Captive [MXM]

Mateo got a call from Matthias a few minutes later telling us that we could return.

I was completely silent and shaken when we went back to the office. Jakob was waiting there with a smile and stretched out his hand for me. I gently placed my palm in his as Mateo returned to Matthias. The four of us headed out and back down the steps to meet the client I'd heard them talking about.

"Paige," Jakob whispered softly and I looked up at him, "is something wrong?"

I hesitated and pursed my lips before nodding my head once.

"Do we need to go somewhere private?" His brow creased with worry and I shook my head this time before looking down at my feet, "can you tell me what happened?" Again, I shook my head.

"We just need to talk, that's all," I mumbled as we walked along and he squeezed my hand in reassurance.

We went down another floor to what was obviously the BDSM area and headed to a circle of chairs where two men were already seated. I kept my head down and remained in my thoughts as Jakob took a seat and I occupied the one beside him. Matthias took the other open seat and Mateo stood to his right.

"Thank you for meeting with us, gentlemen," one man said in a thick Russian accent. A peek at him revealed his sparkling white fangs. Vampires. "As you know, I am Nikolai Sylvonovich and this is Lux Faustus."

"Trust me, your majesty, the honor is ours," Matthias remarked as Jakob crossed his legs.

"We're looking for someone," the other vampire began- Lux. He had dark hair and cool amber eyes. "Someone who is in your line of work."

"A vampire?" Jakob asked and folded his arms across his chest.

"A man named Alexey Dragomir," Nikolai said in a grave voice. Matthias and Jakob shared a look.

"We know of him," Matthias replied with a shrug, "but so does everyone else here."

"I understand that, but I was led to believe that someone in power around here has done business with him," he remarked and dragged his fingers through his dark hair.

"That could be anyone, is there anything else you know?" Jakob asked and leaned forward a little bit.

The amber-eyed vampire spoke up, "he trades through the Italians most frequently."

"Sage?" Jakob asked Matthias. "He has ties with Gio."

"No, Sage is neutral ground. He distributes and buys from everyone," Matthias shook his head.

"But isn't that all the better? It makes it harder to trace it back to him," Jakob remarked with a wave of his hand. As the chatter went on I thought about it myself to get my mind off of things. Hadn't the Italians come to Warren's house with Sage that one time? If anything, Warren knew what was going on and he did have that 'reputation' which could be a shield for whoever it was they were looking for.

I sat up in surprise and tried to get Jakob's attention, "Sage brought them to the manor once!"

The chatter died down quickly and suddenly I felt very self-conscious.

"Warren does business with them through Sage. Giovanni listens to him," I whispered.

"Who is Warren?" The Russian vampire asked and Jakob and Matthias shared yet another look.

"He's one of us, he has a bit of a reputation," Matthias dragged on and shot a meaningful look at Jakob. I frowned to myself at the mention of it. I was definitely going to be speaking to Warren about it when he cooled off.

"I can ask him," I offered and squirmed in the spot light.

"What if he won't tell the truth?" The amber-eyed one cut in.

"Paige is the cause of the reputation," Matthias waved his hand. "He could make Warren do anything."

I flushed and bit the inside of my cheek, "probably not anything. He's also upset with me at the moment."

"What did you do?" Jakob asked and creased his brow.

"It's more like what we did," I sighed and gestured between us.

"Where is he now?" Nikolai asked slowly and gave me a calculating look. He seemed to be finally noticing me.

"Probably home. Probably intoxicated," I shrugged and rubbed the back of my neck, "I hope you aren't planning on seeing him now."

"It's an important matter," Lux put simply, "the faster we locate him, the safer Nikolai is."

I pursed my lips, "well, he probably won't let you in at this hour without... me."

"Then you can attend," he answered without hesitation.

"But-" I trailed off and sighed, "Jakob?"

"It's important, Paige," he sighed and I frowned.

"Fine."

The car ride was mostly silent at first before Jakob spoke up.

"Is now a good time to tell me what was wrong earlier?" He asked and tapped his thumb on the steering wheel.

"No, I don't want to get hysterical right before going to see Warren," I shrugged and looked out the window as I wrapped my arms around myself, "but I am going to flambé your ass when we get home."

"Oh wait, I did something?" He blinked in surprise.

"A few somethings," I narrowed my eyes, "so prepare yourself to beg for my forgiveness."

He seemed bewildered and glanced over at me, "what the hell did I do?"

"You lied to me," I waved it off and crossed my arms over my chest.

"What do I have to lie to you about? I wouldn't do that to you, Paige," he sounded so sincere but it only made me upset.

"Remember that first date we had and I asked you if you were in the same business and you said no? Do you remember saying to my face that you didn't do that kind of thing?" I snapped and clenched my jaw.

He sucked in a slow breath, "oh."

I scowled and pulled my knees up to my chest.

"It was the first date, Paige. How was I supposed to tell you something like that?" Jakob sighed in exasperation.

"Well obviously I'd had experience with it before because of Warren so you did have to protect me from it. I asked because I didn't want to get back into this. I learned from Warren and I thought I was moving past him with you but here we are," I flung my arms up and then rested my forehead on my knees.

"I never tried to hide it from you. We've gone to clubs like Matthias' and you've been to work with me. I left it all out in the open. You just refused to see it," he tried to defend himself.

"Because I believed in you! I trusted that you wouldn't hide anything from me, Jakob," I cried in frustration and bit down the inside of my cheek.

"I can't change who I am, Paige. It's my livelihood," he sighed with a small shrug as the gates of the manor came into view.

I frowned and looked out the window before pulling my phone out to call Lorcan, "well at least Warren is trying to change."

Jakob began to speak up again but I was already calling Lorcan.

He picked up after a moment.

"I know it's late but I need you to open the gates. There's someone Warren needs to see," I sighed and there was a short pause.

Lorcan cut off.

In a matter of minutes the gate was open and we headed inside. Lorcan seemed almost shocked to see Nikolai. I'd never seen him so flustered over someone half his size. Jakob remained at my back and didn't mention the little spat we'd had in the car.

I led everyone in and brushed my fingers through my hair. Lorcan looked at me with a mildly concerned expression.

"Has he been drinking?" I asked and the body guard nodded solemnly, "good, then I can reason with him," I shrugged and kicked off my shoes by the door.

"I thought he was upset? What if you get hurt?" Jakob expressed his concern

"I know how to handle Warren. I still have the element of sex appeal," I waved my hand and Jakob looked as if he were going to argue. I gave him a hard look, "you don't get to tell me no right now. Lorcan, take them to the living room. I'll be down in a few minutes."