Stuck between two bad boys

XAVIER’S POV

There was no way Devin expected me to take the money from Emily’s kidnap. I had no idea why he needed a hacker and he wasn’t saying anything.

The least he could tell me was the risky game he wanted to play and why he needed me but he still didn’t say anything.

I headed home angrily and pushed the door open. I met Mom and Dad in the sitting room. Mom turned her head in my direction the moment I opened the door.

“Xavier,” she called. “Where have you been?”

“I just stepped out,” I blatantly said, hoping she wouldn’t ask any more question.

“You got me worried. You should have told us you were going to take a walk or something.”

I wanted to apologize for getting her worried but I remains calm. I also noticed her face looked brighter. Like she didn’t have those dark circles beneath her eyes and her eyes wasn’t puffy.

She was smiling at Dad and it made me wonder what was happening. Mom had not smiled since Emily got kidnapped and all of a sudden she was smiling.

Dad must have noticed my facial expression and read what was going through my mind.

“We got a call,” he announced. “Someone says he found Emily and he just called the cops.”

Mom gave a nod following his explanation and I just raised my brow.

“Someone?”

“Yes, we didn’t get to know his name.”

I swallowed the lump that formed in my throat.

I gave a nod and a slight nod and turned to leave. As I walked to the stairs I heard Mom talk.

“He sent 2000$ and said he wants to help out. He must be Godsent.”

My jaw squeezed at the sentence. I suspected Devin, he must have been the one playing with their emotions.

I angrily walked into the room and picked up my phone. I called Devin and after ringing thrice, he picked up.

“Why the fuck did you send her 2000$?” I flared.

“Hey hey, relax. That’s not how you appreciate people.”

“Shut the fuck up Devin, what are you up to?”

“Nothing that you’re not involved in.”

“I’m not doing this shit.”

“You have no choice, Xavier.”

“You’re playing with their emotions, Devin! They think Emily will be coming home soon.”

“Maybe or maybe not.”

“Devin-”

“I’ll call you later about the plan like I told you. My phone might be hacked but I don’t care if the person is listening to what I’m saying right now.”

“Can you just-”

“I’ll text you about the plan.”

“Wait-”

Beep beep.

The call ended before could ask him. I angrily hurled my phone and fell to the bed. I hit the pillow continuously till I got tired and stopped. I was getting frustrated and Devin was the reason.

Couldn’t he just explain what he was doing?

I turned in the direction of Emily’s empty bed. I miss her and I couldn’t deny it. Seeing the empty bed without her just filled me with emotions. I needed to bring Emily home no matter what it would cost me.

I walked closer to her bed and gave a fainted smile. Her bed was still dressed the way she left it, her pillow was seated at the edge of the bed and her blanket covered half of the bed.

I sat on the bed and just remained quiet. If she was around, she’d have been on her bed with her legs crossed, watching a movie or some damn tutorial on how to apply mascara rightly or use eyeliner.

I sighed at how it must have felt for her to be away from her family. My eyes caught a box, it was her makeup box and I remembered they used it frequently whenever we had to go to school.

She’d always take the box and sit in front of the mirror. She had several makeups in the box and would always take a moment to decide which she was going to use.

Looking at the box filled me with nostalgia so I picked it up and opened it. The box was a wooden box made with rich wooden material. It was painted red and had a soft foam inside where her makeup was placed.

Emily became a fan of makeup overnight and couldn’t go to school without applying mascara, a colored liner, or some bronzer. It was annoying to think that it was because of her bullies and she felt insecure about her looks.

I remember trying to confront her about it but she yelled at me that she wasn’t doing it for me or anyone else. I knew she was lying but I gave a nod and left her. She could tell that to anyone else but not me. For some reason, I could see beyond the made-up lies.

I picked up her liner, the one she never failed to apply to her eyes. I stared at the mascara and wondered why girls had to apply all that to their poor eyes.

I reached for the lipstick and raised it but it slipped from my hands and fell on the floor.

“Fuck,” I blurted. Emily was going to be so mad at me if she found out I broke her lipstick. I picked the pieces and tried to fix them. I looked at it for a while trying to decipher how to fix the broken parts till realization hit me.

It wasn’t lipstick but a tracker. It was made in form of lipstick and anyone who saw it would think it was lipstick. How did it get here? I stood for a while trying to figure it out but when I couldn’t, I turned around.

“What the hell? I need to show Mom!”

I ran out of the room hurriedly and sprawled to the stairs.

“Fuck, sorry sorry- sorry.”

I felt sick for a moment and my eyes turned. I ran faster than I ever did in a split second.

I was breathing fast and apologized because I just barged into my parent’s making out.

It was weird as hell but I didn’t have the strength to say anything about them. I was bothered about the tracker I found.

“Mom look at this,” I said showing her the makeup box. “I found it in Emily’s room.”

She looked at it for a moment and shook her head. “I didn’t buy this for her.”

She didn’t notice the tracker too because it was disguised as lipstick.

“No, look at this.”

Her jaw dropped the moment she realized it was a tracker. She turned to Dad who wore a confused expression too.