Page 201 of Plaything

“Have a little fuckin’ faith, and trust me,” he answered, equally as annoyed. “I had to pull a gun on ten guys tonight, so don’t—” There was rustling before he hung up.

I stared at my phone for a few seconds, my mind blank. My anxiety flared at his last sentence, and the worst-case scenarios danced in my mind.

“Wyatt?” Aiden questioned, trying to read me. He’d stopped pacing, and his look of concern deepened. My body was stiff and uneased, and they could see my distress.

“Vincent has her. I don’t know why,” I shared the incredibly limited information I was given.

Niko slowly closed his laptop, and Dominic shifted on the sofa, looking ready to stand and bolt out the door. “I’m confused,” Niko humorlessly chuckled. “What did he say?”

We all felt the same turmoil that thickened the room. Unfortunately for all of us, I had no information that would ease my friends’ minds. I replayed our short conversation over in my mind, but Vincent had left me in the dark. “She’s asleep, and he didn’t want her to wake up and hear whatever he wanted to say to me. He said she’s fine, but shit went down, and... he said he pulled a gun on a group of men?” I repeated, trying to make sense of the words as they left my mouth.

Aiden uncrossed his arms, a look of defeat in his sunken eyes. His jaw clenched as he shook his head. “I fucking knew it,” he spat, pulling the box of cigarettes out from his pocket again. “I’m never wrong about these things, and my dumbass still let her go,” he all but seethed.

“What men?” Niko shrugged, his voice surprisingly soft and poised. “I can’t imagine Charles having company on a Friday evening a week before his euthanasia,” he puzzled. “But that would explain Vincent being there,” he pieced together. His leg started bouncing as he jumped to conclusions. “If those bastard business partners were there and did anything to her, I swear to God—”

“Pedophiles,” Aiden snapped. “They’re pedophiles who molested her, and if they got her alone like they did last time, they’d—”

“Aiden,” I interrupted. I didn’t want to hear that, let alone think it. “Let’s not jump to conclusions. I’m worried too, but they’ll be here in an hour,” I raised my eyebrows. Someone had to be the voice of reason.

Aiden disregarded my words as he twirled a cigarette between his fingers. “What was that fuckers name?” He questioned into the open. “L something, something French. Lestat,” he spat the name. “If that son of a bitch came within ten feet of her, I’ll lose it.”

Dominic looked up from the floor, snapping out of his own concerned thoughts. “He’s still missing. Took the money and ran. I wouldn’t worry about him,” he spoke lowly.

Niko’s gaze shifted to Dominic before his eyes darted away quickly, and he took a deep breath. “Wyatt’s right,” he said quickly. “Whatever happened, Vincent was there and obviously didn’t let anything happen if he was waving a gun around. She’s safe and on her way home; let’s focus on that, sí?” He joined my efforts.

For the next hour, we’d all pretend our stomachs weren’t in knots. Something was wrong. I heard it in Vincent’s wavering voice, even he was shaken. Each of us was confused, concerned, and hoping that Odette was okay.

It was obvious how worried we all were; each of us had tells. Aiden was smoking like a chimney, and his always-on-track train of thought was derailing. Dominic was eerily quiet, the kind of quiet he got before he kicked someone’s ass. Niko was absentmindedly speaking multiple languages, too lost in his own head to comprehend his own words. And I was desperately trying to control everyone else’s emotions, pissed off that I had no control over the current situation.

Aiden slammed the front door as he left to smoke again. Dominic’s stare stayed locked on the floor, and I was unable to read him. Niko stood to leave the room, and I followed behind him.

When we were upstairs in the hall, I caught his attention. “Vincent asked me to hide the car keys from Dominic,” I whispered.

Niko humorlessly chuckled. “I was just about to grab Aiden’s keys off his nightstand for that very reason,” he admitted. “If any of Charles’ business partners said anything to her or tried to fuck with her, you know Dom will be out for blood. It doesn’t make me feel any better that Vincent asked you to hide our keys from him,” he ran his hand through his hair, clearly more stressed than he was showing downstairs.

“Vincent’s voice, Niko...” I didn’t know how to finish my explanation. Vincent was a happy-go-lucky man, always joking and easygoing. He sounded like an entirely different man on the phone. “I’ll grab Dominic’s and my own keys and put them in my bathroom drawer,” I changed the subject, not wanting to further worry him.

“I’ll put mine and Aiden’s there too,” he agreed with a nod.

I began to walk away when I felt his hand on my shoulder. “Wyatt.” His eyes were slightly rounded, and there was anxiety in them. For a moment, it reminded me of his 13-year-old self. He opened his mouth and closed it quickly before he said what he wanted to: “Nothing.”

That was obviously bullshit. He was biting his tongue when he clearly had something he wanted to tell me. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah,” he answered immediately. “Keys,” he reminded before turning and quickly walking into Aiden’s room.

I wasn’t convinced but decided to brush it off. He was frazzled and had every right to be.

Finally, alone, I took a moment to collect myself. I closed my eyes and took deep breaths.

She’s okay.

She’s safe with Vincent.

She’s on her way home.

Less than an hour.

We all darted out the front door the moment we heard gravel crunching. Aiden had been on the porch for the entire hour, no doubt puffing smoke from his lungs like air.

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