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W hile I was lost in my fantasies of a certain sexy stud muffin, I failed to notice the car had stopped.

“Clem!”

“What? Why are we stopped?” I asked, looking at Jade, Shelly, and Coral who were all just laughing at me.

“Cause we need gas, and I have to pee, you scatterbrain! What were you even thinking about?” Coral asked.

My cheeks burned, but I just rolled my eyes. They didn’t need to know where my thoughts had been.

“Shut up, nosy. Come on, I’ll walk you to the ladies’ room while Shelly and Jade get the gas.”

“Ooh, get me some gum, will you?” Jade asked.

“No way. No gum for her, Clem, I’m serious. This brat left her chewed gum in my cup holder last time.”

“Oh my God! One time,” Jade defended herself.

“Let’s get out of here before they ask for more stuff,” Coral whispered, and I agreed.

We laughed as we walked, the sounds of those two bickering followed us. It was a common fight, and I was just happy we would be at the house soon.

Snow flurries started falling, and the sky above us was a dark pink color, even though it was still early.

“Clem, we’re gonna have a white Christmas!” Coral shouted and spun in a circle.

“Ooh, that was a mistake. I have to pee! Come on.”

“We need a key, you dope,” I reminded her.

We walked to the little convenient store to ask for the key. Inside, the store was super cramped, but that was typical.

Music played low in the background, and I approached to the older man sitting behind the counter.

“Excuse me, can we have the key to the ladies’ room?” I asked.

“Only one bathroom. Here ya go. Round back,” he said, handing me a key tied to a whole ass wiffle bat.

I rolled my eyes at Coral, and we went back outside to tread through the half inch of snow to use the toilet.

“Coral, make sure you don’t sit!”

“Oh my God. Yes, Mom!” she teased me, and I rolled my eyes.

With all the layers she had on, I was lucky if it didn’t take her ten minutes just to find her own ass just to hover above the toilet seat.

It was getting colder by the second, and I hugged myself, my mind wandering to Connor.

He was just so handsome. And sexy. And well, everything.

This was good news, right?

Him wanting to come celebrate the holiday with my family had to mean he was serious and not just messing around.

That and the fact my father knew exactly what he’d done, and he still invited him, well, that was good news, too.

Maybe Connor and I would have more than a short time together.

Hope springs eternal , or so they said.

I bit my lip, knocking on the restroom door.

“Coral? Are you done yet? I am freezing my butt out here?—”

A couple of dark shadows fell across the path, and I looked up to see two men standing in front of me.

One was tall and broad shouldered with a blunt nose and grim expression. The other man was older and smaller, he had a smile on his face, but it was not filled with warmth.

“Sorry. The restroom is occupied, fellas,” I said, sliding my left hand into my pocket where I kept my pepper spray.

“Keep your hands where I can see them,” the big one snarled and pointed what looked like a 9mm right at my face.

I froze, eyes wide as I removed my empty hands from both pockets and held them up.

My chest rose and fell rapidly. This was bad. Very bad.

“Shh,” the shorter man said and nodded at the door where my sister was.

“What do you want?”

“Oh, we’re not here to take a piss. We’re here for you. But whether you come alone or drag your friend with us will be entirely your decision, princess.”

“No! Please. I’ll go with you. Just leave her alone,” I said.

“Good. Just what we wanted. Now, get in the van,” he said.

My heart hammered as I walked between them to a big white van. It was more like a mail truck. A Grumman, I thought it was called.

The bigger guy slid the side door open, and I paused, not sure what to do.

“There’s no seat,” I said, wanting to delay, but hoping like hell Coral didn’t come out anytime soon.

“Shut up and give me your hands.”

The older man secured my wrists together in front of me with zip ties, emptied my pockets, laughing when he chucked my pepper spray on the ground.

Then he shoved me into the back of the dirty van.

Talk about cliché.

Lucky for me, the moron didn’t check my pants pockets. He was still smirking at me as I watched as the bathroom door open and a still yapping Coral came strolling out.

“Coral! Run!” I screamed, but the older man slapped me hard while the bigger one started moving.

He clapped a fat hand over her mouth, and I was still seeing stars as she struggled. Her big eyes were wide, and she looked scared.

“Don’t hurt her, please,” I begged.

The two men kidnapping me didn’t seem to care what I said. They grabbed duct tape and slapped a piece over both our mouths, binding her wrists before tossing her in the van beside me.

She started to cry, and I crawled to her side, blocking her from them while trying to offer comfort.

“We were only supposed to take the one,” the big guy said.

The older man snarled and turned towards us.

“Just lie low, shut the fuck up, and everything will be okay. Hit it, Al,” the older man said.

I did as he said, and I hoped like hell he was right.