Taken

By Elle Driver

Lex Bennett considers herself to be a pretty ordinary person, aside from being the daughter of a wealthy senator she can't really stand. But then her life is turned upside down one day when she is the victim of a well-orchestrated kidnapping plot by a man determined to get the truth out of Senator Bennett about a mysterious crime that happened more than two decades ago. But even stranger than the circumstance she finds herself in is the kindness of her kidnapper...and the attraction she instantly feels for him.

Khaleel never wanted it to come to this—abducting the most beautiful woman he's ever seen—but Senator Bennett is the only man who knows the truth about the crime that wrongfully sent his father to death row. He would never hurt Lex; he just needs her for leverage. But strangely, Lex seems to be coming around to his side—and she has some ideas of her own for his plan. One wrong move and the whole scheme will blow up—can they keep their hands off each other and their minds on the job?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bryant Street Shorts
• Release date: Dec 7, 2021
• ISBN: 9781094427812

Elle Driver

Elle Driver is a mild-mannered civil servant who adores her husband and kid, and loves writing different romance tales to share with others when she can.

Book preview

Chapter One: A Really Good Day (Gone Really, Really Wrong)

Lex always ignored the first time her alarm went off. Some mornings she snoozed it. Other mornings she slept through it, or at least tried to sleep through the first iteration of its attempt at waking her.

Today she snoozed it, which gave her the opportunity to see two text messages. The first text was a great message to start a perfect day — her student’s parent was requesting a late start today.

Oh my God, yes, she mumbled sleepily, writing Mrs. James back to confirm the time change.

The second message was from her father, and she barely glanced at it. He messaged her every morning, and most people would think it touching or endearing — not seeing how with him, something so innocuous could be malignant. He just wanted to remind her he was there. He was always there, hovering, waiting to tell her what to do, to disapprove of any missteps. She was convinced, after years of watching him, that he didn’t even like her. She had seen when he liked people. And she wasn’t one of them. She ignored his message, the way she had ignored it yesterday morning.

Lex changed her alarm for an hour later, slid her phone under her pillow, and then snuggled into that pillow, nearly asleep as she pulled the covers over her head to block out the soft morning light.

The next time her alarm went off, she was ready to get up. She silenced it and did a big stretch in her bed, sliding her legs back and forth in a swishing motion against her sheets. It was a small delight, and why she had to wash her sheets every few days; she loved the clean, crisp feel.

She texted her driver to let him know she’d be ready for pickup in thirty minutes, and then placed an order at Starbucks before getting into the shower to wash her short hair. It was nearly a buzz cut, but a bit longer, and dyed a honey color to pick up the honeyed tones of her brown skin. Her dad hated it but she adored it, and it showed off her ear piercings, which lined each ear.

So it was perfect.

Lex’s phone dinged when she got out of the shower; her driver was fifteen minutes out, so she started to rush. She jumped into frayed, holey jeans and pulled on a big, white button-down, rolling her sleeves up. She was stepping into her wedges when her phone dinged again to let her know her driver had arrived.

She snatched up her purse and did the check: apartment keys, wallet, charger, and her phone was already in her pocket. She held the rail to run down the stairs.

Her apartment complex wasn’t that nice, so it didn’t have an elevator. But she had a driver because her dad paid a driving company to chauffeur her everywhere. He claimed it was for his peace of mind. She was sure, however, as she was nearing twenty-five, that his need for peace of mind was squarely in the control-freak realm instead. But it afforded her the ability to not care about a car or transportation, so she would take it and be grateful for it.

Her dad, one Duncan Bennett, was a self-made man. He was a senator and owned his own wind-power plant. His house was really more of a mansion, certainly big enough that she could have kept living there and avoided seeing him easily enough, but she just wanted to get out from under him.

Which had come with a chauffeur and daily check-ins. That she could manage.

How’s your morning been, Ben? she asked, like she asked every morning. And like every morning, Ben chuckled and looked at her in the mirror. It had taken her months to get him to stop calling her Ms. Bennett. She wanted him to call her Lex. They settled on a sort of middle ground.

My morning has been good, Ms. Lex, Ben said. He returned his eyes to the road. Late start today. Are we getting breakfast?

Starbucks, she said, opening her phone. I’ll run in.

I can do that, Ms. Lex.

I know you can. But surely you can allow a girl to grab her own coffee, do a little people-watching, and smell the bakery? Lex wasn’t sure if her dad had impressed upon Ben that she was to be protected and coddled, or however he would have worded it. But she knew she couldn’t allow him to treat her like a child. She was capable. She hated having to prove that.

Ben smiled and nodded, a little reluctantly. Of course, Ms. Lex. Of course.

Of course, she mocked him in her thoughts, smiling at him brightly. She looked back at her phone and tried to stop the hot buzzing in her head that made her keep asking, does he tell these little things to my dad?

She cleared her throat and tried to actually focus on her phone. One of her close friends from high school was getting married. She was trotting out bridesmaid dresses in their friend group’s messages. And shoes. And possible hairpieces. Most of the options were cute. There were some big bows that didn’t belong on anything, let alone a dress, but Lex didn’t say that. She did, however, attempt to steer Mia as far away from said bows as she could.

She checked through the dating apps she currently had installed, and saw that she had matched with a very attractive doctor. She didn’t always believe the occupations listed, but he still had a smile that would melt the coldest heart. She had a melting heart, so she jumped and sent him a message.

When Ben parked at Starbucks, Lex checked her mask reflexively, but it was still firmly in place. She always made sure to get the masks from Target that had the adjustable ear loops, because she hated taking her mask on and off. She just kept it on once she left the house.

I’ll be right back, she said to Ben. It should have been ready about five minutes ago, so it shouldn’t take me long at all.

I’ll be right here, he said, nodding at her.

The people-watching wasn’t all that great this time. There weren’t many people inside, which was unusual considering it was a weekday morning, but Lex was still happy to be able to pick up her own coffee and her own breakfast like a real girl. She slipped her mask off when she stepped outside, just to take one scalding-hot sip of her espresso-heavy macchiato. Then she was back in the car.

To work? Ben asked, like he asked every day.

Onward, Lex answered, like she did every day. She glanced back at the dating app and saw that the fine-ass maybe-doctor had already written her back and said he wanted to take her to dinner at her favorite place, as soon as possible. It was a little fast, but it made her feel nice; it might mean a date for the weekend.

It really was shaping up to be such a great day.

When she arrived at the James’ house, her pupil, Brandon, was waiting at the open door. Lex hadn’t intended to be a teacher. She certainly hadn’t intended to be a homeschool teacher. Her degree was in hospitality, but she had been so desperate to get a job and be able to pay for her own place, her own things — to stop relying on her dad’s money, so he didn’t feel like he could tell her what to do. Or guilt her into things.

So she had taken a teacher-certification test and become a teacher. Then the pandemic happened, and the parents of one of her students had asked her to be his homeschool teacher — better pay, but no benefits. She told her dad it was safer, easier, and he had agreed and told her that he would pay for her insurance, if she really wanted to take the job. And now, a year later, she was glad she had decided to stick with it. Teaching was hard, but it was rewarding. Working with a student who actually cared to learn, and with parents who genuinely supported him, made it even more rewarding.

Good morning, Ms. Bennett, Brandon said.

Good morning, Brandon, Lex said. How long have you been standing there?

The twelve-year-old pulled out his phone. Only for about five minutes.

Not too bad, Lex said. But you know that you would know the moment I was here, right? You’re saving mere moments and letting the cool air out.

You sound like my dad, Brandon said, rolling his eyes and stepping to the side.

Your dad is a smart man, Lex said. Now, how did that math homework go?

Umm, Brandon said. And then he followed it up with another Umm.

Right, Lex said. So how about you get one more day to work that out, and we skip math today since we’re starting a bit late and go ahead and jump into social studies?

Are we still working on ancient Chinese civilizations?

No, we are starting Rome, Lex said.

That sounds interesting, Brandon said, smiling brightly.

Wow, nerd, Lex said, patting his head. They went to the kitchen, where they always did their lessons, and began the study of Rome. Social studies was one of her favorite subjects to teach. The history of humans, of the world that humans created and ruined repeatedly in cycles… it was morbid. The parallels throughout history were incredible, and terribly predictive. She couldn’t help but be in awe about it all.

That appeared to come across when she was teaching; Brandon seemed to like social studies, too. Unfortunately, he also seemed to share her disdain for anything with numbers. Sometimes she thought her own struggles with math made him feel like he had a companion in his challenges, but sometimes she thought it also discouraged him. So she tried her best to simply