The Wolf and His Wife (Wolf 2)

I pushed the gun toward him. My reaction was still stoic, but my heart relaxed now that the threat was over. Hopefully, he got the bullet on this round. He would be dead, and all my problems would be solved.

If only I were that lucky.

Even though he had a sixty-six percent chance of blowing his brains out, he moved with the same quickness as before. He pointed the barrel right into his temple and squeezed the trigger.

The gun clicked with the empty chamber.

Shit.

“No…please.” Arwen rushed to the table and started to plead with Kamikaze. “I’ll come with you, okay? I surrender. Just let him walk away—”

“Sit the fuck down.” I refused to look at her. This was between the two of us—and she shouldn’t have interfered. “Now.”

Kamikaze didn’t look at her either.

Arwen gripped my shoulder. “Please…please take me with you.”

I pushed her off. “Don’t make me ask you again.”

Kamikaze waited for me to pick up the gun.

One of my men grabbed Arwen and dragged her away.

I picked up the gun, its weight more noticeable in my grasp. It seemed to get heavier with every turn, like the bullet inside with turning from lead to stone. My hand didn’t shake even though there was a slight tremor in my fingertips.

Arwen screamed from her position against the wall. The men kept her pinned down so she couldn’t rush me again. She didn’t understand that Kamikaze wouldn’t take her deal even if he wanted to. He was committed to this—and he had to see it through.

It was the first time Kamikaze dropped his indifferent attitude. His hands came together in front of his mouth as he stared at me, wishing that bullet to be inside the chamber. If the bullet didn’t pierce my skull, then we knew the outcome of the match.

This turn was just as important as the last.

“Maverick…” Arwen said my name through her tears, a complete mess in the corner.

I tuned out her hysterics and held the gun steady against my temple.

Kamikaze didn’t crack a smile or taunt me. He held his breath as he waited for me to decide our fates.

In just a second, I would be dead—or I would be the victor.

My blood ran ice cold, but sweat started to mark my forehead. If I died tonight, my life would have been short-lived. I would die a young man, following my mother into the afterlife. My sister would probably kill herself, and my father would be alone—until he put a bullet in his own brain.

My finger steadied on the trigger.

Squeeze.

My eyes closed as I heard the click of the barrel.

Instead of me dropping to the ground dead, everything went quiet as silence ensued. Then the slight sounds picked up again, like my own breathing and Arwen’s sobs. Everything grew louder, reminding me I was truly alive.

I opened my eyes and looked into his.

He lowered his hands to the table, taking his loss like he didn’t feel anything. His hard expression didn’t change. His smile wasn’t forthcoming, and he didn’t break the tension with an inappropriate joke.

I set the gun in the center of the table.

Kamikaze stared at it for a long time, his eyes soaking in the sight of his own murder weapon. He wouldn’t survive another bullet to the brain. This would kill him.

Even though Arwen knew I would live, she cried even harder.

I didn’t like this man and shouldn’t pity him. He’d hardly been an ally to begin with, but he was never an enemy before. He’d tried to rape my wife and sell her like a mule. But it was still depressing watching a man grappling to accept his own death. “I’ll make a deal with you. Drop this for good, and we’ll forget the whole thing.” Kamikaze could be useful in the future. He owed me his life, so if I ever needed a favor, he would make it happen.

Kamikaze stared at the gun for a few more seconds before he lifted his gaze to meet mine.

“Just don’t come near my wife again, and we have a deal.” It was a generous offer, and he’d be stupid not to take it.

“And be your bitch for the rest of my life?”

“I wouldn’t put it like that.”

He grabbed the gun and dragged it toward him. “We made a deal—and I’ll keep my end of the bargain.” He brought the barrel to his forehead. “I wouldn’t have given you the same mercy.”

“You don’t have to—”

Squeeze.

The gunshot went off, loud in the small enclosure of the restaurant. Drops of blood sprayed everywhere, covering the other chairs and the table in between us. His heavy body jolted with the momentum then crumpled to the ground with a loud thud.

His men stood their ground and did nothing.

I stared at the spot where he’d been. A terrifying man had just met my gaze, and then, instantly, he was gone. It reminded me of my mother in the strangest way…the fact that she was there one moment then gone the next. Life was fleeting and could be snuffed out within the snap of a finger.