Chapter 5
FIVE
TASH
After I cleaned Bruno's cum from the insides of my thighs, we all sat down in a corner of the storeroom. Judging by the groans coming from the other rooms, we weren't the only ones getting in the last minute fuck. And talk.
"Ping-pong can be played in doubles," I said, leaning back against the wall.
"That's it?" Logan asked in disbelief. "That's your plan?"
I glanced around at the three of them. They were staring at me, a combination of thoughtfulness and confusion on their faces.
"Why not?" I adjusted my position on the cold floor. "We could propose we play doubles. If they agree, two of us could walk away from here." That significantly increased the odds of our survival.
"You might not be one of them," Sanun pointed out.
I sighed softly. "I know. Whoever does will appreciate the opportunity, though, right?"
"Of course they will," Bruno said, inching closer to me.
If he was any closer, I'd be sitting on his lap. He seemed to have attached himself to me for now. Honestly, I liked having him close. It made all of this that much easier.
"Who's going to ask them?" Logan asked.
"I will," I said, just as the sound of Hunter hitting the ping-pong paddle on the table sounded through the Arena.
"Get your asses back in here," he called out.
He was having too much fun with this, wasn't he?
I wondered if he or his brother could even play ping pong.
Maybe we should offer to take on one of them.
Although, it wouldn't save us if they lost. Instead, we'd probably look forward to a much slower, more painful death.
They had a few people working for them who liked to dispense that kind of demise.
It was Logan who offered me his hand to help me back to my feet. I should have taken Bruno up on the suggestion to take off my boots, but it was too late now.
I walked with them back into the Arena and back over to the bleachers.
"I trust you all enjoyed yourselves," Hunter said, giving us a look like he knew exactly what we'd been up to. It was entirely possible we were all that predictable. Or maybe it's what he would do if the tables were turned.
While everyone else sat down, I remained standing.
Hunter raised his eyebrows at me. "Something you wanted, Natasha?"
His gaze slid up and down my body with only a small amount of interest. Of course, his girlfriend would poke him in the eyes if he looked at another woman for too long. Parker too, since they shared the same girlfriend.
"As a matter of fact,” I started, "we were thinking we should make this challenge more interesting."
I half-expected him to dismiss the idea out of hand, but instead he cocked his head.
"Interesting how?" He wasn't committing to anything. He was too smart for that. But he was listening.
That was a start, I supposed.
"We were thinking it might be more interesting if we played in doubles," I said. "Twice the entertainment."
Hunter looked thoughtful. "Twice the amount of losers per match, twice as fast."
I couldn't tell if he liked the idea or not.
"We could get through the matches faster," I pointed out.
Hunter leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest. "Are you in that much of a hurry to die?"
"No, I'm in that much hurry to win and get out of here," I said. "I just remembered I have dinner in the slow cooker. It should be ready in a couple of hours."
I didn't. I hadn't planned that far ahead, but it got a laugh out of him.
"How do you propose we choose who plays together?" he asked.
"I'm playing with Tash," Bruno called out.
"I'll play with Logan," Sanun said, surprising everyone in the room.
Logan held his hand out to Sanun, the pair shaking firmly.
All around the arena, competitors started to pair up, clearly trying to decide who had the best chance of getting them through the rest of the tournament.
"That was almost too easy," Parker remarked from where he reclined in the corner.
The rest break didn't seem to have helped him too much.
He still looked tired. Not that I gave a shit.
He was as much a part of this as his twin.
Still just as sadistic and, dare I say, evil.
Who thought up something like this anyway?
It wasn't for nothing that people referred to them as the evil twins.
"Parker and I will take a moment to confer," Hunter said.
The pair stepped over to the corner and talked in low voices. Hunter nodding at something Parker said before letting out a laugh.
Hunter pushed himself off the wall and strode over back to the middle of the room.
"Okay, we're willing to do this, but on a couple of conditions."
Of course there'd be conditions. Nothing like this was ever going to be straightforward or easy.
"Condition one," Hunter said slowly. "We have a longer break in between rounds."
Was that all? That didn't seem too difficult.
"Number two," Hunter continued. "Winners have to kill the losers."
Did I mention he was evil?
Nowhere had anyone mentioned us having to do any killing. I'd held a gun before. Knew how to use one. But actually killing someone…
"We accept," Logan called out.
I looked back at him, frowning.
He responded with a simple look that said, 'what choice do we have?'
I nodded slightly and turned back to Hunter.
"Anything else?" I asked, hoping he wasn't about to suggest we all play naked. Although I could take these boots off and move around better. Now I thought about it, nudity might be a good distraction. If the men in the room were too busy looking at my tits to hit the ball, it might be an easy win.
"That's it for now," Hunter said, looking smug. He'd add more rules when he thought of them, just because he could. What were we going to say about it anyway? If we refused to participate, he'd have us all killed. I didn't care for that option.
He started to walk away, but then stopped and turned back.
"One more thing," he said slowly. "You and Bruno can go first."
There it was, the other shoe dropping. I should have seen it coming a mile off.
I nodded and stepped over to the table. Parker appeared with a couple of extra paddles and handed them to Bruno and our other opponents.
"Make it interesting," Hunter said.
"Forget interesting," I whispered to Bruno. "Let's just win."
Despite what the twins may think, I wasn't here to entertain them. I was here to save my skin. Now mine and Bruno's.
If I could figure a way to save Logan and Sanun as well, I would.
"We've got this." He whispered back.
Taking on Logan and Sanun was going to be difficult, but we had to get through this first.
Our opponents both looked confident, as if winning their first match made them a shoe-in for the second. I could have reminded them Bruno and I won our first matches as well, but the fact we were standing here said everything. We weren't going down without a fight.
Our opponents served first, a tall redhead named Gage hitting the ball across the net to me.
With a snap of my wrist, I sent it back. Rallying back and forth until, I slammed the ball past him, winning the first point. I wasn't giving any away this time. They'd all seen me play. They knew what I could do. Now I just had to prove it to them. And to myself.
"Good work," Bruno said.
It was his turn to serve. He and Axel hit the ball back and forth, diagonally from the left side of the table to the opposite left, before the ball slid over to the right and I hit it back to Gage.
Harder than necessary, he smacked it back to me. So fast I almost missed it. At the last second, I hit it back. The ball touched the edge of the table before dropping to the floor, scoring us another point.
On and on, back and forth, we hit that tiny ping pong ball. We took out the first game. Our opponents took out the second. By the time we won the third game, I'd worked up a sweat.
"We need to take this out in the fourth game," Bruno said.
I murmured my agreement. If we didn't, we'd be too tired for the next match. So would everyone else, but I wasn't willing to take the risk if I could help it. The more energy we had left in the tank, the better.
Focusing harder than ever, I served the ball over to Gage.
His game was starting to contain a hint of desperation, sensing for the first time there was a chance he and Axel would lose.
There was no room in my game for desperation, only concentration.
It wasn't just my life at stake now, it was Bruno's. That made this all the more important.
We had to win.
Back and forth, back and forth. Point after point. Neck and neck until we both reached nine points. We had to get this done. Bruno served, sending the ball over the net so fast, Axel couldn't have hit it back if he wanted to.
Ten points to nine.
"One more point," Bruno said.
One more point and I'd have to…
No, I wouldn't think about that now. If I did, I'd hesitate. I couldn’t. If I hesitated, I'd be dead.
I waited for Gage to serve the ball. Watching his eyes, his shoulders, knowing he was going to try to faint and trick me.
Not today, I told him silently.
I shifted my weight over to the right as if fooled by him.
When he served over to the left, I snapped back. Hit the ball. It barely bounced over the net, before rolling out of reach and dropping onto the floor with a series of plops.
The room went silent.
"Natasha and Bruno win," Hunter announced.
"Fuck," Gage shouted. He slammed the paddle down onto the table, his body coiled like he might lunge at me or Bruno.
"Well, well, well," Hunter said, striding over and pulling his gun out of his pocket.
Before he offered it to me, Parker followed him over, his own gun in his hand, also pointed at me.
"Just a contingency in case you think to aim somewhere else," Hunter said, looking amused, as if I wouldn't dare to try.
I won't lie, I'd thought about it, but it would get me just as dead as losing this tournament. No one killed a Brantley and lived to tell the tale.
Hands shaking, I took the gun and held it down toward the floor.
Hunter stepped over beside me and put a hand on my shoulder. In my ear, he whispered, "Don't forget, you agreed to this."
I slid my gaze over to him. Logan agreed to it, but I hadn't spoken out against it.
Hunter smirked and stepped away. "Go ahead."
Bruno took his place beside me. Standing close. Giving me comfort. "You can do this," he said. "I know for a fact Gage was dealing drugs to minors."
I frowned over at Gage. His lips were pressed together. Expression sullen.
"You did that?" I asked.
He turned his face to the side and didn't answer. Anyone who'd do that to children didn't deserve to get back into that elevator and go back to living their lives.
I slowly raised the gun, carefully aimed it at the centre of Gage's head and pulled the trigger.
My hand jumped with the recoil. I shoved the gun back at Hunter and walked back over to the bleachers almost before Gage's body hit the floor.
We'd won this match. We had to win one more. And then, if things went according to plan, our final match would be against Logan and Sanun. I'd have to kill again before this day was over, but one step at a time.
One match at a time.
One ping pong at a time.