Page 20 of A Game of Survival

Taking a deep breath, I dismount from my bike, and make my way to the front door. This house is old, the front yard is overgrown and full of weeds. The fence that surrounds the house is broken in parts and the paint that looks to have been white once upon a time has faded away. As I begin to walk up the steps leading to the porch, I hear raised voices.

“You will not question my authority unless you want me to cut that tongue from your mouth, do you hear me? Now keep the boy happy until I have dealt with this psychopath.” Ronan bellows. Is Teddy here I wonder? But before I even make it to the top of the steps, the front door flies open. Ronan is standing with one of his men smirking at me. “Cole, is the deed done?” he smirks.

I take in my surroundings, knowing that I must play this game, I must survive and ensure everyone else will too.

“Yes,” I respond shortly.

“Let’s go inside then and break bread as they say,” Ronan chuckles.

I follow him into the old house, it looks even more run down in here than it does from the outside. The curtains are barely holding up, some of the windows are boarded and there is a smell that I recognize. The smell of rotting flesh. This is a torture house. I wonder if Max was kept here before he escaped. Ronan isn't aware he's letting not only myself into his circle but he has another mole scurrying around, picking the pieces from his table, collecting all the little bits of information they need to make their move. The trouble is, that person isn't on my team either, he's not an ally, he's someone I need to watch carefully. I scan the room, making a mental note of all the exits in case this is an ambush. I don't trust him, but I need him to trust me.

Ronan takes a seat in the only chair worth sitting in, and glares at me.

“What exactly did you do? I can see the smoke from here. I wanted their stock! Not to burn it to the ground and start a war Cole!”

“I think it's a little late for not starting a war, Ronan. You pulled the pin on that one. I lit the place up, burnt my bridges and let the ash linger to remind them exactly what I can do.” I tell him. This guy must see that he's already started a war by taking Teddy but he is missing a few brain cells so maybe he doesn’t.

“Well yes, I suppose I have.” he says, as if the penny has just dropped. My patience for this is going to be tested, Lincoln would have been more suited for this. He would have played this so much better than me.

Snapping me from my thoughts Ronan continues. “I want to intercept their next shipment, you will do it for me and I expect to see a profit. Otherwise the boy may have a nasty accident.” he begins to laugh. I contain myself knowing he’s goading me. He’s trying to get me to crack.

“You know the deal, Ronan. You keep him from harm and I will help you take everything from my brother and his territory. I have their plans for when the next shipment will land.” I say coolly.

“Yes, well I will keep to my end as long as you keep yours. How did your dear brother and his lap dog look when you dropped the match?” he asks gleefully.

“As you would expect. Violent. Betrayed. Vengeful. Pick one and I'm sure any will fit. Besides, it doesn't matter what they feel.” I say keeping my voice low and calm all whilst my inner turmoil is raging to kill this bastard and be done with it. I have to remind myself of the deal I made with the devil to take him down his way and keep Teddy safe in the process.

He laughs, “I bet that bitch is distraught that her knight in shining armor has betrayed her too.” His shadow, weedy fuck of a bodyguard smirks at me as he says this. Bastards, I'll gut them all before this is over for daring to even speak of Lucille. But I smile, keeping the murderous thoughts to myself. Little do they know, my grin is genuine as I fantasize about ripping their hearts from their chests and giving them to my little mouse as her trophies one day very soon.

“I’m sure she has plenty of cock to keep her from being too distraught.” I mutter to them. I have to make them believe I don’t care for her and my reason for being here is because I only care for the boy as I don't want what happened to me to happen to him. While that is a huge part of this, I also love her so much that I will sacrifice myself for her in the end. My love is poison to her, she deserves to be treated like the queen she is. I trust Lincoln and my brother with that. Ronan and his men can never be aware of this. So everyone must believe the worst of me, that I am unredeemable.

They laugh and continue to make disgusting jokes about her as I stand quietly losing myself to the void to keep from snapping their necks. It would be all too easy as they have relaxed now and even poured themselves a drink.

“Well as fun as this is Ronan, I need my assurances about the boy.” I explain.

“You will get those assurance once I have your filthy fucking brothers shipment!” Ronan bellows at me, rising from his chair. I feel my shadows creeping inside, they want to come out and play. But I take a breath and respond politely through gritted teeth.

“After I get the shipment, you will take me to the boy, Ronan. That is the deal. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to get the stench of smoke from my clothes." I add, making my excuse to leave before I can no longer keep my anger at bay. Ronan waves me off not realizing the danger he’s so close to getting himself in.

Leaving the house, I take in the view in the distance of the smog floating from the inner city. I wish we weren’t in this mess, I would give anything to be with my little mouse, holding her, devouring her, comforting her, instead of how we left things. She looked as though she had given up on me, I can't say I blame her. The look on her face will haunt me forever, but if I can keep Teddy safe and sound then it will be worth it, and for right now, I have to focus on the fact that he’s alive. I just hope wherever Ronan has him that he's not suffering.

I saddle my bike, revving the engine before speeding off to find the devil himself, so we can plan our next move.

Chapter 14

Lucille

“Jesus Christ girl! Get over here!” Are the first words to spill from Katrina's mouth as she opens the door to her apartment. “I’ve been so fucking worried Luce.” I all but break right there as she pulls me into her chest, wrapping her arms around me in a hold so tight and comforting that I never want her to release me. “It’s ok baby girl, it’s ok,” she mumbles repeatedly into my hair as she kisses the top of my head, trying to soothe the distraught tangle of sobs that wrack my body.

“You can leave now, I’ll take it from here.” I hear her say with a snide tone in her voice before she closes the door and drags me into her pristine but well-lived-in home. I go with her willingly and let her drag me onto the couch as she holds me tightly into her chest. With everything that has been happening, I hadn’t realized just how much I needed Kat in my life and how much I’d missed her until this moment right here, where all of my secrets can come spilling out and the very ugly truth that is my life right now can be laid bare.

Kat has been a constant in my life since I ran from Vinny and turned up on Max’s doorstep only a few years ago. We hit it off instantly as we both found our feet within the hustle and bustle of the nursing world while simultaneously raising our babies as single parents. I let her into the dark depths that were my past on a drunken night together when the kids were about two years old. We drank and we cried while we put our worlds to rights and badmouthed our so-called baby daddies. Though my own experience of this was something completely different to Kats, opposite ends of the spectrum entirely.

Isabella, Kats daughter had a father, and he was around in the very beginning until he, all of a sudden, decided to shack up with somebody else and refuse to pay child support. My child’s father had no idea where the fuck I was or that I had even given birth. I had fully intended for it to stay that way too, until the monster that I so naively thought I’d buried came back to not only turn my life on its axis, but completely rip my soul to pieces in the process.

“You need to tell me what’s happened,” Kat encourages, bringing my thoughts straight back into the room. “I knew something was wrong as soon as you didn’t turn up to work. Girl, I rang you so many times and then your phone just stopped ringing. I’ve tried getting as much information as I could out of your bloody henchmen but that’s like drawing blood from a stone, and Max isn’t returning my calls either.” Kat goes on as she cups my face into both palms and swipes her thumbs over my cheeks, attempting to swipe the tears that continue to fall freely. I stare into her eyes, her deep, beautifully colored mahogany eyes that once were so bright and joyful but now they hold such sorrow and despair as she stares straight back into my own. How far back do I go? Silas and Lincoln must have at least kept her at bay with some of the information. I know Kat and when she wants something, she won’t let up until she’s got it so she no doubt annoyed the information out of them until they broke and gave in to her incessant pestering.

I straighten myself away from Kat’s hands, ignoring the hurt look in her eyes as I lean back against the couch cushions. You’d think I’d have cried out everything by now, but still the tears keep coming, it seems almost a waste of time to try and wipe them all away for only more to keep falling in their wake. I’m not entirely sure what to say as I feel Kat’s eyes bore into the side of my face, so intensely that I have to turn away, focusing on a photo across the room of the four of us last summer at the beach. Teddy is laughing, his eyes are all scrunched up and his mouth open wide, capturing the moment. I can hear it now as the room around me blurs, the high-pitched happy squeals as he and Isabella wriggle their way in between Kat and I as we try to take a selfie. The memory seizes my heart with the most painful reminder of what’s been taken from me.

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