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Dropping into the backseat, I propped my elbow on the arm rest and held my forehead in my hand. None of this madeanysense.
My parents said they didn’t know I was kidnapped, and they didn’t know anything about a ransom demand.
Sasha clearly kidnapped me and clearly said he was waiting on some sort of payment.
They couldn’t both be right.
So who the fuck was lying — and why?
* * *
The first thingI did when I got home was to call Frankie again. She’d finally gotten the original message from the police station and was in mid-freak out when she answered.
“I’m coming over there right now,” she said.
“Yeah, ’cuz that’s what he needs after everything he’s been through,” Freddy said in the background. “You showing up and stressing him out even more.”
In the process of hanging up, I heard her shout, “Shut the fuck up, Freddy!”
While I waited for her to make the drive to my house, I took the longest, hottest shower of my life. By the time I got out, she was there, sitting on my bed, practically bouncing in place. Thank God I’d taken a tank top and basketball shorts into the bathroom with me. Not that she hadn’t seen me naked, but I didn’t need her losing her shit over the giant bruise on my solar plexus from Sasha’s homophobic freak out. She was already going to spaz about the bruises on my face and jaw.
As soon as she saw me, Frankie ran and jumped into my arms, wrapping her legs around my waist. “Oh my God! You’re ok! I told them I hadn’t talked to you! I texted your mom like, everyday, and she said she hadn’t seen you and that you were probably ‘finding yourself’ and not to worry. But I worried, Roan! I knew you weren’t ok! Freddy and I looked everywhere for you and we couldn’t report you as missing because you’re an adult and there wasn’t enough evidence to think you were in trouble.”
Hugging her tightly, I carried her over to the bed. She hung on like a little spider monkey, so I more or less ended up flopping us both into the center of the mattress.
“Yeah, I was off ‘finding myself’ with the Russian mob. It was great.” I rolled onto my back and glowered at the ceiling. “Thanks for trying, though. It’s more than my parents fucking did.”
“Do you want to talk about it?” She practically whispered the question, drawing idle circles on my bicep.
“I wouldn’t even know where to start...”
“What happened to your hand?” She reached across me and picked up my left hand, examining the scab on my palm with a wrinkled nose.
“Some asshole swung a knife at my face. I just reacted.” I shrugged.
She looked like I drop-kicked a cat right in front of her. “Oh my God! Why would he do that?”
“I think it was because I wouldn’t give him a blowjob. I don’t know. It all happened so fast. But he’s the same one who helped me escape, so maybe he’s just psycho. I mean, they’re all psycho, right? They have to be.” I had a sneaking suspicion Yuri’s help had more to do with fucking Sasha over than any sudden moral dilemma, but whatever. It got me the hell out of there.
“All? How many were there?”
At one point I felt like I could have described them all, but now? I couldn’t get Sasha out of my head long enough to picture anyone else. “I don’t know. I only interacted with a few.”
She scooted closer to me, touching my jaw lightly. “How did this happen?”
“That’s Sasha’s handiwork.”
“Sasha?”
Shit. I shouldn’t have said his name. When the cop asked, I said I didn’t know their names. All I told him was that they were Russian, or so I thought. I don’t know why. It seemed like the smart thing to do in the moment, like if I kept their secret, they wouldn’t come after me again. Besides, it’s not like they’d ever be arrested anyway. Guys like that never were.
I cleared my throat, realizing I hadn’t answered her. “Uh, yeah. He was like, the main guy. I think. I mean, he had a boss, I guess, but everyone else seemed to do what he said.” Even me. Because as Ivan put it,you don’t say no to Sasha.
“What did they want with you?”
“I don’t know. Sasha said they wanted something from my dad, but Dad said he didn’t get any ransom.”
She made a face. “That’s weird.”
