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Chapter 1
Oriana
“What about this one?” Keith, one of my bodyguards, points at a pale pink monstrosity of silk and tulle. I have to hide my smile.
“I’m twenty, not two.”
He shrugs, rubbing a hand over his short hair. “Just trying to be helpful.” His expression is serious, but there’s an amused glint in his eyes.
I roll my eyes. “Sure you are, Keith.”
I look around the boutique. This morning, my father told me to buy a dress for a “special dinner”. He wouldn’t tell me what exactly is so special about this dinner, though. It makes me nervous. But at least he let me go out in public without him by my side. I can’t even remember the last time that happened. And I plan to enjoy every moment.
Still, while I’m used to my father being secretive, it bothers me more the older I get. I’m an adult now. Surely he can just be honest with me? He says it’s because he loves me and wants to protect me, but I’m sick of being treated like a little girl. He won’t even allow me to go shopping by myself. In fact, he doesn’t let me do anything without a bodyguard by my side. At least he sent Keith with me today. I like him better than any of the other bodyguards. He’s been with my family for over a decade and he’s always been kind to me. When I was a girl, he’d slip me treats and buy me books. And when my mother left a year ago, he made sure the chef made my favorite meals for an entire month. The memory of my mother makes a familiar ache rise in my chest. I still can’t believe she left us for another man. I can’t believe she left me. She was there one day and gone the next. And she hasn’t called once since she left, no doubt too busy enjoying her new life. I don’t think the anger and pain will ever fully leave me.
Sighing, I glance at the racks filled with expensive dresses and the rail-thin, shiny-haired women riffling through them, most of them armed with a snooty attitude and their husband’s credit card. I hate the sidelong looks they shoot me, the whispers and giggles barely hidden behind perfectly manicured hands. One of them asks a sales assistant in a stage whisper if they even carry my size. Her words are like a physical blow and I feel tears sting my eyes. So much for enjoying my one afternoon of relative freedom.
“I need the bathroom,” I tell Keith. When I walk toward the hallway at the back of the shop, Keith makes to follow me and I shoot him a glare. “What, do you want to wipe for me too now? There are some things I can do by myself, you know.”
Instead of getting angry, Keith just stops and gives me a sad little smile. My tears threaten to spill over and I hurry into the bathroom. The door swings shut behind me and I take deep, gulping breaths until my heartbeat calms and my eyes are dry.
You can do this,I tell my pale reflection. Don’t let them see they hurt you. I take in one last deep breath and force a smile onto my face. It almost looks real.
I push open the bathroom door and then stop dead in my tracks. The delivery entrance at the end of the hallway is wide open, and a soft breeze carries the scent of lilac and sunshine with it. I glance to where Keith is waiting. His back is turned to me. And then I don’t think, I just act.
As soon as the gentle warmth of the sun hits my face, my spirits lift. Maybe I’ll go to Marigold park and just sit by the lake for a few minutes. I don’t want Keith to worry too much, but I just need to be alone for once. I want to be outside without a bodyguard looming over my shoulder. I want to know what the world is like when it’s just me. Maybe even talk to a stranger.
I only make it two steps before a large hand clamps over my mouth and something cool and metallic presses against my temple.
“Thank you for making this so easy,” a deep, gruff voice murmurs in my ear. Before my brain can fully register what’s happening, there’s a sharp pain at my neck and oblivion claims me.
Flint
“Everything went according to plan?” Damon asks as soon as I jump out of the van.
“Couldn’t have been easier.”
It’s true. We’ve planned this for months, but getting to Oriana was even harder than we anticipated. Today was the first day she was out without her father by her side, watching her every damn move. And I knew I had to take advantage of the opportunity. Still, I couldn’t fucking believe my luck when she walked out of the backdoor alone, the sun glinting off her long hair. I was standing outside, waiting for my chance, hoping against hope I could get her without her bodyguard, and then there she was.
I open the back of the van and lift Oriana out, trying to ignore how good her body feels in my arms. Thank fuck her eyes are now closed. I didn’t realize ketamine doesn’t actually knock people out. It just turns them into zombies who can’t see or hear anything, even though their eyes are open. I hated drugging her. Hated having to hurt her. But I had no choice.
Two of my most trusted men guard the door to the safe house and I greet them with a nod. Neither of them wears the cut that identifies them as members of the Devil’s Advocates MC. They’re dressed in neutral clothing, as am I. It’s a precaution we had to take.
“Shame Sarah isn’t here,” Damon says, matching my long stride.
“Yeah.”
“When’s she gonna be back?”
I shrug. “As soon as she can. But she can’t leave before the funeral.” I can tell from Damon’s expression that he wants to ask more questions, but I hurry inside and to my bedroom, the door locking automatically behind us. I’ll deal with his questions later. Right now, I’m too wrapped up in the feel of Oriana in my arms and the combination of desire and guilt coursing through me.
We went back and forth on the best way to kidnap her and eventually settled on drugging her, although none of us was happy about it. We may not be law-abiding citizens, but we don’t hurt women. And I especially didn’t want to hurt her.
I set Oriana down on the bed, her dark hair fanning out over the pillow, and allow myself to look at her. I’ve been watching her for months, but this is the first time I’ve seen her close up. She looks so beautiful and innocent. Guilt stabs at my stomach again, but I push it away. She has her father to thank for this. Payback’s a bitch, isn’t it, Daniel? I think, a smile tugging at my lips at the thought of how frantic the man must be. I’ve been waiting for this day for years.
I allow myself another glance at her face and it hits me again just how stunning she is. Her full lips are slightly parted and her long dark lashes cast a shadow on her round cheeks. And the way her pale blue dress hugs her curves—fuck, I feel like a creep, but I can’t stop looking her breasts. They’re full and heavy, rising and falling gently with her deep, even breaths. My cock hardens, and it takes all my self-control not to touch her. I’ve wanted to run my hands over her smooth, pale skin since the day I first laid eyes on her. She was walking down the street with two bodyguards in tow, and I swear I almost forgot to breathe. And ever since then, I’ve watched her as much as I could. My men could have done it, but I didn’t want them looking at her. This started as revenge on her father, but it’s turned into something else. I want her for myself.
I shake my head, annoyed with myself. As if a twenty-year-old beauty would want someone like me. And there’s that small thing of me having kidnapped her and all that.
I take one last look at her perfect features before pushing open the bathroom door. I need a cold shower. Now.
