Page 13 of Missing Piece
Matteo stepped into the bathroom, leaning his shoulder toward Adam.
Adam nodded a quick thanks at him and allowed Matteo to slowly walk him across the room towards the bed. Embarrassment burned in his cheeks, slowly spreading across his whole face. Adam didn’t want help. He wanted his foot and to go to his shitty place while he waited for the county sheriffs to issue a warrant for his arrest.
Wait. A warrant. That could help. If one was issued, they would try to find him, right? And once it became clear that he had not been home, his parents might call in some favors at the local police department. His dad had worked in the prosecutor’s office for a few years before starting his personal injury firm. Surely, he still had some friends over there.
Adam signed a quick thank you to Matteo as the eerily friendly man set him down on the bed. Watching Vincent and Matteo sign to each other, he wondered what they were to each other. Were they friends? Business partners in whatever kidnapping operation this was?
Was Matteo not human as well?
Maybe it wasn’t a good idea to wait for the sheriff’s or his parents to try to find him. Hell, Adam still didn’t even know if he was in town. His focus needed to be on finding a way out. On finding something to get the cuff off his ankle, go find whatever they did with his prosthetic, and steal one of their cars. Vincent’s movements in and out of the house needed to be ascertained.
A notepad thrust in his direction snapped Adam from his thoughts. “It was nice to meet you. Keep this one for next time. I’ll teach you more signs later.” Looking up from the writing as he took the notepad, Adam nodded at Matteo as hetried to figure out what the hell the man’s deal was. Why was he being so nice? It was more than jarring. It was unsettling.
Vincent watched as Matteo exited the room, waiting until the door was shut behind him before he turned his attention to Adam. “A strange one, isn’t he?” Vincent asked, moving over to the side of the bed that Adam sat on. Vincent grabbed Adam’s chin, moving his face from side to side. “You don’t bruise easily.”
Adam clenched his jaw as that same weird warmth started to spread through him from Vincent’s touch as before. “No,” Adam said through his teeth.
“Interesting,” Vincent mused before sitting down a little too close to him.
Play nice.Adam looked down at his hands, realizing his fists were balled tight, his knuckles nearly white. It took a few seconds for his hands to respond and unfurl, but Vincent grabbed Adam’s chin again before his hands had fully relaxed.
“Look at me when I speak to you,” Vincent said, his tone sharp.
Adam met Vincent’s eyes, surprised they didn’t match his tone. Those eyes were still cold, just like the rest of him, but there was something else in there. Something uncertain.
“Sorry,” Adam said softly, licking his dry lips as he tried to think of the best way to phrase his next question. He needed to be careful. Nice. But nottoonice.
“We need to go over some rules,” Vincent said as he released Adam’s chin.
“What rules?”
“I assume you enjoy being alive, yes? These rules will ensure your survival,” Vincent said, his tone still not matching the uncertainty in his gorgeous blue eyes.
“‘Enjoy’ is a bit of a stretch,” Adam said, his answer more sarcastic than he intended. “But yes, I’d like to still be breathing by the end of…whatever this is.”
Vincent’s mouth formed the slightest pout even as he continued to smirk. “And what exactly do you think ‘this’ is?”
Maybe it was the closeness, or his hangover, or side effects from being drugged, but the sudden urge to lean over and kiss Vincent right on his pouty mouth hit Adam like a ton of bricks.What the fuck is wrong with me?Adam let out a breath through his nose. “Best guess? You are a very not-human human trafficker. I interrupted whatever that freak show behind the club was, probably related to whatever you’re doing, and now I’m here because you want to make sure I don’t go running my mouth to the cops,” Adam said.
Vincent started laughing, placing his hand on Adam’s knee as he did. “Now that is a new one. Very good, pet,” Vincent said. “You’re half correct.”
Adam really wanted to push Vincent’s hand off his knee, but he remembered how hard the guy could hit and clamped his mouth shut, his jaw aching.
“About the not-human part,” Vincent added, moving his hand from Adam’s knee to his side on the bed. “Human trafficking sounds messy, and I’m not fond of messes I can’t clean up in a single night.”
Adam narrowed his eyes at Vincent, ignoring the part of him that urged him to keep things civil. “So what the fuck am I doing here, man? I don’t care what you are, I care that I’m fucking chained to a bed and you still have my goddamn foot somewhere,” Adam snapped.
Adam’s head whipped to the side, pain erupting in its wake. The left side of his face and jaw throbbed, bringing tears tohis eyes. “What the fuck?!” The next blow landed before Adam could see it coming. Pain ripped through the left side of his head, exploding behind his eye. Adam clutched at his face, vision swimming with stars as his thoughts scattered. All that remained was the agonizing throb in his head.
It took Adam a few seconds longer to realize he had fallen against the mattress.This is how you got bit last time. Get up.Trying to push himself up, his vision blurred with tears he wished he could control better. No matter how many times Adam had been in a fight, it was always the blows to his face that brought the tears out. It was irritating, but he never could figure out how some people managed to take a sucker punch to the face and not have their eyes water.
“Stay down,” Vincent said. His voice sounded strange, as though a gentle tone had been strained through a growl.
The weight on the bed shifted as Vincent’s face came into view, laying down beside Adam’s.This is familiar. Why is it so familiar?“What are you doing?” Adam asked, blinking away the tears clouding his vision. The urge to shove Vincent away was strong, but his right eye throbbed and his vision still danced with splotches of black and white.
Vincent reached out, his thumb swiping away the small pool of tears gathered on the bridge of Adam’s nose. “Rule one: Don’t be disrespectful when you speak to me. I have a low tolerance for that stuff,” Vincent said, his tone almost apologetic. “Rule two: Look at me when I speak to you. Rule Three: If I stay fed, you stay fed. I will treat you as well as you treat me, and yes, I will give you your foot when I trust you not to do something foolish.”
Adam stared at Vincent, trying to think of the best way to phrase his mixture of horror and irritation in a way thatwouldn’t result in him getting his other eye rattled around his skull.Go along with it.“If you stay fed?” Adam asked, his voice so soft he could barely hear himself speak the words. “So, I’m not having some sort of fever dream, right? You’re a vampire.”
