Page 114 of Play The Game

On the last day of exams, I am the first to finish our history exam and I spend ten minutes rereading my answers even though I know they’re perfect. The teacher, still the substitute, takes a call and then gestures me to the front of the room. Ash glares as his eyes follow me, and I shrug at him.

“You’ve been called to the principal’s office, Miss Anderson. If you’re finished, you need to head there now.”

What the actual fuck? Mr. Trevelen must be losing his damn mind.

I collect my bag from the front of the class, away from where we could sneaky looks at our notes and make my way to the office.

Something is up.

I slip my knife into my blazer pocket in case it’s Joey or Senior, and I prepare my defense in my head if it’s some skank running her mouth about me and the guys again to get me kicked out. I mean, Annabelle is taken care of and the cougar was fired, so I should be finished with that bullshit, but Hannaford knows how to test my very will to fucking live sometimes.

I’m rehearsing the exact way I’ll tell Mr. Trevelen to fuck off as I arrive at the office. The receptionist is missing and I frown, weaving my way through the partitions until I get to the principal’s office, the door open for me.

I walk in only to find a gun aimed at my chest.

Ms. Vivienne looks fucking deranged as she holds the piece in her shaking hands. I stare at her, unblinking and unafraid. Well, I’m a little worried she’s taken the safety off and she’s going to shoot me by accident with all of the trembling she has going on, but one look into those big doe eyes of hers tells me she has no real spine for murder.

“You just couldn’t let him go, could you?” she hisses, and I struggle to keep myself from rolling my eyes. Really, bitch? Seriously?!

“You’re going to go to prison for killing me just so you have a chance at climbing on Harley’s dick? I mean, he’s good but is any dick really worth that?” I say calmly. I’m waiting for the perfect opening to break the slut’s arm. There, I said it; she’s a dumb slut and I’m a hypocrite. Sue me.

“Like I give a fuck about that mobster’s dick. I don’t want to fuck him. I want him fucking dead. I want to deliver you to my love so we can be happy together finally. He can’t focus now you’ve betrayed him. He’s fucking gutted you’ve left the fold.”

She continues rambling, on and fucking on, and it takes me a second to process her words.

The Jackal.

The stupid slut was sent here to kill Harley by the fucking Jackal.

I snap. My patience and her fucking arm. She screams so loudly the whole school will have heard it during the exams and fuck it if I care.

I hope Avery can clean it up for me. When I have her on the ground, her unbroken arm pinned behind her back with my knee and her own gun pressed against her skull, I lean down to question her.

“Are you so stupid that you believe Matteo’s lies? What did he tell you, that I’m a defector? That I belong to him?”

She sobs and whimpers, not planning on answering, so I grab a fistful of her hair, slamming her face into the carpet before yanking her head back until her neck bows beautifully. “Answer me. I’m not a patient person.”

“He loves me. He just needs you out of the way so we can be together. He found me; he saved me from my husband. Why wouldn’t I help him catch you after what you’ve done?”

I shake my head and fish out my phone. I hesitate for a second and then text the group number. I have to trust them this time and contact them before I call Illi.

I fucking hope it’s the right thing to do.

Ash texts back immediately. On my way.

I don’t want him to see the mess I’ve made of Ms. Vivienne, I don’t want to risk it triggering some deep dark memory, but I have no way of cleaning her up a bit.

Fuck it.

When the door eases open and Ash steps through, barely three minutes later so he must’ve fucking run here, the look on his face when he sees the gun is bad.

“That’s not yours, is it?” he snaps, and I shake my head.

“I’ve just been chatting with the lovely cougar. It turns out we have a mutual friend. Would you like to tell Ash who it is you love so much that you were trying to kill Harley for him?”

She laughs, spitting blood on the floor from where I’ve broken her nose. “He’d be fucking dead if you hadn’t sent the Butcher in. That dirty roofie would’ve done the job perfectly.”

I freeze, and Ash’s eyes flare.