Page 90 of Hiding for the Holidays
“I’m Elizabeth, from Silent Pines Family Outreach.”
“Oh!” My eyes light up in recognition. “Thank you for coming, Elizabeth.”
“Please, call me Liz, and don’t thank me,” she says with a laugh as she shakes my hand. “We’re the ones that should be thanking you. We’ve never had a donation of this size, the children will be so excited.”
“There’s enough for them all, then?” I ask, nervously eyeing the pile of toys.
“More than enough! It’s a small town, but there are plenty of families in need. We might even have enough to give each child two toys.”
“Really?” I ask excitedly.
One of the other women nods as she crouches down to inspect some of the wrapped presents. “These are wrapped beautifully. Are you sure they are all toys or should we open them to check?”
“No, they are all toys, I either wrapped them myself or I watched people do it over there before placing them under the tree.”
“I’m not sure you realize how much time you’ve saved us,” the third woman says with a smile. “We thought we’d be spending all day tomorrow wrapping them.”
“I’m glad we could help.”
“Are you collecting them now?” Grant asks, coming to stand beside me.
“Yes, if that’s alright?” Liz asks, looking at me.
“Of course.”
“We’ll help you carry them out,” Leo says as he suddenly appears and starts picking up some gifts.
“You stay in here in case any last-minute guests come in,” Asher says as he moves to join the others moving the gifts.
I nod and move out of their way as I walk around the gym. Ididn’t realize everyone had left. But it’s December twenty-second. I suppose everyone has last-minute holiday shopping or plans.
Speaking of which, I hoped the guys would like the gifts I got them. I watch for a second as they carry the gifts outside to the women's waiting truck, then I stack up the unused coffee and hot chocolate cups and carry them back to the kitchen to put away.
Once I finish with those, I move the heavy hot chocolate dispenser to the back before grabbing the disposable tablecloth and bundling it up tight. Realizing I need a new garbage bag, I hoist myself up to kneel on the kitchen counter so I can reach the box of them in the cupboard above me.
Warm hands grip my waist from behind, and I stretch up as I ask, “Can you help me?”
Suddenly I’m yanked backwards, and with a shriek I find myself over someone’s shoulder. Pain bubbles up from my stomach, where their shoulder digs into me, and it takes me a couple seconds too long to realize it’s not one of my three men.
It’s Scott.
“No! Let me go! Help—” My screams are cut off as he turns sharply, smacking my head against something sharp and hard, like the corner of a cabinet or wall.
My vision blurs, as I grip my head and hiss in pain. I don’t have to look at my fingers to know the wetness I feel is my blood. I try to remind myself of all the self-defense training I’ve done with Asher, but my head throbs, and I whimper as his hand lands on my ass, holding me against him as I bounce on his shoulder.
He must be running. Cold air touches my skin and terror fills me as I realize he’s taken me out the back.
I try to scream but my dizziness combined with being held in this position makes the only thing that comes up a garbledwhimper. Scott laughs as he continues to jog, making me bounce up and down as pain shoots through my head and stomach.
“I warned you, Rosalie.” I whimper in fear, and his arm tightens around my legs. “You had to go and slut yourself out to those dickheads.” I try to focus on my surroundings, and all I see is snow and dots of red.Is that my blood?
“W-why?” I manage to croak out, still not understanding why he cared about me so much, why couldn’t he just let me go?
“Why? Because you belong to me. You thought you could just leave and humiliate me like that?” His fingers tighten on me in anger and I try to beat my fists into his back, but he barely notices.
“W-What do you want with me?”
“It’s time you learned that you’re either with me, or you’re with no one.”
