15

Dolly

Hours later, I’m fed, showered, and dressed in a pair of pajama pants and a soft sweatshirt that Oscar’s assistant dropped off. I step out of his bedroom and into the hallway. I hear voices, and I pause.

“Just come on out,” Oscar says. “It’s Ryan and Phoenix.”

“And Alex!”

I step around the corner to find the four of them standing in the main room.

“Um, hi,” I say.

They all stare.

Alex is someone I almost thought I’d be able to be friends with. Judging from the way she’s looking at me, though, that’s never going to happen.

“I filled them in,” Oscar says.

“Oh.”

“They know it wasn’t your idea,” he says.

“Okay.”

“We’re still pissed and think you suck.” Ryan glares at me.

“Understood.”

“Ryan!” Alex hisses.

“I’m just being honest.”

“It’s okay,” I say. “I deserve that honesty.”

“Sit down,” Oscar says, and I sit.

“What the fuck?” Phoenix turns to his brother. “What was that?”

“She’s my pet,” he says.

I feel my cheeks heat.

“Like, your submissive?” Alex asks.

“Something like that,” Oscar says.

“Are you two fucking?” Ryan asks.

“Not yet,” Oscar says.

They all stare at me. I stare at my hands.

“We found out more about your brother,” Phoenix says, saving me from my own humiliation.

“What did you learn?” I ask. I wonder if it’s anything I don’t know.

“He worked for our dad a few years ago,” Phoenix says.

“What?”

“He worked for our dad,” Oscar repeats his brother’s words. “We don’t know how. We just know they were involved in the adoption business.”

“Like, you think my brother stole kids?”

“There were both a lot of kids taken and also, not a lot,” Phoenix says. “If that makes sense.”

“It doesn’t.”

“There were about twenty-five missing children that we’ve been able to tie to our father.”

“Meaning what?”

“Meaning that our dad was a complete prick,” Oscar says. “We want to find the kids and reunite them with their birth families.”

“And what does that have to do with Craig?” I ask.

“If he worked with our dad, he might have access to records we don’t,” Oscar says.

“He tried to capture Oscar, which means there’s more to this than we know,” Ryan adds. “If your brother is trying to hurt ours, chances are that there’s something shady still going on.”

“And you think he’s going to come after Oscar again,” I say, realizing why I’m still here.

“No,” Oscar says. “We think he’s going to come after you.”