Captured by Cowboys (Doms of Destiny, Colorado 1)

“A public place will do just fine. Chinese sounds good to me,” she said. “I’ve been living off sandwiches for way too long.”

“I don’t like this one damn bit, Amber.” Bryant handed her his cell.

“Neither do I,” Emmett added.

“Keep this with you.” Bryant brushed the hair out of her eyes. “Promise me you’ll call Emmett’s cell if you need us for anything. He’s number one on my speed dial.”

“I promise I will, Bryant.”

Emmett didn’t move his stare from Sergei. “Amber, we’ll be right outside watching Mr. White’s every move.”

“I’ve got nothing to hide.” Mr. White pulled out his cell once again. “First, I need to let your parents know you’re safe, Kathy.” He typed a message into his phone. “All done. Let’s go see what this pissant town has to offer.”

* * * *

When Cody got back to the road after a full hour of climbing, he was still unhinged by what he’d found in the van.

Had Amber been driving it when she had her accident? As much as he believed she’d fallen from heaven onto the ranch by some kind of act of fate, he knew better. She was flesh and blood. A real woman. The van had to be the vehicle she’d been in. There was no other explanation he could come up with no matter how much he wanted another. Perhaps she’d been a passenger, even a hostage. He clung to that idea, no matter how far-fetched or how horrible to think, with every fiber of his being. If true, Amber was no longer a hostage of whatever creep had held her. She was safe now. If not, he prayed Amber’s memories would never return. Let her dark past remain a mystery to her. That would be best for her, and for him and his brothers.

He looked over at his horse, still tied to the tree twenty feet from the drop-off. “Good, boy.” Tuxedo’s ears were up, and his nostrils were flaring. “Settle down. Sorry I left you so long.”

Catching his breath from the hard climb back up the cliff, he looked at the horizon. The sun had already dipped below it, but there was still just enough light in the sky that he didn’t have to bring out the flashlight.

Before heading Tuxedo’s direction, he scanned the items he’d brought up the cliff. His jaw clenched once again. These weren’t good for Amber. Not one damn bit. Not good for any of them.

The purse held Amber’s driver’s license. Once again, he looked at her picture. God, she was beautiful. Twenty-five years old, turning twenty-six in another month. Her name was Katherine White. That didn’t fit her in his mind. She would be “Amber” forever to him.

The bag also had a slip of paper he thought might help solve the mystery, though he was worried what more he would discover if he continued pursuing the truth. But he knew he must. Whatever more he found about Amber, she was his woman, and he would not let past sins take her away from him no matter what. On the note were a name and a phone number. Nate Wright. Did that guy have anything to do with the other items he’d found in the van? How was Amber mixed up with him? The area code was the same as Destiny’s, which meant the man was in Colorado, but that could be anywhere from the entire Western border—Durango to Steamboat Springs—and the whole northern third of the state. Once bars appeared back on his cell’s service indicator, he planned on calling Mr. Wright. If the dude ever had done anything that hurt her or put her in danger, Cody would kill the son of a bitch.

Another perplexing item was the registration he’d found in the compartment in the dashboard. The van belonged to the Green Lakes Boys’ Home in Chicago, not Amber. Was the van stolen? Another call to make once his fucking phone was working again.

The last item was unfathomable to him. He’d brought up only this plastic bag, leaving the other two identical in every way to this one, including contents. Still shocked by the packages, he held this one up to take another look. It resembled broken glass, but he had no doubt it was crystal meth. His gut tightened.

What the hell was Amber doing with all those drugs? None of it made any sense to him. He needed to get to her fast. She was in trouble, and he wasn’t about to let her face that without him. No one would harm her or take her away from him—not even the law, should t

hey come looking for her. Whatever her past held, he would stand by her side and keep her safe. He believed his brothers would, too.

She’d cracked his ever-so-serious and always-dutiful brother’s walls. Emmett was changed. Bryant, too, was different. His twin had thrown caution to the wind and had fallen hard for Amber. And me? What about me? He’d been looking for so long, dreaming of a day when they could be a real family again—he and his brothers sharing, adoring, and loving a woman together. Amber was the love of his life. She was the one.

He heard a crack of a branch behind him, and his survival training kicked into gear. Tuxedo had been trying to warn him in his way that they weren’t alone, but he’d been too tired and too stupid to realize it.

Dropping his packages from the van to the ground, he ducked and spun around.

His move kept him from being hit over the head with a metal pipe.

Cody balled up his left hand and punched his attacker in the nuts, while freeing his pistol from its holster with his right hand.

Out of the corner of his eye, Cody spotted another man, pointing a thirty-eight his direction.

The man with the pipe crumpled to the ground with a thud.

With no hesitation, Cody emptied five of his gun’s bullets into the other man’s chest.

Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang.

The creep got off a single shot that hit him in his left leg.

He remained low, scanning every direction for any other assholes that might have come with these two.