Kidnapped by the Billionaires

Book 4 of the Mating Season series.

Kidnapped by the Billionaires is a wolf shifter enemies to lovers, arranged marriage, fated-mates, billionaire captive romance.

My entire life, I was rejected for not being the proper daughter of the mayor of Huntington Harbor. I was too big. Too clumsy. Too shy. I never imagined that being captured and sold to cover my father’s debts would give me what I was searching for all along.

The two men who buy me are charming. Powerful. Ruthless. Inhuman beasts spoken of in fearful whispers. Now they own me.

With pleasure as their weapons, they are determined to break my innocence and bend me to their will. My body recognizes they are my fated mates, but I refuse to give them my heart.

As dangers mount, and I discover the true extent of my father’s betrayal, everything I thought I knew will be tested. Will my captors be my saviors or lead to my destruction?

This is a standalone story with a HEA. Each book in the Mating Season series features a new billionaire werewolf MMC duo and new FMC. All of the Mating Series books can be read independently in any order.

Excerpt

SOPHIE

“For the last time, I’m not going to do it,” I snapped at my sister.

Ariana was being a constant pain in my side. For the last week, she had been begging me nonstop to go on that stupid blind date in her place. Our mother was starting to panic, now that both of her daughters were approaching their mid-twenties and still unwed. This blind date was her latest attempt at marrying off my sister. It was something she cooked up with one of the ladies she played tennis with at the country club after a few too many gin and sodas. The eldest daughter of the mayor of Huntington Harbor, together with the heir of the largest car dealership network in the state. It was the perfect match.

Nudging her out of the way so that she wasn’t in the frame of the shot I was trying to capture, I tapped my phone and began recording. Making sure the plate of lobster pasta was dead center in the camera, I sprinkled a bit of chopped chives on top of the pasta. Then, I pointed the camera at myself as I twirled a forkful of pasta and brought the creamy mouthful to my mouth. The flavors exploded on my tongue, rich, decadent, full of the flavor of the sea, and a dash of booze from the whiskey I added. Hamming it up for the camera, I ate another bite, giving it my all, so the viewers would know how delicious the pasta was.

“Quit messing up Alice’s kitchen, Sophie.” My mother walked in and glared down her nose as she surveyed the dirty plates and sauce covered pans covering the counter.

I stopped the recording. Thankfully, I was going to add a voiceover in post-production, so her interruption didn’t ruin the video.

“I’ll clean it up, I promise.” Our family’s personal chef ran the kitchen like a naval ship captain, keeping it cleaner than a surgical operating room. I wouldn’t normally barge in and commandeer the kitchen like this, but I knew Alice had nothing planned for tonight, since none of us were going to be home for dinner.

“If you have enough time to mess around in the kitchen, then you should be doing something about those love handles.” My mother ran her eyes up and down my figure. The frown that had been on her face the moment she walked in, deepened.

Compared to the willowy, elegant figures of my mother and older sister, I felt like a short pudgy ogre. She walked over to the pantry and pulled out a glass jar of almonds. Pouring them out onto the counter, she counted out exactly a dozen almonds, and put the rest back in the jar.

“Remember, darling, a moment on the lips is forever on the hips.” Carefully, she brought one almond up to her lips and bit it in half, chewing slowly as if savoring the meager morsel.

Ariana shrugged. “I don’t know, Mommy. I think being an influencer is an improvement for Sophie. I mean, at least it’s better than working in that restaurant.”

I finished loading the dishwasher and slammed the door shut with more force than necessary. All the joy I had felt with creating the perfect dish drained out of my body with each word my mother spoke.

“Hmm, I guess. You really need to start thinking about your future, Sophie.” My mother ate the other half of her almond.

“I am, Mom. The Stafford is a renowned, Michelin star restaurant. Working as a sous chef under Chef Andretti, is a major stepping stone toward my goal of becoming head chef at a top restaurant in the future.”

She sighed. “I don’t know why you do this to me. What am I supposed to say when our friends ask me about you?”

“The truth?” My fingers balled into fists as I examined the pattern in the countertop for guidance.

“I can hardly do that. Can you imagine, the mayor’s daughter working in the kitchen? I mean, it’s fine if you have a passion for hosting parties or cooking for your family. But to cook for strangers? That’s what servants do.” Mother pushed aside the pile of almonds, as if she had lost her appetite. “I only wish you could do something more fitting to your status, like your sister. You could enroll at U of M and major in political science, or philosophy, or even art history, like Ariana. Something that would prepare you to marry a boy from a good family.”

I swallowed the lump in my throat as I held back the tears that threatened to fall. It was no secret that my family disapproved of my job. No matter what I accomplished, I was always going to be the black sheep of the family. Ugly, fat, clumsy Sophie next to gorgeous, fashionable, graceful Ariana. While my sister was a talented painter with an internship at the art museum, I worked in a busy kitchen, coming home each night smelling like grease and the stench of sweaty labor. It still stung to hear the words spoken so bluntly from my mother’s lips. She was ashamed of me.

“Aww, Mommy, don’t worry. The restaurant is just for experience. Sophie’s going to be famous one day, you’ll see. She’ll have her own cooking show on TV, endorsement deals, and end up on morning talk shows.” Ariana grabbed the pasta and took a big bite. “This is really good! You should give it a try.” Ariana pushed the plate toward our mother, who took a step back and held her hand out like she was warding off a rabid dog.

“I can’t eat all those carbs and dairy, and neither should you, Ariana.” Unless you want to look like your sister, were the words she left unsaid.

Suddenly, her back pocket chirped. She pulled out her phone. “The driver’s ready with the car.” Walking over to the full-length mirror next to the doorway, she adjusted her hair and fidgeted with her scarf. “Be good, girls. You should get ready for your date, Ariana. You don’t want to keep Dylan waiting.”

I let out a sigh of relief as I heard her heels clacking down the hall and the front door closing behind her.

“You don’t have to lie and defend me, you know. Mom’s always going to think I’m a failure.” I grabbed the plate of pasta, but Ariana yanked it out of my grasp.

“I wasn’t lying. This is ah-mazing! You’re an excellent cook, Sophie. I know it won’t be long before your channel goes viral, and you’ll have over a million subscribers.”

Guilt tugged at me for being so rude and mean to my sister. It wasn’t her fault that our parents treated her like the golden child, while I was the scapegoat they trampled on. Ariana could be so sweet when our parents weren’t egging her on. I really should spend more time with her while we were both still living at home.

“Thanks. I’m still not going on that stupid date for you.”

“Oh, come on! It’s just a movie, you can pretend to watch it while you ignore the guy. You don’t even have to talk to him.”

“Okay, then why don’t you go, if it’s no big deal?” My sister was up to something.

“Because, I already have plans with the girls to go see The Federal in the city. It’s the band’s last show before they go on hiatus. Besides, I stalked the guy on the internet already. He’s a total dweeb.”

I doubt our parents knew about her plans, given how protective they were. Our father’s position as mayor meant he had a lot of powerful friends, and a lot of powerful enemies.

“What do I get in return if I do this for you?”

Ariana grinned. “The warm, fuzzy feeling of being the best sister in the world?”

“Try again.”

She huffed dramatically. “I will run interference and distract Mom whenever she’s home for the next three months. That way, you can work on your videos in peace.”

I tilted my head as I considered her offer. It was tempting, but was it tempting enough for me to waste my evening stuck in awkward conversation with some strange guy? I tapped my fingers on the counter. “And?”

“I’ll also help you edit your videos, decorate the kitchen, and put together the place settings. You know, I do have an eye for color coordination and presentation, what with me being an artist and all.”

“Fine. But I’m going to make you work to repay this debt.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll make it worth your time. Maybe you’ll hit it off with this guy. Then Mom and Dad will be happy that one of us is dating him.”

Ariana laughed as she ducked the dish towel I threw at her head.

And that was how I found myself standing in front of the State St. Theater in a pair of black leggings and a red leather jacket that did nothing to block out the wind. Tugging on the edges of the jacket tightly against my stomach, I wished that I was wearing my own cozy sweater and relaxed jeans instead. Ariana insisted that this was what she told Dylan she would be wearing. I teetered on the four-inch-high black platform boots she made me wear and scanned the crowd outside the theater for another red jacket. Both Ariana and Dylan were supposed to be wearing red jackets as an easy way to spot each other.

The streets were already decorated with glittering tinsel and fake Christmas trees at the base of each streetlamp. It was ridiculous that the city was already preparing for Christmas when we hadn’t even had Thanksgiving yet.

At this moment, I deeply regretted dying my hair the same color as my sister’s hair. It was an emergency cover-up to fix my disastrous flirtation with a pink and purple dye job. Together with this outfit, I looked like a goth-emo imitation of my sister. While our features were similar, with cat-like green eyes and an upturned button nose, only Ariana had our mother’s graceful model-like physique and porcelain skin to pull off the look. Unfortunately, I took after our father, inheriting his stocky figure and mousy brown hair.

“Excuse me, are you Miss Nelson?”

I spun around. The man in a black turtleneck sweater and black jeans had a bigger nose and smaller eyes than the picture Ariana showed me of Dylan, but he had the same hair and eye color. I guess if I squinted, he looked like the picture.

“Yeah. Aren’t you supposed to be wearing a red jacket too?”

“There’s no need.” He looked behind me and nodded at someone.

Before I could turn to see who he was gesturing to, someone grabbed me roughly from behind. A gloved hand slammed over my mouth, muffling my cries for help. As they dragged me away, I struggled, twisting my torso to shake them loose. Digging my heels into the ground, I tried to slow them down. The man who spoke to me grabbed my ankles, and together, they lifted me like I was a pig on a spit roast. I couldn’t shake them loose. My eyes darted around frantically among the crowds of people on the streets, surely someone could see that I was being abducted?

They tossed me into the back of a dark van and slammed the door shut. The van took off slowly, without the screeching of tires I would have expected. They didn’t want to draw attention to themselves. I stared at my kidnappers and memorized their faces before I let out a loud scream, praying that somebody outside would hear me.

“Fucking bitch.”

“Somebody shut her up!” yelled the driver.

“My pleasure.” The Dylan lookalike grinned a nasty smirk as he hunched over me.

The last thing I saw before everything went black was his fist slamming toward my face.