Page 218 of Plaything

I clamped my hand around it and shook my head. “I was there. There are much worse things he let happen that aren’t in any folder,” I mumbled. I pushed the folder toward him. “Take it,” I insisted. “You’d be doing me a favor,” I added with a smile.

With a sheepish head tilt, he nodded, taking the folder back. “If you’re sure...” He straightened his posture and took a breath, looking less serious. “I know you’re about to be busy with taking over and whatnot, but call me, okay?” He chuckled to himself, “So I can tell you all about the kitchen from our private island,” he joked.

“I’ll visit. This bread will last me an hour at most. If I don’t visit your mom, I’ll starve,” I grinned. I gave him a small hug as he laughed. “Bye, Tony.”

“Bye, Dotty.”

“Ready to go?” Aiden asked me, watching as Tony caught up to his parents.

I nodded. The crowd of people was dwindling as everyone started to leave. I waved to our friends and gave Reesia a hug. “See you in a bit!”

“Wait—come to my car real quick,” Jamie reminded.

“Oh, right!” I turned to Aiden and Niko. “I’ll meet you at your car, okay?” I smiled.

“Don’t fall for her traps,” Aiden warned.

Jamie led me to her car, assuring me she had no traps or schemes. She stopped by the trunk of her SUV and took a breath. “I never do this without asking, but something came up the night you went to the club. We had to pull some security footage, and I saw this moment...” she shrugged as if slightly embarrassed by her words. “I froze the frame, enhanced it, and had it printed,” she said before opening the trunk.

A white sheet covered a large canvas frame. She pulled it back to reveal a black-and-white photo of the five of us at the club. It was from when we’d first walked in. I was holding Wyatt and Niko’s hands while they looked down at me. Even then, the love was more than noticeable in their gaze. Dominic stood to the side, looking straight ahead like he was ready to stare a dagger into anyone who glanced at me the wrong way. Aiden looked similar, only he was looking directly at the security camera, his brows low, and a slight smirk.

“Was this planned?” I asked, gesturing to the still frame.

Jamie looked surprised herself. “No. I don’t know how Aiden’s brain works, but it’s very him to be looking into the security camera like that. I rarely have to pull footage from the club.”

I looked down at the photo again, admiring the details of it. They were all in suits, looking exceptionally handsome. I was in my elegant hooker lingerie, showcased in sparkling diamonds on my waist and thigh. I looked gorgeous—even with the fearful, doe-eyed look.

Everyone’s personalities were captured in one perfect photo.

“I’ll burn it if you aren’t okay with it or don’t like it,” Jamie promised. “But if you do... I’d really like to put it on my wall, or you can have it,” she requested.

I couldn’t help but feel that this picture didn’t exactly fit in with her collection. None of us were naked or doing anything sexual—despite my almost naked body. “No offense, but is this your...style?” I asked in a high voice.

She laughed. “This is my favorite piece—also the most modest I’ve collected,” she admitted. “When I saw it, I knew I had to have it or at least show it to you,” she said. “This photo embodies what it’s all about, Cupcake.”

Movement caught my eye, and I saw all four of my professors walking across the lot. When our eyes locked, each gave me a charming and excited smile.

I looked back down at the photo and smiled. “You can have it.”

Jamie’s lips lifted as she tried to hide her excitement. She was definitely expecting me to say no. I loved the photo and how it captured us.

She cleared her throat. “You know, I name all my pieces,” she started. “I was thinking Heiress has a nice ring to it?” She asked.

I looked back to my guys and slowly shook my head. “No,” I disagreed. I may have been an heiress to the world and on paper, but I was never an heiress to them. I certainly wasn’t an heiress in the photo or that night, not to mention I didn’t care for the term.

As I watched them approach, Aiden’s earlier words dawned on me. I had four tassels, one to tie and bind each of my arms and legs.

Excitement rushed through me as I smiled at them before looking back down at the canvas. No, heiress wouldn’t do at all. I knew who I was and who I preferred to be with them. “Plaything.”

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Odette

Still clad in my honors cords, I entered Jamie’s horrifying house, my eyes cast downward on her hardwood floor. Jamie offered to host the party for Dominic and me, and I was certain that by the end of the night, I’d have every mahogany floorboard memorized.

Niko walked alongside me to the kitchen, as the rest of my professors—I guess they were just mine now that I’d graduated—my men drove separately. Niko quickly ditched the robes, leaving him in casual jeans and a T-shirt.

“The party has arrived,” Niko jokingly announced when we saw our friends gathered in the kitchen. He wrapped his arms around my shoulders, putting some of his weight on me as he smirked. “The important ones, that is.”

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