Page 68 of Ruin Me

Aaron keeps his cool, though, sizing Bigsy up. “I think you’re overplaying your hand,” he responds, every word measured and deliberate.

“And what makes you so sure?” Bigsy spits out.

“Because you took her instead of me.”

Confusion flickers across Bigsy’s face for a moment, giving me a sliver of hope. But the gun pressed to my head is unyielding.

“Think about it,” Aaron continues. “If you wanted power, you should have taken me hostage. But Vogue? She’s the Queen – valuable, but not the King.” A sinister smile creeps onto Aaron’s face. “You just checkmated yourself.”

My mind races, trying to find some way out of this. But there’s nothing. No escape, no plan – just the cold steel at my temple and Bigsy’s ragged breaths against my neck.

“Nah,” Bigsy says again with a disgusting sniff right in my ear. “She means something to you. You’ll give up your power to save her.”

“Says who?” Aaron asks.

I whimper at the casual way he says that. He doesn’t give a fuck if I live or die. I was something to him alive but dead; who cares?

“Screw this!” Bigsy hisses, frantic now. I can tell he wasn’t expecting this level of indifference from his boss.

The sudden sound of a door being kicked open catches everyone off guard. Bigsy, quick on his feet,whirls around and presses his back against the wall, pulling me with him.

Quentin strides through the door, looking like he went ten rounds with King Kong, bloodied, bruised, his clothes torn. Callum comes in hot behind him, and they both stop, hands midway, when they see the standoff in the office.

“Fuck,” Bigsy growls and tightens his hold on me.

“Let her go,” Quentin says, raising a shotgun and pointing it directly at Bigsy. Atme. No way I can survive that if he fires.

Tears prick at my eyes, blurring my vision and causing me to whimper in fear. My heart races, and I nearly pee myself as I try to steady my trembling legs. The overwhelming sense of terror makes it hard to breathe as I fight back the urge to cry out.

“Time’s up,” Bigsy snarls.

The click of the trigger above my ear sounds like a clap of thunder.

I shriek as Aaron lunges forward, but Bigsy isn’t fucking about. He pulls the trigger again as my life flashes before my eyes.