Un-Kidnap Me: Billionaire Alpha Age Gap Romance (DOM for Hire Book 1)

by Hazel Parker

  For one, Scott wasn’t as closed off as he said he was. No, I didn’t know his family or much of his backstory. But I’d seen him slowly start to show more of himself in the bunker; those encounters weren’t just physical. I didn’t expect him to go to therapy with me, nor did I expect him to write a confessional autobiography. But I didn’t need him to—I just needed him to be honest with me about us, and he was.

  And for another, he underestimated how attractive that “dominant asshole” part of him was. The world needed more men who could take charge like him. I didn’t need more Camerons in my life. I needed more Scotts.

  “I know, but—”

  “Kaylie,” he said. “I say this with no malice, and to be honest, it hurts a little to say. But don’t hang on to me any longer. We have arranged for a flight for you from Florida to New York. It will be secure. And once you get on that plane, you’ll never see me again.”

  So just like that…

  “Seriously,” I said, less of a question and more of a stunned statement.

  “Seriously.”

  “No goodbye, no I’ll visit you, no I’ll see you again?”

  Scott snorted.

  “No,” he said. “It’s better this way. Break it off cold. You’ll thank me in a few weeks.”

  I could feel the plane start to descend. Scott rose, came over, and kissed me on the forehead.

  “Trust me.”

  With that, he headed to the cockpit of the plane to help land it, leaving me alone.

  ~~~

  When the plane landed, Scott nodded to me.

  “Come on,” he said.

  There was a hint of sadness in his voice, though maybe I was inferring too much. I rose, walked out of the plane with him, and followed him to another plane. I kept walking to the stairs up to the cockpit of the plane when I turned around. Scott was the only one walking with me. Liam had remained behind.

  “Come with me,” I said.

  But Scott shook his head.

  “I told you, this is it,” he said. “I have an agency to take care of. You have a mother to see. I assure you this plane is safe and that your mom and friends will be waiting for you when you get home.”

  That was great. But that wasn’t what I was thinking about.

  I looked up at the plane. I grimaced. I looked back to Scott. I ran up to him and kissed him.

  On the cheek.

  He only gave me his cheek.

  “I can’t,” he said. I swore his eyes were…no, that was just my imagination, maybe a little bit of the moonlight peering down. This was Scott, for better and for worse. He wasn’t going to give me a sappy goodbye. I should have known. “Be well, Kaylie.”

  He nodded to me and took two steps back, folding his arms.

  “Scott…”

  He shook his head no. I had no choice. I had too much of my life to live to just give it all up for one guy that, as much as he had done for me, could not—would not? No, not that—be with me.

  “OK,” I said.

  I stepped up the stairs to the plane. I looked out the window. Scott was already heading back. A very polite woman came by to check on me, and I responded, but my mind wasn’t with my words. It was with Scott and all the memories I shared—and the knowledge that I would probably never meet anyone like him again.

  ~~~

  It was just barely after sunrise when the plane landed in New York City, at JFK specifically. I had somehow fallen asleep, but I chalked that up to emotional exhaustion more than physical. I was still physically exhausted, but my mind went back to hyper-drive the second I woke back up.

  I looked out the window and I saw so many people that lit up my face. My mother, my friends, some reporters…OK, maybe not everyone that I saw made me happy. I just wanted to get home.

  The cockpit door opened. The flight attendant looked at me and asked if I was ready. I nodded yes and walked out.

  The place broke out in an uproar of applause. I gave a short wave, but I really just wanted this to end. I just wanted to be home in silence and peace and by myself.

  But then my mother broke through the crowd, embraced me so tight I thought I might choke, and whispered into my ears.

  “I missed you so much, baby.”

  It was genuine. There was none of the TV personality side of her that drove me crazy. She was in tears, a true mess, but they were tears of joy. I started to cry too.

  I buried my head in her shoulder. Home wasn’t where my bed was or where my apartment was. Home was here, with family.

  We eventually finally pulled apart, sharing a kiss on the cheek before I turned to my friends. They let out cheers and hollering as I moved forward. They all congratulated me, hugged me, and squeezed me so tight I could barely breathe.

  “Oh, and there’s a surprise waiting for you in the limo,” my mother said, pointing to my ride home past the crowd.

  After what felt like an hour of giving my thanks and saying hello to everyone, I finally made it to the limo and stepped inside. And there was my “surprise.”

  Cameron.

  “Hey, baby,” he said.

  He leaned over to kiss me. I felt too awkward to completely pull away, but I didn’t give him my lips, just my left cheek.

  “Kaylie? What’s wrong? Did I do something wrong?”

  And there it is. The difference between you and Scott. You think you did something wrong. Scott makes sure whatever was wrong gets taken care of.

  “I just…Cameron, I just got back home,” I said. “I’m tired. I just want to rest.”

  “OK, sorry, sorry.”

  I bit my lip and leaned back. The limo pulled away from my mother and the crowd of friends, even as they continued to cheer. It was probably for the best. I may have known Cameron was no longer the one for me, but that didn’t mean I wanted to embarrass him in front of all of our friends.

  “Cameron,” I said once we got on the highway. “I just need to be honest. We’re not going to work out.”

  “What?” he said, his eyes surprised. “Do you just want a break? I can give you some space. Whatever you need. I’ll do whatever you want—”

  “No, see, that’s it, right there,” I said with a sigh. “I don’t want a pushover. You’re nice, but…I don’t want a guy who will do whatever I want. I want a guy that lets me do whatever I want, but has his own personality and his own life.”

  I felt like I was being too harsh to the guy that had probably thought I was dead. But it wasn’t like I could somehow say something more honest at this point. I’d said everything that I needed to get the point across.

  “I’m sorry, too, Cameron. I wish I’d come to this realization before everything happened. But…”

  “Did they do anything to you?”

  They…

  “No,” I said.

  I chose to do something with Scott. And I don’t regret it.

  In fact, thinking about it right now makes me miss him more.

  “Then what’s going—”

  “Cameron, please,” I said.

  I didn’t want a fight. I didn’t want anything. I just wanted to be alone in a truly secure location.

  “I’m sorry,” I said. “Give me a few days and I’ll talk to you. But I’m not going to be coming back.”

  I actually felt sorry for Cameron. He looked so befuddled that I would get kidnapped and come back wanting to be single. And it wasn’t his fault, at least in the sense that he hadn’t done anything the past several days to end us.

  But Scott kept coming to mind.

  Even though I knew I’d probably never see him again, even though I knew that I’d never even find him again online…my mind still kept wondering what if. Sure, the heat of the moment had intensified a lot of feelings we’d had for each other. Sure, there was a good chance that in a week, it would be a time I’d look back on fondly but able to distance myself from.

  But what if not?

  What if I could not let him go?

  What if I was going to fixate on him for a w
hile?

  I hated that I knew I’d have to find an answer to that question.

  The limo pulled up to my place. Cameron looked like he wanted to say something. Had he gotten dumped by someone else, I might have hugged him and told him to buck up. But right now, that would only send him the wrong message. My only regret in the moment was I felt I had to be harsher than he deserved for how nice of a guy he was.

  But so long as Scott was the man on my mind, no one else could be. Not even the guy I had dated before all of this.

  Chapter 23: Scott

  I didn’t say a word to Liam.

  We handed over the plane to federal agents, who had long had a strong interest in confiscating anything that belonged to Snake. We booked ourselves flight tickets to Maine. I ordered one of my runners to procure the $10 million from Kaylie’s mother.

  I know I’d given thought to not taking the money. But I’d done the job, and I’d pulled back from doing anything too stupid. A job well done was a job well paid.

  And yet, I can’t stop thinking about her.

  Kaylie Charleston haunted my mind like no one else ever had. Whether waking or sleeping, whether distracted or focused, whether happy or stoic, Kaylie remained on my mind, always an instant reminder away from popping up. I figured with a good flight home and some time fishing at the Maine property, I’d forget her.

  No, that wasn’t right. I wanted to figure that was the case.

  I knew better.

  ~~~

  I got all the way to the spot to Uber to the closest strip mall to my house—from which point I would walk—when Liam pulled me aside.

  “Yeah?” I said.

  “I appreciate you saving me from the mess,” he said.

  “Nonsense,” I said. “I’m the one that dragged your ass into this mess. The least I could do was save you.”

  “What’s the most you could do?” Liam said, cracking a smile.

  Give him the agency.

  It was not a joke of a thought. I’d already leaned toward retirement. $10 million, even if I gave a couple million of it to Liam as thanks for helping me out, was more than enough to retire off of. I’d still have to protect myself from Snake coming after me, but I could use a life where I wasn’t sneaking onto boats in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, using only a Navy SEAL inflatable boat. I could get used to a place where I just fished, read, exercised, and relaxed.

  Perhaps even with…

  “Give me a couple days and I’ll get that answer to you,” I said.

  Liam arched an eyebrow at me, but I didn’t add any further details. I wasn’t ready to commit to the idea of giving up on the agency yet…but it was certainly a direction I was leaning toward.

  “All right,” Liam said. “By the way, Kaylie was a real charmer, huh? Not a lot of girls we rescue who have spunk like her.”

  I chuckled. I hoped it wasn’t that obvious how I felt about her—even though, let’s be real, it absolutely was.

  “She’s an unforgettable one,” I said. “All right, get your ass out of here. I’ll be in touch. And your bank account is going to be a little bigger at the end of the day.”

  “I won’t say no to that,” Liam said.

  We shook hands firmly, nodded to each other, and parted. I hailed an Uber, got in, put some headphones on, and tried to distance myself from…

  Kaylie.

  I gave up trying not to think about her. I just let myself think the most that I wanted to.

  I wanted her. I wanted that curvy body, that smart mouth, that tight pussy, that fiery attitude…I couldn’t believe a man in my spot was fucking thinking this, but if ever such a thing in the world existed for me, she was the one.

  Now, just because I thought that didn’t mean I believed it. I could have married many women in my life. But it was true that once I got into DOM, I never thought anyone would make me feel that way. I kept up too hard an exterior for most to pierce through it.

  Guess it just took a hot, sexy lady from the Cayman Islands to change my mind.

  I got to the main street, thanked the Uber driver gruffly, and got out of the car. I walked slowly, tucking my hands into my jeans pocket. Most people knew me as a local who was polite enough but, unsurprisingly, shrouded in mystery. I didn’t make friends there, and people didn’t expect me to be friends.

  I got back to my hideout, found my bed, and collapsed into it. I fully anticipated just falling asleep for hours and days and weeks.

  But no.

  Kaylie Charleston.

  Kaylie fucking Charleston.

  Goddamn fucking Kaylie Charleston would not leave my mind!

  I grabbed one of my laptops and pulled up her social media profiles, feeling like an awkward teenager who stalked his crushes. It was all still there, all of her photos and videos from before she got kidnapped. She was still the cheery, goofy twenty-something hot gal who liked to have fun, talk shit, and stand up to everyone around her.

  What was amazing, I started to think, was how I had seen Kaylie at arguably her worst. Sleep deprived, fearing for her life, hungry, fearful of getting assaulted or raped, missing her family, unsure of when she could go home, without a shower or clean clothes…and she was still stunningly hot and fun to be around.

  Well, “fun” was relative. But it was certainly an arousing thrill to be around her most of the time.

  What was it going to be like if I tried to go back to her? Would we still work? Why the fuck was I even asking “if?” Of course it would—I would make it work. I just had to decide if it was worth it.

  And what of DOM…

  I’d violated almost every rule we had. If I stayed on, I’d have to either change the rules or reign as a hypocrite. I could die at any moment if I stuck around. Could Kaylie live with that? Could I live with knowing that Kaylie was going to have to live with that?

  Could Liam handle the new role?

  I bit my lip. I wanted to pretend this would take time, but the evidence was so obvious, I didn’t need any time to decide.

  I picked up a burner phone. I called Liam.

  “You miss me already?”

  “Liam,” I said, getting right to the point. “I have a mission for you.”

  “You’re serious?” he said.

  “When have I ever called you for anything other than serious work?”

  Liam cleared his throat on the other line.

  “Now, listen to me closely. This has to do with not just the next little bit, but the future of DOM in its entirety. I trust that you understand me?”

  “Yes.”

  I smirked.

  “Good. Here’s how it’s going to go. And it’s not what you think it is.”

  Chapter 24: Kaylie

  Three Days Later

  I’d spent the last three days showering more than I usually did in a three-week span, and it felt so nice being clean.

  I could wear whatever I wanted. I could eat wherever I wanted. I could go outside—I could go outside!—sweat, and come back and feel clean all over again. I could do anything I wanted with my body, and it was amazing.

  But as much as my body felt better, my mind did not.

  I still thought about Scott.

  I still thought about how we had ended, with just a kiss on the cheek…and yet, that had been enough to get me to dump Cameron at my surprise “Welcome Home” party. Granted, I would have dumped him no matter what, but still.

  I still thought about what had transpired. Even with my real-life James Bond having rescued me, even with me able to talk a little spunk to my mother about giving me space before I did any interviews or media coverage, I still felt sad for stretches of time. I still had flashbacks, nightmares of being trapped in that boat without any apparent hope of rescue.

  Scott being here would have made things a lot better. But I understood now, hundreds of miles and dozens of hours separating us, that we would not work. He was a man no younger than his late thirties, maybe even early forties, who had an agency and a career that put him in the
line of fire on the regular. I was a young girl, really, in her mid-twenties who…was not in the line of fire.

  But understanding it logically did not make it any easier.

  On this particular morning, I woke up in my own, warm bed—with the heat set for 76 degrees Fahrenheit, hot by normal standards but just right after my rescue—showered for what felt like an hour, and watched whatever I wanted to on TV as I prepared to enter the real world of Manhattan.

  I rode the elevator down in silence. Even now, several days removed from the worst of it, being back in a place where I could choose what floor to go to, where I could choose where to walk without someone telling me I could not, whether for control or safety reasons…it hadn’t normalized yet.

  I got to the lobby of my complex, nodded to the valet—who offered to get me coffee, which I declined—and walked outside. The nice thing about being in New York City was that despite it being home to some absurdly wealthy people, athletes, politicians, and other famous people, it was a place where the deluge of them made it easier to blend in. “White girl rescued” was a story, sure, but it wasn’t a story enough to get the paparazzi chasing me everywhere.

  Though I did occasionally have someone asking me for a picture. That was kind of weird, but no one made it too much weirder.

  I arrived at my local bagel shop, found no line, and walked inside. I went up to the counter, ordered a bacon and egg sandwich, and patiently waited. I looked around the shop—still not entirely convinced I was completely safe; I hoped that would change at some point—and wondered what I would do for the rest of the day.

  For now, all I could think was to go to the gym at some point.

  The cashier announced my order, I took it, I walked outside, Scott stood in front of me, and—

  Wait.

  “Scott?”

  “I was wondering if you might recognize me.”

  No way.

  Right?

  Scott, the man who I’d fantasized so hard about for the last three days, the man who had rescued me, the man who had saved my life…he was standing here right now? Was this a dream? Was this…was this like a lucid dream?