"Let's make things more interesting." Ben grinned, still pointing that gun at my face.

I was shivering as my eyes were stuck on his muffin forefinger. It was resting on the curved black trigger of that death trap.

"You bet for my share and I, for your girl."

Sawyer stiffened at his words. Jaw and fists clenched hard.

However, he smiled through gritted teeth.

"Can we negotiate the bet again?"

Ben smirked and twirled the gun around his finger.

"We can. But then it's gonna be my Glock who speaks next."

Glock? Who was this bloody Glock!

I eyed the still-spinning gun in his hand.

Could it be...

My blood froze at the sudden realization.

"Fine." Sawyer sighed, making me snap my head at him.

That fucking squirrel-faced handsome chipmunk!

Wait. What!

"Good. Now, let's get the job done, shall we? Come along, young man."

"Actually..." Sawyer glanced on his left side, towards a frowning me. "She's going to bet for herself."

My eyes bulged out.

The fuck!

Sawyer's eyes narrowed as he mouthed a vague sorry.

Sorry his flat ass!

With a flaring nose and gritted teeth, I began to spill thousands and ten curses — all dedicated to this devil spawn.

"Very well. Miss, come forward." Ben pointed his greasy thumb toward the nearest chair on his right.

I scrunched my nose at the visible crumbs stuck around his fingers and dragged my unwilling self toward him.

His oily smirk sent ripples of horror down my stomach as I pulled the chair farthest away from him and sat down.

Ben grinned at our distance but didn't say anything.

"Okay, so rules-"

"Uh, sorry to interrupt Mr. Holmes. But I have a condition before we start," Sawyer blurted out, giving Ben a plastic smile.

Ben raised his brows and snorted.

"Condition, huh? Let's see what you can do to amuse me."

Sawyer offered him a thin smile in return.

"Thank you. I'd like if you sign the shares in front of us before the betting begins."

Smirk dropped from Ben's face and his beady green eyes narrowed.

"You doubt me, boy?"

I flinched at his grave-deep grumble, his meaty fingers clasped the gun tighter.

Man, what was Sawyer trying to do with this grisly bear?

Sawyer grinned. "Of course, not. I'd just like to see our prize on table. You are already having yours sit closer. It's only fair if I could do the same. For our confidence boost, at least."

Suppressing a tired breath, I pinched the skin between my brows.

At this point, I was feeling like a fucking product on sale at K-Mart.

God... Was this how those women in dark romance novels thought when they were auctioned off?

At least, they ended up with their prince charming. And, look at me!

I took a bored glance at the cheeseball with a gun beside me.

"Alright. Deal!" the greaseball spoke after a while.

Sawyer smiled and pulled out a rolled-up bundle of papers from his black suit.

He unfurled the legal documents and placed them on the table before Ben.

"Here." Sawyer picked up a black fountain pen from his breast pocket and rested it beside the papers.

All the while, Ben's beady green eyes followed Sawyer's eager movements.

He took his sweet time reading the documents, twirling the pen between his fingers.

"Real Estate, huh? Vespers Ltd. Never heard of it."

"We're new, Mr. Holmes."

"And, a scam."

My heart jumped when Ben raised his brows.

Sawyer was standing calm as a cucumber while I was imagining various gory scenes of our torturous death.

"No, Mr. Holmes," Sawyer smiled. "We're up and rising and... Eager for quicker success. That's all."

Ben stared at Sawyer for a little more while before letting out a bored hum.

After a long dreadful moment, Ben scrawled his name on the papers in messy handwriting.

When he was done, he put the pen in his pocket — which was rightfully Sawyer's, might I add — and rested his muffin hands on the paper.

"Now..." Ben eyed a calm Sawyer before smirking at me. "The bet."

Right. The moment of my doom.

***

"And, Germany would goal this time." I gulped, keeping my eyes glued to the screen.

So far, I'd discovered that the match was between Germany and Argentina.

Germany had been leading the game by 2-1, or so Ben's gloating smirk screamed. Although, I had been discreetly rooting for Argentina.

Two reasons — One, I liked that blue-white jersey. Two, one of their players, Messi or something, was so swoon-worthy!

But Ben's leery grin every time my bet turned wrong prickled my skin.

So, I tried to apply reverse psychology this time and rooted for Germany instead.

It was more like hoping against hope that the team red would prove me right this once and save me from swallowing the bullet.

This was a matter of national emergency, Germany. You must win!

I bit my lower lips hard as I eyed the team red rushing fast toward the white goalpost. Although, my gaze never faltered from that sweaty blue jersey of Messi.

Sorry, Argentina. You would always be in my heart.

The moment team red was getting closer to the goalpost, suddenly team blue tried to corner them.

With hitched breath, I leaned forward and watched team red swiftly tossing the ball among their members. Not giving team blue a single chance.

No, no, Blues! You must get the ball from the Reds so that Germany could win.

Just when I thought the game was Argentina's... My newfound blue crush snatched the ball from right under their foot.

Dragged it to Germany's goalpost with the help of his team members.

And, hit it straight into the net past the flying red goalie.

I jumped up and clapped. "Yeah! Take it, Blue!"

Silence.

Pin-drop silence, unless you counted the muffled boom of music outside.

My grin vanished as I looked behind to see a somber-looking Sawyer. My brows furrowed when Ben smirked and winked at me.

What?

"We... Won, right?"

"Yep. Total victory." Sawyer sighed, flailing his arms in the air before crossing them.

Ben snickered and slapped the table.

"Alright, folks! Time's up. It's prize time."

"What! But- Blue goaled!"

"They did, yeah." Ben leaned back, crossing his arms behind his head.

"So, Germany won."

Sawyer looked at me as if I had grown two heads.

He even mouthed WTF!

What the hell was going on?

"Okay. Someone tell me something. I'm lost right here!"

"Germany lost, woman! We lost." Sawyer groaned, making me frown.

Why would we lose?

How could we lose?

We couldn't lose this!

"Even if we did, the match is a draw." I flailed my arms, trying to make a point.

"But your tally doesn't add up, Sugar." Ben grinned, making me scowl at him.

"Don't 'Sugar' me, Dude!" I pointed my finger at him. "The last win matters in these betting systems. I know."

Smirk dropped from Ben's lips.

Sawyer stepped forward from the corner of my eyes and opened his mouth. But Ben beat him to it.

"You gained a big O in the tally, Doll. The last win doesn't even matter. Besides, I don't like when my prize bites."

For some reason, my whole body thrummed with an overflowing rush of fury at the mention of that endearment.

I would only tolerate that name from Sawyer Ronnes. No other fuckers!

"Prize, huh? I'll show you prize, you fucking ball of cheese and goo!"

"Hey, wait-"

I ignored Sawyer and packed my right fist, getting ready to throw the punch of the century.

Just then, the sharp noise of a siren cut through the air, silencing the music outside.

Ben's eyes bulged out at the sudden turn of events.

He grabbed his gun and tried to wiggle out of the chair when the door thudded open and Rob rushed inside.

"Boss. Cops!"

Chaos broke out in the room as more people rushed inside and grabbed Ben, helping him walk out fast.

I glanced at the papers lying on the table and eyed the busy people around us.

No one was paying attention here. Great.

I snatched the documents just as Sawyer grasped my arm and flung us out the narrow door.

If we had thought the inside was in disarray, the outside was a hot mess!

It was hard enough to walk around the drunk morons, we now had to squeeze through the stumbling crowd rushing towards the exit.

Sawyer danced around the sluggish public, holding me close to his chest while I was clinging to his black suit.

The documents were tightly clasped between my clammy fingers.

Cops were filling in the front side of the entrance so Sawyer took an abrupt turn to the left and spotted a rather tucked-away emergency fire exit.

Thank goodness!

I grinned and winced a little when a girl bumped her elbow on my back while scurrying away.

By the time, we reached the exit a bunch of teens gasped and trailed behind us.

And, that set a chain reaction.

More people screamed and followed us to the exit.

But we were already out into the cold backyard when a hoard of crowd hurled out of the exit door.

Sawyer left my shoulders and clasped my right hand while running through a dimly lit yellow alley.

Drizzle tickled our already damp skin as I saw the flickering light of the main street a couple of yards away.

And, the drenched black Afro wig of Sawyer.

And, I was stuck.

My eyes were glued to his contracting back muscles which strained against his tight suit. Strong arms. Tight hand - the one that had no intention to let me go.

Our shoes dug through the murky mud as Sawyer dragged us away from the danger.

I noticed his ragged breathing, rasped voice muttering things I was too lost to hear.

Lost in his raspy, deep voice.

Would Devon ever do this — running with me under the rain as thrill chased us — had he been interested in me?

I snorted, shaking my head and earning raised brows from Sawyer.

Who was I kidding? Devon would crack if he had to even smirk like Sawyer.

Two men. So different, yet... So same.

Smile vanished from my lips as I stepped onto the bustling sidewalk of the main street. Rain pelted down on the puddles around us.

One ruined lives through trickery. And, the other?

Sawyer slowed our run to stroll as we spotted my blue Hercules not so far away from here.

The other one was trying to right the wrong with the same twisted methods.

I breathed out, staring at our joined hands.

Where this road would take us?

The path of revenge may promise salvation. But I knew better than anyone how dangerous it could be to meddle with the dark, to stir the sleeping demon inside our souls.

And, that was why I used to stray clear from trouble.

Until now.

Cops fluttered around us as while walked toward my Hercules. No one bothered an inconspicuous duo like us as we got inside the car.

Thankful for the confined space of the inside to muffle the blaring siren out there.

However, one question nagged in my mind as I watched a bunch of black uniforms with guns rush around.

Who called them here?

"That was a great save..." I sighed, inserting the key to start the engine.

Sawyer offered a quick smile before going back to typing something on his phone.

After pressing down the brake, I twisted the key and made the car hum back to life.

"I wonder why the sudden raid here, though." I shifted the gear to D, slowly lifting my foot off the brake.

Sawyer eyed me once but didn't say anything.

He was too silent for the moment.

"That too, right when we were about to get into trouble-"

"Speaking of trouble," he cut me off, a little too fast, "When were you going to tell me that you are a soccer illiterate?"

I was about to press on the accelerator when Sawyer's abrupt attack threw me off guard.

But I gathered myself fast and was about to open my mouth to speak when his phone pinged.

Swear to God, I didn't want to peek but his lit-up blue screen grabbed my instant attention.

And, I found a random Steve Cops had sent him a thumb's-up sticker.

❤️ Hmm... That's highly suspicious, don't you think so, fieries? ️

Let me know what are your thoughts on our resident Ben the Douche too while you're at it.

See you guys in the next chapter! Till then, take care of your mind, body, and soul.

Love you
– Sabrina ❤️