Trouble and Treasure (#1, Trouble and Treasure Series) by Odette C. Bell Read Free Book Online Page A

been attacked in your house by bad men carrying guns; you can
jolly well stay in your pajamas as long as you like. Plus, my
lawyer is a good chap.”
    I nodded. I couldn't be bothered changing,
plus, I didn't have anything to change into; all my clothes, though
ostensibly not that far away, were still in a house full of
criminals. In a situation like this, god dammit, anyone could
understand that a girl had to stay in her pajamas.
    Shortly after, as I sucked down a glass of
freshly-squeezed orange juice, Elizabeth disappeared from the room
as the doorbell rang.
    A kick of fear and uncertainty muddled
around my stomach as I sat waiting for the lawyer to arrive. This
was getting real again. As I’d downed my mountain of pancakes, I’d
managed to gain distance from the situation. That distance rapidly
reduced as I heard even but strong footfall coming down the
corridor.
    I turned to the kitchen door.

Chapter Five
    Sebastian Shaw
    I’d sure had one hell of a night, and I sure
had the bruises to prove it. God, I had a bruised ego as well.
    When it had come to shrugging into my suit
that morning and getting back to my real job, it had been murder.
There were tracks of mangled skin around my wrists where the cable
ties had dug into them and a stupendous bruise between my shoulders
from where I’d been pistol whipped. But with a great suit, cuff
links, and an expensive watch, I’d managed to hide it all.
    That I’d been set free last night wasn't a
surprise. The Special Forces needed me. In their eyes it was all a
painful lesson. Maratova, the titanic and idiotic bastard that he
was, was trying to show me who wore the man pants in this
partnership. As soon as Maratova and his team had gotten back to
the manor, empty-handed, with no babbling Amanda, they’d let me go.
Maratova had leaned down, fetid breath breaking against my face,
that scar on his top lip stretching as he sneered at me, then he’d
told me that from now on I played by his rules and I didn't break
them. Break them, and I’d be tied up like a pig on a spit.
    I hadn't cared at that moment; Maratova
could have pulled a knife and carved his name into my arm along
with the line “don't fuck with me,” and I wouldn't have cared. I
was far more interested in where Amanda Stanton had run off to. She
still had my gun and keys.
    Maratova made it clear that I was to have
nothing more to do with this. Amanda would be tracked down without
me. Lawyer boy, as they often called me, was to get back to his day
job and leave the real work to the real men.
    So here I was back at my day job, but I sure
as hell wasn't going to stop there. I was going to find Amanda
Stanton myself, not because she had my keys, but because I had
spent my whole life looking for those globes, and I didn't give a
fuck that I’d been called off this one.
    I shrugged, trying to ease my posture into
a more comfortable stance and away from the stabbing pain in the
middle of my back. I composed myself as I knocked on the door. I
usually didn't make house calls to my clients, but this wasn’t an
ordinary client. Plus, I was already in the area, and I couldn't
pass up the chance of trying to find Amanda again.
    “ Sebastian.” Elizabeth whipped the door
open, leaning on the frame and cocking her eyebrow, a sideways
smile on her lips. “You know, you are my favorite
lawyer.”
    “ That means nothing, Elizabeth, as you hate
lawyers,” I said with a smile, ignoring the wincing pain between my
shoulders and the grating sensation as my watch snagged against the
raw skin of my wrist.
    “ I don't hate you, and it is lovely of you
to come at such short notice.”
    I nodded at her. To be honest, I had no idea
what the old dear wanted; Elizabeth Brown was about as mad as they
came. She was the kind of mad that saw her painting smiley faces
and happy flowers on the side of her Rolls-Royce in liquid chalk to
brighten the days of others. She also had a hell of a lot of money,
as did most of my clients. But at