Stolen to Keep - Alexa Riley Page 0,38

life and become a doctor. Now it’s all slipping through my fingers.

It was all supposed to be so different. This is the part where I got to slow down and enjoy more time with my mom. Now that all my training was complete, I could start to date and have a social life, but it’s all been for nothing. Sure, I could start over somewhere, but I wouldn't be a doctor anymore. It would be a whole new life and not being a doctor would feel like losing a part of me.

I suck in a breath, trying to curb an anxiety attack. I started getting them since my mom died, but so far none have happened when I was at work or with a patient. My throat starts to close up and I feel the pressure on my chest. I can stitch with my eyes closed if I need to, so I let my fingers do their job as I take my mind to a happy place.

In my dreams I’m on an island and it’s far away from all of this. It’s where I can hear the sound of the ocean and feel warm sand between my toes. My heart rate begins to slow and my fingers stop threading as I tie off the end.

“Done,” I announce, pushing back from the table.

“I bet you won’t have a scar,” my father brags as he inspects my work.

He’ll have a scar. I’m good but I’m not doing anyone any favors that I don't have to. I worked fast, not delicately.

The man grunts as he sits up and I take another step back. I pull my gloves off and toss them onto the end of the table. My father motions for the man to leave and he does it without question.

“You can’t keep coming here. I won’t do it again.”

My father moves and before I know what’s happening there’s a smack so hard to my face that my eye feels like it could explode. I cry out and grab my cheek where he struck me.

“You’re my daughter and you’ll do as you're told.” My eyes sting with tears. “Understood?”

I nod as I try to blink, but the sting makes it impossible.

“Don’t bring this up again.” He walks out without so much as a backwards glance.

I don’t let out the breath I’m holding until I hear the door close. I run to it after him and bolt the lock as if it will really save me. I slide to the floor, holding my cheek when the tears begin. I have to leave. This is only going to get worse and there’s no other choice.

I close my eyes and say a prayer to my mom just as my phone rings.

Chapter 1

Xander

The day Doctor Lula Eckhart landed on this island my world was turned upside down. Not only because of the reason she was here, but because of the things she stirred inside me.

After our mother died of cancer and our father followed almost immediately after, Kade was left in charge of Vaughn and me. He took care of us even though he was still just a kid himself. I was barely eighteen and not at all ready to step up and become a man, but we didn’t have much of a choice. Thankfully, we somehow made it through college and went on to become a success with the legacy our parents left behind.

When Kade found the island I wasn’t sure why the hell we needed it, and thought of about a million other ways we could spend that kind of money. But the day the three of us stepped foot on the white sandy beaches we knew. This island was more than just a vacation spot; it was a place for us to remember what family means, and that the rest of the things happening around us were just bullshit. To me the island symbolized our safety net and if all our plans went to shit, we’d always have it.

Every few months we’d visit as brothers and unplug from the real world. We’d fish and hike and camp out on the beaches as we talked about what was on our minds. I never told my brothers, but sometimes I would come to the island for a few days without them just to feel that peace. Being here was my safe place and it holds some of the happiest moments of my life. But now everything has changed and it’s all become threatened as this one