AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Thanks, Dad.” I offer him a small smile, and he reaches over and squeezes my knee.
“I’m so relieved, kiddo. Did they say why they took you? Did you see faces, hear names, anything?”
I clear my throat before answering. “Everything is really hazy, Dad. They kept me drugged up most of the time with sleeping aids and stuff, so I don’t know how much help I’ll be, but I’ll tell the police everything I can think of. Maybe you can call whoever is on the case after we get home and I rest for a while.”
Dad pulls his hand away and coughs. “Yeah, yeah, of course. We’ll talk about it more
later.”
The rest of the ride home is quiet, and I can feel the tension radiating off my dad. When my parent’s house comes into view, I see Brendan’s car parked out front. I have to take a couple of deep breaths to prepare myself before I see him. Before we get out, Dad looks over at me with a sad smile.
“We’ll do whatever we need to do to put this behind us, okay? You’re home, and you’re safe, and that’s all that matters now, right?”
“Okay, Dad.” He pats my arm and opens his door.
I slowly follow his lead, and we make our way inside. Before I’ve even taken another breath, my mother is screeching and sobbing. She runs into the foyer and wraps her thin arms around me.
“Thank god! My baby! I’ve been so worried. I haven’t been able to sleep or eat a thing!” She pulls back and cradles my face in her cold hands. “Incidentally, I’ll be able to have my mother-of-the-bride dress taken in a few inches.” She smiles at me like this should make me feel better.
“That’s great news, Mom.”
“Hey, Princess.” I have to physically stop myself from cringing at Brendan’s familiar nickname for me. It doesn’t belong to him anymore.
“Hi, Brendan.” I step away from my mother but make no move toward him.
He closes the distance between us and scoops me up, twirling me around. My parents look like everything is now right in the world, and Brendan sets me down. He moves in to try and kiss me, but I turn at the last second, and he gets my cheek. I see the way his eyes darken, but he quickly smiles to cover it up.
“I know you’ve been through a lot. We’ll get you help, and it’ll be like this never happened. I promise.”
“Yeah, that seems to be the theme of the day, and it’s only six in the morning. Is there coffee? Or maybe even some champagne?” I walk farther into the house and make my way to the kitchen.
“Champagne? Isn’t it a little early, darling?” My mother quickly falls in step beside me, but I see the look of concern she throws behind her at the men following us.
“Under normal circumstances, maybe, but I’m home. Isn’t that cause for a celebration?” I quirk an eyebrow at her.
She laughs like she’s indulging a small child. “Of course it is! You’re right. I’ll have the maid grab us a bottle from the cellar.”
“Fuck, make it two, Mom. After all, if the goal is to help me forget, champagne is one of the ways to do that, right?”
Her face falls for a moment, but she recovers with an unsure smile and looks at my father. He cuts me a glance and shrugs back at her.
“Okay. I’ll have her grab two, then. Just give me a moment. Why don’t you sit down at the island and relax. I’ll have the maid cook us some breakfast after she gets the champagne.” My mother practically runs out of the kitchen in search of the maid, even though it would probably be faster for her to just get the goddamn alcohol herself.
“Sounds great, Mom. Thanks,” I call after her, then take a seat as I was told. I look between Brendan and my father, enjoying how obviously uncomfortable they are. Good. This shit is just getting started.
Adler
Someonekicksmeinthe leg and makes the awareness of my need to take a piss go from distant to immediate. I barely open my eyes as I shuffle to Hayes’ bathroom and handle my business. As I wash my hands, I see the clock on the wall reads a few minutes past ten. Normally, we don’t sleep so late, but we also don’t usually have late-night orgies until three in the morning. Maybe I’ll get started on breakfast while everyone else sleeps a little longer. Fuck, I’m nice.
I quietly walk back into Hayes’ room and start sifting through the clothes on the floor until I find my sweatpants. It isn’t until I’m pulling them up and scratching my chest that I realize Rory isn’t on the bed with the guys. I have a moment of panic, but maybe she needed to use the bathroom and saw that it was occupied. I don’t want to freak everyone out if it’s nothing, so I quickly run to her room and see that it’s empty. Fuck.
A quick sweep of the house shows that Rory definitely isn’t here. She left us. She waited until we were comfortable and had our guard down and she left. I refuse to acknowledge how much it fucking hurts. Who knows how long she’s been gone while we all slept comfortably and happily. I race back to Hayes’ room.
“Get up! Rory is gone.” They all start stirring but haven’t processed what I said.
“Dude, keep your voice down. We’re right here,” Hayes says around a yawn.
“Did you hear what I said? Rory is gone. As in, she left.” There’s a beat of silence as they register my words, then they’re all jumping up and grabbing for their clothes.
