Chapter 21 The Pawns
THE PAWNS
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The vantage point of the bedroom balcony also wasn’t exactly the easiest perch to assassinate from either, but with the barrel pointed between the thick balusters, it provided me with the most cover. And I could see exactly what I needed to see just fine.
Having no idea what else to do, I decided that removing as many obstacles as possible was likely the best course of action.
So that meant getting rid of as many of Darren’s guards as I could before someone stopped me.
Now that my shock collar was ineffective, they were the only ones who still stood a chance of keeping me on the property until Darren returned.
If he returned…
What I actually needed to do was locate the men Jason had sent here to find me, but aside from Darren’s guards, I really couldn’t tell who was who.
After what happened the last time one of Darren’s properties was attacked, I wasn’t sure who I could trust, or even if these were the people Sid had mentioned yesterday.
How many of them were on Matt’s side of the payroll? Likely all of them, but the team Jason had spoken about back in Rome should be the ones I seek out. Hopefully, they were the ones I could actually trust.
But I had no idea what the fuck they looked like, so I figured the process of elimination was probably the best way to go until none of Darren’s men remained.
Squeezing the trigger at another running guard, I managed to clip him in the hip, sending him barreling into the bushes and out of my sight. I caught another one hiding beside a tree, shooting at an incoming boat about to breach the shore.
When my first shot hit the tree just above his head, he quickly turned his rifle in my direction and returned fire, the baluster next to me taking the hit. Panicking internally, I recalibrated my aim between his eyes, but the bullet ended up piercing through the top of his skull.
Still dead, good enough.
Searching for my next target, my stomach suddenly clenched as I locked in on a very familiar, very punchable, face.
Fucking Matt.
I pulled the trigger without even thinking, ready to blow his goddamn head off, but it only clicked instead, alerting me that my mag was officially empty.
“Uuugghhh,” I groaned aloud, irritated that there had only been one full clip in the case, and I didn’t have time to search around for more ammunition.
Looking back through my scope, I watched Matt race across the lawn and up to the patio. He was going to head inside the house.
Abandoning my post, I took the rifle and ran back through the bedroom, down the hall, and then carefully descended the curved stairway. Stopping at the last step, I listened for more movement until I heard someone loudly stomping through the house and sounding like they were headed in my direction.
Flush against the wall with my heart racing, I raised the butt of my empty rifle and waited as the footsteps neared. The second the tip of a nose became visible, I slammed the butt of the rifle into what turned out to thankfully be Matt’s forehead.
He grunted in shock as he stumbled back, clutching his forehead while I stepped out from the stairs and pointed my rifle at him. He didn’t need to know it was empty.
Taking advantage of his minor disorientation, I stole a moment to notice Matt’s full tactical gear with an AK at his back, a grenade on his belt, and more guns at his sides. He clearly came here ready for a fight, but he sure as fuck just found the wrong one.
When his eyes landed on me, he raised the pistol in his hand while the other continued to clutch his head.
“What the fuck, Jaden!” he snarled at me from behind gritted teeth.
“Oh, don’t act so surprised, asshole. You had that coming. Now what the hell are you doing here?”
“Looking for Daniel. What the fuck do you think I’m doing here?” he snapped. “Sid said he would be here, so where is he?”
I cocked a brow at him, surprised that Sid chose to lie to Matt while Darren had also withheld the truth from him.
Why? To Darren, it probably wouldn’t have made a difference since Daniel’s death wouldn’t have solved the war.
But Sid? He clearly wanted Matt to remain fully invested and fight in this specific attack for a reason.
But, truthfully, as of this very moment, none of that really mattered anymore.
“Uh, he’s dead, dude. Darren killed him, like, two weeks ago. How have you not heard that?”
Matt’s eyes widened with shock and anger. “What? But Sid said—why the fuck would he do that?”
“Because I wanted him to.” Duh?
His brows knitted together as he stared at me like I had just sprouted two heads. Clearly, that was not the answer he was expecting from me.
“What the hell are you talking about?” he asked, his voice tight with irritation.
I could feel my teeth painfully gritting together as that night replayed in my head.
“Darren killed my dog on my fucking birthday. So I made him kill his brother,” I stated plainly.
Pausing for a moment to read his reaction, the questions flashing across his face made my lips curl into a tiny grin.
“I may not be able to pull the trigger myself every time, Matt, but sometimes I get really lucky with influence.”
He tilted his head as he glared back at me, caution reflecting in his eyes. “What exactly do you mean you made Darren kill him? What did you do?”
“I just took advantage of what you made him, actually,” I answered with a slight shrug, lowering my rifle.
“That bullet Daniel took to the head really messed him up. He was irrational, impulsive, argumentative, and he fucking hated my guts. So it wasn’t very difficult to provoke him into attacking me, but he took it a step further by raping me, too. ”
Suddenly, the lights clicked on in Matt’s eyes. “Oh shit,” he murmured.
I nodded in agreement. “Darren killed him in the same hour. It was a painful experience for us all, but worth it in the end. Now he has no one,” I added, nodding to the floor behind me where Scott’s body still lay.
Matt leaned to the side to get a better view, his brows nearly hitting the roof as he lowered his gun. “Holy shit, is that Scott?”
I nodded again. “Yeah. I got a new bodyguard after you killed my last two. She turned out to be the best thing that came out of their deaths, so I guess I should thank you for that.”
“She?” Matt asked, cocking a brow. “You’re saying another woman killed Scott? Why?”
I shrugged at his question. “Because he was trying to kill me.”
A narrowed gaze stared back at me, jaw square with impatience. “And why the hell would he try to kill the beloved pregnant pet of his master? Or did he figure out the truth of that too?”
I almost rolled my eyes at the unnecessary taunt, but ignored it instead. “Because he finally saw me for the same threat Daniel did. And he knew Darren wouldn’t kill me, especially while carrying his child.”
Matt paused for a moment before his shoulders squared, and he stood a little taller. “Did he alert anyone else before he died?”
I shook my head. “He figured it out after the EMP, so he never got the chance.”
Skepticism flashed across his eyes before he stepped around me to fully enter the lobby and stand over Scott’s body. “Because your female bodyguard killed him before he could?”
“Yeah… and?”
He scoffed at my bemusement. “Well, where is this magnificent warrior?” he asked, his tone almost goading as he turned his head in all directions. “Or did she meet her end elsewhere?”
I hardened my gaze in response to his bullshit line of questioning, knowing full well he was checking to see if the threat of Sloane was still around.
“We got separated, but I know she’ll find me again soon,” I lied, and quickly moved to change the subject. “Where is Jason?” This question was the only reason Matt was still currently breathing.
He huffed a breath as he hunched down to inspect the bullet hole in Scott’s head.
“Probably getting his ass kicked by Darren right now. I hope you weren’t expecting your boyfriend to live through that little encounter,” he said as he lingered over Scott’s body.
“I warned him against being the sacrificial lamb.”
Sacrificial lamb? What the fuck?
“You know, you’re not funny,” I shot back.
“I wasn’t trying to be,” he snapped, his eyes springing back to mine. “Jason was likely never going to live through any of this, and honestly, with the man he’s become, you might not want him to.”
I could feel my soul jerk in my body from the unexpected whiplash of that comment.
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“He’s not the man you met in Rome anymore, Jaden. He’s different now,” Matt answered, the warning in his words chilling the bones of my spine. “That’s what this industry does to men. It turns them into monsters.”
I glared back at him, his familiar words pulling away the curtain of déjà vu, as if I hadn’t already given myself this same speech before in my head.
I was well aware of what this industry did to people, and well aware of what it had done to me.
I wasn’t the same woman Jason had met in Rome either.
I was a new animal—one who wasn’t afraid of monsters anymore.
“Sorry, Matt, but if you think I’m going to abandon him now after everything he’s done for me because he had to get a little blood on his hands then you’re sadly mistaken.”
The man fucking snorted. “Oh, its not just a little blood that’s on his hands.
He’s fucking drenched in it now. And I’m willing to bet that if he somehow survives this, he’ll wish he hadn’t.
One day, all those bodies are going to catch up with him, and when they do, he’s not going to like what they show him,” he reasoned, his voice tempered by just a touch of sincerity.
“Honestly, Jaden, he’s probably better off letting Darren put him out of his misery, so I really wouldn’t get your hopes up for some romantic reunion. ”