Page 118 of Let the Game Begin

“You’re the one who put Carter in the hospital,” he hissed under his breath.

“Bravo, so you’re a smart guy as well,” I said derisively, taking another drag off my cigarette.

“Wh-what do you want?” he stammered, his attitude shifting. He was wary now.

“To talk.” And suddenly, I thought about Babygirl and our compromise.In that moment, I might have agreed with her on the importance of conversation, but I still preferred to do it on my terms. All I was really good for was fucking things up.

“About what? And get off my car!” he shouted, probably to disguise how afraid he was, but I didn’t listen either way. I finished my cigarette and ground it out right on the hood of his beloved car. I folded my arms over my chest and just kept staring at him, focusing on the hardware that he had definitely got because he thought it made him look badass.

“Why are you staring at my piercings?” he continued. “I got another one right here, if you’re so interested. Wanna see?” he sneered, grabbing his crotch.

The shameless gesture made the two idiots he was with laugh. Meanwhile, I was approaching the end of my patience. Xavier and Luke both gave me worried looks—they knew exactly what happened whenever someone stepped to me.

I stretched my arms out to the sides and got up off the car, moving determinedly toward the group of guys who all backed away, confused by my sudden movements. It was in moments like this that my reason fled, abandoning me to the madness, and I made the choice to let my demons take the lead.

I snatched a beer bottle from one of the leader’s friends and chucked it against a nearby wall, making all three of them flinch.

“Hey! What the hell is wrong with you?” the leader shouted again, hurling himself at me. But I never let him touch me, dodging out of his way with a small twist of my torso. I pulled back my arm and punched him full in the face. The boy stumbled and then hit the ground; his hands jumped to the injured area, which had started to bleed.

“Do you know what that was?” I moved closer to him, circling him as I soaked in his fear, which I could feel now, strong and clear. “Ajab,” I continued. “In boxing, that’s a straight punch that can KO your opponent in half a second,” I explained with a devilish smile.

I leaned down and grabbed him by the arm, then yanked him to his feet, pinning his wrists behind his back.

“What the fuck are you doing? You some kind of psycho—” He didn’tget to finish because I jerked him closer to me, getting right up next to his ear.

“Just sit tight, Wes,” I whispered menacingly.

The kid went white, realizing that I had known who he was from the beginning and that I had only ever been toying with him.

“Alexia.” I motioned for her to approach, and she did so, swinging her hips in that tight miniskirt that I would consider pushing up later on.

“Undo his jeans and pull down his boxers. Our friend here has a piercing he’d like to show us.” I grinned as she reached out for the guy’s jeans. He kicked like a pussy while I easily held him in place.

“What are you doing? Let me go! You really are as crazy as people say!” he sneered at me again, and I tightened my grip on his wrists, actually hurting him.

“Really? And who says that, Wes?” I jerked my chin toward Alexia who immediately tugged down his jeans and then his boxers.

“Huh… Kinda small,” she said with an exaggerated grimace of disappointment. Xavier and Luke burst out laughing in unison, while Wes’s friends just watched the scene, gobsmacked. They didn’t try anything, because they realized that none of us was playing around.

“Yank out his piercing,” I ordered and a ghastly silence fell all around us. All I could hear was the music and the distant shouts from the throng of dancers. Alexia gave me a concerned look from under her false eyelashes but my mind was made up.

“Get on with it!” I demanded again, and Wes started crying like a baby. He shook in my arms and immediately stopped even trying to resist what Alexia was about to do with him. His friends tried to rush me then, but Xavier and Luke shoved them violently to their knees.

“Try to move and we’ll bash your face in.” Xavier whispered to one of them, who immediately paled and didn’t move another muscle. We were stronger, more dangerous, and much bigger bastards than them, and finally, they understood that, too.

“You sure about this?” Alexia asked, looking into my eyes. She didn’t want to obey me, that much was clear. I was going overboard, and even the Krew knew it, but I didn’t care if I hurt people, just like no one had caredabout me when I was the victim in the situation. Still, I tried for a moment to consider the possible consequences of my actions. As I did so, my right hand began to shake and my heartbeat throbbed in my temples.

“I can feel you, you know? Pounding so hard.”

I could hear Selene’s voice echoing around in my head. I could see her ocean eyes, scrutinizing my chest in search of the heart I didn’t have because it had long ago sunk into the abyss.

What would she think if she could see me now? Would she have been disgusted? Afraid? Would she pity me?

Suddenly, I wasn’t sure about what I’d told Alexia to do. I wasn’t sure about anything, actually. I remained motionless for a few seconds, frozen in thought, until my arms decided, seemingly by themselves, to release the guy. He fell to the ground, naked from the waist down.

Alexia instinctively took a step back and gave me a relieved look, as if to let me know that I had done the right thing. But even though I had spared Wes, I wasn’t sure whether or not to feel good about it.

“Hand over your phones. Now,” I demanded. I knew that Carter got up to all sorts of shit and his friends loved to record it. I knew I’d find something worth blackmailing him over in there.