Page 1 of Stolen

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LEO

7AM.

I slowly cracked open my eyelids and stared up at the ceiling. I was a little tired from getting in so late last night, but that was the sort of thing I could shake off after having my morning coffee. Besides, I wasn’t really allowed to be tired, not when I always had so much on my plate.

I yawned as I turned over in my expensive, satin sheets for good measure, enjoying the feel of them against my skin.

One of the perks of being in a VIP suite.

I couldn’t deny that I enjoyed all the benefits that came with my job, which included having the best sleeping arrangements in whichever city I landed in. This time, it was Roanoke, Virginia and I knew that I needed to get the team ready before I?—

Wait.

I took a deep breath and stepped out of bed. I was trying to get better at living in the moment, trying not to just rush into the next thing as soon as I could. That meant that I needed to not start my day by focusing on work. Instead, I was going to take a few minutes to look out my gorgeous, oversized window, inmy gorgeous, oversized room and take in the view of the snowy, majestic mountains.

I walked over to the curtains and excitedly pulled them open, happy to greet the day and spend a few moments appreciating natu?—

Snow.

There was way too much snow.

I felt myself frowning as I stared out at white, rolling hills, snow as far as I could possibly see. Instead of being the portrait of a winter wonderland, it felt more like it was threatening to suffocate everything in the city, like it’d completely taken over.

The worst part? There was still more snow coming down from the sky, a flurry of it whipping right past my window.

“This is fine. This is nothing,” I murmured, wondering if it counted as lying if I was only lying to myself. “Give it a few hours and this won’t even be a problem.”

I closed the curtains almost as fast as I’d opened them, right before I headed toward my closet.

A few minuteslater and I was dressed in a pair of pajama pants and a fancy robe. It wasn’t exactly business casual, but I had more pressing things on my mind than dressing the best that I could. My plan was to slip past everyone and maybe find a manager to talk to, someone who could give me more info about the weather situation.

Someone who could reassure me that everything wasn’t already turning to shit.

“Leo? Leo!”

Shit.

Tommy, one of the lead photographers for the photoshoot, was suddenly standing right in front of me.

“What the hell is going on, huh?” Tommy pressed. “It looks like a winter storm out there. How are we supposed to do a photoshoot with all the guys in that kind of weather?”

“Tommy—”

“Don’t bullshit me, Leo,” he interrupted me before he chuckled. “Don’t do your usual PR crisis thing. This is a serious question.”

My usual PR crisis thing?

If only Tommy knew that my usual PR crisis thing was having internal freakouts and trying my best to hide it on the inside. Today was turning into a total disaster, and we’d only gotten into town last night.

“I think it’s still going to happen, Tommy,” I replied. “I think we’re still going to get all the athletes together for a nice photoshoot. The storm is going to clear up.”

“Right. And who gave you that intel?”

“It’s all about positive thinking.”

“Uh-huh. And your positive thinking is going to keep this photoshoot on track? You’re sure?”

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