What was he doing? Sebastian shrugged, unwilling to answer and handed the circular device to Max. “Of more import now is finding out exactly how the thief managed to gain entry. That is all you need to be thinking about. Ignore the rest and fix my security. Security which I should point out that should have been impenetrable!”
Max opened his mouth to say something else but closed it the moment he saw the look on his employer’s face. Instead he took the device and frowned. “These are lock picks,” he said. “Sophisticated ones at that. They work off mimicking the structure of a lock and then replicating it, you need to know the lock type beforehand though. These aren’t cheap, more to the point they’re not even available in this country.”
“And this?” He passed Max the tablet.
“Good God. Hold on….” Max scrolled the device on and frowned. “Password protected but I can tell you already that this is probably loaded with x-one software.”
“Which is?”
“It’s an algorithm for hacking a safe code.”
Sebastian was outraged. “Theos. Are you serious? You’re telling me there’s a code that someone can use to get into my safes?”
Max nodded. “It’ll hack the minicomputer in there and there’s little that can be done if the code is good enough. The safe company sends us updates regularly, but it’s about staying one step ahead.” He shook his head and placed the tablet back on the table. “This is one sophisticated thief. We’re talking at least ten thousand here for this equipment, and the software on the tablet would need to be updated regularly.”
No common criminal. Hadn’t he thought just that?
“I’ll conduct a search of the perimeter and see where the breach occurred if possible,” Max said. “Then the house. I cannot believe this. I apologize—”
Sebastian pictured the thief upstairs strapped to his bed and shook his head, cutting Max off. “Leave the house. I can guarantee there’s no one here now and apologies are no good to me. If you want your job come tomorrow I want answers.”
“Of course…and the thief?”
“As I said, dealt with.”
Max paused, clearly steeling himself to say something his employer did not want to hear. “Demetrious,” he finally began. “I cannot protect you properly if you do not allow me to do so. I’m only surprised it has taken this long for a thief to gain entry. You may not be a public figure but many are aware of your wealth and yet you insist that your guards remain in the basement, that we do not drive you ourselves….”
Sebastian shook his head impatiently. “That is irrelevant. Simply fix what went wrong and make sure it does not happen again.”
“Without the thief to tell us exactly how they got in that will be very difficult. Of course I will try but—”
“Then I will get you that information.”
Max started. “How? What are you going to do?”
Sebastian stood up and eyed the criminal paraphernalia on his table. Seeing it there, laid out, the tools of her trade, should have been enough to knock some sense into him. It wasn’t though. He’d needed distance and he’d had it but it made absolutely no difference.
What was he going to do?
He was going to fuck her.
He’d sort of accepted that fact and almost felt like congratulating himself for not doing so already. But just the knowledge that she was upstairs tied to his bed thrilled him. He knew it was wrong. Knew it was bizarre, but she was so attractive it simply could not be helped. For some reason the thief affected him in a way no woman ever had.
Lust pure and simple. The explosive kind. He acknowledged the thought and accepted it. Even though she’d broken into his home, even though she was a criminal, a thief, he had to have her—it was primal, chemical, it was already decided. He could have handed her over to the police long ago. Instead he’d held off, grabbed at some self control and tried to think it through.
Only one thought remained despite all that. Fuck her until she screamed. It was inescapable, and maybe he’d get the information he needed whilst he did so.
Chapter Nine
The ties were secured to the bed in some sort of intricate knot Penny was unfamiliar with. She twisted her flexible body and tried to hook her hands around the back of the knot but it was pointless. She was stuck, laid out like some sort of sacrificial victim with her legs splayed, chest thrusting upwards. Of course there were worse places to be stuck in normal circumstances than a fancy room in a huge and far too comfortable bed, but this was far from normal. How many times did she find herself in a multi-million pound house after both trying to steal from and then being kissed senseless by the hottest man she’d ever met? Well never. Of course he did then reject you.