CONDEMNATION ✓

Chapter 10

As expected, only a few seconds after the gunshot, the door began to crack open. You tightened the muscles in your arm, readying your finger on the trigger. You weren't going to shoot without offering up your deal, you weren't stupid. Just killing one meant that other's would come running, and god knows how many people were in this mansion, ammo was limited.

The first thing you noticed was a luscious head of platinum blonde hair and you felt your pulse spike. Your conviction to demand freedom first was wavering. Your trigger finger itched to squeeze. You narrowed your eyes, keeping your sights directly down the barrel of the gun, keeping the shot lined up with his head. R's head hung low, noticing the brain matter along with the spray of blood the covered the wall, door, and floor just under his feet.

"Sorry to report, Chase didn't make it." You clicked your tongue in his direction, trying to get him to raise his eyes to realize the situation he was in; a gun pointed at his head aimed between his perfect dark chocolate eyes. Unaware that he knew, R was far wiser than you ever realized. "You don't say?" R sighed, rolling his head back to meet your gaze. He seemed less than impressed with your methods and not the slightest bit phased at the fact that you had a gun pointed in his direction.

R left the door cracked as he began to walk deeper into the room. Your elevated arm shook, feeling unease with each step that brought him closer to you. His tatted hands stuffed into the pockets of his black blazer casually. How could he remain this cool when you could end his life at any second?! "I got him to talk." You coughed, clearing your throat from the lump that developed just from his presence. "If you want the intel, we need to strike a deal." Your chin tilted, your runny mascara-coated eyes holding firm to your demands.

"That so?" R questioned, his body stalking a few feet away. The gun was now within arms reach of him; the only thing between the two of you was Chase's lifeless body chained to a chair, his exploded head dripping with blood and tissue. "Let me guess; you want to exchange your freedom for the intel or else--"

"Or else you'll end up just like this poor asshole!" You cut him off, your finger twitching at the trigger, itching to pull it and say, 'Fuck the plan.' The boiling point of your blood was rushing to the top. Seeing his face brought forth a rage in you that you hadn't begun to realize how deep it was in your bones. "Mhm." R hummed, nodding his head as he pursed his thick bottom lip. He glanced around the room idly, surveying his surroundings before his eyes snapped back to you. "On with it."

"What?" Your head cocked back in shock, eyes rounding. R let his hands slither from his pockets and extend wide as if an open invitation. Your boiling blood froze in your veins as your entire plan was tossed from your hands as you were forced to improvise. "You don't make the rules here." He stated as he gestured to the area the both of you were in. "You're in my house." R's hand fell back to his side, slapping at his thighs as they hung lifeless beside him. "So, if you're going to shoot, hurry up and shoot. You're wasting my fucking time." Either R severely underestimated you or the balls on this man were massive. 

Another well-played trick of manipulation. If you insert something unexpected between the target and their goal it causes hesitation and allows for someone to take the upper hand in that shock. R had thrown you off, you were left stunned. It took a second for you to regain your composure and funnel all of your emotion into the hatred you felt toward the man standing before you. "You dumb bitch." You hissed, inching a bit toward him as you shoved the gun closer to his face. Your eyes bored into his, wanting to see the exact moment that his soul left that towering body of his. You tried to commit it to memory a good 'ending' to what concurred last night. You spread your glossed lips into a devious smile before squeezing your hand and curling your finger.

Your grin grew as you heard the 'click' however, it quickly diminished when there was no deafening 'bang' right after. You shot your gaze to the gun as your mouth hung slack. You felt your soul leave your body as your heart sunk into your feet. This was your entire plan; it revolved around this gun! "Sorry Bae." R's menacing words leaked from his lips as he was now the one to take possession of that devious grin. Quickly, his ink-stained right hand raised and wrapped around the barrel of the gun. He yanked it closer to himself, taking your hand along with it.

He twisted his hand, ripping the gun from your clenching fingers as he tossed it to the side. Lighting fast, his hand found its way to your wrist and kept you bent over the deceased body between you. Yanking, you tried to pull from his grasp, but his strength was far greater than yours. His other hand quickly raised, snatching your chin between his thumb and index finger as he painfully tilted your head to meet his height. "When will you learn that your pathetic attempts at defying me are useless?" R questioned, his face inching dangerously close to your own as you bare your teeth. His breath hit your lips, rolling over your cheeks that were heated with rage.

"I'll never tell you the information he gave me." You hissed back, hoping at least that bit would stir some emotion in him that wasn't his own self-righteous triumph. It was your last card to play, and even then, you still held the losing hand. "Oh, you mean how the company he worked for purposely released faulty drugs to the public and killed thousands?" R questioned as he released you, giving your body a forceful shove back from his frame, making you stumble. "You honestly think I was going to send you in here to gather intel that I didn't already know?" He scuffed, laughing intensely under his breath; his chest rumbled with amusement.

"You were testing me?!" You snarled after you finally found your footing. You kept your distance. However, you weren't stupid. Chase's body was a barrier that separated you from a savage beast. You had not a single card to play now; there was no way for you to gain the upper hand. "From the moment you left your room." R let his shoulders raise and bounce, his black blazer huffing out, his low-cut V-neck shirt he wore just under it allowing you to see more of his tattooed chest. He was dressed in black from head to toe as if heading to a funeral. Perhaps it was going to be yours. "I even anticipated that you'd steal Mono's gun. Hence, I told him to load only one bullet in this morning before I told him to go collect you from your room." R was smiling as he spoke, his words trailing with laughter as he talked. He found it so incredibly humorous. You fell into every single one of his plans without knowing there was a plan at all. 

You shot your gaze to the discarded gun, assuming it had jammed. He was three steps ahead of you before you had even taken one. You thought that you had the advantage if you killed Chase and withheld information, but you were nothing more than a pawn in a game of chess; now, you were standing before the king. He counted on you stealing your brother's gun and using the only bullet to kill the hostage in your attempts to negotiate a release. He knew you'd choose to kill the hostage over holding the bullet and letting him live; he already knew you'd assume your chances with a small-caliber weapon were next to none where you were. He knew everything you would do before you even had done it.

He left you locked in a room with a hostage whom he knew you wouldn't care about and whom he no longer had a use for. You were just a piece in his game and the only one on the losing team. Your blood began to boil, running hot through your veins in the face of your defeat, and his victorious nature and dimple-filled smile only made it worse. You were doing your best to cage the raging beast inside you. The voice in your head tells you to charge across the room and rip R's throat out with your teeth. He dared disrespect you like this; he had no idea who he was fucking with. 

Your eyes quickly darted behind R as you noticed another figure step into the doorway. It was Mono, standing there casually as he leaned against the frame. The look in his dark eyes almost seemed apologetic for having gone along with the plan that successfully fooled you into a false sense of hope. R thought he knew you; he had Mono by his side. His pipeline to you, your entire history, was laid out for this man allowing him to predict you. Even after being granted your freedom, Mono found ways to take it from you again. How could he consider himself your brother? R shamed and disrespected you, but Mono? He was betraying you. Which was worse?