When Hayden found himself surrounded by dozens of hen, each with a bucket of balls in front of


    them, t know exactly what Bruno had nned.


    They were going to turn Hayden into a human target.


    “If you’ve got any guts, face Hayden one–on–onel This gang style ambush… what kind of man does


    that make you?” Yara shot at him, unable to hold back.


    “This isn’t something a real man would do. Word will get around, and people willugh at you,”


    Jace added, his voice steady despite the fresh bandages on his arm.


    I stayed silent.


    It wasn’t that I didn’t care or didn’t want to speak up for Hayden. I just knew the more we tried to


    reason with Bruno, the more he’d dig in his heels.


    Bruno wasn’t someone you could easily talk sense into, I’d barely been around him, but already, I


    could tell he was unpredictable–like a storm waiting to tear through everything in his path. The more


    you tried to stop him, the harder he pushed,


    Sure enough, Bruno’s answer was exactly what I expected. “People haven’tughed at me enough?


    Like I care what they think.”


    “This isn’t fair,” Yara tried again.


    She was beautiful, capable–but still naive when it came to guys like Bruno.


    “Oh, you want fair?” Bruno sneered. “Fine. Then join him. You two can y together.”


    With a snap of his fingers, Yara was shoved into the circle.


    Hayden’s face went hard. “Why did you provoke him?” he asked, irritation shing in his eyes.


    “I had to, or how else was I going to help you?” Yara said, standing strong beside him.


    As I watched them, a single word shed through my mind: matched.


    It clicked–Yara wasn’t clueless about what Bruno was trying to do. She just wanted to protect the


    person she cared about.


    “This is between you and me, Bruno. It has nothing to do with anyone else. Let her go,” Hayden


    said, his voice steady, but I could see the worry in his eyes.


    Bruno chuckled darkly. “Oh, it has nothing to do with her? She’s your woman, trying to protect you.


    You two make quite the heroic couple. Really nauseating, you know that?”


    Then he turned his gaze to me. “Isn’t that right, snooker girl?”


    He was baiting me, trying to get a rise.


    I stayed silent, not giving him the satisfaction.


    “Aren’t you going to step in and help him out?” Bruno taunted. “You two shared something special


    once, didn’t you?”


    This belongs to N?velDrama.Org - ?.


    His meaning was clear–he wanted me in the circle too He didn’t care about fairness. He wanted to


    make this asplicated as possible for Hayden and Yara. I wasn’t as skilled as Yara, so if I got


    involved, they’d be distracted, trying to protect me. It would make it that much harder for them to


    dodge the balls. flying at them.


    “Bruno, however you want to y this is on you, Leave me out of it,” I said, trying to steer him away


    from his twisted idea.


    “But this all started because of you,” Bruno said with a wicked smile.


    “Don’t drag in innocent people,” Jace added, his voice ke ice.


    Bruno shot him a sidelong nce. “What’s the matter? You want in too?”


    Then he shook his head, the mockery clear. “Actually, never mind. In your condition, you’d just ruin


    the


    vibe.”


    Bruno was enjoying this, savoring every moment of our difort. He wasn’t just out to win–he


    wanted to break us, piece by piece.


    “Enough with the chatter. If you’re going to do this, just get on with it,” Hayden said, his patience


    clearly wearing thin.


    “Oh, you’re in such a hurry,” Bruno replied with a sinister grin. “But before we start, don’t you want


    to leave some final words? Just in case things….don’t go your way?”


    Hayden’s jaw clenched. Without another word, he kicked the nearest man with enough force to


    send him


    ? flying.


    It was Hayden’s way of showing Bruno that he wasn’t going down without a fight.


    p, p…


    Bruno started pping again, that mocking smile stered on his face. “Impressive moves, Agent


    Hart. You’re clearly confident. Guess I’ll just have to raise the stakes for you.”


    With a flick of his wrist, I was shoved forward, right into the circle.


    “Rea!” Jace called out, struggling to get up, but his injuries kept him down as someone shoved him


    back into his seat.


    “Agent Hart, you’d better protect the woman you love,” Bruno taunted, his grin widening. He


    grabbed a ball from a nearby bucket and flung it straight at me.