Page 111 of Play The Game

He twitches. His little tic when he’s trying not to attack someone coming out in full force. I’ve watched him torture, maim, humiliate, pulverize, and destroy a thousand times before and I know his every tell.

He wants to break me.

“You will leave here with me tonight. I’ve grown tired of our little game, Starbright. I was hoping to wait for you to come back to me before I claimed you, but you’ve pushed my hand.”

I cross my arms. “Claim me? What are you, a fucking caveman? I’m not yours.”

He leans forward, the gentleman mask melting away and leaving nothing but the sociopath behind. “You are mine. You’ve been mine from the second I saw you. I’ve fixed every single problem you’ve ever had. You owe me, and there’s no way I’m going to let some little rich cunts take what’s mine.”

I laugh at him, so clearly, I’ve gone insane, but the haughty, arrogance of the boys fills me. I’ve had a steady diet of it for months and now I can breathe that same fire, even if it gets me killed. “You killed my mom. You destroyed my leg. You took my voice away. You murdered any person, man or woman, that tried to be my friend. You did everything you could to cut me off from any help that may have been offered to me. You’re not a good man, Matteo. You never have been.”

He laughs, flicking a hand at me dismissively. “And you think Johnny is? He’s far crueler than I am with his kills. He taught me half of his tricks, back before the French slut ruined everything.”

I grit my teeth. “That’s your problem; you don’t want friends. You want to own people, and Illi and I have never been the type to bow down to your rules.”

He drums his fingers against the table, glaring over at me and then nods like I’ve agreed with something he’s said. “I can see you’ve been tainted here. I think your time at Hannaford is over, little Wolf. We need to go home and wipe you clean of all these new ideas. Rich people can have dreams, and love, and free will. But we are not rich people. We are the lurking shadows.”

I grip my knife, and his eyes track the movement. I don’t care that he knows, that he’s watched me just as closely as I’ve watched him. I’m not going with him without a fight.

“You’re a rich man now, Matteo. You may still stand in the shadows but you’re richer and more powerful than God. Just not to me.”

He stands, revealing the gun in his hand. He’s had it pointed at me the whole time. I knew it but seeing it pisses me off. Fine. We’ll play this his way for a little longer. I just need to be patient.

“Let’s go, Starbright. I’m looking forward to wiping you clean of all that this school has done to you.”

I stand and keep my hand around my knife. He smirks at me and puts his gun away, motioning for Luca to get my arm. I force myself not to tense as his fingers wrap around my elbow, but he’s gentle enough with me that it’s not so hard.

The moment the Jackal is no longer watching me, Luca drops his hand away and when I glance up at him, he gives me a stern look. I frown.

The Jackal walks ahead of us, lazy and confident in his stride and he never sees it coming.

Luca wraps an arm around his neck and squeezes.

Holy fuck.

Holy. Fuck.

I stand there like an idiot as the Jackal scrambles against his most trusted and loyal supporter, a man who’s been with him since the very beginning, but Luca is bigger and stronger than Matteo and holds firm, even when his arms begin to bleed from the deep gouges Matteo leaves.

The door to the dining hall bursts open and Ash storms through, gun drawn and wild looking, with Harley on his heels. I stare at them both, at the blood on Harley’s hands, and then back to Luca who is now laying an unconscious Jackal down on the floor.

He’s not dead, not yet.

“WHAT THE FUCK, MOUNTY?!” Harley roars, and I blink at him.

I think my brain is a little broken.

Luca gives me a wry smirk and then shocks the shit out of me. “I’ve been waiting to do that to him for years, princess. It felt as good as I thought it would.”

I turn to look at him but I can’t get my head around his words. He’s never been anything but loyal to the Jackal, and now he’s standing over his prone body. I just… I can’t figure this out.

He chuckles at me, and I glance out the now open doors at the other flunkies but they’re all on the floor, bleeding and groaning. Fuck, I forgot how good Harley and Ash are.

The sound of feet slapping on the wood floors has us all tensing and then Blaise and Avery bolt through the door, looking frazzled and desperate.

“Good fucking use you two are!” Ash snarls at them both, but Avery ignores him, stumbling over to me and wrapping her arms around my waist. I’ve never seen her so shaken.

Luca plants a foot over the Jackal’s throat in case he wakes up and says, “Atticus sends you his personal regards and would like you to know he’s been watching you for a long time. Now he is sure Miss Beaumont is guarded by such a capable and competent friend he would like to assure you he will not hesitate to offer you any help necessary. That includes me.”