Page 20 of Seduced by a SEAL

Camila’s gaze hardened. “Oblivious? No. I know what I can and can’t do in my life. I’m lucky, yes—my father gives me everything. Money. Protection. A certain amount of power being that I’m his daughter. But I’m in a gilded cage, no? I can have what I want as long as I stay here and do exactly what he says.”

Rosa nodded. “But are you happy living that way forever? You have fun seeing different men now, sure. But if you want your own family someday? If you ever fall in love?”

“Am I happy?” Camila asked in disbelief. “No. But what choices do I have?” She reached over and grabbed her purse, carefully pulling out her compact and reapplying her red lipstick.

“Exactly,” Rosa chided. “You put on a happy face, looking the part, but inside? You’ll never have what you really want.”

Camila pursed her lips together, the truth of Rosa’s words settling inside her. Her gaze shifted toward the door of the café as the two guards she was with suddenly came storming in. Camila watched, startled, as the biggest one moved to grab her arm. “We have to leave,” he said, his voice gruff as his thick fingers wound around her bicep.

“Now? Why?” she asked, glancing around in confusion. There didn’t appear to be any threats, either in the café or outside it. “We haven’t even finished our coffee yet.”

His grip on her arm tightened, and she winced in surprise. “Now,” he repeated.

Her other bodyguard stood eyeing Rosa, his interest piquing. Camila’s heart thumped in her chest, and she glanced from her friend toward the front door as she stood up. The other patrons in the café were beginning to take notice of their loud discussion, but none appeared interested in confronting her or her bodyguards.

She stumbled slightly in her high heeled sandals as the guard tugged her toward him.

“My bags,” Camila said, reaching out as the first guard steered her away, bodily moving her toward the door.

“They stay,” he said, his voice steel.

“Rosa,” Camila said helplessly as the second bodyguard followed, the two men ushering her between the tables toward the front door. The other customers looked down, and their waitresses stood perfectly still, not daring to move.

Camila’s purse lay on the table where she’d left it, her bags on the floor. Rosa looked slightly alarmed. For the first time, Camila’s chest tightened in panic. Her bodyguards weren’t moving her out of the café for her protection. Weren’t letting her gather up her things.

They were taking her. Hustling her toward a van idling on the street. Kidnapping her just like all the other women and girls who’d gone missing. Camila opened her mouth, ready to scream, when a dark cloth covered her face.

A sickeningly sweet smell overwhelmed her senses, and her mind began to fog. She fought to maintain her balance as she stumbled on the sidewalk, her dress blowing lightly in the wind.

Vice-like arms gripped her from behind, binding her arms to her sides, constricting her movement. She was too scared to scream. Too weak to fight back.

A man bodily lifted her into the waiting van.

And then everything faded to black.

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