Everything hurt. I could barely even open my eyes. Trying to sit up, I realized I was handcuffed to a metal-framed bed. I had no idea where I was. All I knew was that I was in the middle of a small, dark room on an old, smelly mattress, alone. There was a bulb hanging from the ceiling emitting dim yellow lighting that was more annoying than helpful. Right across from me was a metal door with bright light coming in from the bottom, and that was it—not even a pot to piss in or a chair or anything.

“Hello? Is someone there? Anyone? Help!” I screamed as panic started to take over. Even talking hurt. I could barely remember the black truck ramming into the side of Crickett’s car.

Oh my God, Crickett!

“Mom!” The cry leapt from my lungs. “Fuck! Crickett? Are you here?”

No response.

I was alone in the room. What if they have her somewhere else?

Frantically, I tried to remember what had happened. I remembered hitting my head on the windshield and Crickett screaming from the other side of the car. There were flashes of glass shattering and me being pulled through the passenger’s side window, but that was all I could recall.

My heart sank. I didn’t want to think about what they had done with my stepmom. She had to be all right. She was alive and fine—I had to believe that because I needed to focus on my situation.

I couldn’t hear anything. All I knew for sure was that I had been abducted. I clutched my stomach with my free hand. The baby. I had almost forgotten why Crickett and I were even on the road.

I started to sob as I realized Ryder was out there somewhere and I might die before I got to see the sight of my husband holding our precious child. Curling into a ball, I clutched my knees to my chest. Silently, I prayed for Ryder to burst through the door and scoop me up into his arms. I whispered his name as the door creaked open.

A tall, slender man with a ski mask over his face walked in, holding a tray. He set it down on the floor next to the bed.

“Where am I? Who are you? What have you done with my mom? Please, where is she? What have you done with Crickett?” I questioned, but he was silent.

He stared down at me with hollow eyes for a few seconds before grabbing my ankle. I wanted to try to kick him but my body was too sore. All I could muster was to wiggle a little in protest. “Hold still,” he demanded as he locked a cuff around it. It was connected to a long chain attached to the wall.

“Please, help me,” I begged while he freed my hand. “I’m pregnant. I need to go to a hospital. My name is Raine and I have a husband who is probably worried sick. My stepmom was in the car with me. She was really hurt. Please, tell me she’s alive. Did you take her too?”

“Eat.” That was all he said before he walked back out of the room.

I looked down at the tray that was left for me. There were a few pieces of what looked like sliced turkey and two pieces of bread with a bottle of water. I knew I needed to eat something but I was scared to death that it was poisoned.

I thought back to all the talks my father had had with me growing up. He’d done his best to prepare me for the worst, in case it ever happened. I knew if I was still alive, it was for a reason. They would have killed me while I was unconscious if they didn’t need me for something.

Checking my body, I assessed my injuries. Everything seemed to be superficial for the most part. I definitely had a wicked case of whiplash and was super stiff, but nothing seemed broken and I wasn’t bleeding badly from anywhere. Taking a deep breath, I pulled down my jeans to make sure I wasn’t bleeding down there. Relief washed over me when I saw that, from what I could tell, I wasn’t miscarrying.

Bending down hurt like a bitch. I grabbed the tray, nibbled on the white bread, and took a few sips of water. It threatened to come right back up, but I was able to keep it down. Panicking wasn’t going to help, so I concentrated on my breathing. I remembered a trick my father had taught me. I had to bring myself somewhere else. Engulf myself in a happy memory, go to my happy place. It didn’t take long for me to think up the perfect little moment to entrench my mind. Even the slightest hint of the memory instantly put a smile on my face. It was the day that I told Ryder we were going to be parents.

I paced around our brand-new kitchen. Ryder was going to freak out; I just hoped it would go as well as it did when I played it out in my head. I knew we had planned on waiting a few more years, but tequila in Mexico was so good and apparently being drunk for seven days straight on a honeymoon made me forget my birth control a few too many times.

Gripping that stupid pee stick in my hand, I couldn’t help but get giddy when I heard the front door slam.

“Hey babe,” Ryder called from the foyer. “Did the granite get put in okay today?” He grabbed me from behind, kissing my neck.

“Everything went smoothly. Do you like the lighter gray?”

Ryder started to check out the handiwork of our finally completed kitchen, giving me enough time to shove the pregnancy test into my back pocket.

“I am so glad you talked me into this one instead of black.” He gave me a quick peck on the cheek. “Is everything okay?”

My hands were shaking. “Yeah, why?”

He pulled me into him. “You just seem nervous for some reason.”

His hands glided over my ass, hitting the stick in my back pocket, and I tensed up.

“What is this?” He grabbed the test and his jaw dropped. He was frozen, staring at the pee stick with a completely unreadable face.

I started to panic for a few seconds and finally choked out, “Well?” His face slowly started to twist into a smile as I started to ramble. “You know that tequila really did wonders and you know how active we were. I just got swept up and completely forgot to—”

Ryder grabbed my face and kissed me, shutting my babbling up.

“You have never looked so fucking gorgeous in your entire life. Holy shit we’re going to have a baby! I am going to be a fucking dad!” He whisked me into the air and started to twirl around the kitchen.

“I love you so much, Ryder!” I hugged him around his neck while the joy of the moment just took control of us.

“Raine, I love you. I always have and I always will.”

* * *

“Get up!” barked the same masked man, and my eyes flew open. I had no idea how long I had been asleep, but it felt like days.

“What?” I asked as I remembered where I was.

“Get up!” He forcefully pulled at my arm.

“No.” I yanked it away from him, and the back of his hand landed hard on my cheek as a slap rang out.

“Fucking slut.” He spit at my feet. “I’ll teach you to never talk back to me. No one says no to me.”

Before he could hit me again, another man with a bandana tied over his nose and mouth stopped him. “Rigger said we can’t hurt her,” he reminded his counterpart in a low voice. The second man reminded me of a weeble wobble—short and extremely pudgy.

The weeble wobble turned to me. “We’re leaving. You have to come with us.”

I knew fighting them was going to be futile, and my body was screaming in pain from the slightest motion.

They handcuffed my wrists together and removed the shackle from my ankle. They rushed my aching body out of a small storage facility. It took everything in my power to even put one foot in front of the other as my feet shuffled along. The cool night air wrapped around me as I was led to a black van with tinted windows. I frantically tried to take in my surroundings, but I didn’t recognize a damn thing in the pitch-black parking lot. Gravel crunched under my sneakers as they opened the back doors to the dented vehicle.

The two men helped me into the back and locked the chain of the handcuffs to the metal side like I was on a damn prison transfer mission. I supposed that wasn’t too far off—I was a prisoner, after all.

The van pulled out of the lot and started to head what I assumed to be farther away from my home. I could have sworn I heard the throaty sound of a Harley or even a few behind us, but I couldn’t see out the back window. I hoped it was my Dad and Ryder coming to ambush the van and that the nightmare would end, but it was only wishful thinking.

The drive lasted for at least an hour, probably longer. We pulled into another warehouse-looking parking lot and I was ushered into another tiny room. The only difference was that there was no bed in this one, just a cold concrete floor with an old wool blanket balled up in the corner that smell like rancid piss.

I curled up in the corner of the room. Softly, I sobbed and rocked. My entire body was screaming in pain. My mind was drowning in sorrow. My instincts were telling me that I was a goner. The only thing I could do was remind myself that I needed to stay strong for my child. That little peanut of a life was the only glint of solace I had. Finally, I cried myself to a dream-filled sleep.

“Thank God for bikinis.” Ryder smacked my ass as I walked by him with a towel in hand in our honeymoon suite.

“Are we going down to the beach or what?” I was waiting for him at the door while he was lazily sprawled out onto the bed.

Jumping up, Ryder threw his arms around me. “I have other plans for you right now,” he growled before throwing me down onto the pillow-top mattress.

He pulled at the strings on my pink two-piece, letting it fall to the side. After stripping down, Ryder crawled on top of me. He slowly kissed his way from my belly button to my lips.

Staring into my eyes, he whispered, “What do you want, Mrs. Walsh?”

The sound of my new name sent chills down my spine. “Make love to me.”

“As you wish, wifey.” The smile that was glued to Ryder’s lips soaked into my memory. It was absolutely captivating as his green eyes smoldered with lust.

In that moment, we weren’t just having sex, we were showing each other just how much we loved each other. Slow gentle kisses, lingering stares, low moans. Our gaze stayed locked as Ryder slowly thrust into me, his fingers knotted into my hair. I gripped his sides as euphoria consumed body of us.

It was a moment that I never wanted to end. We were complete. Our love was tangible. Everything felt perfect.