Page 141 of Plaything

How dare they publicize and profit off these images... how could her fucking father hire publicists to capture and write stories about it. If anything, it should show people how twisted he was. He didn’t care about any of them; he wanted everyone to think he was a saint. After all, when he died, the only thing that would be buried with him was his reputation. He couldn’t take his billions.

“None more so than his daughter, Odette. Would you look at her? She’s stunning. Maybe she’d marry me,” the anchorwoman joked. “I don’t think she’ll have any trouble finding a husband. That’s Charles’ wish for her; he wants to ensure she has someone in her life to take care of her after he’s gone. If that fatherly love doesn’t bring tears to your eyes, I don’t know what will.”

Jesus Christ...

“Come on, you’re all over the news!” Reesia said from the top of the steps.

“We should turn this shit off,” Aiden spat.

“It’s all bullshit,” Vincent chimed in. “None of the guests were crying or remotely sad. We were all ecstatic about getting a check for millions of dollars. And those pictures don’t do justice to how heartbroken that girl looked, it was fucked.”

“He’s practically pimping out his daughter to the highest bidder,” Jamie said with a scowl. “How are you feeling about all this?” She asked us.

Truth be told, I wasn’t worried about men lining up to try and woo her. She wouldn’t fall for it. I just wanted to keep her safe, emotionally and physically.

“The fucking man literally put a price on her, then advertised her to the world. Do you know how many people would kill for 17 billion dollars? Charles might as well have set up a kidnapping and ransom while he’s at it,” Aiden seethed. “She’s not safe. How could he think this was a good idea?”

I hadn’t thought of it like that. Leave it to Aiden to think of the worst-case scenario. My eyebrows knitted together in concern as I let that reality sink in.

Hearing approaching footsteps, I quickly wiped the stupid look off my face and turned to smile at Odette. She dressed conservatively in a white long-sleeve turtleneck and a black skirt with tights, covering any of the marks I worked so hard on. Shame. Reesia was trailing behind her, looking off. Her gaze was cast downward as if in deep thought.

She was probably upset that Odette was fully clothed now; I knew I was.

Odette scanned the room briefly, not noticing the smirk that Jamie sent her before her attention locked on the news.

“Our reporters spent all day yesterday interviewing with the attendees of the will reading. Everyone has been interviewed except Lestat Mercer, who no one has heard from since Saturday, and the girl everyone is eager to hear from, Odette Whitlock,” the anchorwoman continued. “All these interviews can be watched in full on our website—” Aiden turned off the TV.

This was the hottest story in our state in years, so it wasn’t surprising so many of Charles’ guests agreed to an interview. Attention and money hungry...

In my peripheral vision, I saw Dominic and Collin share a brief glance. I thought nothing of it, and then every red flag in my body went off. Chills crept up my spine as the woman’s voice repeated in my mind. Lestat Mercer, who no one has heard from since Saturday. Dominic’s bloody fists.

For my own sake, I never officially asked or wanted to know what Collin did for a living. All I knew was that he was a good man who did terrible things to bad people. The less I knew, the better. It never affected our friendship, nor did he advertise it. His occupation had only been hinted at in the past. Luckily, if I was ever in a position where I’d need to vouch for him in court, I’d honestly be able to say that Colin was a quiet man, and I didn’t know what he did for a living. Because I didn’t.

Dominic and Collin were close, and I knew that if Dominic felt inclined enough to ask for help... Collin would know what to do and how to do it.

I wish I’d never seen that secret glance. And by the steady looks on everyone else’s face, no one else picked up on it. Not even Aiden.

There was no doubt in my mind that Lestat wouldn’t be interviewing anytime soon...

Dominic, what the hell did you do...

I’d never say a word about the glance I saw. Like Collin and Dom, it was something I’d take with me to my grave.

I swallowed a lump in my throat and smiled at my girl. “Good morning, Cariño, breakfast?” I offered, although my mind was elsewhere.

Her eyes broke away from the black screen before she shook her head at me. “No appetite,” she said with an appreciative look. I couldn’t blame her. “I have a test and have to go, or I’ll be late,” she said quickly.

Wyatt stood behind her and wrapped his arms around her, gently swaying. “Are you okay?” He asked quietly, referring to her name and face plastered all over the news.

She nodded absentmindedly. “It’ll blow over in a few weeks.” She’d been through this kind of thing before, but it was much worse this time. The world knew she was ‘worth’ 17 billion dollars. That didn’t happen every day...

“You’re going to be very popular with the other students today, Doll,” Aiden warned. “Your professors would understand if you took a day or two to yourself and let things calm down,” he suggested compassionately. I could tell he wanted to demand that she stay home, but he was polite enough to give her the option. I also thought it was best that she lay low for a few days.

She shook her head. “No offense, but people my age don’t really watch the local news on a Monday morning before six,” she added with a halfhearted smile. “It’ll be fine; everyone has their own problems to worry about,” she dismissed.

She had a point. Finals were quickly approaching, and she’d be safe from peers bombarding her with questions until the afternoon when they saw the news on social media. The university was private and had security all over campus. I was confident that she’d be safe and no one would try to physically harm her. I was not as confident in how she’d handle this mentally. Aiden was right; she’d be very popular today for all the wrong reasons.

“If things get bad, go home for the day, got it?” Wyatt insisted.

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