Their Virgin Hostage (Masters of Ménage #5)(53)

He laughed, but it was a bitter thing. "I've never known a woman like you to care about love."

"A woman like me?"

"Pampered. Rich."

"Money doesn't buy happiness, Riley. And we've already covered that it can't buy love. At the end of the day, I'm just a woman. I can't speak for all of them, but me? I just want to have a good life."

"What would a good life be?"

That idea hadn't changed in the years since she'd first understood what the word family meant. "Someone who loves me. Someone I could love back. Children. A purpose that's meaningful. I'm not talking about fame. I don't care if anyone knows who I am. I just want to make a difference. I want to make other people's lives better because I walked the earth. I want to make the people who love me proud. Is that too much to ask? I guess it is, because I don't seem to be able to do it."

He stared, a long moment passing before he spoke. "I hope you find it. I came in here for a reason. Uhm, Jansen is on TV right now. Look, Law doesn't want you to watch this, but I think you should. You're strong enough to handle the truth. Greg is holding press conferences and telling people you were taken. He's trying to make a case for you to return to him."

"Why?"

"Well, for starters, if you married Jansen, you wouldn't be compelled to testify against him."

"Show me." She wanted to see whatever Law sought to protect her from. It was sweet that he didn't want her hurt or upset, but she needed to know. She was quickly realizing that she wanted what these men could give her. Law offered utter devotion. He would try to shield her with every ounce of his being. Dominic challenged her. He wanted her to be smarter, better than she thought she could be.

And Riley was an equal, who supposedly appreciated life and humor and the people he shared them with. Which was why it hurt so much that he wasn't interested.

He turned on the TV hanging on the opposite wall and changed the channel to a twenty-four- hour news network. Greg's face immediately came up. He was wearing a perfectly pressed suit as he spoke to the camera. It didn't look like he'd missed any sleep. 

"Someone took my fiancée. I can only pray they treat her well. She's my heart. She's the better half of me. I'm begging for Kinley's swift return."

A voice came from the audience. "How do you reply to Kellan Kent's assertion that Kinley Kohl is a runaway bride who fled your wedding with her lover?"

She had a lover? Oh, this story was way more interesting than her actual life.

Greg frowned. "My bride isn't interested in lovers. This is pure libel. She's an innocent. Kinley is one of the world's most true and pure souls."

Meaning an idiot who couldn't get a guy-or see when the one in front of her was trying to profit from her death.

Greg droned on. "Kinley would never abandon her family without a word. She values her loved ones and knows that her sister misses her. That her father needs her. I pray she'll find a way to survive this because my everything depends on her coming home."

He stared into the camera, giving her that same look he'd given her when he'd offered to save her charity. It made her feel dirty and selfish because she had to choose between throwing caution to the wind for what she wanted and whoring herself for the people who needed her.

Becks was in the background, her face shining in the sunlight as she stood behind Greg. She had on her best suit, the one that showed off the ten grand she'd spent on her boobs. She kept her left side to the camera because she'd always told Kinley that was her good side. It was so comforting to know her sister was concerned with how hot she looked on camera.

Kinley loved her niece and nephew. She'd never understood how Becks could send them off to boarding school, especially so young, but it was all there in her sister's plastic face. The woman didn't feel anything. Something was deeply and profoundly wrong with Becks. She was missing her heart, possessed an empty soul. She didn't care about anyone but herself.

Same with her father.

Her mother had been so lovely, but she'd accepted less than she'd deserved. Would her mother have wanted her to do the same? What did Kinley want for herself? What was she willing to accept? How much was she willing to risk?

A plan started to germinate in her head. Law, Riley, and Dominic had kidnapped her …

"He sounds sympathetic." Riley frowned at the screen.

"I'm not going to press charges."

He turned his head. "What?"

She'd decided that before she made her one escape. When she'd been wrapped around Law's body, his arms holding her close, she'd known she didn't want freedom. Freedom had kind of sucked because it couldn't love you back. "I'm not going to press charges. I'll go along with what Kellan said. You were smart to involve him. He's Annabelle's employer. She cares about him. I'm not going to take him down any more than I would the three of you, so I'll go along with his cover story."