Page 54 of Played

And it’s none other than that son of a bitch, Wesley Higgins. “You asshole! Let her go!” I shout, as she winces and cries, clearly in agony, not only from the recent blow to the back of her head, but to the man literally pulling her hair by the roots. The gun is right against her temple.

“You let him go first.” Higgins growls, eyes wild, pulling her harder against the gun, forcing her to scream in agony and fear, making my heart climb out of my fucking chest. “I’ll blow her head off, man. I’m serious.” He growls.

I know if I let Nathan go, he’ll grab the gun, so I buy some time, while Clyde keeps his gun pointed at Wesley. “How’d you find her?” I ask him.

“Let him go.” He says, his voice gravelly and low.

“Nobody’s letting anyone go.” Clyde states.

“Ethan.” Freya sobs, and I look at her. I’ve never seen her cry. Tears are pouring down her face. It’s taking everything in me not to run to her, to comfort her. To take away her pain.

“It’s okay, lass.” I say.

“Don’t you fucking talk to her.” Wesley growls, pulling her again, making her shriek. He’s got her so tightly, her feet come off the floor for a moment. My stomach is in knots. And all I can think about is if he pulls that fucking trigger. It’s never occurred to me what life would be like if Freya wasn’t in it. We went a year without speaking, but I always knew that she was still here, if I wanted to talk to her. I thought about her all the time. Checked up on her. Made sure that she was okay. Watched her milestones, even though nobody knew that I was. In a small way, I’ve always been proud of her. I mean, I could never do half the things that she’s accomplished on her own, I’ve always had my family to support me.

“Put the phone down, asshole.” Wesley shouts to Clyde, seeing that he’s got his phone still out, possibly still on the line with authorities. I’m hoping to God that they’re at least overhearing what’s going on and tracing the call, learning our location, so that they can come help.

Clyde sets it in his pocket.

“Nice try, dickwad.” Nathan says. “Put it on the floor. Hang it up.”

“I didn’t fucking dial, jerkwad.” He lies, or at least I hope he does.

“On the floor.” Wesley instructs, gesturing with his eyes, as he takes another step into the room, forcing Freya along with him, as she grunts in pain. “Shut up, bitch.” He says to her, pushing the gun closer on her face. She gasps, as I watch the tears trickle down her cheeks. Her hands are trembling at her sides, and her robe is coming open.

“Let me adjust her tie, dickwad.” I say, knowing that if it comes open, she’ll be exposed.

“You don’t make a move, pretty boy.” Nathan says firmly, walking towards the door. Clyde has his gun pointed at him, and I can see the Clyde has something up his sleeve. I, too, have something up my sleeve. It’s a little thing I learned from Caleb. He’s into knives and swords and shit, with medieval suits of armor and crap like that all over his house, so let’s just say that if I didn’t have a gun, it wouldn’t be the end of the world.

“Ethan.” Freya gasps again, and I can see the terror in her eyes, as he brings her closer to the door. He fully intends to kidnap her, and with her dressed only in her robe, I don’t even want to think about what other beastly things that he’ll do to her. Her body is literally shaking, like she’s having a seizure, but the asshole isn’t fazed. He continues pulling her hair, jutting the gun into her cheek, so forcefully that she’ll have a bruise there for days. I want to comfort her, to tell her I’m so sorry for bringing her into this, so sorry for treating her like I did, when I had all the time in the world to show her what she fully deserves. That it never should have mattered that she kept things from me, or that she slept with Caleb before she and I met. None of that matters anymore, nor did it ever, really.

I was stupid and immature, and now that her life is on the line, it’s like none of that shit ever mattered. All I want is for her to be safe, to smile again, to be the beautiful woman that she is again. She can’t even look at me, since he’s got her pinned to him so tightly, her gaze is forced upward. Half of me is relieved that I can’t look into her eyes and see the terror in them, but the other half is regretful that I can’t telepathically tell her that I love her, and nothing bad will ever happen to her, so long as I’m here.

And that’s when he makes a stupid move. Wesley hasn’t cocked his gun, and he takes that moment to do it. It’s the same moment that I grab the hilt of the knife I have in the waistband of my jeans, and use the skill that Caleb showed me, and that I’ve had since I was a kid, and toss it right into the nice clear spot at his chest. It lands perfectly, piercing him right in the heart. He drops like a sack of potatoes. Freya screams, covering her face, but moves away, like the man’s a bomb about to go off.

I hear Clyde and Mel go after Nathan, who’s trying to get away, given a quick opportunity, but they’re on him. My feet can’t get me to Freya quickly enough. I take her into my arms, pulling her away from Wesley, as a pool of blood starts to present itself around his body, face down on the linoleum floor. Arms wrapped tightly around her, I can feel her trembling. “Shhh...it’s okay. You’re safe now.”

Freya sobs into my chest, pulling her arms around me, shaking so bad she can barely do it alone. Caressing her back with one hand, and her neck with the other, I pull her so close, but it still doesn’t feel close enough. This was much too close. “God, I love you, Freya.” I breathe into her ear.

After a gasp, she whispers. “I love you, too, Ethan.” I feel her grip on me tighten.

“I love you so much.” I repeat, gripping her tighter. “I’m never letting you out of my sight again.”

Her fingers grip my neck. “You saved my life, Ethan. I’m forever grateful.”

I hold her tighter, knowing that that could very well be true. Not that I saved her life, but that the bastard was cocking his gun, getting ready to fire. And he was heading to the door, either readying to take her with him, or shoot. The thought makes me sick. The thought of anything happening to this bonnie woman, the woman I love, the woman I’ve loved for the last two years, and was too stupid to do anything about it. If I could turn back time, I would have taken her in my arms, and not given a shit about what anyone else thought of her. She’s mine. All mine. And from this day forward, my heart belongs to her.

I hear sirens approaching, and Nathan stirs. “You make any moves, you won’t have a chance to plead your case, asshole.” Mel says to him, holding a gun to his face. “I have half a mind to blow you away, considering you’re slippery when it comes to being in custody.”

“Ah, he’ll be stuck here in Scotland, lad.” I tell Mel, but he’s still looking at Nathan like he’s his next meal.

“Don’t do it, brother.” Clyde reasons. “Remember, the Scottish police aren’t as lenient as the American ones.”

“Aye.” I agree. “And we’ve already got one body here to bag.”

I look down at Freya, who seems to be calming, and I kiss her tenderly on the lips. “We’ll get you checked out and get you dressed, lass.”

She nods, as the sirens get closer, and I open the door, letting them know that the coast is clear. Nathan is still on the floor, with Mel’s foot at his back. It’s still bothering me why they didn’t check the rest of the rooms when we arrived. I feel bad, but, once da is aware of what happened, he may set these guys free. This family, clearly, can only have the very best staff. “How come neither of you checked the other rooms, man?” I ask, not giving either one of them eye contact.

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