Page 37 of The Holidays with Dr. Mitchell
“I hope Ash will be able to contain her disappointment,” I shrugged as Collin laughed. “Back to the point, Gustoff,” I redirected my attention. “We didn’t sign up for whatever the hell we’ve gone through the past few days.”
“That’s intriguing,” Gustoff suddenly seemed to sober up. “It’s intriguing that you’ve both proven that there has been no ego death between you.”
“Are you fucking with me?” I nearly barked at the man’s instant transformation.
“No,” he answered. “That you both thought you could go unnoticed and toy with my program is beyond me. You will now be taken to another location to meditate amongst the forest and stars to beg forgiveness.”
“I’m not fucking going anywhere, and I’m not begging for jackshit,” I snapped. “You know what? I lied. Iamgoing somewhere. I’m going back to my wife and getting out of this place.”
“You cannot,” Gus informed.
“Last I checked, we were the ones paying for this fucked-up retreat, and as paying customers, we’re fucking done with this nightmare,” Collin said.
“Gentlemen, stop them,” Gus said with a roll of his eyes and a wave of his hand.
As if we were in some horror film, Collin and I were grabbed from behind and bags were pulled over our heads. Before I could react, my hands were tied behind my back with ropes, and I was being dragged somewhere.
The only thought running through my head was for Ash and Laney. The possibility that they were going through this, too, gripped my heart so tightly that I thought it would choke me. My heart was racing, adrenaline coursing through me as Collin and I were dragged and eventually planted onto some ice-cold chair.
“Take off their covers,” I heard a voice say.
“Fuck you,” I heard Collin snarl in return.
The next thing I knew, the cover was taken off my and Collin’s heads, and a genuine fear that we had just been kidnapped for ransom shook me to my core. If they could do this to Collin and me, I couldn’t think about what they’d do to Elena and Ash. My sweet wife had been through so much. This was all my fault.
“Where’s the big guy?” a young man asked.
“The big guy?” I questioned.
“Yeah, the one who insisted we retrieve you so he could question you,” the man answered.
“Listen, I have no idea what you guys want, but I’ll pay you off beforethe big guycan get here.”
“Sounds enticing, but Big J is paying us a lot more for your bounties than you could,” he cackled like a proper scoundrel.
“Bounties?” I looked at Collin.
“Oh, I don’t know. I’d pay a pretty price for your ass,” Collin shrugged, unaffected by this scenario, which gave me a bit of relief. Maybe I’d overreacted?
I eased up immediately and smirked at him. “I’d give those assholes a hundred thousand for your cute ass,” I teased.
“A hundred thousand? You were going to give a million for Sebastian’s at that bachelor auction,” Collin said. “I thought—no, IknowI’m sexier than that son of a bitch.”
“Well, what would you give these chumps for me?” I asked.
“Two hundred thousand, but that’sonlybecause you didn’t come up with our escape plan earlier,” he said.
“Me?” I answered. “I didn’t see you coming up with any bright ideas while we were shitting our brainsagainthe second night here.”
“Oh, no. Did you guys drink the water?” a man asked curiously.
“No,” I answered him.
“They drank the senna tea and ate the papaya asGustoffsuggested,” I heard my brother’s voice humorously say as he, Alex, and Spencer entered the small, enclosed area we were in. “Hey!” Jim said with a smile bigger than Santa’s on Christmas Eve. “Merry Christmas, dipfuckers.”
“What the fuck!” Collin and I said in unison.
“Payback is a bigger bitch than karma sometimes, eh?” Jim snickered.
