Page 2 of Stolen

“You just gotta believe.” I smirked, even though I was dying inside. “Give me a second, okay? I need to talk to someone and then I’ll be right back.”

I patted Tommy on the shoulder before I stepped around him. I went back to hastily making my way through the lobby, doing my best to ignore the snow swirling in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows.

Everything is going to be okay. Everything is going to be okay.

It has to be.

This was my first big photoshoot project as a PR manager and I knew I couldn’t screw this up or else. I’d confidentlypitched it as a behind-the-scenes sort of intimate look at some of the hottest athletes from the last few years, giving fans full spreads of photos and in-depth interviews. I’d chosen a snowy location since I thought it’d be fun to offset all the shirtless poses and give things a sense of comfort and warmth, too.

Seriously. How perfect would it be to have a football guy only wearing his helmet in the snow and nothing else?

It was going to be like a fireman’s calendar but in reverse.

“Leo! Wait!” Tommy called out for me again, and I heard his footsteps trailing behind me. “What do you want me to tell the rest of the crew? Everyone’s feeling pretty antsy.”

“Tell them that I have everything under control—” It was the last thing I said before I stopped dead in my tracks. A shiver of fear suddenly went up my spine, as I heard one of the lobby’s doors being opened from the outside.

But everyone involved in the shoot is already here, aren’t they? We’ve rented out the entire lodge.

Tommy went quiet, too, as we exchanged terrified looks. If we were about to be slaughtered in the mountains, there was no way anyone could come to save us in time.

The roads were too deep in snow.

Just then, the door swung wide open, and a large pair of boots connected with the wooden floor. An even larger man stepped over the threshold, wearing a thick jacket with snow clinging to the fabric. His face was covered with a mask, completely concealing his identity from the world.

The same kind of mask he would have on if he was here to rob us blind…

Yep.

It was our worst nightmare.

“Uh, hi,” I said, my tone shaking with nerves. “Who, um, who are you?”

I eyed him up and down, searching him for any visible weapons, like an ax or a gun. I could feel Tommy doing the same thing beside me, both of us sizing up the intruder.

Before the stranger could answer, another man in a mask, just as large, stepped through the door.

“Are we going to die, Leo?” Tommy whispered. “Is this how it ends for us?”

“You were always my favorite photographer, Tommy,” I whispered back, before steeling myself to accept the inevitable.

The strangers looked over at each other, their eyes filled with confusion.

And then, the first stranger pulled down his mask.

Holy shit.

He was gorgeous, with wavy black hair and piercing green eyes that I was just now noticing. He reminded me of a character from those old cowboy movies, a classic sort of rugged charm emanating from him as he stood in front of me.

“Oh, my God! It’s just Jacob!” Tommy let out a relieved chuckle. “Shit! You scared me!”

“Jacob?” I repeated his name, still staring over at him. He was staring back at me, too, like he was trying to read my mind.

Like he was trying to figure me out without me saying a word.

“Yeah, the transporter guys,” Tommy continued. “Remember? They helped us bring all our shit up to the lodge last night. That’s Jacob and that’s Bradley, his cousin.”

Bradley, the second stranger, waved, with his mask still in place.

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