Page 92 of Booked for Kidnapping

“Can I make a guess?”

“Of course.”

“Chronic pain and illness is really difficult to cope with, and she wanted to give me the best chances to be able to recover.”

“That’s pretty close to the truth. Wiping your memory daily let her accomplish a great deal more. Unfortunately, she underestimated how social you are despite having introverted tendencies, and while they were wiping the daily memories, you apparently had a somewhat innate ability to detect the passage of time. Every day, you became more despondent. Dr. Castor did the best she could to provide you with company, as did the rest of your medical staff, but you wanted to go home, and once they started the wipes, you lost the connection to why things were happening.”

I winced. “That sounds like a disaster.”

“Yeah. Dr. Castor didn’t enjoy having to introduce herself to you each morning, either. There is some bad news.”

I stiffened. “What bad news?”

“She was only responsible for a few of the attempted kidnappings. Two of them were not her or anyone associated with her. She had a list of dates marked to go over with us. The gas bomb incident was her, though, which made Mom feel better about it. It turns out they meant to grab me and Ren, and they’d release you into the wild through having us rescue you. We kept interfering with their plans, resulting in them letting you go and having you wander to the library. Knowing that, I have regrets my father’s security team interfered.”

“Okay. I can respect and understand that. But who else would want you and why?”

“Well, I’m rich and handsome. I’m sure those are two reasons why someone might want to kidnap me.”

I eyed him, as while he didn’t quite match society’s standards for a hot man, all he had to do was walk on by while wearing anything—or nothing—to rev my engine. “I couldn’t care less about the rich part, but I find myself unable to dispute the handsome part. I’m concerned your mother was willing to cut a thirty million dollar check, by the way.”

“Yeah, that was unexpected. I figured she’d lead the charge accusing Dr. Castor, but just asking to cut a check caught me by surprise. I figured Mom would pounce somehow, but how she pounced was ruthless even for her. No prisoners, Janette. And no damage to Dr. Castor’s wallet, either. However, I’m concerned that there are at least five politicians who were at least somewhat in on your disappearance and recovery.”

“Do you think they can be trusted?”

“I think Dr. Castor has put us in a position where we’re forced to find out. What we don’t know is why you’ve become such an important player in this game. Why would you, an exsanguinator best known for volunteering in a hospital, be barred from military service? Dr. Castor seems to think the barring, which we have in writing and notarized, might have been pushed forward by someone who isn’t actually aware of your record or personality.”

“Because in reality, I am suitable for the military and warfare, assuming you ignore my general tendency to want to save lives rather than take them.”

“Dr. Castor thinks your relentless drive to save lives would sink their ship, especially since everyone now knows you exist and will be following you to see what you do. I’m marrying quite the celebrity, and you’re a celebrity because you’re selfless, kind, and everything a knight in shining armor should be. I’m happy to play your damsel-in-distress, by the way. That said, I could live without the relentless crush of romance being flung my way.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Everyone knows you did everything in your power to make sure I walked away from that accident, even at the cost of your own life. Then I spent the next few years searching for you. Then we got engaged. We’re hot on the celebrity gossip rags right now. Handsome millionaire falls in love with his bodyguard. Then the bodyguard proves to be a repeat heroine. Handsome millionaire then pines for missing fiancée for months. And don’t get me started on those women who wanted to help me heal from your disappearance.”

“Don’t get me started on them, either,” I grumbled.

He chuckled, and a knock at the door put an end to the talk. Ajani confirmed no interlopers planned to steal either of us away before she took over a bed and went to work washing her face.

“Breakfast is served,” Bradley announced, bringing me a covered dish. “In my infinite wisdom, I ordered you pancakes and bacon, and I ordered extra bacon for your enjoyment. There’s even maple syrup, which you can steal from me. I resisted the urge to indulge in butter, however much I direly want it.”

Poor Bradley. “You wouldn’t like the next few hours if you had the butter.”

“It’s like I learned through bitter experience or something. So, I’ve been volunteered to face your wrath—or seduce you into a good mood. Honestly, I’m fine with both as long as we handle everything in that order.”

“Wait. I can rage for a bit, and then you’ll seduce me into a good mood?”

“That’s my current plan, yes.”

“Okay. Why do you think I’m going to rage?”

“I think you’re going to rage a bit because there are some hurt feelings you cooperated with your kidnappers.”

As I could understand that, I nodded. “I’m prepared to deal with the consequences of that. But honestly, I have thirty million reasons I cooperated, plus it was, from my understanding of the situation, my best chance of getting my life—and my foot—back. Now I can be a librarian who volunteers at the hospital because I want to, not because I’m a chickenshit who is trying to hide.”

“Honestly, I’m still a little annoyed you didn’t just come home, but I was mostly responsible for that. I foolishly challenged you. I should have just invited you home to be seduced.”

I spent a few minutes considering that, eating my bacon and shooting him glares, debating what I would have done if he’d invited me home to be seduced instead of challenging me to return in my prime. “That would have stood a decent chance of working,” I admitted.