Page 168 of Ruthless Kings of Havoc

I’m forced to stare at it as my eyes water uncontrollably. I’ve been close to death a few times, but this is something I’ve never experienced. He has to be telling me this because he can get me out of this.

Just has to offer me his terms and conditions.

“From this day forward, you’re unable to work with any of your past clients. You will no longer have access to Evangeline in any form. No more stalking, no more protecting, none of it. If I find out, you’re dead in an hour. If Benedict finds out, I don’t care what he does to you. Anyone else finds out before either of us, shoot yourself in the head because the torture that would follow would make you wish either of us discovered it before them.”

Meaning… there’s a third stalker.

“I give you this antidote, then you quietly leave and go back to your Ruthless King duties. The only time you can be around Evangeline is in our company for aesthetics only. You don’t touch her otherwise. You have no sexual interaction with her, even if she begs you for it.”

My entire body has gone numb. I’m seeing black spots.

“You try to go against any of us and I’ll have you deported to Russia and sent straight to Black Dolphins for an infinite prisonstay. Not like you’d last for twenty-four hours.” He laughs at that. “We have the tapes of you killing the assassin, and since you walked into the mixed pool of blood of those fuckers in the closet, that’s bonus material against you. So, you can pick your poison or die right here.” He smiles proudly and lifts the injectable like a holy grail.

My saving grace.

“Blink once if you’d rather perish. Blink twice if you wish to survive.”

I think about it for five seconds, and all I can envision in my mind is Iris’ scowl. The way she gallantly walked and how her ponytail would dance from left to right. Her long legs, her sweet smile, her athletic desire to be better than me in everything.

I fucked her up. I failed her. She’d want me to die.

That’s why I can’t… because my disobedience always won her back.

I have to live.

There’s one problem.

I can’t blink.

25

AVOIDANCE ONLY BURNS BRIDGES PART III

~MATTEO~

Watching the life fade away from one’s eyes is beyond satisfying.

It’s a craving I used to seek every time in the depths of the cage. After hours of bloodshed. The stench of sweat, bile, shit, rusting metal, and the taunting scent of death.

You don’t know how close death is until you’ve been bathed in its stench, which takes days to leave your body.

It took years to pull out of it. To not be blinded in crazed rage and lost in this personality that seeks nothing but survival. Now, my mind has shifted. The crazed insanity simply changes its target.

Ensuring my Precious is safe and sound.

Aries was always a liability. I never liked his presence, but my father and Prescott praised his services. Despite his ruthlessly sinful past, he had talent to offer, and he could keep Precious safe.

Not always, but that’s why my team is there to ensure it.

The struggling breath pulls me out of my spiraling thoughts. My instincts shoot into action as I step forward and catch the very man who’s done nothing but attempt to give me high blood pressure today.

This fool doesn’t deserve of mybenevolence, but I don’t know how I’d react to witnessing the sight of regret in Sweet Precious’ eyes. The news of this man’s death would riddle her with guilt. Make her think of the last moments spent in this classroom. The anguish, tension, and heartfelt pain that would pulse through her as the settling feeling of betrayal did everything to drown her in sorrow.

I can’t allow that.

Have her mourning another man or leaving an ounce of space for him to cross her mind. I want her to think of me first when she starts her day. Even if I have ‘competition,’ it’s better than being an afterthought, thanks to all the “what ifs” and unknowns revolving around this man’s demise.

It triggers me to stab the needle into his neck and push the plunger down.

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