Page 111 of Ricochet
“You are falling apart. I told you once, a long time ago, don’t underestimate me. And you did exactly that.”
Storm placed his hand over her shoulders, and between her telling us she was willingly kidnapped and him staking his claim on her, my heart beat rapidly. My palms were sweaty, and if I ever saw an ambush, then this was the classic one. Why didn’t I bring our guards inside?
I still didn’t understand any of this. Why was Storm doing this? Why was he helping her? It couldn’t have been only his interest in her.
“Phee,” I started, trying to reason with her, but the venom in her eyes stopped me from going further.
“I think it’s time for us to finish this. What do you think?” She looked at Storm. He smiled at her. The first real smile I’ve ever seen from him, and if that didn’t destroy the last ounce of hope I had that this would end differently, nothing else would.
“Sons of Hades,” he turned to us while talking to his team, “let’s fucking finish this.”
Before they could start advancing toward us, I pulled my gun out and shot the first one in the chest.
“Not without a fight.”
And that was when all fucking hell broke loose.
Inat.
It was the Albanian word for malice. The same word Storm whispered in my ear.
The same word Agon, the leader of Albanian mafia, gave me when he sent me on this assignment. I wasn’t the person that made correct choices. The mistakes in my life kept piling up, but the biggest one was getting involved with the Albanians.
I owed them my life.
But this was my chance to be free, and I took it. And after Agon told me what Kieran did, I didn’t even hesitate. I just didn’t think he would hire somebody else to help me. No, scratch that. I didn’t think he would send Storm to help me.
I should’ve known. The interest I thought I saw in Storm’s eyes was just a pretense, and I again allowed my foolish heart to believe he truly wanted me. But none of that mattered because I had a job to do. A freedom to earn, and my feelings for Storm wouldn’t stand in my way.
I had a sister to save, and people to kill.
This was the breaking point for all of us, and I couldn’t wait for it to happen. I’ve waited for years. I’ve kept quiet, lived in hiding, running away so that all of them could live their lives without the constant reminder of me. I went through hell and crawled out, only to find out about the monstrosity the one I loved committed.
But not anymore, never again. I would never again lower myself for the sake of those that betrayed me. We could’ve been perfect, but we ended up tragic. We ended up messy, and there was no going back from this point.
We all made our beds and now it was time to sleep in them. I thrived on insanity, I lived for it, loved its darkness, and it took me a long time to realize that I wasn’t the problem.
They were.
They fucking threw me into the darkest pits and refused to acknowledge me, when all I wanted, all I needed, was just a little bit of love, and a little bit of understanding. It was so easy framing me for something I never did, so easy to throw me away like I never meant anything at all.
Maybe I didn’t.
Maybe I was just a marionette. Just another puppet, another person manipulated by others, so that they could get what they wanted.
More power, more money, more control over the things they craved.
I was fucking sick and tired of men controlling our world, of controlling every step I took.
Smile, Ophelia, stand tall, Ophelia, don’t hold the knife like that, Ophelia, take a smaller gun, Ophelia, it suits you better... Kill them, Ophelia, gut them like animals but don’t feel anything because feelings have no place in this world.
Be a machine, Ophelia. Be a living and breathing destruction, and you would be rewarded.
I was never fucking rewarded. I was just left to my own devices, to my own insanity, because I didn’t really matter.
I had to admit one thing, though. I should fucking thank my father for making me this way. I should thank him for making me see who wanted me for me and who couldn’t stand to see what I became, because if people couldn’t handle me at my worst, they sure as hell didn’t deserve me at my best.
All the blood spilled, all things we went through, they all led us here, to this final resting place, because most of us wouldn’t be leaving this church alive. Suitable, wasn’t it? A perfect place to die and descend.
