Games

6

Margaret's pov

"I'm honestly surprised that Sam even let Rae go," Nate said as he began sorting through different medical tools.

"Rae?" I scoffed, glancing over at him as I snapped on a pair of gloves, "She has a nickname now?"

"She's always had that. I don't get why you're so rough with her," Nate shook his head, handing me two scalpels for me to dunk into the sink under cold water.

"She's so self obsessed. I don't understand how you literally can't see that," I said as I moved the scalpels into the dish that had the cleaning solution in it, "All she cares about is herself, money and clothes,"

"She's also hardly an adult," Nate reminded me gently, "You're 24, you don't have to see eye to eye with someone six years younger than you,"

"I refuse to associate myself with a snob. I hope she falls in love with Colby so Sam will kill them both," I said with amusement.

Sam would absolutely kill his best friend if he dated Raeanne.

There was a ten year age gap between them. If that's not some weird shit then I don't know what is.

Especially if I were to tell him how he treats women, which I'm sure he already knows.

"Colby isn't stupid enough to date Raeanne," Nate said, "Logically, that makes no sense,"

"Well he's stupid enough to take her to a banquet when she doesn't even know how to shoot a gun," I pointed out, using my forearm to get my hair out of my face.

"She doesn't know how to shoot a gun?" Nate asked in a horrified tone, turning around to look at me.

"She's been cooped up at the mansion for two years. There's no shooting range there," I said, stating the facts behind my educated reasoning.

"Maybe we should sterilize a couple of needles," Nate said worriedly as he ran his fingers through his hair, staring at all of the tools in front of him.

"Do you really think something bad is going to happen tonight?" I asked, looking at him with a confused expression.

"If not at the banquet, then something is going to happen here," Nate said, "It just makes sense,"

"What are these people after again? And who even are they?" I asked, realizing that I wasn't really filled in on what was going on.

"Obviously since Colby Brock has a big name being a crime lord and all, people are gonna try any way possible to bring him down," Nate said, scrunching his eyebrows, "And since Colby doesn't show off much besides the women he brings to banquets, they often go after them,"

"So they're gonna try and kill Raeanne?" I asked hopefully.

If Sam wasn't related to that monster then I would have killed her myself.

"No, because some of them might recognize that she's Sam's sister," Nate said, chuckling as my posture dramatically deflated, "He's been bringing Stas to them for a long time now, and even started bringing her to his business meetings and stuff,"

"So now she has a target on her back?" I asked as Nate nodded, "For how long?"

"Until we can convince to everyone else that Stas is either dead or irrelevant," Nate said with a half shrug, handing me a couple of needles to throw in the water.

"I'm so happy I'm not involved with all that stuff," I sighed, pulling out the black stool with wheels from under the sink.

"Involve yourself with Colby any more and you just might," Nate said rudely.

"What is your problem with the guy? Aren't you friends?" I asked, pushing myself off of the sink's counter in Nate's direction.

"I'd like to think I'm one of his best friends. But I'm also your best friend," Nate explained, "Which means I know you both very well. So if I know what's good for you, which I do, I'm telling you to stay away. It's the same thing I said earlier, Mags,"

"I don't need a man anyway," I said reassuringly, "And Colby isn't even my type," I added, causing Nate to burst out laughing.

"A big strong bad boy?" Nate asked as he laughed, "That's exactly your type,"

"But not Colby," I pointed out, "I need a guy who would actually love me. I just talked to the guy for the first time today and I already don't like him,"

"Good, keep it that way before you change your mind," Nate said, taking off his disposable gloves and throwing them away. "You wanna take a break before all hell breaks loose?"

"Sure," I said with a shrug, "Why not?"

"I knew you'd say that," Nate grinned, "I'm gonna go get something to eat, you wanna come with or do you just want me to bring you something back?"

"Eh, I'll stay here," I decided, grinning at him.

"Okay then," Nate waved at me, walking out of the infirmary and down the hall.

Once he was gone, I deflated my posture and let out a deep breath. .

Nate left me with something to think about, something that I've been feeling empty about for a while now.

I wanted to fall in love. Ever since I've been in the crime world, the only guy I've been around is Nate.

And I love him, but purely as a best friend.

I had no one in this gang that I really knew besides him.

But I wanted something with someone. Yeah, it would be cool if he was a "big strong bad boy" but that's not what love is about.

I feel like that part of me has almost entirely shut down.

My heart has been in disuse since I got in this gang.

That's because I saw what loving someone in a gang does.

Sam was in the infirmary almost constantly after Katrina died.

Nate was by his side as much as he could be, but only time really seemed to heal Sam.

He loved her with everything he was, he said it multiple times in multiple different ways.

And he showed it too. Pouring his heart out to her whenever we had recovered her body and brought it here.

He called her smashed, bloody and unrecognizable face beautiful.

He loved her to pieces even when she was in them, literally.

He kissed what was left of her forehead and held her hands.

He ran his fingers through her pink hair, a color that he loved to see on her according to Nate.

I didn't know her at all, but I knew that she was special to him and was his everything.

But then she was gone, just like that.

Something that happens in gangs. There is no happy ending.

Nobody gets the fairytale love story. Nobody gets to live to be old, holding hands with the same person for decades on end.

Nobody gets that because we all know that the person you love could be fine one second and gone the next.

And maybe that's why I'm afraid to fall in love.