Page 40 of Redeemed

She got lucky and rode the elevator to the fourth floor alone. She was walking down the thickly carpeted hallway trying to figure out which way the room numbers went when she felt, rather than heard, a presence behind her. The tiny hairs on the back of her neck stood up. She picked up her pace trying not to appear panicked. As she reached her mother's door, a weighty hand landed on her shoulder. Sofia jumped and spun, dropping her clothes and the key card she had ready to use in her hand.

"Jesse! You scared me to death!" Sofia exclaimed. She clutched her chest where her heart felt like it was going to pound right through her ribs. She tried to compose herself and bent over to pick up everything she had dropped. "What are you doing here? Aren't you in the wedding?"

"I got replaced at the last minute when some college buddy of Gage's ended up being able to come," Jesse explained. "I snuck out after the vows." He rolled his eyes and gave her a conspiratorial grin. "You know how long a Catholic ceremony is."

"Well, I don't have time to chat," Sofia said tightly, trying to gain a little personal space. She really wanted to get away from him but didn't want to make him angry after the way he'd been acting. "I have to change and get back to the venue. So, if you'll excuse me."

Sofia turned and pushed the card into the electronic lock. As soon as the little green light appeared, Sofia felt Jesse's hands on her shoulders as he shoved her inside. She tripped on the bottom of her garment bag and nearly fell with the force of his push. She caught herself on the edge of the dresser, her clothes falling to the floor. As she tried to right herself and turn, Jesse closed the insignificant space between them. He dragged her up tightly against his body. She could feel his arousal hard against her belly.

"Stop it, Jesse!" she protested loudly, beating her hands against her chest. "You have to stop! This is wrong!"

He didn't relax his grip on her but leaned down to whisper in her ear. "Ah, Sofia, baby, if you'd relax a minute, you'd remember how good we were together. I remember very well. There's been no one like you since. I know we can be great again. You don't have to pretend anymore. It's just us."

Her breaths came hard and short. Her eyes flew around the room looking for something that would help her as his lips nibbled along her neck. Nothing. She fought the tears that threatened to leak from her eyes in her panic. "Please, Jesse. Don't do this. If you let me go, I won't say anything to anybody. I swear," she promised. Her voice sounded strained and breathy to her ears.

When she felt his lips curve into a smile against her skin, she knew there was no way he was going to let her go. He kissed her one more time, then brought a hand up to softly tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. She tried to wiggle out of his grasp but even using one arm, he was too strong for her to overcome.

"Of course, you won't say anything." His look turned to one you would give a child that you were disappointed in for making bad choices. "I was afraid this would take more time," he said with a sigh. "But I planned for that. Here's what is going to happen, mi amor. We're going down the hall to my room and I'm going to remind you how much you loved me. If you'll give it a chance, I know it won't take long for all those memories to come flooding back."

Sofia swallowed hard. "You can't mean this, Jesse. People will notice I'm being taken against my will. You can't get away with kidnapping me. Think about what you're doing."

"No one will notice because you are going to go with me willingly," Jesse told her, a hard glint coming into his black eyes. "If you don't, I have the key to this room, don't I? You wouldn't want anything to happen to your precious Mamá and your princess of a sister, would you?"

Sofia gasped at the threat. He had truly gone insane. Tears sprung to her eyes.

"So, you're going to play nice, aren't you, Sofia?" Jesse threatened, the cajoling tone completely gone from his voice now.

She nodded and he grabbed her arm to drag her toward the door. She saw him pocket the room card as he moved his arm to surround her shoulders and smiled as he led her down the hallway, the plush carpet masking their footsteps.

Chapter thirty-eight

Flashback

Maggiestretchedandrubbedher back, exceedingly happy to finally be allowed out of her chair to go take a final look at everything before guests started arriving. They also needed to move her throne, as everyone was calling it, from the middle of the room now that it was almost time for the party to start.

"No more than twenty minutes, sweetheart," Zane reminded her, giving her a kiss then kissing the top of her belly. "I will come find you and drag you home if you take longer."

"Yes, dear," she responded sarcastically, rolling her eyes at her overprotective husband. If these babies didn't come soon, she was going to lose her mind with all the coddling.

He ignored her grouchiness and gave her another kiss. "Stephanie said I could use her office for a few minutes so I'm going to go return a few calls while you're checking things out," he told her. "And no lifting anything."

"Yes, yes," she said, making shooing motions toward him with her hands. "Go do doctory stuff and let me be for a few minutes. I promise to be good."

Zane gave her a long look and pointed to his watch before leaving her to make her rounds. Maggie stifled another eye roll. At this rate, she was going to be as good as Dani at them and her best friend was an Olympic level eye roller. As she walked around the venue, she smiled broadly, pleased at how everything looked. Sofia was really coming into her own. Maggie had to admit she'd handled most of this on her own with only minor reminders. She suddenly realized she hadn't seen Sofia since she'd left to change her clothes and that had been over an hour ago.

She pressed a button on her headset. "Sofia, where are you, hon?" No response. This is why Maggie hated these things – half the time they didn't work, or people turned them off accidentally. She pulled her cell from her pocket and dialed Sofia's number. Straight to voicemail. That was so odd. Maybe her battery had died. She continued her tour, asking as she went if anyone had seen Sofia. The answers were always in the negative. No one had seen her since she left to get out of her stained clothes.

Making it to the kitchen, Maggie carefully pushed open the swinging doors not wanting a repeat of Sofia's fate with the basil sauce. Her brother and the other chefs looked like they were taking a break, leaning against the counters, drinking water, and laughing.

"You look like you have everything under control," Maggie said to her brother. When he glanced over to her, he looked tired, but in a good way. A way that said he had been working hard and was satisfied with that work. It was a look that made her heart happy to see.

JT swiped a cool bottle of water across his forehead, and a smile lit his face. "Yep, everything's good. Just went over the menu with the wait staff so all we have to do is wait for the first partygoers to arrive."

"Excellent." Maggie gave an appreciative sniff. "Everything smells wonderful. Save us some samples," she said, patting her belly to include the twins.

"I'll make sure we make plates for you, Sofia, and Jenny," Cassie agreed when JT just rolled his eyes at her.

"Thank you, Cassie," Maggie intoned in an excessively polite voice while giving her brother a side-eye. "By the way, has anyone seen Sofia since she went to change clothes?"

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