Page 45 of Reckless Games

“The plan was to shoot him in the heart, Angela. Not his arm. And you missed.”

“That’s the third time you’ve said that line: ‘You missed,’” I mocked him.

“Yet you haven’t explained yourself properly even once.”

“There’s nothing to explain,” I said, shaking my head and resuming my task of packing. But it wasn’t seconds later that I was pulled back by my arm and forced to face Jacob.

“Who are you fooling, Angela?”

“What are you trying to prove with all of this?” I yanked my arm out of his grip.

“That you.Never. Miss. Angela.You never miss your target. That’s what you’re best at! You’ve never missed an aim before this. How come you did it at such a crucial moment when you had the perfect chance?”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about. You’re just exaggerating the matter.” I said, exasperated and tired of the argument. I just wanted a break from everything.

“I know exactly what I’m talking about. I was there the whole time.” He was right. Sebastian was holding Jacob at gunpoint the entire time at the warehouse on the second story. Nobody could see them, but they could see everything. It was Nikolai’s order. If I had failed the mission yesterday, it would have been Jacob’s head. And much to my dismay, Nikolai knew I would not let that happen to Jacob. He was my only friend here. Nikolai knew exactly how to make someone dance to his commands by pulling the perfect strings of their weakness.

“I did kill him!” I exploded. “Why are you so fixated on the gunshot, ignoring the fact that I literally launched a grenade at them? There were four of them. And we were just two. I used my brain to get rid of them all in a single shot!” I shouted, having enough of his bullshit. Jacob stayed silent, staring into my eyes, trying to see into my soul. But my walls were not see-through. He would not get anything out of it.

“The bodies,” he started calmly, “were not found.” An unknowing relief washed over me at his words, but I made sure to keep it covered. He didn’t have to know how he just ended the turmoil that had been gnawing at me since yesterday, wondering if my plan had worked. "Nikolai sent the men with me. We found none of their bodies.” Of course, he wouldn’t have. Most grenades detonate about five seconds after the trigger is released, giving a few critical moments to react. The kill radiusfrom a grenade’s explosion is about fifteen feet. I was thirty feet away from them. I threw the grenade only about thirteen feet away from me before Nikolai and I made the run for it, getting us far enough in those five seconds to escape the brutal damage. We ended up with a few bruises, but nothing crucial. Which meant Lorenzo and his friends had enough time to create the space needed to escape the explosion. Yes, it sounds crazy, but I had everything calculated.

Apparently Nikolai had everything planned, from the first attack on Lorenzo a year ago to how I would enter his life after saving him and making him fall in love with me. The latter part was surprisingly easy; he was already infatuated before I realized. The attacks on his mansions, burning the house, my kidnapping—everything was planned.Except…

“How could you let such an important target escape?” Jacob’s voice sounded hurt this time. I did not answer immediately. Instead, I picked up the shirt that had slipped from my hands earlier.

“I’m only human, Jacob. Humans make mistakes,” I whispered.

“Yeah? Like the mistake of falling in love with Lorenzo Martinez?” My head whipped around, eyes narrowing at his words. My heartbeat sped up, and I struggled to keep my emotions in check.

“Are you out of your mind?” I hissed back.

“Stop bluffing, Angela.” He moved closer, taking my hands in his. I grew stiff but did not break eye contact. “I could see it in your eyes. And your eyes don’t lie. Back at the club, when you got drunk, the excitement was real when he came to get you. And don’t even get me started on what happened at the warehouse.” I could not say anything. My mind was blank, incapable of forming a coherent thought. “I thought I was your best friend, Angela,” Jacob complained. “I was the one whoalways got you out of trouble whenever Nikolai was harsh on you.” That was true. Jacob was the only other slave Nikolai had besides me. The rest of his men were loyal to him. But we were rebels. We were the passengers of the same boat, both homeless orphans. Jacob was two years older than me and soon took the role of the big brother I never had in my life. “I always had your back, and you shared everything with me. Since when did you start hiding things? You could have told me!”

“And then what?” My voice exploded with irritation. “Hm? And then what? Have you forgotten the third rule of the Bratva, Jacob?” My eyebrows shot up solemnly. “Let me remind you:Your feelings don’t matter!”I fought back the dam of emotions threatening to burst. “I betrayed Lorenzo Martinez. He hates me, and there’s nothing more to it. That’s the end of the story!”

“You didn’t betray him; you saved him,” Jacob said softly.

“I fucking shot him and gave away the only thing that meant the most to him—to his enemy—after he proposed to me! So stop assuming things.” Jacob kept staring at me silently.

“You’re hurting,” he stated breaking the silence.

“Why do you fucking care, Jacob?!”

“I do care!” he boomed. “I care more than I should about you because—” He paused.

“Because what?”

“Because I'm… I’m your only friend,” he scoffed, sounding disappointed in what he had just said.

“Just stop,” I sighed, exhausted from the conversation. “Don’t you want to get out of here? To get rid of this hell hole? To get rid of this damn thing that controls your whole life?” I pointed at my wrist, where the chip was embedded. The chip that controlled Jacob’s and my lives. The chip that couldelectrocute us to death. The chip whose remote was in Nikolai’s and Sebastian’s hands.

I could not stop the tears from leaking from my eyes anymore. And from the way Jacob’s eyes were red, I knew he was facing the same struggle. He gently took my hand, running his thumb over the scar and uneven skin where the chip was embedded. My thoughts traveled back to the time Lorenzo had questioned it. I did not lie to him that night. I had never lied to him ever, in fact. I had just not given him the full truth. I had always wanted to be a surgeon. That was my dream. And this mark on my wrist was given to me by these monsters I was trapped with since the night of my parents’ deaths.

“I’m sorry.” Jacob’s eyes softened. “I’m sorry I couldn’t save you from this that night.” My thoughts traveled back to that night when it all happened, making my skin crawl.

It was the day I was going to meet Nikolai to inform him of the latest news about the mission at hand. As I approached his office, I heard voices coming from inside.

"She is strong, no doubt. Which is why I decided her fate would not be the same as the other girls I have," Nikolai said, his voice carrying through the partially open door.

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