him with disgust, but the little piece of paper disappeared into her pocket.

Sebastian turned away with a chuckle.

"I suppose you're proud of yourself," Mariss said as they marched through the doors to his waiting car.
"Seducing the woman who is supposed to be charging you with rape.
Good job with that, by the way."

Sebastian opened the car door and Mariss slipped inside. Juliet was there as well.

"For the record, I was against this," Juliet offered without looking up from her phone."

"Of course.
I would expect nothing less." Sebastian poured himself a drink, sucking it down before the car started moving.

"I don't think you did it," Mariss offered. "In case you were wondering."

"I wasn't," he lied.

"Fair enough."

Sebastian poured a second drink, downed it, and poured another.

"Looks like the beginnings of alcoholism there," Juliet said.

He didn't answer. He hadn't eaten anything since breakfast, so he hoped the liquor hit hard and quick.

Mariss rolled her eyes at him.

"Do you have a problem with my drinking habits?" he asked and he sipped the fourth drink.

"Are you going to be drunk at the party tonight?"

"I bloody well hope so." He tossed back the rest of the liquor and didn't bother pouring another. Sebastian took a chug right out of the bottle.

"I've never seen him so unrefined." There was a hint of concern in Juliet's voice.

Sebastian sneered at no one in particular. The rest of the drive, he listened to Mariss and Juliet
finalize
plans for the party while he continued to force himself into drunkenness. It didn't happen as fast as he would have liked, but by the time they made it to his building he had a buzz going.

"Do I need to have you taken home?" he asked as he gathered himself and his liquor.

"If you don't mind."

"My driver will take you anywhere you need to go." He paused. "You look pretty." He didn't want her to go. His lip poked out before he could stop it and he waved, though it was lackluster.

Sebastian barely registered the elevator ride to his flat. When he got there, a young woman sat on the floor by the door. She jumped to her feet when she saw him. Blonde hair tied up in a bun, loose fitting clothes, thick glasses she couldn't keep on her face - must be his new candidate for personal assistant.

"Hello, Mr. Boa, sir. My name is Rachel. I'm here to interview for the personal assistant position. I've been here for a few hours.
Waiting."

"Why didn't you leave?"

Rachel shrugged. "I thought it might be a test as to my dedication to the job."

Sebastian smiled, his buzz making it a bit sloppy. Rachel didn't seem to know the difference. She swooned right there in the middle of the hallway. One of her eyes twitched a little as her brain short-circuited. It only made him smile wider. He wouldn't be sleeping with this one, but she might be fun to have around for a while.

"Lunch?"
Rachel asked.

Sebastian looked to the bottle in his hand where she was focused.

"Yeah."
He unlocked the door and let them in. "Office is through that door. Don't mind Artemis."

"Who's Artemis?" Rachel asked like she was intrigued.

"Snake."

"Oh." Her body froze with fear.

"She can't get out of her terrarium. Don't worry. Go into the office and have a seat. I'm going to take a shower."

"Right now?"
Rachel's voice went up an octave.

Sebastian nodded. "I just got out of jail. I need to shower."

Her eyes widened with horror.
"Jail?
What did you do?"

"I didn't do anything."

"Right.
Of course.
I didn't mean… I just meant…"

Sebastian sighed. Too buzzed to make any good decisions, he took off the shirt he'd been given when he was tossed into lockup. Rachel's eyes took him in and her brain did that short circuit thing it had done in the hallway.

"I'm being accused of rape." Her eyes snapped up to his face, as if to make sure he was serious. "Does that bother you?"

"Did you do it?" her soft voice asked.

"What do you think?"

"I don't think…" She shook her head,
then
steeled her spine. Her little chin poked into the air and she said, "You didn't do it."

Sebastian chuckled. "Your confidence is astounding. Now, I'm going to shower. I won't be long. Have a seat in the office and don't worry about Artemis. If she bothers you too much, there's a sheet in top of the cage. You can cover it up."

Rachel nodded with purpose and practically marched into the office. Sebastian chuckled as he watched her go. He couldn't seem to stop laughing, even as he got into the shower and washed away the residue from the day.

His mobile rang as he got out. Sebastian draped his towel across his shoulders and walked into his bedroom.

"Sebastian."

"What the hell happened?" Hellena shouted in his ear. "I just got word from the girls that you were arrested.

Sebastian found it hard to believe that she was just finding out about his arrest, especially given what Mariss had said. Someone was lying to him.

"I'm out now," he said.

"I'm coming over. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. I'm interviewing a new personal assistant. You don't need to-"

"I'm coming."

"No, you're not. I'm being accused of rape, Hellena."

"
Which is exactly why you don't need to be alone with a woman.
You didn't think I assumed you'd be interviewing a man, did you? I'm coming over, that's the end of it."

Sebastian didn't bother to argue. He hung up and dressed in a pair of sweats and a t-shirt. He would have put on jeans, but he remembered how Mariss liked him in jeans and changed his mind.

Rachel was bent over at the waist staring into Artemis' terrarium when he walked in, extra strong drink in hand. She tapped on the glass trying to get the snake's attention.

Sebastian cleared his throat and she jumped.

"Sorry. I was… That's a very pretty snake."

"Thank you." He set his drink on the desk. "Would you like to hold her?"

Rachel shook her head. "I don't think so."

"She won't hurt you. No? That's fine." He took his seat and leaned back, so glad to be home. "You have references?"

"Yes, sir, Mr. Boa."

"You only have to say it once," he told her as he took the file she handed him.

"What?"

"It's 'Yes, sir' or 'Yes, Mr. Boa.' You don't have to say both."

"Oh.
Sorry, Mr. Boa."

"No need for apologies." He skimmed her references, impressed with the parts he bothered to read. "How soon were you planning to start?"

"As soon as you need me."

The front doorbell rang. Sebastian nodded. "You're first job can be to get the door."

"I got the job?" Rachel shot out of her seat. "Oh, thank you, Mr. Boa, sir. That's… Thank you!"

"You're welcome.
The door, Rachel."

"Right."

Rachel set her bag and jacket on the seat and hurried from the room. There was some soft exchanging of words and then she returned.

"Officer Copenhagen is here to see you."