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Captured
A Forbidden Obsession Duet
Lynn Burke
Chapter 1
Leo
Thanks to getting called into work for an oil leak in Cook Inlet, I missed my good friends’ marriage ceremony and half of their outdoor reception at Claymore Lodge.
But better late than never.
I expected neither would care that I hadn’t gone full-on black tie like the invite had suggested. Showing up in nice slacks and a tie would have to do.
The party beneath the Alaskan summer sun was in full swing as I rounded the lodge’s stone building on one of the many cobbled paths around the venue’s expansive gardens. Most of the linen-covered round tables sat empty except for their towering glass centerpieces overflowing with blood-red flowers.
A DJ played fast-paced music that packed the dance area to my right, but I ambled toward the bar on my left, set on a drink to ease the knots in my shoulders and the jealousy inside me.
Ciarra and Josh were perfect together and had been since we’d all met our freshman year in college. I hadn’t been as lucky with finding the love of my life as they had but not because I hadn’t tried. Giving up wasn’t my thing, but I’d finally thrown in the towel after being friend-zoned for the hundredth time a few weeks earlier.
The woman who’d broken up with me had become the final straw in a long line of heartbreakers.
The one who’d hurt me the worst had been Addilyn though, and I’d heard she’d flown in for her best friend’s wedding. Although Addilyn and I had gone out once, she had been everything I’d ever wanted in a woman: subdued, shy, and humble, all three promising zero drama like I’d experienced as a child.
Being the only boy with five sisters, I should have gotten the most attention from at least one of my parents, but nothing I did gained me the love I craved.
All through my childhood and even into college, I acted like a goofball, laid-back and easygoing, in order to get acknowledged. I always grinned whenever I didn’t feel like it, teased and joked to make light of situations and to help people feel comfortable around me.
Putting on a front had worked to assure I found friends, but when the real me crept into a relationship, I ended up alone. No one found an emotional man who experienced things too deeply, too intensely worthy of more than a short fling.
Loneliness leaked into me same as oil from the ship earlier in the day, coating my mind with a heaviness dish soap wouldn’t so easily wash away. Becoming a marine biologist had been a lifelong dream, but having to see animals suffer because of man’s lack of respect for Mother Nature stung me hard.
Between the recent breakup and suffering fowl, I felt like I’d hit my end and that I teetered on the edge of a cliff. For too long, I had squashed the real me, hoping to create a persona that was more attractive than my moody inner—real—self.
But the fake Leo was all Ciarra and Josh knew, and I wasn’t about to draw attention to myself at their wedding reception.
Drink in hand, I turned to scan the crowd, my usual grin forced into place even though tension kept my shoulders tight and my head throbbing in time with the dance music’s beat.
Golden curls caught my attention, and my breath left in a rush as did thoughts of my childhood and miserable existence. Regret stabbed me in the guts, and my feigned smile faded.
I hadn’t seen Addilyn in a couple of years, and she had changed.
Definitely for the better.
My hand trembled as I sipped and studied her speaking with Ciarra, their heads close together as though sharing secrets, same as they’d always done whenever I caught sight of them around campus. Not having the balls to approach such alluring perfection during those years, I had watched Addilyn from a distance like a creepy stalker.
She had put some much-needed weight on her bones, and a healthy flush kissed her cheeks. Beautiful as always, but even more stunning with the smile lighting up her face as a man drew near.
Tall, dark, and possessive as fuck, he slid his arm around her waist.
Gideon Destil.
The convict turned billionaire who had known my uncle behind bars, saved his life, then helped free him—thanks to the flash drive Uncle had hidden in my old teddy bear for safekeeping.
Gideon caught me checking out his wife, but I didn’t fear the darkness that clung to him as closely as the designer tux coat that stretched across his shoulders. His ice blue eyes revealed no warmth as our gazes held, but he dipped his head, acknowledging my presence.
I turned away as though I didn’t know him and Addilyn—as was best for us all. It hadn’t taken much for me to figure out what Gideon had done, the vengeance he’d gotten for the woman he loved.
