Trapped in his End Game (Series)

A spike of terror finally stabs my brain, ripping me back inside my body. I feel the numbness in my limbs, the wide-eyed panic, and I dig through my purse to get the phone. It slips in my hand with all the blood. I scream a frustrated cry as I unlock the phone and call Vince.

“Hey, baby. What’s up?”

The wave of relief I feel from hearing his voice knocks down the walls I’ve built up. I can’t manage anything but a wordless sob.

“What’s wrong?”

“Take the fucking phone from her!”

Someone yanks it out of my grasp and speaks into the receiver and I slump on the floor. Nicky screams into the phone.

“Cock-sucking motherless fucks robbed us. Killed Jimmy and we got two of them. One escaped. She’s fine. I’m the one who got shot!”

I can’t let go of the panic I’m feeling. Any moment, they’re going to come right back inside and finish us off. I watch the door as they drag the bodies out, flinging them into a trunk of a car. At least the store is in a secluded area.

A couple of them kneel next to me, asking me over and over if I’m all right. No, I’m not fucking all right. They snap their fingers in front of my face, but I don’t move a muscle. The only movement I make is to wipe the horrifying sight of the blood all over my hands. I drag them over the carpet, over and over.

Get it off me. Get it off!

The sound of tires squealing outside makes my heart seize with hope. The sound of a car door opening and frantic footsteps-and then a tall man is silhouetted in the doorway. I see his whitened face, his eyes sweeping over the carnage before finally settling on me.

“Adriana!”

He runs over the bloodstains, ignoring Nicky as he stoops down next to me. His face-it’s the first time I’ve seen fear. His lips are shaking as he looks up and down my body.

“Are you hurt?”

“No,” I finally moan. It’s like a switch flips and I’m so relieved he’s here. Everything will be fine, now that he’s here. I’m saved.

Nicky yells in a strangled voice. “A little fucking help over here?”

Vince kisses my forehead. Satisfied that I’m unhurt, he turns towards Nicky. I want to scream for him to come back to me. Don’t leave me.

Everything happens so slowly in front of my eyes, but I don’t pay attention. The cards litter the carpet like confetti, except there’s blood soaking through them. I want to vomit. I want to leave.

Finally, he takes me by the arm. It’s hard for me to move, much less stand, but Vince wraps his arm around my waist.

“Let’s go home.”

My fingers dig into his arm when we step outside. I cringe and bury my face into his shoulder, fully expecting to be gunned down at any second. Vince almost has to get a crowbar to pry me off his arm.

Once we’re back at his place, I can finally breathe. As soon as the door closes, he pulls me into his chest and wraps his arms around me.

“I’m so sorry, Ade. I should have never let you go to those other games.” The tightness in his voice is a small testament of the emotions he kept buried.

After nearly an hour, my heart rate is still jacked. I want to dive at every loud noise, and clinging to Vince is just about the only thing keeping me from losing my shit.

“I can’t do this. I can’t do this!” My voice rises with hysteria, and Vince tries to help by running his hands up and down my back.

“I hate myself for not being there to protect you.” His voice takes a violent turn. “When I find that piece of shit, I’ll tear him apart limb from limb.”

I feel his rage rumbling through his chest, feeding some of my anger. It horrifies me that I’m feeling so detached about their deaths.

They deserve it.

“Who were they?”

“I don’t know yet,” he says in a lower voice. “They probably had no idea who they were dealing with.”

Slowly, he walks me into the living room, where we sit down on the grey couch. Nerves still stinging with adrenaline, I bury my head in his neck and I try to relax. I try to focus on his chest rising and falling, the smell of him, so sharp and masculine. The sharp contours of his body.

The stress builds in my head and I feel like my skull might explode, and then I cry. It shames me to do it, but I cry into his shoulder as everything releases from me. All the pain, fear, and stress pour out of me and Vince holds me like he’ll never let me go.

“It’ll never happen again.”

“You’ve said that before.” I can hardly get the words out between my sobbing. Vince’s arms gently detach from mine, but his face is contorted with rage. He stands up, pacing the apartment with his hand on the gun at his hip, and suddenly he slams his fist into the glass wall. I hear the crunch of his fist and shudder as his hot gaze moves over me.

Nothing frightens me more than seeing Vince lose control. He seizes a glass sitting on the table and hurls it at the wall, where it smashes into millions of shards. His muscles ripple as he grabs a wooden chair by the island in his kitchen. With a scream of fury, he hurls it across the room where it scrapes over the wooden floor, ruining the beautiful hardwood. His chest heaves for a moment as he stares at the dry wall.

“Vince.”

Another inhuman sound erupts from his throat as he lashes out, his fist bursting through the drywall as a cloud of white dust sprinkles over his arm.

Maria was right all along. He’s a monster.

When he sees me staring at him, the confident, charming mask slides over his face and he takes a step towards me.

“No, don’t.” I bolt upright, dragging the blanket on the couch with me as if it’ll protect me from him. “I-I need to go.”

A flicker of the demon overshadows his face. “What?”

“You’re scaring me. I want to leave, now.”

“They robbed us!” he says with heat in his voice. “They shot one of my players for no fucking reason. You could have been killed! I have a right to be pissed. I’m not letting you leave.”

My mouth is dry as I look at him. We’re too different. The gulf between us stretches for eons. “I can’t do this anymore, Vince. This was a huge mistake.”

“No more card games,” he says in a soft voice.

Vince tries to take my hand, but I rip it from his grasp.

“No more people’s hands getting smashed, and me nearly getting killed. No more you.”

This time, he flinches like I struck his face. He stands there, reeling in shock before his features harden once more. “I know that you’re very upset, so I’m not going to yell at you right now.”