Hans swore at how slowly the line was moving. He was about to decide to try to force his way in when his cell phone rang.
"We're on our way." Patrick said and then hung up.
While he waited, he thought about Barb and his responsibility to her. Yes, he was obligated to protect her but he wasn't obligated to love her. No, he had no real choice in who his mate was but he didn't have to accept her as she was either. He also conceded that she might have had a reason for acting as she did but from his point of view, there was never a good excuse for rudeness and that a person was responsible for their actions no matter what happened to them.
The line moved up another foot or so and then stopped for several minutes before moving ahead again. His cell phone chirped when he was halfway to the front door.
"We're here." Patrick said. "As far as we know she's alright, she's dancing with Blackwell."
"What's the plan?" Hans asked.
"You stay in line and hopefully you can get in. Ethan is going to call Blackwell to see if he'll let us in... of course, he won't but we're hoping that it will buy us some time. The other thing that will help is if Barb hasn't mentioned us. If she did, it's going to be even more difficult to get her out."
"Understood, keep me appraised." Hans said and hung up to wait for entrance into the club.
********
Once they were on the dance floor, Thorne took Barb into his arms with a smile that looked sincere. Barb hesitated but reluctantly allowed herself to be held.
"You really are quite beautiful." Thorne murmured in her ear. "How is it that the Sinclaire's have kept you hidden?"
That one question was enough to make Barb forget her caution. She began to tell Thorne about how they had been treating her.
"You should see the room that they put me in! It isn't even a suite and I had to catch a cab to the hotel because their plans were more important than my arrival."
Thorne barely listened to the litany of complaints, he was thinking. Suddenly he smiled...
"How would you like to spend the rest of your stay in a much nicer place? You could have whatever it is your heart desires."
"Really? And where would that be?" Barb asked.
"I have a number of homes each fully staffed with servants that can and will meet your every need." Thorne replied. He knew what buzzwords to use with Barb and then turned on the charm. "Of course I would understand if you declined. After all we've only just met and..."
"Where are your homes?" Barb asked all sense of caution completely gone.
"All over the world but I have several here in California including a few on private beaches...."
"I like the ocean, do you know that they never even took me to see it?" she whined.
"That is a shame." Thorne commiserated. "Then if you agree to come with me, it would be one of the beach houses."
Little by little, Barb was sucked in. Now if any of the Sinclaire's showed up, he could tell them that she chose to come with him and they could do nothing about it. It would also be too late for her to change her mind. He chuckled to himself; it had been awhile since he fucked around with the high and mighty Sinclaires.
Not wanting to seem over anxious, he let the subject drop. Just as the dance ended, Allen approached him.
"You have an important call."
"Thank you Allen." Thorne said and turned to Barb. "I apologize but as I said earlier, sometimes I must mix business with pleasure."
"I understand." Barb said sweetly and watched who she thought would give her everything that she ever wanted walk away.
**********
"Hello Ethan." Thorne said pleasantly. "What can I do for you? Who? Ah yes... she's here. Of course, she may leave if she chooses to. Certainly... I'll have Allen meet you at the front door... yes, of course... I'll see you in fifteen minutes."
Thorne hung up and laughed, it wasn't too often that he pulled one over on Ethan Sinclaire.
He went back to the table where Barb was impatiently waiting. He could tell that she had made her decision, the money hungry bitch he thought to himself as he smiled at her.
"Were you serious about your offer?" she asked before he had gotten settled in his seat.
"I was." he replied.
"Then I accept!" she said happily.
"Really? That's wonderful but aren't you concerned about going to an unknown place with a strange man?" he asked covering his bases. "After all, I could be a mass murderer or something equally as horrible." he added.
"I'm a good judge of character." Barb replied, "And I don't believe that you're any of those things."
"Thank you for your trust." Thorne replied taking her hand in his. "We'll be able to leave shortly."
"I don't have anything with me...."
"No worries, we'll have everything that you need at the house." Thorne replied.
"Barb!" she heard from across the room. She looked up to see not only Kevyn but also Patrick, Nathan, Louise, Hans and Ethan approaching the table. She rolled her eyes and waited until they were at the table before she said anything.
"What are you doing here?" she demanded.
"Taking you out of here is what." Kevyn replied.
"I'm not going anywhere!" Barb retorted.
No one except for Nathan noticed Louise looking at Thorne with a horrified expression on her face.
"Sweetheart?" he murmured and pulled her into his arms as he realized that she had completely dropped her shields. He strengthened his own shields but not before she began to vomit.
"EWWW!" Barb yelled as she backed away as a spray of liquid just barely missed her.
