Page 60 of Play Dirty

I need to get out.

Yeah. Get out.

My feet move on their on accord, I don’t even notice where I’m heading as I put distance between me and whatever the fuck that was behind me. I don’t notice the headlights, just notice strong hands that wrap around me pulling me back.

Through blurry eyes, I watch as a black car speeds down the street as I collapse to the ground.

There’s a screech. Then a horn after some shouting.

Someone curses from behind me, but I don’t bother to look. I can’t.

Buzz.

Anonymous

Next time you wont be as lucky.

I swallow hard as I finally find my voice to scream. My knees give out, my fingers tremble as I stare at the screen, and then arms wrap aroundme. The smell is unfamiliar, but somehow I feel safe. A deep, raspy voice speaks softly. “Shh. It’s okay. You’re okay.”

Zayden.

I look up at him, searching for answers within his face. Does he know? I want to ask him, but the words just won’t come out.

I don’t know who to trust.

Definitely not my father.

Not Nico.

At this point, not even my damn self.

Everything burns.

And in the distance, through the thrum of the music and the sour taste in my mouth, I realize that I’m not just part of the game anymore.

I’m the target.

Chapter Twenty - Four

Nico

Ifocus on the open door, picturing her standing there. Baring witness to her father’s secret, I wasn’t expecting this to happen. Everything happened so quickly, the message from anonymous telling me to come into this room. Mr. J appears out of the blue demanding attention from his favorite boy. Then Shi—

Fuck.

My hand tightens around my phone, as I ignore the string of curses spilling from Mr. J's lips through the phone. He’s long gone now, scurrying like a cockroach the second the light shines on him. Ending the call, I look at the door. I know who saw us, call me superstitious, but I felt her. Somehow, I felt her presence long before I saw the shadow of her take off into the hall.

I fucking knew it.

The second I step into the hall and can’t find her— really fucking find her. A pain rips through my chest, a dull and deep ache like a bruise under my skin. It wasn’t guilt. Not this time. Guilt. That I can fucking stomach, but this is something entirely different.My hands shake as I rake them through my dark sweaty strands, the feeling coiling low and mean. Tearing me from the inside, knowing she saw. She knows now. Pinching the bridge of my nose, I try to hold back the emotion ready to erupt from every crevice in my body. And just breathe.

My phonebuzzes again in my palm, I don’t need to check it. I already saw the name flash across the screen.

Zayden

Where the fuck are u?

Buzz.