Page 6 of Four Love (Ever and Always 2)

Holly writhed, twisting her wrists against the plastic zip ties holding them. Just a little more and…

Yes!She finally felt her arm, buzzing with pins and needles, slick with what she assumed was blood, slip from the restraint. She winced as she rotated her wrists and brought them around in front of her, things cracking and popping, as stiff as if she were eighty years old.

It was so dark that white spots like static fizzled in her vision as her body tried desperately to make out even a hint of her surroundings. It was no use. She’d probably been locked in the trunk of this thankfully new and clean-smelling car—probably rented—for at least an hour.

At first it had been all she could do to keep from having a panic attack as she crashed into the walls of the tiny space every time they took a corner at what seemed like break-neck speeds. She’d hit her head and lain there, dazed, for a while until she realized that they were no longer moving.

Muffled voices were followed by the thud of two car doors shutting. They’d left. Both of the men who’d captured her and were attempting to use her as a bargaining chip. Too bad they didn’t know Trent or how determined he was to spend his father’s inheritance on something that would make the world a better place. Accessible clean energy and efficient, low-cost batteries to store it would be something worth dying for, if it came to that.

No. Hell no. Holly refused to think those things.

Instead, she closed her eyes and pretended it was dark by choice as she took deep, measured breaths and imagined happy stuff, like Kari’s engagement party, giving Moose treats, and…okay, fine…her budding relationship with Trent, Owen, and Lorenzo.

What she wouldn’t give for a hug from one or all three of them right then.

She gritted her teeth. There would be plenty of time to figure things out between them after she escaped from the psychos holding her hostage. Because if nothing else, the careless disregard those assholes had shown for her made her realize that no matter what dumb shit had come out of Trent’s mouth the night before, he wasn’t like the barbarians who’d captured her.

He cared about more than just the money.

Even if he was too gun-shy to admit it, even to himself.

Holly gritted her teeth, determined to make it out of this mess so that she could tell Trent she wasn’t going to give up on him until he recognized the value of what they had. Owen or Lorenzo too. She wanted to get to know them better, to open her heart to them like she had her body.

But none of that could happen if she didn’t save herself first.

Fuck waiting for someone else to do it for her, for these men to get their shit together or for her friends to figure out something had gone horribly wrong and dispatch the cavalry, which she absolutely believed they would if they realized she was missing. Nope, she’d taken care of herself, and her mom, for years now despite the universe conspiring against them. She didn’t need help. She would make those assholes pay for stealing her and taking her away just when her mother needed her most.

Once she’d gotten herself good and mad, Holly used every bit of her fear as kindling to light a fire within herself. She prepared to fight.

Those bastards! How dare they treat her like this? She kicked the backseat as hard as she could, over and over, but nothing happened. So she used her fingers, which were regaining feeling, to search for some sort of lever. It took her minutes, too many considering she didn’t know when her abductors would return, to methodically search every inch of the fuzzy fabric lining the back of the seats and the area around them.

No luck. Weren’t cars these days supposed to have safety features? What the hell?

Holly groaned as she writhed, finally managing to turn herself over to face the rear of the trunk.

And that’s when she saw it.

A faint, slime-green square. It glowed in the dark as bright as the beam of a lighthouse slicing through a storm to her fully dilated eyes. It took some more wriggling, a smashed elbow, and a steady stream of curses, but Holly managed to maneuver herself so that she could nearly reach it.

Her fingertips brushed the lever.

She tried again, straining and forcing her poor hands to function. When she made contact, she tugged. The trunk popped open.

Holly nearly fainted at the wave of dizziness and relief that washed over her.

But what if the men who’d abducted her were waiting outside?

A wedge of sunlight blasted through the opening and stabbed her in the eyes. She scrunched them nearly closed and fumbled around until she half-crawled, half-tumbled from the trunk onto pavement. Holly grabbed the bumper to help lever herself mostly upright, her entire body screaming as she stretched.

Blind in the searing sun, she stumbled, her hands outstretched as if she were a zombie, moving as fast as she could toward the din of people and traffic in the distance. She scrambled although she had no idea where she was or where she was going. So long as it was the opposite direction from her captors, she was good with that.

Tripping over something, maybe a curb, she went down hard on one knee then shot to her feet, shouting, “Help! Someone, help me!”

Blinking rapidly, she tried to bring her surroundings into focus. Before she could, Holly crashed hard into a solid wall of man. She screamed and thrashed, refusing to allow them to take her back to the dark trunk. Next time she wouldn’t escape.

“I’ve got you!” Strong arms banded around her.

It was the smell of vanilla aftershave mixed with solder that made her pause right before she kneed him in the nuts. She croaked, “T-trent?”

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