"It seemed so perfect, but ended so soon."
- D. J
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DO YOU KNOW THAT MOMENT, THE PARTICULAR ONE THAT HAPPENS ONCE IN A LIFETIME, WHEN YOU LOOK BACK ON ALL YOUR ACTIONS? All the choices that have brought you to this very instant?
I never thought it would happen to me. The funny thing about the universe is that it gives you what you least expect.
My mind repeats my first kiss with Damien over and over again, a reminder of how I gave up self-control and I let myself get lost in someone else. It's pathetic. How could I be so stupid?
"Is it good, Adelina?" Scarlett's voice is the one to bring me back to reality, and for an instant, I forget what I'm about to do. She ties my legs on the chair, my hands already secured with a knot on my back, and I nod at her. Jace's sister finishes up, making another fragile knot so I can easily untie them.
I have to take a deep breath to remind myself it will work. The plan is simple, it's all variables that worry me.
I will pretend to have been kidnapped by Damien's enemy, who already sent a video of me to the bad boy, and with his arrival, what will happen for sure according to Jace, he will exchange the gang for me, signing the damn contract.
The problem is, I don't think he will come, not after what he did to me. We are strangers now but I hope to my well-being that he does. I do not know what Jace will do to me if I'm useless to him.
"Is there a particular reason you hate me?" The question slips out of my tongue before I can hold it back and Scarlett rolls her eyes before standing up. Now that's taller than me, perhaps it wasn't a good idea to ask that question.
We have time waiting for Jace to give us the signal his enemy is arriving, so I might as well try to ease things with her.
"I don't hate you." I laugh at her response, needing to know damn well she won't ever tell me that truth. I do that until I realize she doesn't open up a smile, looking dead serious at me.
"You don't need to lie, Scarlett. There isn't a problem with hate, not if it doesn't affect the way we help each other."
"I don't hate you, Adelina, it's the truth." She sighs when she realizes I'm not buying it as I furrow my eyebrows and she leans so she's on my eye level. I notice its strategic position, one that blocks the view of her from the cameras positioned on our backs, and when she slowly ties the cloth that will serve as a gag on my neck, I know it was on purpose. What the fuck is going on?
"I have nothing against you because this whole time, this facade I wear is fake. I'm nothing like this, it's just a disguise I use to fit in," I have to control my mouth from opening up but I don't stop her, "Jace is my cousin and when my parents abandoned me to his family's cares, he was the only one to see me as family, not some bastard child that technically has every right to take over the gang. We grew up as brother and sister, normal children, but something inside him changed when his father died. Or perhaps his psychopathic behavior was born with him. I just didn't want to see it."
"Open your mouth. He's watching us." I have my eyes widen at her story. Luckily my reaction is not being caught on camera and I do exactly as she says, letting her tie the gag around my mouth. Fuck, this is really happening.
"In the end, I had to become a monster to fit in, to run under Jace's radar and make him trust me completely but I'm so fucking over it. That's why I'm helping you now, I can't let him do the same with you." Scarlett says that the minute a telephone on the corner rings, the sign we were waiting for and I shake my head despite the cameras as she backs away, begging her not to leave me here. Not without knowing what she means.
My heart is thundering and the only thing she can mouth is 'sorry' before leaving me in the middle of the abandoned warehouse Jace chose. He said it would be better to not reveal one of his spots in the city, but it's even worse how cold this entire place is. I'm terrified.
What Scarlett says now rings in my head nonstop as each second that passes by makes bile rise from my throat. The fact I'm still wearing the stupid revealing red dress doesn't help, it's part of my skin now and I curse for not fighting harder with Jace. He said it would make sense since Damien needs to believe I've been kidnapped.
Fuck. Damien.
Is revenge important? Do I really want to do this?
I shove it all to the back of my mind and let the actual tears fall, using my pain to pretend I'm scared. It's ironic how I really am.
Breathe.
Breathe.
Breathe.
"You are doing so well, sweetheart. Keep up the act and everything will work out perfectly." I hear Jace's from the speakers and a shiver runs down my spine. He's been preparing this for weeks, hasn't he? "Your lover is finally here and alone, like we demanded. Perhaps he cares about you more than you think."
My heart skips a beat. Did he come? Why?
I take a deep breath despite the gag and close my eyes, remembering how I felt hours ago, how broken my heart is and how it will never love again.
He deserves it all. It's what I have to keep telling myself.
"The show is on." The second Jace laughs through the speaker, a sound comes from my right and I twist my head toward it, a weakening fear taking place in the pit of my stomach.
The boy I loved comes through the door, out of breath and with a gun in hand, and I can only curse the way my body reacts to his presence. He really came.
Damien's hazel eyes fixate on me at the same moment, and the gasp he lets out like relief takes over him makes my heart skip another beat.
I feel rage, yes, but he installed something so deep inside me I don't think I will ever stop loving him. Bastard.
I remember the role I need to act and the memory of him with another girl is the only thing I let myself think of as I cry even harder, trying to escape and run towards his arms.
The bad boy runs to me in tears, but before he can even touch me, Jace hits him in the head with his gun from behind. He falls to the floor unconscious, his gun escaping out of his grip and I widen my eyes in shock, the gag absorbing the scream that leaves my lips.
We agreed there would be no violence involved; it being the last resource he would use.
Jace realizes my reaction and mouths to me to keep quiet and, for the best, I do as he says.
Two guys from the Cobras appear from their back and grab Damien, taking him to the chair in front of me and tying him up. It hurts to see him like this, a cut already opens on his lip from the impact and I try to look anywhere but him.
Jace opens a big smile while looking at his enemy when his guys finish up, and I know it's my cue.
I untie the knots and finally get rid of the gag. Damien will wake up at any minute. It's time for part two.
"This wasn't supposed to happen, Jace." It's the first thing I say as I massage my hands, faint marks forming on my wrists and I don't care for his approval. Right now, it's our plan that starts.
"This is between gangs, sweetheart. Don't worry." He doesn't challenge me and I keep quiet after that, only rolling my eyes while taking a few steps closer to the boy who broke my heart.
He looks so peaceful like this.
"Let's wake him up. We don't have enough time." Before I can process what he will do, he hits Damien again with the gun, this time on the cheek, and a scream escapes my lips, the gag being long gone.
Jace curses, but his enemy wakes up in the exact second and that's all he needs. He longed for this.
This is worth it, this is worth it. He deserves this.
I'm starting to doubt myself.
"Hello, Damien." It's all I can say as his eyes widen from shock at seeing me free, standing up in front of him and I almost puke when I see the open bruise that forms on his left cheek from the hit.
Breathe.
Breathe.
Damien curses in suffering.
"Lina, what do you think you're doing, what is all of this?" His shrieks of pain muffle his words and I take a deep breath before saying what's been stuck in my throat ever since I left that fateful room.
He deserves this.
"You expected me to forget what happened, to come back to my good girl's life with my heartbroken?" Jace has a smile from ear to ear, but now it's about me. "Eat ice cream in bed? Cry over you? I leave that to the daddy's girl I used to be. You turned me into a bad girl, Damien. You made sure of that, but now, you will need to live with the consequences. Because I'm worse than you, I'm heartless than you."
I spit those words at me, suddenly my finger pointing to his face and I let myself feel the emotions. Anger, fear, pain, regret. Everything.
Damien is frozen with wide eyes.
He takes some seconds to understand and finally starts saying something. Not that I care.
"This is not you, gorgeous. You know that, please-"
He's desperate.
"Don't call me gorgeous again, Damien. You don't longer have that right." I'm about to demand the gang say what I've planned with Jace, but I'm not able to, not when Jace parts me and Damien.
"That's my girl." Jace kisses my cheek, making Damien go frantic, and I have to remind myself to talk to him about that later. He is pushing every single button he can on his enemy.
I try to say something, anything, but he doesn't let me not when he hands me his gun.
Wait, what?
"Now, sweetheart, kill him." It feels like a transcendental sensation. My soul leaves my body and returns. I don't know how to react, horrified at the thing in front of me.
"That wasn't the plan." My voice fails and I try to take quick deep breaths, but it's useless. I can't breathe. I can't look into Damien's eyes.
Scarlett warned me.
She warned me about her brother the same way Kayla did with Damien, and I fell for it all over again.
"It is now." He's cold.
"But I just wanted to take his gang, to make him suffer. It was never the plan to kill him," I mumble, shaking, desperate. It's even worse when I finally look at Damien and his eyes have softened.
No.
No.
No.
"C'mon, sweetheart. We are wasting time." He forces the gun into my hand and I have to grab it not to fall and shoot accidentally one of us. Tears stream fast on my cheeks and I'm on the verge of sobbing. Jace is getting impatient, his eyes shooting daggers at me, and I look from one to the other, repeatedly.
I can't do this to Damien-
"I don't blame you, Lina. I put you in this position and I'm so sorry about that. I won't ever forgive myself." I cry even harder, the tears blurring my vision and it's even harder to breathe.
I can't.
I can't.
I can't.
Jace takes a step in my direction and I know if I don't do it, he will.
I'm sorry.
A sob erupts from my lips as I pull the trigger.
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{A/N: Hey babes? Oh wow, please don't kill me for the cliffhanger lol. What are you thinking so far? Only two chapters left! I will release hopefully them by Sunday, BB will end on the 21st. Stay tuned and comment on all your theories. Don't forget to vote!
Lots of love, Ally.}