Kidnappad.
Swedish for Kidnapped
When Adrienne woke up the next day, her head rested comfortably against Justin’s shoulder. She got home at around two and he came to her apartment thirty minutes after, dressed in a white shirt and a pair of Calvin Klein pajamas.
He pretended to look pissed, but once she pulled him to bed and kissed him, he caved in. Then, they fell asleep.
“Wake up, sleepyhead,” Justin said. “You have a date in two hours.”
Her eyes widened. “Two hours? Justin…it’s ten in the morning! We’re going out in broad daylight?”
He raised a brow. “Yeah, why not?”
“You know we can’t! No one knows we’re seeing each other. The minute we get photographed together, somebody could post about it on social media and it will definitely reach Jill! And she already warned me…this is a friendship ender.”
Justin sighed. “So what’s your plan, Miss Miller? You will never introduce me to them at all?”
“I haven’t even broken up with Troy yet!” She threw her head back against her pillow.
Justin propped up on an elbow so he could look at her. “Adrienne…no one has ever been ashamed of me before.”
She shook her head. “I’m not ashamed of you. God! If circumstances were different… if I didn’t have a boyfriend… I would be proud to be seen with you.”
“Can I ask you something?” He looked gravely serious.
She nervously nodded.
“Do you even have plans of breaking up with Troy?”
She gazed at him and smiled slowly. “Of course.”
Justin stared at her for a moment, searching her eyes. Then finally, he gave her a crooked smile. “Then that’s good enough for now.” Then he leaned forward and kissed her on the lips thoroughly.
“Justin… now, can I ask you something?” Her heart pounded in her chest.
“Anything.”
“Why do you put up with this? I know you hated being kept a secret. You can have a pick of any woman…”
She wasn’t able to finish that sentence because Justin’s lips were on hers, cutting her off.
When he pulled away from her, he gazed into her eyes gently. Then he said, “Because the only woman I want, Adrienne, is in this bed with me.”
She smiled at him. She thought she would die right then and there. He didn’t say he was in love with her too, but that was close enough.
“Now, dress up. I’ll pick you up after an hour and half,” Justin said, standing up from the bed.
She raised a brow at him. “Justin…”
He silenced her with a kiss again. “Don’t you trust me, honey?”
She nodded. “Okay.”
“Great. I’ll see you later.” He stood up from the bed, grabbed his shirt on the floor and wore it. Before he exited her room, he turned back to her and grinned, “You’re a fox!”
After showering, she wore a pair of skinny jeans and a sleeveless top. Her mobile phone rang. It was Justin.
“Hey.”
“You don’t look warm enough,” he said.
She turned around and saw him standing in his room, looking at her through the glass window.
“I have a coat.”
“Still not good enough. Wear a sweater under your coat.”
“It’s not even snowing outside and it’s almost noon!”
He grinned at her. “Didn’t you promise me last night that I will be the one to name the terms?”
She laughed. “All right.”
“And wear a pair of boots, too, okay?”
“Okay, fine.” When she hung up, she scanned through her closet and found a blue knitted sweater. Then she took a black shawl and placed it around her neck. She wore her black knee-length boots.
She couldn’t help wondering about Justin’s plans. She wanted to wear one of her hooded jackets so that if they walk the streets, she could lessen the risk of recognition.
She figured he must be getting tired of hiding all the time. The previous night, he didn’t hide the fact that he was not happy to see another guy introducing himself to her. It made her feel happy to know that he felt jealous and unafraid to show it. But it also broke her to realize that she couldn’t give him what he wanted. Until she faced Troy and officially broke up with him. Until she comes up with a plan on how to confess her situation to her friends, who she couldn’t lose no matter what.
She took out her phone and decided to send Troy a message: We need to talk. In person. When you have a day off, let me know. I could come to see you.
She hoped that Troy was smart enough to sense that something was wrong.
Come on! Who are we kidding?
Justin acted more like a boyfriend than Troy ever had. Troy must be dense if the thought this relationship was going somewhere.
Her doorbell rang. She grabbed her purse and opened the door. Justin looked at her for a moment.
“I look okay?” she asked, uncertainty all over her voice.
His eyes glittered and he pulled her to him. “You look more than okay. You’re a fox!”
She laughed and closed the door behind her.
“So what’s your plan, Mr. Adams? Just make sure I’m in for a big surprise!” she teased.
Justin laughed as they entered the elevator. “You have no idea, honey!”
In Justin’s heavily tinted Ferrari, no one could see her even in broad daylight. She still wondered where he would take her. She still worried that somebody could recognize him. Why did he have to be quite famous in this state? Why did he have to be the City’s most wanted?
Adrienne realized that they reached the airport and Justin used a private entrance.
“Where are we going?”
He just grinned at her.
Finally, he stopped the engine in what seemed to be a private parking lot.
He got out of the car and rounded it to open the door for her. He took her hand in his. She noticed there were people around, and a guy followed them, carrying a small traveling bag with him.
Adrienne stared at Justin nervously.
“Justin…I’m getting really freaked out,” she whispered.
He laughed. “Your problem has always been that you didn’t want to be seen with me. You’re always scared that somebody you know would run into us when we’re together in New York. I, on the other hand, wanted to be free to go around town with you in my arms. I want to drink coffee with you in the local coffee shop, or watch movies with you, go around shopping with you, and be free to hold you, hug you, kiss you, without you worrying that your friends would kill you if they found out. I want to go on a whole day date with you…without you worrying about anything at all.”
Adrienne bit her lip. She felt happy, and guilty and sorry all at the same time. She squeezed Justin’s hand.
The door in front of them opened. Adrienne was surprised to see the runway. She saw a private plane from a distance. She almost gasped when she saw the markings on the body of the plane, “Adams Industries.”
She stared up at him. “Justin…”
He grinned at her. “I’m taking you somewhere no one knows either of us. And both of our problems are solved.”
Her heart melted. If she wasn’t in love with him already, then she would have fallen…right then and there.
The flight stewards greeted them warmly.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Adams.” To her, they said, “Welcome aboard, Miss Miller.”
She was stunned that they knew their name. But then again, they would have the flight manifesto beforehand. Justin must have arranged this after she said yes to him.
The interior of the plane looked luxurious and classy. It had long leather couches, an eight-seater dining set, all in rich combinations of gold and cream colors. She sat on the sofa and Justin sat down beside her.
“Your plane?”
Justin shrugged. “My family’s.”
“So when you go back to Chicago, this is what you use?”
“Yes. Are you hungry?”
She nodded.
“We’ll have lunch after take-off.”
“Where are we going, Justin?”
His eyes glittered. “Somewhere we’re sure no one knows either of us.”
She rolled her eyes. “Where is that?”
“Alaska.”
Her jaw dropped. It took a while for her to recover. She heard somebody asking them to fasten their seatbelts.
“Justin… it’s a couple of hours flight.”
“Seven.”
“When do you plan to get back?”
“Monday.”
“I work on Monday!”
“I’m sure you can take a day off.”
“What… what will I tell my friends?”
He leaned back on his seat. “Aren’t you a creative writer for Blush?”
She nodded.
“So do what you do best. Be creative!” He grinned.
She groaned. She leaned back on her seat. She kept silent all throughout take off. Finally, the plane climbed high in the air, and the pilot informed them that they can unfasten their seatbelts.
Justin quickly got off his seat and went to her. He unbuckled her belt, and to her surprise, lifted her off her seat and brought her to the sofa, so she could sit on his lap.
“Are you mad?”
She pouted at him and then she pinched his side. He laughed and hugged her to him.
“Justin, I didn’t bring any clothes.”
“I know. I couldn’t tell you what to pack. Otherwise, knowing you, we’d still be at your place right now arguing about this trip. So I figured I’d just kidnap you.”
“So what am I going to do?”
“We’ll stop by a mall as soon as we land there. You can go shopping for your weekend needs.”
“And wear those clothes without washing them? No way!” She sounded so abhorred that Justin couldn’t help laughing hard.
“No, silly. We’re checking into a hotel. You can send your new clothes for rush laundry. I’ll pay for the premium. I’m sure they’ll get them to you in an hour or two.”
A flight attendant informed them that their lunch awaited them. Adrienne pulled away and stood up. She reached her hand out and pulled him up on his feet.
After lunch, Justin led her to another section of the plane. Adrienne was surprised to see that it was actually a small room. It had a double-sized bed a small coffee table and two one-seater chairs.
Justin opened the small door to his left. “Bathroom’s here if you wanna freshen up.”
The bathroom was small, but oddly big enough, considering they were travelling inside a plane. It had a shower, a toilet and a sink. She found a new set of toothbrushes by the sink. She brushed her teeth and splashed water on her face.
As she stared at her reflection, she realized that she had glitter in her eyes. Her blush seemed permanent and she couldn’t stop grinning.
Justin Adams sure knew how to make a girl swoon! Her official boyfriend may be a troll and sure lacked a romantic bone, but her unofficial boyfriend sure made up for everything that was missing in her love (and sex) life.
Justin just lay lazily in bed when she came out of the bathroom. She removed her boots and used one of the new slippers she found under the bed.
Justin stood up and kissed her lips. Then he went to the bathroom. Adrienne looked around the room. It was small but the luxurious furniture was cleverly arranged to make it look big enough. It was cozy and almost felt like home. She noticed some pictures hanging on one of the walls.
She looked at a family portrait of Justin and his parents. His father had the same jet-black hair as him. His mother appeared dark blonde. His mother seemed young, and every bit sophisticated and beautiful. Justin’s father on the other hand…looked exactly like him. Only about twenty years older.
Suddenly, she felt Justin’s arms around her waist as he nuzzled her neck.
“You look like your Dad,” she said.
He rested his chin on her shoulder. “Everybody says that.”
Adrienne laughed. “Everybody’s right. Your mother is beautiful. Your parents look very young in this picture.”
“They are. They got married when my Dad was twenty-five and my mother was twenty-three.”
“Whoa! That’s young. They must have been really in love when they got married.”
Justin fell quiet for a little while. Then she heard him take a deep breath as he pulled her closer to him.
She turned around to face him. “Are you okay?” she asked, noticing his quiet reaction.
He nodded. “Aren’t you tired?” he asked. “We’ve got five and a half hours left. You might want to sleep first.”
“I could use a nap.” She pulled him towards the bed. “Come, lie down with me.”
They quietly lay in bed. Adrienne wondered why Justin’s mood changed when she mentioned his family and how in love his parents were when they got married. She wondered why that seemed to bother him.
She looked up and found him staring at the ceiling, lost in his thoughts.
“Justin,” she called. “Did I say something wrong?”
He looked down at her and shook his head. “I’m sorry. I just remembered something my parents…asked me to do.” He looked at her deeply.
“What? Some sort of errand?” she asked brightly, hoping to change his mood.
“More like some sort of obligation,” he sighed.
“And you haven’t done it yet?” she asked, propping up on her elbow so she could stare at him.
He pushed back a lock of hair away from her face. “I…forgot about it.”
“So? Can’t you go back and do it then?”
He shook his head. “No. I can’t go back now.”
Adrienne drew her brows together. Justin didn’t seem like he wanted to elaborate on the subject. And she knew better than to pressure him to tell her about his family affairs.
“I’m sure it’s not yet too late. You can still tell them you’d get to it as soon as you can.”
He shook his head. “It’s too late,” he whispered.
“Why?”
Justin drew a heavy breath. “Because I don’t wanna do it anymore.”
She was about to ask more but he pulled her neck and closed the distance between them. His lips found hers and he kissed her passionately, as if he was pouring out his soul in that kiss.