"Since I helped you, you can drive me to the hospital. We'll call it even."

Lemira hesitated at his suggestion.

Orion pressed his advantage. "I can't exactly drive myself like this."

She glanced at the bloody gash on his arm, then at his solitary figure standing on the curb. After a moment's thought, she nodded. "Alright. I'll take you."

She walked back to Sebastian's car. "You take the evidence and head back."

"What about you?"

She gestured toward Orion. "He's hurt. I'm driving him to the ER."

Sebastian leaned out the window, his expression cynical. "Just be careful. Some guys love playing the wounded martyr to get what they want."

"He got hurt protecting the drive," she corrected him. "If he hadn't stepped in, it would be gone, and I'd probably be the one bleeding right now."

Sebastian clicked his tongue in annoyance. If he hadn't taken a wrong turn during the chase, he would have been the one fighting beside her. Now, Orion was getting all the credit for playing the hero.

He narrowed his eyes. "So, my contribution means nothing?"

"Thank you for catching the thief, Attorney Bennett. I really appreciate it."

She smiled, the corners of her eyes curving beautifully.

He stared at her for a second. "How are you going to thank me?"

"I'll treat you to dinner when this is all over."

Sebastian leaned back in his seat, looking pleased. "Your taste in restaurants is terrible. I'll pick the place, you foot the bill."

She laughed and nodded. "Deal. Get home safe."

She stepped back and waved as he pulled away. As he drove past Orion, Sebastian deliberately rolled his window up with a sharp, dismissive whir.

Lemira walked back to Orion. "Where's your car?"

"Across the street."

She spotted the familiar luxury vehicle, and they walked across the road together.

As they passed a parked black sedan, the vehicle suddenly began to rock rhythmically on its suspension.

Lemira glanced over, and the realization of what was happening inside instantly hit her.

Were people really hooking up in a parked car right here?

Orion smoothly lifted a hand to cover her eyes. "Keep walking. Don't look at that trash."

Her face flushed with heat. Clearly, he had realized it too.

The moment they walked past, a pair of hands slammed frantically against the tinted glass of the sedan.

Sophia watched Orion walk away, desperate to scream for help, but a pair of sweaty, thick hands clamped down over her mouth, completely silencing her.

Beneath her skirt, gross hands groped her relentlessly. Mr. Gregory Jones pressed her into the leather seats, kissing her neck and panting heavily.

Suffocating despair washed over her. She had been completely played by this man.

He chuckled wetly against her skin. "They weren't kidding about the city's top socialite. Your skin is soft as silk."

She gritted her teeth, tears of humiliation streaming down her face. "You promised you'd get the drive back. They're getting away!"

"Do I look stupid to you? That was

Orion Everhart out there. If I showed my face I'd be a dead man The Everhart family isn't someone you just mess with. We'll have to find another way, sweetheart."

She slapped him hard across the face. "Get your hands off me!"

Mr. Jones snarled, backhanding her across the cheek before wrapping a hand brutally around her throat.

"Who the hell do you think you'ronet

hitting you stupid bitch? Your mother sold you to me, you hear? own you. I'll take you however the hell I want."

With a violent tear, her dress ripped open. She was completely powerless to fight him off.

As she stared in the direction Orion and Lemira had vanished, a venomous, all- consuming hatred burned in her eyes.

This was all their fault.