Sweet Abduction Read Online Free Page A

going to go into orbit if she keeps praising Riley. Riley Tarrant is one subject that makes him furious. How can she be engaged to him and not know this?
    “His face is disgusting with all those scars.” Dane grimaces.
    “Riiiight,” Charlotte says. “That’s why he models. I saw him in an ad for Italian suits the other day. He sure filled it out nicely. How tall is he anyway? Like six four or something like that. I don’t remember. Do you know Leah? You knew him once didn’t you?”
    “Leah knew him,” Dane says softly. “How tall was lover boy?”
    “That was a long time ago,” I say. “I haven’t seen him in three years.”
    “Ohmigod, Leah!” Charlotte squeals. “Did you sleep with him?” She bows her head in mock reverence. “I’m so unworthy!”
    Inside, something, my dignity maybe, is curling up into the fetal position. “No, no, no. Nothing like that happened. Ever. He never touched me.”
    Charlotte rolls her eyes. “Tell me later,” she yell-whispers. She pours more wine into her glass, sloshing some onto the linen and lifts her glass to me.
    I dart a glance at Dane to see if he’s fuming. Other than his love for my father I don’t get along great with him, but I still worry about him. He’s had some rough patches. There was a time where I was sure he was not only abusing alcohol but maybe something harder. He works really hard. I think he knows Miranda’s timeline for him and I envision him either achieving her dreams or crashing and burning badly.
    He’s devoted to Charlotte, though, and that’s changing him. He’s happier and I think it’s because she keeps him in line. The first time we met for drinks, he had a few shots and said something mildly insulting to her. She told him that it was always the man’s job to be the designated driver so he was done drinking for the night. She smacked him, called him a douche bag and ordered herself another pinot, all in one breath.
    Miranda fingers the strand of pearls around her neck and frowns. “Riley Tarrant’s a thug.”
    “Obviously,” Charlotte scoffs. “That’s pretty clear, Miranda. Kinda think that’s a requirement to being a cage fighter. ”
    A quiet chill settles over the table and I try to keep from showing any amusement. Charlotte has a way of talking to Miranda that radiates zero shit-taking. It’s like two titans of entitlement going at it. Bridezilla vs. Megawitch. The interchange is hard to watch, but impossible to ignore.
    “But you know,” Charlotte goes on. “Women like thugs.”
    I’m never sure if she’s aware of her effect. She just prattles on about whatever damn thing passes through her mind and assumes everyone finds it enlightening and riveting.
    “I have a theory about that,” she says.
    I jab my fork into a chunk of chicken. “I want to hear all about it.” Okay, I’m a bitch too.
    “Actually, it’s Daddy’s theory.” Charlotte takes a gulp of wine. “Hmm… I might have this theory mixed up.”
    “No…really?” Miranda says lifting her wine to her lips.
    Charlotte ignores the dig. “Daddy has a lot of theories. I’ll ask him about his thug theory.”
    “I can hardly wait.” Miranda rises from her chair.
    Charlotte notices that Miranda is about to leave the table. “Wait, don’t leave. We need to have a family meeting.”
    Miranda gives Dane an arctic glare. “What is this about?”
    But Dane looks as surprised as I probably do. I mentally check off all the possibilities. She’s not pregnant. I know that because last week she had her cycle and over-shared her woes with every person we ran into. Nothing has gone wrong with any of the vendors because they would have called me. I haven’t squared away any of the details because the wedding is still months away, but I have them booked. Dane is in charge of the honeymoon, so there’s one thing I don’t have to worry about.
    “My dad asked me to go with him to Mexico. He’s taking a team of six doctors, and he needs a translator.