Page 67 of Playing with Fire

"You want to kill Xavier," I said, the realization making my blood run cold. "But not quickly. You want him to suffer first."

Felix smiled, the expression never reaching his eyes. "Very good, Leo. You understand the fundamentals of balance. Of justice." He pulled something from his pocket—a roll of zip ties. "Now here's what's going to happen. You're going to tie up your boyfriend's smartass sibling. Nice and tight."

He tossed the zip ties at my feet, keeping the gun trained on Xander. "And if you try anything clever, I kill them instantly. Then Xavier wakes up to both your corpses."

My hands trembled as I picked up the ties. "Why are you doing this? I understand your father died, but this won't bring him back."

Felix's expression darkened, something raw breaking through his calculated façade. "You think I don't know that? My father wasn't perfect, but he was mine. Xavier had no right to take him from me. No right to make him suffer." He gestured with the gun for me to hurry up with the ties. "Now I'm going to take everything from Xavier. Starting with you two."

I looked at the zip ties in my hands. "This isn't justice. This is just more pain."

"Bingo," Felix said, gesturing with the gun. "That's exactly the point. The zip ties, Leo. Now."

I moved toward Xander, my mind racing. Felix wanted me to restrain Xander, and then he'd restrain me. Then Xavier would wake up to find us both helpless, at Felix's mercy. The thought made me sick.

"Stop stalling," Felix demanded. "Tighter."

"Any tighter and I'll cut off their circulation," I said, securing the ties around Xander's wrists.

"That's the idea," Felix replied. "Now their ankles too."

As I knelt to secure Xander's ankles, they caught my eye, a silent message passing between us. They were planning something, but I couldn't tell what. All I knew was that I needed to keep Felix talking, keep him distracted until whatever opportunity Xander saw presented itself.

"Why target me first?" I asked, deliberately fumbling with the ties to buy time. "Why burn my trailer when Xavier was your target all along?"

"Because you're his weakness. His obsession," Felix replied, his eyes tracking every movement of my hands. "I monitored him for months, trying to understand what made him tick. And then there you were. This unassuming tech specialist that the great Xavier Laskin would do anything to protect."

From across the room, Maxime cleared his throat. "Mr. Burns, I believe we can come to an arrangement." His voice was steady despite being bound to the chair, his face maintaining its professional composure. "Mr. Etremont would be willing to—"

"Shut up," Felix snapped, not taking his eyes off me. "Your boss is next on my list after I'm done with the Laskins."

"A grave miscalculation," Maxime replied calmly. "Algerone isn't someone you want as an enemy."

Felix's attention shifted slightly toward Maxime, irritation flashing across his face. "I said shut—"

The security panel by the door suddenly flashed red, followed by a mechanical whirring sound. Felix's head snapped toward it.

"What did you do?" he demanded, swinging the gun toward Maxime.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Xavier's fingers twitch. He was starting to come around. If Felix noticed, he'd speed up his timeline. I needed to keep his attention away from Xavier.

"What are you going to do to us?" I asked, my voice deliberately trembling. It wasn't hard to fake fear when terror was already coursing through my veins.

Before Felix could answer, the doors to the security room slid open with a hydraulic hiss. Six tactical-clad security personnel poured into the room, weapons raised, moving in formation.

"Drop your weapon!" the lead officer shouted, his rifle trained on Felix.

Felix's eyes darted around the room, calculating odds. For a split second, I thought he might try to use me as a shield, but Algerone's security team had positioned themselves too well, covering every angle.

"This isn't over," he called, eyes locking on Xavier's now fully conscious form. "We're just getting started."

In one fluid motion, Felix pulled a small black cube from his pocket and tossed it toward the security team. The device hit the floor with a metallic clatter, immediately emitting a high-pitched whine followed by a blinding flash. A flashbang. My vision whited out completely, ears ringing so badly I couldn't hear anything but a high-pitched tone.

Gunshots rang out, muffled by the ringing in my ears. By the time my vision cleared enough to see, Felix was gone, and two of Algerone's security guards were down, clutching wounded limbs.

"Secure the perimeter!" the team leader was shouting into his comm unit. "Target is on the move! All units converge on the east wing exit!"

I scrambled toward Xavier, who was still on the floor, struggling to push himself up to his elbows. Blood matted his hair at his temple, his eyes unfocused as he tried to track the chaos around him.

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