Page 59 of Villainous Kingpin

I reached for my phone to dial up my connections, while Wynter dug her own out. “I have to call my uncle.”

While she was calling her uncle, I dialed up Angelo and had him hack into surveillance around here.

Her uncle must have answered on the first ring because words poured out of Wynter’s mouth.

“Uncle, Davina is gone. Someone must have taken her. Oh my God. This is bad. Right? This is so bad.”

I couldn’t hear what her uncle said but he must have told her to calm down because Wynter took a deep breath in and then exhaled. “Davina was supposed to take my Jeep. But it’s still here. And her purse is here. That was an hour ago!”

Silence followed, and then Wynter answered. “Northwell Health Ice Center.”

Another stretch of silence. “But-”

“Okay,” she sighed. “I have a friend here with me. So I won’t be alone.” I shook my head at her ‘friend’ label for me. She had to have read my thoughts because she gave me an apologetic look. “Don’t send anyone to fetch me. I’m fine.”

My phone dinged and it was Angelo’s response. He was on it. If Davina means so much to Wynter, then she mattered to me too. I never wanted to see Wynter upset. “No, no,” she protested, shaking her head like her uncle could see her. “I won’t leave my friend’s side. I promise.”

Damn straight, she wouldn’t. Maybe they robbed the wrong person and now their lives are in danger. It wasn’t out of the realm of possibility.

“I’m safe,” she assured him. “My friend won’t leave my side.”

This time I heard a muffled question through her headset. “What friend?”

Wynter blushed crimson and my dick instantly responded. Fucked up, I know. “Ummm, you don’t know him. From college.” Another apologetic look. “You guys go look for Davina. I-I think…”

More muffled questions and silence. Then Wynter continued, “Ummm, no. I don’t think so. Nothing other than what you already know.”

One thing was for certain. Wynter wasn’t a very good liar. I tuned out the rest of their conversation and walked away to send my own message out. I wouldn’t tolerate any direct or indirect threat to Wynter.

I wondered if Liam Brennan knew his woman was in trouble. From my spot, I watched Wynter nod while on the phone with her uncle and all the while typing a message to Angelo to check the surveillance around the ice rink. She wore a long white off-the shoulder t-shirt and black leggings. She seemed to wear those a lot, like it was her signature wardrobe.

Then ending her call, she wiped her nose with the back of her trembling hand. That right there told me how scared she was. It was such a childish gesture. Seeing her upset and tears shine in her eyes was like a stab to my heart. I didn’t fucking like it.

This kind of thing didn’t get my heart racing. I’ve seen much scarier shit in my world and for a fraction of a second, my conscience pointed out how much worse my world would be for her.

Yet, I refused to even consider giving her up. I needed her in my darkness, to keep me sane. To keep me from becoming a monster. Every monster had a weakness and she was mine.

And like a selfish bastard, I shoved any possibility of life without her out of my mind and pulled her into a hug.

“I messaged my guy and he’s checking the surveillance,” I murmured into her hair. “We won’t let anything happen to your friend.”

She sniffed into my chest, and fuck, if that didn’t make my own chest ache. “I should have let Jules kill him,” she mumbled into my chest.

A choked laugh escaped me. “She wanted to kill him?”

She nodded. “Cut his dick off, burn down his house, kill him. She’s a bit unhinged.”

“I’d say.” I rubbed her back, feeling her tense muscles slowly relax. “What will your uncle do?”

She tensed slightly. “He’ll call the police,” she murmured. “He has some people he knows.” Her eyes darted away from me. “I’m worried they won’t do anything until twenty-four hours have gone by. Aren’t those the rules?”

I shook my head. “Not necessarily.” She chewed on her bottom lip nervously. “If his connections in the police can’t help, I have my own connections already working it.”

Wynter’s face lit up hopefully. “Really?”

I nodded. “Don’t worry about anything.”

She swallowed, her emotions glittering in her eyes. “Thank you so much, Bas,” she breathed out. “I can’t thank you enough.”