Abducted By My Father's Best Friend (Taken)

We’re not the only ones that pull into the circular drive of the DeWinter home. Anyone who has ever known Georgio DeWinter is here to pay their respects.

“Park around back and meet me inside,” I tell Jeremy, as I step out of the sedan.

The only person I’m looking for is the woman who’s stolen my heart. Mia.

I walk through the front doors. Doors I’ve walked through many times in the past. It’s weird to have lost Georgio the way we did. Hordes of people in black dresses and black suits mill about the living room and kitchen, drinking wine and solemnly sharing stories of the recently deceased.

I spot Mia’s mother, Serena, and scan the room, looking for the brunette who’s turned my carefully crafted world upside down.

“Where’s Mia?” I ask Sophia when I find her and Dean in the kitchen, standing at the granite island that’s loaded with comfort food.

“She’s out there.” Sophia nods toward the window.

I glance out at the garden, full of colorful flowers, where Georgio used to host parties. It’s lush green beauty doesn’t hold a candle to Mia.

“Thank you.” I pat Dean on the back and head out of the sliding glass doors into the garden.

I stride past rose bushes and topiaries, moving closer to Mia near the fountain at the rear of the yard.

The somber black dress she’s wearing with a black shawl around her slumped shoulders makes my chest ache. When I reach her, I want to touch her, shield her from life’s ugliness, but I keep my hands to myself.

“It was a good service,” she says, still looking at the bubbling fountain in front of her.

“It was beautiful.”

She’s trying not to cry and my arms ache to hold her close.

“I can’t believe all of this.” She turns to face me, tears trickling down her cheeks. “I don’t know how I’m supposed to feel. He stole from his friends. He set you up. He kidnapped me, and planned to use me as a hostage. Yet, I miss him. I don’t know what to feel.” The tears fall faster and I wrap my arms around her.

“Mia, it’s ok to miss him. It’s ok to mourn his death.” I curl her into my chest, holding her tight, and kiss the top of her head. “I miss him, too.”

Mia weeps into my shirt and I just hold her close, telling her everything will be ok. I’ll make sure of it. I know her father left her and her mother in debt, and I plan to pay off everything and make sure the DeWinter’s are taken care of for the rest of their lives.

Even if Mia and I don’t end up together, I promised her father.

I promised I’d take care of her.

But I don’t need the wish of a dying man to tell me to take care of Mia DeWinter.

I love her.

I love her more than the moon and stars that orbit this earth.

Epilogue

Mia

* * *

It’s been two weeks since we buried my father. It’s been two weeks since Sebastian’s treated me like I’m a new kid for him to take care of.

It’s worse than when we first made it to Hong Kong.

He’s taken care of all the family affairs and set my mother up in a luxury apartment across town.

He’s been nothing but perfect, but I don’t want perfect. I want messy. I want passion. I want the kind of love Sebastian and I shared in London only a few weeks ago.

I want it all, but I don’t know how to broach the subject with him. He’s been relentless in making sure I eat and take care of myself when I’m missing my father.

Dean and Sebastian have also made sure I’m watched around the clock since Bishop still hasn’t surfaced. There’s still no word on how the other daughters are handling lockdown either.

I sit in my apartment, waiting on Sebastian and Dean to finish installing a second security camera in my hallway.

I watch as Sebastian turns the screwdriver in his hands. He smiles at me.

I don’t stop watching, staring at him and remembering the way he held me tight after he made love to me. I want that feeling again.

“I’ll be right back,” Sebastian tells Dean.

He gives me a look and I stand from the couch in my living room, following Sebastian to my bedroom so we can be alone to talk.

“What is wrong with you?” I ask, slamming my door shut.

“What do you mean?” He shoves his hands into his pants pockets.

“I mean. You haven’t touched me. You haven’t even looked at me since we’ve been home. Was I just something to pass the time in London?”

Sebastian’s eyes widen. “What? No, Mia.”

“I just don’t get it. Do you hate me or something?”

“Hate you? I’m trying to make everything perfect.” He steps closer to me, reaching out his hands to touch me and then draws them back.