"Luca, you don't have to do this. Please, let me go," I beg, rubbing my hands together. The climate seemed colder than usual, seeping through my clothes and biting at my skin.

Luca doesn't respond to me as he ties me to a wall, staring at anything else but my face.

"Luca, you're so much better than this. You'll find someone-,"

"Don't fucking kid yourself. Not everything is about you," he spits, his harsh words pricking me harder than the cold air.

"Consider yourself fishbait, babe. Gray is the one that needs to pay for ruining the gang," Sabrina smirks, leaning against the wall and admiring her fingernails.

A message pops up on Luca's phone, and he points at me while looking at Sabrina. "Keep an eye on her. He's almost here."

"Make sure you end him this time. If you don't, I fucking will," Sabrina calls after Luca's disappearing back.

They were talking about Gray again. He was putting himself in danger once again just to save me. My eyes search the area for something I could use to help me escape. Sabrina raises her gun to my head, playing with the trigger.

"Don't you try to play games with me, Princess, " She kisses her teeth, shaking her head mockingly.

"Aren't you going too far? You could go to jail for kidnapping me, doesn't that scare you?" I try my hardest to glare.

Sabrina gives me a blank stare. "I've been to jail more than five times, so no, it doesn't scare me."

Five times? Aren't jail times supposed to take years to complete? How does one go five times?

"That's impossible. You're lying."

"The first time I went to juvie, I was nine years old. I was an orphan who got sexually assaulted by a senator who came to contribute to our orphanage." She says the word contribute with spite.

"When I reported him, I was charged with defamation, and the orphanage authorities thought I needed to go to Juvie because I was showing signs of rebellion." She makes air quotes around the word rebellion, a faraway look in her eyes before she laughs bitterly.

"After that, my life was a bust. The Cagers took me in when I was fifteen, and they saved my life. Gray has absolutely no right to discard the gang however he wants," She snaps, baring her teeth at me.

"I'm sorry you had to go through that, but Gray has no obligation to the gang."

"And he does to you?" she says nastily.

We are interrupted when someone throws an object at Sabrina's hand, knocking the gun away from her. She snaps her head back to the source of the stone and comes face to face with Aaron.

Relieved, I sigh and close my eyes, raising my head heavenward. I wrestle with the ropes around me while Aaron had his eyes trained on Sabrina.

Sabrina glances at the gun, contemplating whether to reach for it. The gun was far away, and going after it would be a risk. She turns her head back to Aaron, her eyes shooting daggers at him.

"What are you going to do? Hit a girl?" She chuckles nervously, folding her hands into a fist.

Aaron sticks his hand out, his palms facing downward. "I'm gay, so it's fine."

He doesn't waste a second before allowing his fist to ruin Sabrina's face. She is taken aback as Aaron keeps throwing punches her way. Sabrina retorts by poking Aaron in his eyes with her fingers and pulling at his hair. They have a go at wrestling each other while I remained tied- feeling helpless and useless.

Eventually, Aaron wins the fight when he lands a punch right in the middle of Sabrina's face, rendering her unconscious. He runs over to me and helps me to loosen the rope.

"Are you okay?" he asks, trailing over my body with his eyes.

Tears form in my eyes at his bruised face, and I almost burst out crying. "I should be asking you that question."

Aaron smiles and pats my hair softly. "Let's get you home."

He pulls me up from the ground and begins to drag me outside through the backdoor. I stop him. "What about Gray?"

Aaron stares at the ground, refusing to meet my eyes. "He'll meet us outside."

I snatch my hands away from his grip. "I'm not leaving without Gray."

"Dove," Aaron groans. "He asked me to get you out safely."

"I'm not leaving without Gray."

~~~~~~~~~~

Gray Stone.

I loathed him before I even met him.

Growing up, I deluded myself with the idea that my father was the leader of the Cager. It wasn't until four years ago I realized he was nothing but a mask for the actual owner- Logan Stone.

After Logan Stone's disappearance, my father refused to take over the Cagers, lecturing about the rules of the Cagers and loyalty. As far as I was concerned, he had every right to rule the Cagers. He had carried the Cagers on his head for years, putting his family in danger and receiving any backlash, while Logan Stone enjoyed a nice life.

If I knew that my dad wasn't the owner of the Cagers, I wouldn't have put my all into the team. I had sacrificed a lot for the team, thinking I had to be strong enough to inherit the business.

I made my first kill at the age of thirteen. I remember being so scared that I couldn't sleep in my room alone, sacred the ghost of the man I hurt would come and hunt me. I lost a lot of weight and pulled away from people. When my father figured out what was happening to me, he locked me up in a dark room for three days.

As I matured, I got to know most of the gang members and worked hard to be approved by my father. Yet, he always saw me as a child.

But the moment Gray comes along, my father couldn't stop gushing about how much of a great leader he would be. He was a lot softer with Gray and left me alone for most nights when he stayed months in America.

After the divorce, I had chosen to stay with my dad, ignoring my mom's pleas to go with her. My mum became a distant memory soon after. She avoided my calls and prevented me from seeing my sister as much as she could. She calls my dad a monster while acknowledging the fact that I remained her a lot of him.

Friends were also a necessity I couldn't afford. They could be used against you and posed a weakness to your business. So I was alone most of the time. No one was ever there, and I didn't think I needed anyone. I was content.

Deep down, I hoped my father would change his mind and give me a chance to run the Cagers. But everything changed when Logan Stone returned. While everyone thought he died, it turns out that he was captured by a rival group. He escaped a few months after his capture and came over to Italy for refuge.

After getting detailed information on the situation- about how the Stone's thought he was dead- from my father, Logan being the psychopath that he was, decided to go along with the plan. He had said his death would help Gray's leadership skills develop greatly.

And that's when it hit me. I would never get to inherit the cagers. It was all I lived for, and the realization that it was going to some guy who barely put in half the effort I did was sickening.

If only he didn't exist, the Cagers would be mine. Those were the words stuck in my head for the past four years, and early this year, I finally got the chance to put my plans into action when my father asked me to move to America and enroll in Gray's school. I had it all planned out. I did my research on all his friends, family, and ex-girlfriend. I enlisted the help of Sabrina- one of the coldest-hearted members of the cagers. She was expensive but worth it.

Then I met Dove Kelch. She was different.

She was the first. The first thing besides the Cagers that made me look forward to the next day.

She was kind to me. She made me laugh for the first time in a really long time. She was mean and sarcastic, but in her weird little way, she cared. I looked forward to spending time with her even when I'm with her.

At some point, I had thought if I had her by my side, I wouldn't care so much about the Cagers. I wanted to spend every dying minute of the day with her, and the Cagers started to feel like a distraction.

I romanticized the idea of being with her to the point where her rejection felt like a betrayal. I didn't know what it was about her, but I knew how she made me feel. And I wanted her to feel that way too. And she did, but sadly, not about me.

It was him again.

She chose him. No. I doubt it was much of a decision because I was never an option. I was just a rebound. She only used me to pass the time and make him jealous. But what I loathed the most was how I never hated her for hurting my feelings. Instead, I blamed myself for not being enough for her, which fueled my hatred for Gray.

Gray continued to cast the Cagers aside, indifferent towards the people who had sacrificed their entire lives for the gang. He was supposed to be the leader, but he kept tearing the gang apart. Nevertheless, I wasn't complaining because his attitude helped me gain more allies.

I tried to pull Dove away from Gray many times. I tried to show her Gray at his worse when he took a man's life. I sent her threatening messages. I went after her friends and exposed their secrets. But she was, as they say, blinded by love.

My anger knew no bounds as I decided to end Gray once and for all, luring him in with the one thing I knew had him hooked.

But as I stand here with my gun in hand, watching Dove shed tears as she begged to spare Gray's life, my armor comes breaking down.

She looked broken and in pain. I knew I had put her through so much, emotionally and physically. In my attempt to hurt Gray, I had broken her. Every time I saw her his way, I wanted to stop, yet I couldn't. I was in too deep.

Her eyes are blurry and filled with emotion. I could tell just how much she would be affected if my bullet pierced through Gray. As much as I wanted to end his life, I just couldn't do that to her. I couldn't.

Letting out a shallow breath, I unload my gun and allow the bullets to fall to the ground. Gray must have thought I was about to shoot because he spun himself around, shielding Dove away from me.

I wanted to be that for her. I wanted to be her shield and protect her. Emotions are such a scary thing because they are the one thing on earth you can't control.

I had deluded myself into thinking I was over her, but I wasn't. I still wanted her. But more than that, I wanted her to be happy. Because I know how it feels to not be.

And I knew she wouldn't be happy without him.

Slow, shallow breaths come from behind me, and I turn my head to find out the location of the sounds. My eyes scan the area, and I don't see anyone behind me.

Then I hear the loading of a gun. My eyes snap to the ground. Sabrina is crawling on the floor, blood spilling from her lips as she gritted her teeth. She raises her gun weakly in the direction of Gray.

I sharply return my gaze to Gray, watching in horror as Dove pushes him away from her. I knew what she was doing- what one would do for anyone they loved.

Never in my life did I ever think I would take a bullet for someone else. I thought it was the most stupid thing to do.

But that was what exactly happened. At that moment, I didn't think.

I couldn't think.

I move at the same time Dove does to stand directly in front of her, blocking her from Sabrina's shots.

Then it his me. The piercing of the first bullet through my spine blurs my sight, draining blood away from my head.

The second one hits, and it doesn't hurt as much as the first one.

By the time the third bullet hits, I barely feel it as my body goes numb. Blood splutters out of my mouth and unto Dove's pretty- but tear-stained face. I reach up to wipe my blood from her face, but my hands fail me as my body slumps to the ground.

Dove's face and yells of my name are the last things I hear before my eyes close, plummeting me into darkness.

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