Nate
I look down at my Rolex impatiently.
I’m not a man to be kept waiting.
The men I sent to kidnap the girl should be here soon.
I don’t know what the fuck Edison wants with her, and I don’t care.
I just want out.
I’m standing in the warehouse where the guys are to bring the girl. It’s completely empty.
No boxes. No supplies. Just clean cement floors with steel walls and pillars. Any small noise made would echo throughout the plain and sterile enclosure.
This warehouse is used for many of Edison’s business transactions.
It’s remote, and there’s no way anyone can intrude on what happens inside without being noticed; just how Edison likes it.
It’s also one of the many reasons why he’s been so successful in this line of business. He has fucking foresight, though not enough to see me coming.
One of the doors suddenly clanks open.
A black SUV rolls into the warehouse towards me. The windows are so heavily tinted, they match the paint job on the SUV.
It stops a few feet in front of me, and the driver hops out to open one of the back doors.
Another man gets out, then turns around to reach back into the vehicle.
He pulls out a woman who starts yelling in panic.
“Please, let me go,” she cries. “You have the wrong person.”
Oh, I’m sure we have the right person, sweetheart.
It’s just unfortunate that you got caught up in all of Edison’s crap. All because you’re related to a rival businessman.
The girl kicks at the men trying to subdue her.
Her long blonde hair whips around her in her vain attempts to free herself from the hell she’s suddenly found herself in.
One of the men gets whipped in the face by her hair as she violently thrashes around, and I can clearly see his frustration rise to another level with the girl.
He looks as if he wants to hit her, but is holding back. His instructions were clear—no damage was to come to the girl.
I look more closely at her.
She’s a stunner.
The glittery white and silver dress she’s in hugs her in all the right places. It’s holding every exquisite curve to highlight her slim and sexy figure.
Her feet are adorned in shimmering high heels. Most definitely Jimmy Choo. You don’t go through the business I’m involved in without noticing all the fancy shit the mob boss wives wear.
Especially when they’re flashing it all in your face trying to impress you.
She’s still kicking and screaming.
I notice now that she’s also crying. Tears are streaming down her cheeks in full force.
I haven’t gotten a clear look at her face, since she’s thrashing around so much, and her hair has been whipping around too much to show off her features.
Finally though, she seems to lose momentum and stops to catch a breath.
She glances around the warehouse, likely looking for an escape.
Sadly, she won’t find what she’s looking for.
My whole body suddenly turns to stone.
There’s something familiar about her. Something cherished that I’d never forgotten but kept at the back of my mind.
Suddenly, I can’t tear my eyes away from her.
It can’t be her. Can it?
Her features are similar to the girl I once knew in my childhood, just more mature now.
The longer I stare at her, the surer I am that it is definitely her.
Sienna Rose.
My first and only obsession.
It’s Sienna Rose from my childhood home who lived at the Rose estate.
The same estate my father worked on as a groundskeeper.
Her gaze finally sweeps over me. She swings her head back towards me and our eyes lock.
The most startling blue eyes stare back at me.
I’d seen those eyes before. Years ago.
The memories of our time together in the past flash across my mind like a movie reel.
Adventures through the forest, days spent swimming in the pool, nights spent under the stars, and all the damn trouble we managed to get into.
I chuckle to myself internally.
Those were fun times.
She was a pretty girl when we were just kids.
Looking at her now, she’s…words can’t even begin to fully describe her.
Sexy, gorgeous, like a fucking angel.
Any man would be lucky to claim her, but that thought sets me on edge, and I don’t know why.
I feel a possessiveness come over me even now.
I’ve always felt as though she were mine.
Nothing’s changed.
I know she’s more than just looks. She’s always been more than a superficial beauty.
The girl has depth, brains, and heart.
She’s the whole fucking package.
I didn’t realize until this very moment how much I missed her.
And now she’s a full-grown woman standing in front of me…tear-stained, panicked, and a hostage of Edison Shaw, which makes her my hostage at the moment.
Fuck.
Sienna stares back at me, but I see no recognition in her eyes. She doesn’t realize who I am.
Why would she?
I’m not the teenage boy she knew back then. I’m a grown man now, and I’m sure Sienna would have never thought the boy she used to know would be working for the crime lord who wants to destroy her father.
Hell, I never thought I would be working for a crime lord, either.
Shit happens, though.
A flash of hope flashes across her face.
“Please, help me!” she pleads to me. “These men have kidnapped me, and I need to get back to my father. Please! I’m begging you!”
She thinks I’ll help her right now?
In her desperation, she doesn’t understand that these men work for me.
I am essentially her enemy.
I don’t blame her for being naïve. This is a world she’s not used to. Being within the dark underbelly of society is my job, not hers.
“Sorry, honey, but I’m not going to be your savior tonight,” I tell her.
She bursts into a new wave of crying and desperation. Her thrashing and kicking ramps back up to a whole other level.
Fuck, she’s breaking my heart.
Why did Edison have to want this girl? What has she ever done to him?
And then I think about her father.
The man who taught me how to fish.
The man who Sienna loved and who was always nice to me.
Hudson Rose.
That’s who Edison’s really after.
Not Sienna.
My Sienna.
I’ve got to get her out of this. Safely, without creating a bigger cluster fuck.
In this moment, I vow to do anything and everything to accomplish just that.
I’ll protect her at all costs. It’s not even a question. Even if Edison comes after me personally, I don’t fucking care.
Let him come. I’m ready.
All I see is Sienna.
All I know is Sienna.
And she’s in grave fucking danger.
I told her I’m not her savior tonight, and that’s the damn truth.
Not tonight.
I’ll be her savior in the end though, and that’s all that matters.
Hopefully, sooner rather than later.
Who knows what Edison has in store for her?
All I know is, I don’t want to find out.
Right now, we need to get going. The men are looking at me, waiting for instructions.
“Load her up into my limousine,” I instruct them. “We’re taking her to my place until Shaw gives us further instructions.”
They drag her, still kicking and screaming.
It’ll take a fucking miracle to get her out of this shit.