Protecting His Kidnapped Family - Leslie North Page 0,4

to come to her family’s estate here in St. Dourdane on the South American coast in the first place, instead of staying at home like pretty much everyone had advised her to do once she’d found out about the pregnancy, including her OB/GYN. But no, Serena hadn’t listened to them. Had only wanted to get away, to try and get some space and time alone to regain her equilibrium after news of the impending baby had rocked her world. Little did she know that soon-to-be little Gracie’s surprise appearance in her womb would only be the start of her troubles.

She’d planned on working while she was here too, of course. The charity foundation she’d taken over after her parents’ death in a plane crash was doing great work in the poorer villages of St. Dourdane, making sure children had the education and literacy skills they needed to escape a life of poverty. She’d planned to check out their efforts first-hand, maybe do a bit of social media promotion for the cause, drum up more donations. And sure, her trip here had been rushed, without the usual security precautions, but she’d figured she’d be safe enough. She’d intended to be in and out so quickly that no one would have the chance to plan an attack, since only a few key people within her family’s candy company knew about her travel plans. Besides, she’d always loved coming here. She still had fond memories of her parents and brother spending time on the estate when they’d been kids. Swimming, hiking, playing on the beach. Postcard perfect stuff.

Then she’d been kidnapped, taken in the dead of night by the thugs, who’d tied her up and blindfolded her, threatening to kill her if she made so much as a sound. She’d gotten a brief glimpse of their faces before they’d put the blindfold on, their hard features and lethal expressions seared into her mind forever. She’d seen the same men around the villa a few times, enough to make her put off any plans for escape until she knew she was strong enough, post-delivery, that she could make it. Or until things got so desperate that staying became more impossible than risking her life and the life of her baby for a chance at freedom.

A familiar panic tightened her throat before she swallowed it down. She was fine. Gracie was fine.

For now.

On paper, getting stuck in some luxury villa for months on end sounded great. Until you realized you were in complete lockdown. No phone. No internet. No TV. No access to the outside world at all. The only reason she knew precisely how long she’d been in here was because Serena had managed to swipe her midwife’s cell phone when the woman had been here to conduct her eight-week postpartum check. Before her theft had been discovered, Serena had noticed the date and managed to send off a hasty text message to both her brother, Nate, and her best friend, Bella, in hopes maybe one of them might still be looking for her and could track her location by GPS. But she’d barely hit Send before the thugs caught her and smashed the thing into a million pieces. She wasn’t sure if the message had actually gone through or not. Given she was still stuck in her paradise prison, most likely not.

So yeah. Serena was doing her best to stay positive until she could find a way back to civilization because what else was she going to do? She was all Gracie had in the world. She needed to be strong for her baby. And sure, looking on the bright side got harder and harder each day, but the alternative was unthinkable.

She finished brushing her long dark hair, then wandered back over to check on her daughter. They had each other. It was enough. Honestly, it was more than she’d had at that age. Whoever her biological mother had been, she’d left baby Serena in a box at a fire station and never returned. Margaret and Harold Carson, wealthy chocolatiers, had adopted her at four months and the rest was history. Never once had they made Serena feel like she wasn’t their flesh and blood, and she couldn’t imagine having any other parents.

They were a family. By love, if not by blood. Even the plane crash couldn’t take that away.

Gracie stirred in her crib and Serena smiled down, reaching a hand in for her tiny daughter to grasp. “Hey, there baby girl. Momma