by Ella Miles
I hear a knock on the door, and I jump.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you. I just wanted let you know that it’s time,” Samantha, the wedding coordinator for the vineyard where we are getting married, says.
I take a deep breath and work on my fake smile as I stand up, grabbing the flowers out of the vase next to me.
“You look beautiful.”
I practice my fake smile again. “Thank you.”
“The bridesmaids are all lined up, ready to go down. Gabe wanted to know if you wanted one of the best men to walk you down the aisle or if you wanted to walk down alone.”
“Alone.” I’m very much alone, so why would I want anything different?
I follow Samantha out of the small dressing room to where the bridesmaids are standing in their cream-colored dresses, each holding a bouquet of red roses, at the doors that lead out to the vineyard. I don’t know any of the women, but they all look like perfect models in their dresses. It wouldn’t surprise me if there were all women who Gabe used to date or still does.
Samantha walks to the front and starts giving the bridesmaids cues to walk down the aisle. I stand at the back, eyes glossed over, trying to imagine that I’m anywhere but here.
I spent all last night, trying to come up with a plan that ended with me not having to walk down the aisle. But I came up with none. No solution or even an attempt at a solution became obvious. So, that means I’m getting married. I’ll figure out a way to undo it later.
Samantha smiles at me, rightly thinking that this is the best day of my life when it’s not. It’s one of the worst.
“You ready?” she says, her voice chipper.
I nod, and she opens the doors.
I thought that I would smile and put on an act as I walked down the aisle to the man blackmailing me into marrying him. But, in a last-second act of defiance, I don’t. I don’t smile, not one tiniest bit. I look stern, solemn, like I’m walking down to my funeral instead of my wedding. I walk slowly and deliberately down the grass path lined with beautiful flowers. I don’t look at Gabe. Instead, I stare past the people standing at the end of the aisle. I look out to the beautiful vineyard in the distance. I don’t even glance around at the seats to see if Brody showed up. I get to the end of the aisle and turn toward Gabe but don’t look him in the eye. I continue to look past him, trying my best to pretend I’m not here. The bridesmaid behind me asks if I want her to hold my bouquet for me.
“No,” I hiss.
Gabe tries to hold on to my hands. I’ll marry him in front of this large crowd of people, none of whom I know, but I’m not going to make it easy for him. I’m not going to hold his hand or smile or show any happiness about it. And I won’t give him pretty pictures that he can display all over the newspapers in the morning.
I glare, and he smirks back as the minister begins saying something about love and the beauty that it brings and how much better it makes everyone’s lives.
I call bullshit. There is nothing beautiful about love. There was a time when I thought I loved Gabe. We connected on so many things—food, music, movies. Our bodies connected when he wrapped his arms around me, making me feel safe. The way he let me have my independence and respected that I owned my own business and had my own dreams. But it was all a lie. Love isn’t real.
“I do,” Gabe says, grabbing my hand and placing a ring on it before I have a chance to dissent.
“And do you, Skye, take this man to be your husband?”
“I do.” I smile as I take the ring that is wrapped around my thumb and plunge it onto his finger, attempting to cause as much pain as I possibly can as I force the ring over his knuckle.
“I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.”
Gabe grins, but if he thinks I’m going to let him have this epic kiss, he’s crazy. He grabs my waist and back and dips me backward, away from the crowd, as his head comes down over me, but he doesn’t kiss me.
He stops short and says, “You think you’re so smart, defying me, don’t you? But, now that you’re mine, I will punish you for every act of defiance you commit.”
His lips press against mine, and I bite down hard. He pulls back with a smirk. I see the tiniest drop of blood dripping down his chin.
He wipes up the blood with the back of his hand. “I’m really going to enjoy punishing you. Should I start with Alicia or Brody?”
“Leave them alone.”
“Behave.”
Gabe lifts us back up as the crowd cheers, thinking that we spent the whole time in a passionate kiss together instead of what really happened.
Gave interlocks his fingers with mine, firmly holding me so that there’s no way for me to let go.
“Now, smile, or Brody’s the first to go.”
I smile as Gabe walks me down the aisle. As soon as we get back inside, I jerk my hand away from Gabe’s. “Now what? How much longer do we have to do this?”
He wraps his arms around me, pulling me to his body again. “Oh, honey. This never ends. You’re mine now. Tonight, we are going to spend the night dancing and drinking in front of my friends and the world, showing them just how much of an awesome couple we can be. Then, tomorrow, we get on a flight to the Bahamas to replace all those stupid memories of your old flame with me. And then, when we come back, all your stuff will be moved into my place. You’ll become my full-time wife, at my beck and call whenever I need you. Understand?”
I spit in his face. “Go to hell.”
I jerk free just as people start coming into the large building on the property to head into the reception area. All sorts of people I’ve never met start coming up to me, congratulating me, asking me how we met. Asking if I feel like the luckiest girl in the world to be married to such an amazing, rich man. But they don’t really want to hear any of my answers. They just want me to smile and nod and let them talk, so that’s what I do. I spend my night talking to strangers, trying to stay as far away from Gabe as I possibly can.
I reach into my cleavage and pull out my cell phone, as I take a glass of champagne from one of the waiters. Maybe if I act like I’m working on my phone, people will start leaving me alone. It works for about five minutes until I see a woman in a dark green dress and low cut neckline walk toward me.
I down my glass of champagne, needing the alcohol to get through whatever conversation is about to happen.
“Congratulations,” the woman says to me in a cold voice, so different from how everyone else has congratulated me so far.
“Thanks,” I say, averting my eyes elsewhere, hoping she will get the hint and leave me alone.
She eyes me up and down. “I don’t understand what Gabe sees in you.”
“Excuse me?”
She shakes her head. “Sorry, didn’t mean to be so blunt. I’m Tonya, I used to attend college with Gabe. I thought we had a future together, but then he found you.”
I sigh. I don’t say that too bad she didn’t succeed in her mission to keep him. That way I wouldn’t be in this mess. I just stay silent.
“I just wanted to say congrats and to treat him well. And if you are ever in the need of some decorating, I’m your woman.” She holds out a business card to me and I take it.
I stare at this woman completely confused at what she sees in Gabe. She either doesn’t know him well at all or likes the monster inside. Either way, I’m not about to have that conversation with her.
“Thanks, I’m going to get another drink,” I say, slipping her business card and my phone back into my cleavage.
Gabe spots me from where he is boasting with his groomsmen. I slip back into the crowd to get another glass of champagne.
I drink glass after glass of champagne, and as the night progresses, I get more and more skilled at staying just out of Gabe’s reach. Whenever he tries to talk to me, I push a woman in front of him, and that seems to do the trick in distracting him just long enough for me to slip further away and get lost in another crowd. But, every time he gets close
r, I can feel the rage surrounding him, exuding off of him. Gabe isn’t into rough sex, but I have a feeling, tonight, he is going to give a whole new meaning to rough sex. But it will be nothing like what Brody and I have done together.
“Skye, the wedding planner had a question about what you wanted to do with the leftover cake,” a man who looks oddly familiar asks me. He’s in a dark suit, his hair is shaved, and his eyes are bright.
I feel like I should recognize him, yet I can’t place him. Maybe I met him earlier today when he helped serve me alcohol or food, although he’s not dressed like a waiter.
“Excuse me,” I say to the crowd around me. I follow the man out of the reception hall. He keeps walking once we get to the hallway down toward the back of the building.
“Where are we going?”
“Just a little further. Repacking the stuff into the back of the car. She wants to know what address to deliver the leftovers to.”
I frown. Surely, Gabe has already thought of all of these things and handled it.
“Who are you?”
He doesn’t answer immediately. Instead, he just keeps walking to the back door and pauses when he rests his hand on the door.
He smirks. “I’m here to kidnap you, of course.”
I open my mouth to scream as he grabs my hand and pulls me outside. But I’m so broken at the moment that I’m not sure whether I should fight to stay or make it easier for him to kidnap me. I can’t imagine anyone worse than Gabe Cole.
He pushes me into the back of an SUV, and my eyes open wide with hope.
“Brody?” I ask even though I know it’s him sitting in the seat next to me. I’m still not sure I believe it’s real. It must be a dream; there is no way Brody is rescuing me right now.
He grins, flashing me his perfect teeth. “We’re here to save you,” Brody says.
He wraps his arms around me and firmly kisses me on the lips.
“No, we are here to kidnap her. This plan will never work if Gabe doesn’t think we’re kidnapping her,” the man who brought me out here says from the front seat.
Another man is sitting next to him and begins driving us off.
Brody rolls his eyes at him. “Fine. We are kidnapping you.”
“And that means we need to make it look like a kidnapping all the time,” the man says.
“Wait, you’re Noah,” I say, recognizing the man sitting in the passenger seat as one of Brody’s friends from the Bahamas.
“Yep, and this is Levi,” Noah says.
I smile at both of them. “Thank you for kidnapping me.”
“Our pleasure. If you’re a friend of Brody’s, then you’re a friend of ours. He deserves to be happy,” Levi says.
My smile falters, but I don’t think any of the men notice. Even if they manage to get me out of this mess with Gabe, I’m not sure Brody and I can ever be together. He might not be as bad as Gabe, but he’s still a dick at the end of the day. They both even confirmed it to me in the Bahamas.
“Brody, now,” Noah says.
“Sorry, but I have to tie you up. There are too many video cameras and cameras from stoplights, and Gabe could see us. We need to make it look like a real kidnapping.”
I hold out my hands, and Brody’s eyes sear into mine as he ties me up just like he has countless times before. I feel the familiar feelings all over my body, thinking about what is supposed to happen next. He is supposed to kiss me. Spank me. And then fuck me. It’s not supposed to just end with a kidnapping.
Brody pushes his ball cap further on his head, trying to hide his face as we go through a stoplight. They are all really concerned that Gabe is monitoring us right now. And, if that’s true, then none of us have a chance.
“Stop the car!” I shout.
Levi doesn’t even hesitate. He just keeps driving.
“You have to stop the car. You have to let me out. He’ll kill all of you for doing this.”
Brody grabs my face, forcing me to look at him. He pets the side of my face, trying to calm me down. “He’s not going to kill any of us. We have a plan. Just let us follow it.”
I take a deep breath in and out.
“Shit,” Levi says. The cars jumps forward as he speeds up, running through a red light.
“What the hell, man?” Noah says.
“We are being followed,” Levi says.
“How?” Brody asks.
“I don’t know. We should have had more time before anyone figured out that Skye was gone. Especially with the woman we got to play Skye. She looks exactly like her from the back; there’s no way Gabe would’ve noticed this fast. Not when we also had one of the hottest women we could find seducing him.”
“Do you have your cell phone on you?” Brody asks.
I nod and look down into my cleavage.
Brody reaches in between my breasts and pulls out my cell phone. He rolls down the window and chucks the phone outside.
“Seriously, Brody, you had one job—to make sure she didn’t have her cell phone on her,” Noah says.
Brody’s eyes stare into mine. “I’m sorry.”
Brody might be many things, but he’s definitely no James Bond. I haven’t even been gone five minutes, and Gabe’s already on our tail. I don’t have much faith that they’re going to be able to figure out how to get me out of this safely. So, I’d better start forming my own plan and fast. Or we are all fucked.
18
Brody
I fucked up. And, now, my mistake might cost us our lives.
We all turn, looking at the SUV chasing after us.
“You need to just let me go. It’s the only way to save yourselves,” Skye says.
“No way. Not happening,” I say.
Shots ring out behind us, and Levi swerves the car as all our hearts jump into our throats. Now, they’re shooting at us.
“Levi, Noah, please. Just turn me over to them. Gabe won’t hurt me, and you guys will have a chance to go free.”
Levi grips the steering wheel hard and glances in the rearview mirror while I give him a death stare, imploring him to keep driving, no matter what.
“We aren’t turning you over,” Noah says.
Levi nods in agreement.
Skye exhales deeply and then looks at me. “Then, you’d better come up with something fast, or we are all dead.”
I pull out my burner phone. He wants one thing. Skye. And I don’t think he’d be too happy if she were dead. Or at least, I hope not.
Shots ring out again, and we all duck down like, if we get low enough, somehow, the bullets won’t actually pierce our skin.
I reach into the bag at my feet and pull out the small gun inside.
“I don’t think shooting back is the answer,” Skye says, looking at me with wide eyes.
“Skye’s right; these guys are professionals. They will shoot you dead before you even have a chance to get a shot off.”
I aim the gun at Skye’s had.
“I’m going to make Gabe think that we’re going to kill you if he doesn’t call his men off.”
Skye smiles and grabs the phone out of my hand, handing it to Noah.
“Take a picture, and send it to Gabe,” Skye says.
Skye closes her eyes and then opens them, trying to look as terrified as possible while I aim the gun at her head.
“You have to hold the gun closer,” Noah says.
I put the gun all the way up to her head, hating how it feels to aim a gun at her, even one that has no bullets in it.
Skye looks at the gun out of the corner of her eye, and she looks terrified, just like she needs to be.
Noah takes the picture but only of my hand and Skye, giving us more time before Gabe realizes it is me who is the kidnapper.
“Message sent. Now, we wait and hope we don’t die,” Noah says.
I continue holding the gun to her head, hoping the guys behind us will see it and stop.
My heart races as the silence drones on, and we zip down the road, passing car after car.
One second passes. Then, another. Then, another.
The phone buzzes in Noah’s hand. We all hold our breath as he clicks the button to open the text message.
“He’s agreed,” Noah says.
We all exhale at the same time.
“They are pulling off the road,” Levi says, looking in the rearview mirror.
I toss the gun back into the backpack and grab Skye’s head, firmly kissing her on the forehead, thankful that she’s still alive. That all of us are. But none of us are naive enough to think that we’re safe, long-term.
The phone buzzes again, and Noah clicks the message open.
All of us stare intently at him, waiting for the message.
“He says that he’s going to hunt us all down and kill us. But will make it long and torturous if anything happens to Skye. He wants her desperately. We aren’t to hurt her. He wants us to return her to him by tomorrow morning, or he will use everything in his power to take us all out.”
“Tell him to give us one million dollars and that we define the terms, not him. Tell him we want the money in exchange for her safe return by tomorrow evening,” I say.
Noah nods and begins typing the message.
I look at Skye, who has her head cocked to the side, eyes curiously looking at me.
“It will give us enough time to work on plan C.”
“Plan C?” Skye asks with a raised eyebrow.
I nod. “It takes a lot of plans, and we will go through as many plans as we need until we are all safe.”
“What’s plan C then?”
Noah turns around in his seat and hands the phone to Skye. She takes it with her hands still bound together.
“We need to call that rich princess friend of yours to get us a private plane to somewhere anywhere but here,” Noah says.
“You can’t be serious.”
I nod.
She shakes her head. “First, she doesn’t just have a private jet on hand at all times to take me wherever I want. Second, Gabe knows about her, he’s threatened her and her family before. I’m not going to get her involved, and even if she were to get involved, Gabe would be able to track the plane in a second. If we’re trying to be discreet, that’s the opposite of helpful.”
