“In the morning you’ll be back with your boyfriends. Just stay quiet and everything will be okay.” He motioned to his friend. “Roger, get some sleep. I’ll take first watch.”
Ava knew there was no way she was going to sleep. She needed to stay alert and look for any opportunity to escape. Her men had no idea where she was being held. She had only herself to depend on at the moment. She closed her eyes halfway, trying to pretend to sleep. She would try and catch them off guard. She had to get back to the men she loved.
Chapter Fourteen
Brayden paced back and forth on the sidewalk in front of the club. Every cop in Plenty was there and Ryan was directing traffic like a general heading into battle. It still wasn’t enough. The crushing weight of guilt and fear was making it hard to breathe. He should have protected Ava. He should have been watching her. If anything happened to her, his life wouldn’t be worth living. She was supposed to be his second chance.
“Brayden, calm the fuck down. We’re going to find her.”
Ryan looked confident, but Brayden was in no fucking mood to be pacified.
“You wouldn’t be calm if this was Jillian,” he said with a growl.
Ryan nodded. “You’re right. I wouldn’t. But I don’t think they’ve gone far. We’ll send every unit out to look for them.”
Zach spread out a map on the hood of a police cruiser. “They called what, twenty, maybe thirty minutes after you found her missing? That means they’re close. They’re still in Plenty.”
Zach had once been a Navy Seal and it showed in his no-nonsense attitude and confident air. Brayden was glad Zach was on their side. His expression was almost completely dead, as if he was steeling himself for something bloody and messy. Brayden hoped it didn’t come to something like that.
Falk started to push his way toward the map and into Zach’s face, but Cassie caught him by the arm and Chase murmured, “Let him be. He’s fucking good at this.”
Zach started pointing to areas on the map and Ryan was sending his deputies off on the search. Brayden was pissed off, and feeling helpless. He had to fucking do something. He grabbed Ryan’s arm.
“I want to help.”
Ryan shook his head. “You stay here and wait for any calls. Julian is headed here as fast as he can from Orlando with a group of agents and police dogs to search.”
“Fuck, Ryan. I can’t just sit here with my thumb up my ass. She’s the woman I love, for fuck’s sake.”
His voice was hoarse and Ryan paused and looked at him for a long time. Brayden was ready to snap, but Ryan finally nodded. “You can go with Deputy Jason. He’s going to be searching around the lake, near the drive-in.”
Brayden started for the SUV, when Falk and Josh joined in. Ryan held up his hand. “Now wait a minute, you can’t—aw, what the fuck? Go ahead. Deputy Jason, please make sure they don’t get their asses hurt or killed, understood?”
Deputy Jason nodded and tipped his hat. “Will do, Sheriff. Come on, let’s get going. We can’t find her standing in a parking lot.”
And when they did find her, he was going rip out Roger’s and Troy’s throats.
* * * *
Ava’s arms ached from her position on the recliner. Her arms ached and she was getting scared. There hadn’t been an opportunity to escape and she didn’t truly know if anyone was searching for her.
She fidgeted in the chair. “I need to go to the bathroom.”
The man never took his eyes from his book. “Hold it.”
She hated women who whined, but she needed to get out of these cuffs. “Please. I really need to go.”
She even tried to tear up a little for him, sniffling as if she was fighting back sobs. He threw down his book.
“Fuck. Just don’t try anything. I don’t want to have to hurt you or anything.”
It was the “or anything” she was mostly worried about. His buddy was asleep and this was her best chance. He untied the rope and unlocked the cuffs, holding her wrists behind her back as he walked her to the bathroom.
“You’ve got five minutes.”
He shoved her in and pulled the door shut. She sighed in relief and began to look around for a weapon, maybe a razor, but the bathroom hardly held anything at all. It looked like all they had was two toothbrushes, a tube of toothpaste, and a comb. She eyed the bathroom window, but it was tiny and there was no way she was getting her generous butt through it.
There was a rap on the door. “Are you done?”
“Almost.” Ava flushed the toilet and realized she was going to have to fight her way out without any weapon to help her. She ran through the scenarios that Falk had taught her, and made her plan.
She turned on the faucet as hot as it would go and soaped up her hands. He rapped on the door again.
“I’m coming in.”
She deliberately didn’t answer, knowing his curiosity would be piqued. She waited for him to open the door. He finally did, his face red and angry.
“Goddamn it, didn’t you hear me? I said you have five minutes.”
It was now or never. She took a handful of the soapy, scalding water and threw it in his eyes. He reared back in shock, the hot water and burning soap blurring his vision. She reared back her arm and rammed the heel of her hand into his nose. She heard a cracking sound and saw a spray of blood. He howled in pain, and before he could recover, she shoved her knee into his balls as hard as she could. He went down with a thud, whimpering.
She didn’t have time to admire her handy work. She stepped over him and set out at a run, pushing through the front door and down the long driveway to the road. Her ankles ached and she stumbled a little, cursing her high heels. The guys were right. High heels were stupid. Wasn’t this what every woman did in a horror movie? The stupid girl tripped, falling, and the monster slash bad guy would catch up to her and kill her.
She stopped and pulled her shoes off and headed out at a run again, glad she had been working out with her men. She stayed on the almost smooth asphalt of the road instead of the dirt and gravel on the shoulder so she wouldn’t cut her feet. She wouldn’t be able to keep up this pace forever, but she wanted to put as much distance between her and the cabin as possible.
She saw headlights behind her and she jumped into some bushes to hide. If it was her kidnappers, she needed to stay hidden. She crouched down, hiding as the lights came closer. When the car was almost on her, she saw it was an SUV, not the sedan she’d been transported in. She jumped out and waved frantically, trying to get them to stop.
The SUV careened to a stop, and men poured out. She recognized Josh first, then Falk and Brayden, followed last by a police officer who carried a large rifle. Josh reached her first.
“Ava! Ava, honey, are you okay?” He crushed her to his chest and she could feel his heart pounding frantically against her cheek. They’d been as afraid as she had. She pushed at his chest, his grip so tight she could barely breathe.
“Yes, I’m okay. I’m fine. I escaped.”
Brayden grabbed her from Josh and she was hugged tightly again, almost crushing her ribs. Finally, she faced Falk, who stood there like a statue, a look on his face she’d never seen before. He looked tortured, as if his very soul had been torn from his body. She reached out a hand to him and he grabbed it, pressing to his lips.
“Beautiful, I’m sorry. I’m so fucking sorry. I should never have left you alone.”
She shook her head and went into his arms, holding him close. “It wasn’t your fault, Falk.” He looked miserable, barely meeting her eyes. She grabbed his chin and turned him so he couldn’t look away. “It wasn’t your fault. It’s no one’s fault.”
The officer stepped forward. “Ma’am? I’m Deputy Jason. I hate to interrupt, but can you tell me where your kidnappers are? How did you get away?”
She pulled away and pointed behind her. “There’s a cabin back there. They took me there. I was in cuffs and tied up, but I asked to go to the bathroom and that’s when I made my escape.”
&n
bsp; Falk stroked her hair. “How did you get away?”
She smiled up at him. “I did what my teacher taught me. I broke his nose with my palm and kneed him in the jewels.”
Four men winced in unison and despite everything she’d been through she almost laughed. Some things were just universal and getting kicked in the balls appeared to be one of them.
Deputy Jason went back to the SUV and grabbed the radio, calling all the other units, letting them know their location and that she was safe.
Deputy Jason slapped Josh on the back. “You’re lucky men. Ryan’s on his way—”
The deputy never got to finish his sentence. A car came barreling down the road, swerving to miss the SUV parked in the middle of the road, and landing in the ditch. It was the car she’d been abducted in. She pointed and tried to speak, but they had already figured it out. Falk hustled her into the SUV and covered her body with his own. She heard some yelling and the deputy giving orders. By the time Falk got the all-clear signal, the two kidnappers were in handcuffs.
One of them was walking funny and his face was covered with blood. Deputy Jason pointed to him. “Ava, does this man look familiar?”
She nodded. “Yes. They both do. They kidnapped me.”
Several police cars arrived, sirens wailing and lights flashing. Ryan and another man exited an SUV, walking quickly toward her. The man took one look at her captors and laughed, turning to her men.
“Which one of you put the hurt on him for kidnapping your girlfriend?”
The men shook their heads, and Falk threw his arm around her waist, pulling her close. “Ava did that. She’s a woman who can take care of herself.”
The man gave her a look of respect and with the help of another deputy hauled them off to a dark sedan that had just arrived.
“Who was that?” Ava had never seen him before.
Ryan answered. “Special Agent Julian McNamara. He’ll be taking those boys back to sit for their trial. I don’t think they’ll get bail again, and they sure won’t be bothering you again.”
The special agent joined them again. “I’d like to get your statements so I can head back and take them into custody. I promise it won’t take all night.”
Ava took a deep breath. It was the last thing she wanted to do, but the sooner it was over the better.
“Okay, let’s get this done.”
Josh tried to object. “Ava, you’re exhausted. You should rest. We can go to the station tomorrow.”
“No, I want to get this over with. Don’t we have a future to plan?”
Ryan tugged on the agent’s sleeve, pulling him away to give the four of them some privacy.
“I meant what I said on the phone. I love you. All three of you.”
Falk was the first to speak. “Well, I’m not too much of a pussy to say that I love you, too. More than you can imagine, beautiful. You’re the woman I never thought we’d find.”
Ava laughed. No one could ever call her men pussies. Josh was the next one to step forward.
“I love you, Ava. I love you so damn much it hurts. You’re the perfect woman for us.”
She grabbed Josh’s hand. They were the perfect men for her.
Just one of her men was left. Her stubborn, hard-ass Brayden. He exhaled slowly. “There don’t seem to be words for how I feel. It seems weak to say I love you, although I do. It seems like an understatement to say I want to spend the rest of my life with you, but I want that, too.”
She let her men surround her, feeling safe and loved. “It was a tough road here, guys. I had to be kidnapped to get you to say you loved me. This wasn’t the height of romance either. My hand is bruised, my feet are probably cut up, and the entire Plenty police department and a few Federal agents are watching us. But I guess we can only improve from here. I’m going to want a very romantic marriage proposal, I warn you now.”
Brayden tipped her chin up. “We would have said it before, but we thought we might scare you off. As for a proposal, consider yourself committed to each one of us. We’ll do a formal proposal at the appropriate time. Just know we love you and you belong to us.”
She limped over to the SUV. “Let’s get this done so we can go home.”
Falk smiled. “Our home or your home?”
Josh opened the car door for her. “There’s only our home. It’s not home without all four of us.”
Ava tossed her high heels into the car and sat down in the backseat. “I call dibs on the jetted tub.”
Brayden laughed. “You can have anything you want. Forever.”
“I only want you. You three and a really great bathtub.”
It took a few months, but she did get her romantic proposal. On Valentine’s Day, her men each went down on one knee and presented her with three diamond eternity bands. In addition to candlelight, there were roses, champagne, lobster, and chocolate to round out the evening.
Most of all, there were her men. Her men. She loved those two words. She would love them whether they were rich or poor. All the trappings of romance and success didn’t matter. She’d found men she could trust for a lifetime.
THE END
WWW.LARAVALENTINE.NET
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
I’ve been a dreamer my entire life. So, it was only natural to start writing down some of those stories that I have been dreaming about.
Being the hopeless romantic that I am, I fall in love with all of my characters. They are perfectly imperfect with the hopes, dreams, desires, and flaws that we all have. I want them to overcome obstacles and fear to get to their happily ever after. We all should. Everyone deserves their very own sexy happily ever after.
I grew up in the cold but beautiful plains of Illinois. I now live in Central Florida with my handsome husband, who’s a real, native Floridian, and my son whom I have dubbed “Louis the Sun King.” They claim to be supportive of all the time I spend on my laptop, but they may simply be resigned to my need to write.
When I am not working, I enjoy relaxing with my family or curling up with a good book.
For all titles by Lara Valentine, please visit
www.bookstrand.com/lara-valentine
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
About the Author
Plenty of Trust [Plenty, FL 4] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 19