“Do you have nothing to say?” I ask, voice shaking like my hands. “Don’t you want to plead for your life?” Don’t they know I’m unstable? Hell, even I know that I’ve lost my shit. I’m at a breaking point where it’s kill or be killed.
“The only person who will be pleading for their life tonight is you, doll.”
A voice comes from my right, and I twist my body to face Dax. He’s standing there, head tilted, and brows creased as if he can’t believe it’s come to this. I didn’t see him get up from his seat.
He takes a step toward me, and I take one back. “Don’t …”
“Do it, little doll!” he urges, and tears build in my eyes. I don’t want to. He was my friend. And what I hate most is that I still love him after everything. And that’s not okay.
“I will.” I swallow nervously. Taking a quick look at the other three, they still sit in their seats just watching. “Dax …”
“Do it!” he shouts.
I flinch at the harshness. He’s at the end of his line too. And I know what I have to do. For me. For Brenda. For every girl who had the courage to tell their tragic story to only be dismissed, laughed at, and bullied.
He presses his chest into the barrel. “Do it, you fucking bitch …”
Click.
I let out a shaky breath as I see him still standing before me with his head still tilted and eyes narrowed, but he’s missing something very important. A bullet hole.
I blink, and it causes the tear to roll down my cheek. “What?”
Law interrupts me, throwing his head back and laughing while Monroe yanks it from my hands and tosses it to him, still sitting on the couch. Law catches it midair and reaches into his pocket, pulling out a handful of bullets. “If you knew anything about guns, then you’d know by the weight of it that the magazine was empty. And there was nothing in the chamber.” He winks at me. “But good for you, doll. For having the balls.”
My wide eyes go to Dax just as someone grabs me from behind, lifting my feet up off the floor. I go to scream, but an arm wraps around my throat and tightens to the point it takes away my air.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
RYAN SCOUT
SHE KICKS HER feet out, and her nails dig into his arm. Rellik holds her in a chokehold effortlessly. A part of me wants to yank the gun from Law’s hand and shoot Rellik right between the eyes, but I refrain. She was going to shoot Dax. But that was the plan. We wanted her to act irrationally. And she didn’t disappoint.
Good girl.
Instead, I tighten the hold on my beer as she continues to thrash in his hold. Her hands slap his arm, and he grits his teeth. “She’s stronger than I thought she’d be.”
I smile at his disappointment. He underestimated her. Expected her to go limp and just take it. Nah, that’s not Henley.
Law just snorts.
“Fuck,” Dax growls, running his hands through his hair. He takes a step back from them and looks around aimlessly. His eyes land on the gun in Law’s hands. He’s just finished putting the loaded magazine in and cocks it. He looks up to notice Dax staring at him. Law lifts up his shirt and tucks it into his jeans. Monroe’s eyes go back to her struggle with Rellik. Her movements are slowing, her face turning blue, and her tear-filled eyes are growing heavy.
“Good girl,” Rellik growls into her ear with a smile on his face. “Just accept it, doll.”
Dax’s hands fist to the point of white knuckles as he watches her slowly lose consciousness.
“Monroe.” I stand, and he takes another step back from them. Our plan was to render her unconscious, not kill her. What’s the use of having a toy if you can’t play with it?
“I’m going to stay here,” he states, taking another step back, needing even more distance from her.
“Okay.” I nod, thinking that will be best.
“I’ll stay with you,” Rellik states, lowering her now unconscious body to the floor and digging into the pocket of his letterman’s jacket. He pulls out a syringe and bites the cap off it. Bending down beside her, he injects the ketamine to keep her out for the time being. Putting the cap back on once done, he walks over to Dax.
She lies on her stomach, her dark hair fanning the rug. Her arms still down by her sides. Bending down, I grab her shoulders and gently roll her over onto her back, and my chest tightens at the vulnerable state she’s in right now. How easily one of us could hurt her. But that is what we want, right? To make her pay for what she did. For trying to ruin Dax’s life. I run my knuckles down her cheek and over her lips. She’s so soft, so fragile.