Sweet Abduction Read Online Free

jugglers not.
    Miranda’s plan for her son is for him to be mayor by the time he’s forty, governor before fifty and President sometime after that. When she married my father she wasted no time making sure Dad adopted him… Dane Mathews has more power than Dane Filbert .
    Mirada sent him off to the east coast to private school and Yale Law School. She’s never forgiven him for not getting engaged to some New England blue blood. I think the minute Dane’s married to Charlotte, he’s going to do his best to keep her happy. Even though he’s mildly irritating at best, he’s coming around. He was very close to Dad. Adored him. For that alone he’s earned a soft spot in my heart.
    My phone buzzes in my pocket. I imagine it’s Riley. He’s going to make sure I’m not backing out. Getting a text rattles me. I’m sitting just a few feet from my stepmother. I really should cancel on him. Sitting here with my family has my bravado melting. This is silly. I ask myself what’s the point of having dinner with him. I should have a glass of wine, maybe two, and then I’ll text him that I can’t make it. I need a good excuse and I’m trying to think of something that doesn’t sound stupid.
    The best one I can think of is that I don’t want to rock the boat before Dane and Charlotte’s wedding. I’ll tell him I can see him in a few months. Maybe. I want to see him so badly it hurts, but I’m terrified too. For so many reasons. The idea fills me with a strange mixture of fear, and excitement, and arousal.
    Dane chuckles and the sound draws me from my thoughts. He’s reading something on his phone.
    “That shit, Riley Tarrant, almost got himself arrested last week.” Dane sets his phone aside and gives me a triumphant look.
    His words send a chill through my heart. I wonder if I look guilty since I’ve hardly been able to think of anything other than Riley.
    “Not him again.” Charlotte rolls her eyes. “Dane’s fascinated with that guy. Let it go, honey. He’s got nothing on you.”
    Miranda waves her hand. “Really, Dane. Your preoccupation with Riley is juvenile. You work for the District Attorney. Riley gets paid to be an animal, knocking men unconscious. Why would you be jealous?”
    Dane scowls. “I’m not jealous, Mother. I think it’s amusing he can’t hold it together.”
    Once Dane confronted me, asking me about my feelings for Riley. He said Riley had mentioned something about the girl of his dreams being a redhead. Some journalist quoted him and Dane acted like I was being disloyal and had said as much. Like it was my fault Riley likes redheads. I was pretty certain Riley had said it just to get a rise out of Dane.
    “What did he do?” I school my tone to try to sound neutral, and I think I sound pretty convincing.
    “He threatened some fight promoter,” Dane said with thinly veiled scorn. “The guy dropped the charges. He’s going into early retirement to spend more time with his family.”
    “Riley probably paid him off.” Charlotte shrugs. “I’m sure he’s loaded, what with the fighting and commercials and billboards. He’s probably even making a fortune from his YouTube channel. If I had that kind of money and some jerk pestering me I’d just pay him off.”
    My skin prickles with discomfort. I keep my attention on my dinner, unthinkingly cutting pieces of chicken and moving them around the plate.
    “That fucker gets paid to show up at parties,” Dane says.
    It’s true. Riley does get paid to show up at parties. He has a house north of town somewhere, no one really knows where, but he jets off to events in Los Angeles and New York. I’ve seen pictures of him in Tokyo and Sydney too. He’s elusive, but he turns up everywhere.
    “He’s one of those empty-headed celebrities who’s famous for being famous,” Dane adds.
    Charlotte scoffs. “Don’t forget he’s gorgeous. And a cage fighter. Or whatever you call them.”
    I turn to her and give her a pointed look. Dane’s