Page 33 of Cut Her Strings (Fractured Puppets #1)

Chapter 32

Not Part of the Plan

A few hours passed since I fell into Enzo. Into what I knew we both needed, high on the adrenaline from the last game.

Enzo had repositioned us so that I now laid on him, and while he snored softly below me, I wasn’t able to get the rest I needed to. I was so incredibly exhausted, but it did nothing to quiet my racing mind. Ivan was going to be a problem, but I wouldn’t let him do to me what he had before.

I was alone then, but now I had them.

Jayce. Levi. Maverick? 197? Enzo?

I wasn’t one hundred percent sure what I was doing at this point but honestly, being here with these men made me feel more alive than I had in the last five years. All of them spoke to me in a unique way that soothed a part of myself I didn’t realize needed satisfying.

Maybe it was the nature of the game we all found ourselves in. Maybe we were all just lost souls searching for some reprieve in these horrible lives we were dealt.

Over the years, I gave myself to my Faction. I fucked countless men for the sake of my missions, but it had been a job. Since Jayce, there was no one else I felt anything for. But now I was beginning to feel my heart tug in all their directions.

I didn’t feel guilty. I just craved more. At some point, if we did, in fact, make it out of this, we would all need to have a conversation. But right now? I was going to do what I needed and, honestly, what I wanted to do.

I was going to essentially live in the moment until I couldn’t anymore. If that meant fucking Levi for a game? Rekindling my feelings and forgiving Jayce? Allowing 197 to sacrifice others for my sake? My battle of wits with Maverick? My adrenaline-fueled frenzy with Enzo?

I hated to admit it, but I was more at peace in this miserable place than I had been in years. Each man seemed to fill some empty part of myself that I wasn’t previously aware existed. I had long since resolved to the inevitably of dying alone. But now, I was surrounded by men, and I found myself slowly growing attached.

Levi. The man made me feel secure and safe. His presence reminded me that it was okay to not be alone. He was such a sweet, lethal man, and the thought of all of him inside me, caused a flash of desire to radiate through my body.

Jayce. My first love, the first man I gave myself to. I spent years wondering why he betrayed me, but really, he’d done his best in this hand we were dealt. It wouldn’t be long before I fell fully back into him, and the thought terrified me. Eventually we would need to have a full conversation and I would need to finally process the grief I stored away deep inside in a locked vault.

197. He saved my life. I still hadn’t processed that fully. There was no way he knew for a fact what he did wouldn’t end in his death. He risked himself. For me? I thought he would make a good ally, but I couldn’t ignore the way the man observed me the few times we crossed paths.

Maverick. He was an intelligent man but an asshole all the same. But when he’d kissed me? That heated intensity engulfed me. I found myself craving more of him.

Enzo. I wasn’t even sure what to think of the man. He gave me whiplash. He appeared the sweetest of them all, but he most certainly was not. And his information on Violet? Levi had her name tattooed into his skin. If what Enzo said was true—and I had no doubt it was—that was going to eventually blow up.

Another item to add to my future list of worries. For now, I was just happy to have made it through this most recent of challenges, but what was next?

197

197 sat in his bedroom with his head in his hands. They were able to watch the game from their screens but couldn’t hear any of it or see what happened when they made it back to the rooms.

The infrared cameras picked up on the players even in the darkness. He wanted to shake 195 when he allowed the brute to drag 20 away from them.

It took everything in 197 to not destroy his room as he watched the entire game play out. And when 195 marked her? The TV in his room no longer worked. The broken device lay on the ground in pieces now. He had gone to their living space to watch the rest of the game play out. But once she had made it to safety, he returned to his room to sulk.

Nothing had gone according to design since 197 re-entered this godforsaken country. He wanted to find this game, not become a contestant. But 197 had the ability to pivot, even if it meant being surrounded by the men who had caused his family to flee in the first place.

They appeared to mostly be working with him at this point, and he could acknowledge he would need their help to execute his goals.

20 wasn’t a part of the original plan either. 197 watched her from the moment he was stuck in the square behind her. He didn’t immediately recognize who she was; not until he realized who she wanted to save. Jayce.

Imagine 197’s surprise to see not only the man he was in charge of keeping tabs on but also the woman that he had looked everywhere for.

197 was of the opinion that if there wasn’t a body, they weren’t dead. So, it wasn’t much of a shock to see Raven alive; he was just astonished she’d ended up here. He made the decision immediately that she would be too precious to let die. He would protect her no matter what, not only for their cause but also because she was too damn beautiful.

The possessiveness he felt for her twisted a knife deep in his stomach. When 197 was out of this game, he was going to beat 195 into a bloodied mess for touching her. He hadn’t seen the other men do so, but he could guess. He had a list of all the men he would destroy for even daring to enter her orbit. 189 was top of the list. Ivan. Another complication. It took 197 longer than he cared to admit to realize who the man was. 197 prided himself on recognizing anyone he had ever seen or crossed paths with, even with masks in place. It was in their voices, the shape of their eyes, their mannerisms .

189 needed to be eliminated and made to pay for his involvement with Raven.

197 decided early in this game that Raven would be his. She just didn’t know it yet.

Together, they would finally free this godforsaken country of its dystopian rule.

A knock on his door pulled him from his contemplations.

“Your food, boss,” one of the men declared through his bedroom door.

197 opened his door and grabbed it from him, paying the man no mind. He slammed the door shut and found the blind spot in his bedroom. Angling himself so it appeared he was eating, he instead searched the food. Cooked into the meat was a note.

Soon.

He swallowed the piece of the paper whole and did his best not to hyper-fixate on Raven.

One problem at a time.