Page 11 of His to Claim

“Keep quiet or I’ll hurt you,” the man in the jester mask threatens, his voice low and scary.

The other man wears a ghost mask and yanks me along, his grip punishing. I struggle, trying to twist away, doing anything to break their steel grips, but it’s useless.

Fear pummels through me as they whisk me through the courtyard, away from the hotel and the crowd of party goers, and straight to a waiting SUV with black-tinted windows. Heart in my throat, I struggle harder and try to cry out for help, but they’re too strong and fast.

As one of the men opens the rear door, I try to twist away and cry out, “No! Please!”

Before I realize it, they toss me into the backseat and the locks click. My eyes go wide as I sit up and do my best not to completely panic. Who are these men? What is going on? Why do they want me?

I have no idea what the hell is going on or why I’ve been abducted. And I have a feeling they aren’t going to answer any of my questions. Even so, I try to get some answers. I also take comfort in the fact that I have my cell phone tucked away in my wristlet. Slipping a hand into my small red and black purse, I wrap my fingers around my phone and slowly pull it out.

“Where are we going?” I ask. My attention drops to the screen and I pull up Miceli’s name.

I’m in a black SUV,I text him.Two men dragged me away from the party. No idea where they’re taking me…I’m scared.

My finger punches send and I discreetly slip the phone back into my wristlet. Even though I’m frightened, I’m also angry. These assholes just forced me to leave the party before I was able to meet with my mystery man who I can’t stop thinking about.

“Where?” I demand, untying my mask and hiding it in the folds of my voluminous skirt. Jester glances over his shoulder and glares at me.

“Shut up,” he snaps. “You’ll find out soon enough.”

I clamp my mouth shut and turn my attention out the window, watching the passing scenery, trying to get a fix on my location and, more importantly, my destination. Hopefully, I can get another text sent off to Miceli.

Speaking of which, my phone buzzes and Jester’s head snaps back around.

“What was that?”

Oh, shit.God, he must have supersonic hearing or something.

He turns all the way around, zeroing in on the wristlet tucked beneath my dress. “Bitch has a phone,” he snarls then reaches over the seat and rips my wristlet away. Horror fills me when he rolls down the window and throws it out onto the street.

My heart sinks.Shit, shit, shit.I’m wondering what Miceli texted and now I’m starting to panic. I’m not used to danger or any kind of excitement. My brothers and their significant others are the ones who experience love and adventure, not me. My life is boring, predictable and definitely not romantic in any sort of way.

But, there’s no denying I’m in serious trouble right now. The more I think about it, the more scared I get. I have no idea what’s happening and no one who could potentially save me has any idea where these thugs are taking me—myself included.

So how is anyone going to come to my rescue?I wonder a little desperately.

They’re not,a little voice states.

I pull in a deep breath and force myself to calm down, face the situation head-on and think logically. Okay, so one thing becomes clear fast—I’m going to have to rescue myself. One way or another, I’m going to have to dig deep and be smart. There’s no time to play the damsel in distress.

Channeling my inner badass, I pay close attention to my surroundings and realize we’re heading into a bad part of town. There aren’t many people on the streets and the ones I see look like drug addicts and vagrants. I have a feeling they have their own problems and I can’t rely on them to step up and help me fight off my kidnappers. They’re probably too high to help me, anyway.

Just as well, Lottie,I tell myself.I can handle this. Somehow.

Even though I try to remain calm, my pulse is beating so hard and fast, and I’m sweating bullets. How could things have taken such a drastic turn in such a short amount of time? One second I’m kissing my hot masked man and now I’m being spirited away by a couple of thugs to God-knows-where.

Maybe the worst part is that I’ll never figure out who he was or see him again. Because these idiots dragged me away, I’ll never find my mysterious stranger and he’s going to think I stood him up when I’m not at the fountain for our rendezvous. That hurts way more than it probably should.

Focus,I chastise myself.

Now isn’t the time to think about what could’ve been. Now is the time to step up and escape. I can have a pity party later.

Eventually, the SUV pulls up in front of a rundown house. After parking at the curb, Jester and Ghost get out, walk over and open my door.

“Out,” Jester snaps, and I glare at him as I slide out of the car.

He grabs my upper arm, turns me toward the rundown house and begins tugging me up the uneven walkway. It’s made up of broken concrete with weeds sprouting up through the cracks, a total tripping hazard. Halfway to the house, I nonchalantly drop my mask still hidden in my voluminous skirts and send up a silent prayer.

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