Chapter 79: A weird call?

Ivy’s pov

An unknown caller?

My thumb hovered over the green accept button. "Hello?"

I got nothing. The line was silent except for one loud, wet breathing sound, like someone panting on the other end while someone else talked far away from the phone.

"Hello? Who’s this please-" A sudden, high-pitched shriek cut through the silence before the line went dead.

"What the hell?" I muttered, cold shivers climbing up my spine.

My brows furrowed as I glared at the screen, the numbers blinking back at me. Who on earth was that? Why did it sound like a shriek of terror?

Did I just hear a man’s voice before the call cut off, or did I imagine that?

My fingers quivered as I quickly redialed the number.

"The number you’re calling is unreachable," A robotic voice replied instead.

"Vivi? You okay?" Roman’s gentle touch on my arm pulled me back to the present. I tore my eyes from the phone to his long fingers gripping my arm and mumbled.

"Oh yeah," I forced a smile up at him, unable to shake off that ominous feeling that was climbing up my throat.

"It was just a weird call. Wrong number, I guess."

Kai didn’t look convinced, but he just shrugged. "Let’s go bowl."

We walked into the bowling alley, and my jaw nearly hit the floor. It wasn’t the loud, chaotic place I had expected or seen in movies, at least. It was huge as hell, sleek, with a private lounge area that was separated from the main lanes.

An older man in a black suit and a red cravat around his neck rushed over, his face practically beaming as bright as the sun. Was this the bat cave or something? Who invited Alfred the Butler?

"Master Kai, Master Roman, what an honor. We weren’t expecting you this week."

Master? I looked between them, my confusion mounting. This was definitely not what I had seen in movies or even on our college grounds. A bowling alley was not supposed to be this fancy.

"Just felt like knocking down some pins, Frank," Kai replied, clapping the man on the shoulder.

"Of course, of course," Frank gushed, his eyes darting to me. "Lane 5 is already prepared for you. Please, enjoy."

"Thanks, Frank," Ro replied tugging me along as Frank led the way.

He led us to a private lane, complete with plush couches, a table laden with appetizers and cocktails, and a state-of-the-art scoring system. Of course. They didn’t just go bowling. They pretty much owned the bowling alley.

"Seriously? I thought I was getting the normal bowling experience," I teased, folding my arms at how incredulous this was. "We’re pretty much the only ones here."

Kai grinned, pumping a few squirts of sanitizer from the bottle onto his palm. "You should get used to this kitten. We decided what normal is."

He snatched up a small ravioli shaped pastry from the plates and held it to my lips. "Say ah,"

My lips parted, cheeks heating as the rich pastry slipped past my lips, the rich, sweet flavour bursting all over my tongue. "Wow!"

Ro flashed me a wide smile. "And you wanted normal? Isn’t this much better, Vivi?"

The feeling was back, that nagging little voice in the back of my mind telling me this was wrong. I shouldn’t be here and be so free with them.

"Now get ready to be instructed in the art of bowling!" Kai’s jaw worked over time for him to be able to chew the insane amount of the pastries he shoved in his mouth, his cheeks stuffed like some adorable chipmunk. I snorted in laughter at the sight, tossing a pastry that bounced on his face.

Kai, it turned out, was a terrible bowler, but he was hilarious. He would send the ball veering wildly into the gutter, then throw his hands up in mock despair. "This ball is fucking rigged," making me laugh until my sides hurt.

"Watch and learn, Kai." Roman, on the other hand, was a pro. He moved with such grace, sending the ball sailing down the lane in a perfect arc, knocking down pins with a satisfying crash.

"Show off!" Kai chuckled, grabbing a red bowling ball and handing it over to me.

My fingers gripped the ball tightly as I reared back and sent it flying, it rolled down and hit a couple of the pins.

"Awesome! Not bad for a rookie. You’re on my team, Kitten," Kai declared, his eyes twinkling. "We can’t let this clown win."

When we began winning, Roman pouted, trying to distract me, his hands "accidentally" brushing against mine as we reached for our balls, his whispers in my ear full of wicked promises.

"If I win, you owe me an eternity between your legs, Vivi," he murmured, his breath warm against my skin.

I was having the time of my life, but then Kai’s phone buzzed. When he glanced at the screen, his playful expression vanished. He caught Roman’s eye, a subtle signal passing between them.

"Welp, looks like we couldn’t decide a winner," Kai quipped, and before I could protest, Ro tugged me closer to him.

"Come on, Vivi. I’ll drop you off at home."

"Is everything okay?"

"Nothing to worry about, Kitten." Kai stepped closer, his hand gently cupping my cheek. He leaned in and brushed his lips against my forehead. "See ya tomorrow."

But it was clear something was wrong. The game was over, and in a few minutes, I was in Roman’s Maserati that I had bugged while he drove us to the place he still thought I lived. I didn’t exactly know what to say, so I just kept my mouth shut, but Roman seemed to think I was sad because our time at the bowling alley was cut short.

As he pulled up against the curb, he reached over and took my hand, his thumb stroking my knuckles. "Don’t be sad, Vivi," he murmured, his voice a low, soothing hum. "We’ll have plenty of other times. I promise."

"I’m not sad. Thanks, Ro." I glanced at the run-down building, wondering how long I would have to wait until he drove away this time, when I froze in place, my jaw dropping on my freaking lap.

What the fuck was going on?

"You didn’t notice when you left for work this morning?"