Page 2 of GAF Factor

“Gee, that’s so kind of you,” I grunted as I hobbled beside him.

He stopped moving and turned to face me. “I won’t always be the one fighting you. One day, it’ll be someone worse than me.”

I snorted at that. “Worse than you? Is there such a thing?”

His face turned hard as if he was going to impart some hard-earned wisdom. “There’s always someone worse out there. Remember what I said. If you can’t find a weakness, you’re dead.”

My head jerkedas I was hauled off my feet by the chains around my wrists. I was well and truly fucked, and the worst part was I couldn’t see a single fucking way out of my current predicament. I had gotten sloppy and complacent at my headquarters, assuming everyone would fall in line.

As I stared at Fox, I realized there was always a loose canon in the group, ready to do whatever was necessary to change the status quo.

Find a weakness.

Those words reverberated through my head as I stared at the man I had once considered a friend. Clearly, we weren’t on the same page any longer.

“It’s nice of you to join me in my sanctuary,” he said, glancing around the dank room. “You didn’t know I had this place, and now that you do, you’re either going to come around to my way of thinking or you won’t be leaving in one piece.”

I snorted in amusement, not because I didn’t believe him, but because I never thought I would end up chained in a locked room with the very man I took a chance on when no one else would. He was my secret weapon that I always knew would one day become a liability. But I thought he was coming around after finding Anna. He became a little more tame—a little less feral.Well, it seemed the two halves of Fox were battling each other, and it was clear who the winner was in this situation.

“Are you sure this is the way you want to play things, Fox?”

“It’s not me who wants to play,” he taunted. “I told you once a long time ago that Eva wasn’t guilty. I took my time with her, drawing out the answers that you wanted to ignore. And now I’m back to do it again.”

“If you sing me show tunes, I really will fucking murder you,” I snarled.

“Show tunes have always been our thing,” he retorted. I watched as he strolled over to a table and slowly withdrew a KA-BAR, grinning at me as he turned back to me.

“Really?” I rolled my eyes. “You’re going to threaten me with that thing?”

“This?” he asked in that quirky Fox way. “Nah, this is just because I love knives so much. I’ve actually been thinking about stepping up my game. I’ve mastered throwing knives. I’m pretty sure no one would question my abilities with them. But this bad boy has always been part of my arsenal in other ways.”

I rattled the chains, getting angrier by the second that he was dragging this out so much. “Is there a point to all this, or were you going to talk me to death?”

“Talking isn’t something I had in mind,” he said thoughtfully. “No, there’s only one way either of us is walking out of here, and that’s if one of us kills the other.”

I was about to make some smartass retort when I saw the gleam in his eyes. He was fucking serious. “So, that’s your play? You want to kill me?”

“Want to?” he chuffed. “No, I don’t want to do that. In fact, I’m not sure I’ll even be the one holding the knife. We’ll leave that honor for you.”

“It’s no fun if you don’t fight back.”

He grinned at me like the psycho he was. “Trust me, I’ll be fighting back.”

“If you intend for us to fight, why the hell am I in chains?” I snarled, rattling the.. The clanking metal echoed around the room, bringing a smile to his face.

“For effect. I couldn’t have you waking up thinking this would be a cakewalk. But now that you know the rules?—”

“What rules? You haven’t said a fucking thing!”

His brows creased as he cocked his head at me. “Didn’t you hear me say we were going to fight until one of us killed the other? I thought I was clear on that,” he chuckled. “Do you need a diagram? I’m not great at drawings, but?—”

“Then get me the fuck out of these chains and I’ll show you just how fucking much I hate you right now.”

“Ah, but you can’t hate me forever. See, I know you love me. You can’t help it. You’re just like The Kamau. You don’t want to admit how much you need me. It’s a thing. Most people don’t get it until they get it.”

“Get what?”

“That they need me,” he repeated, shaking his head. “I really thought I was clear that time. Anyway, back to the rules. I’m going to release you and we’re going to fight. Either you’re going to kill me and walk out of here, or you’re going to concede that you’re being an ass and you need a reality check.”

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