Chapter 605

By the time I saw Hayston again, I was already hanging in mid-air. Below us was a massive pool, and I knew the second the rope snapped, I’d die. I could see Hayden and Jace on the ground below, held by Bruno’s men. Bruno lounged by the pool, casually stroking something, though my fear of heights had me too focused on not looking down too much.

“So, snooker girl,” Bruno called up to me, his false voice dripping with mockery, “josh low spe guys, right? And they’ve both loved you. But they both betrayed you in the end. Today, to sp you run a little test—to see who loves you more. How’s that sound?”

A test? No. He wasn’t testing anything—he just wanted to mess with us.

“I don’t need your help! Let me down!” I yelled, defiant.

Bruno ignored me and turned back to Hayden and Jace. “I’m going to lower this girl now. But, fane fac, she’ll end up in the water. And you might’ve noticed what’s swimming in there… They haven’t eaten in a week. They’re hungry.”

The way he said it made my blood run cold. I froze, but I couldn’t help it—I glanced down. And what I saw made my heart stop. The pool was full of crocodiles, not just one or two. Bruno was even petting one like it was a freaking lapdog. No wonder the place smelled like blood and decay. Even if they hadn’t been starved, if I fell in, I’d be eaten alive. Bruno’s sick game was using Hayden and Jace as distractions for these monsters.

“Sick bastard! If you’re so tough, fight me one-on-one!” Yara shouted, cursing him from where she was tied up.

Bruno might’ve been talking to me, but Yara was up there for a reason, too. He was using both of us against them.

“Sick bastard?” Bruno sneered. “Actually, you just gave me a better idea.”

He turned to Hayden, eyes gleaming with cruelty. “Up there we’ve got two women—one’s your ex, the other your new girlfriend. So which one do you love more? Want to prove it?”

“Bruno,” Hayden said, voice steady but low, “let them go. I’ll stay and feed your crocodiles.”

“Hah! So you love them both, huh?” Bruno laughed. “Not enough for me. I want to know who you love most.”

“He doesn’t want Keira anymore! Obviously, he doesn’t love her,” Jace spoke up, his voice sharp. “This whole game is pointless.”

I knew he was trying to make Bruno stop this twisted game, but his words cut deep.

Love isn’t something you just say, Bruno unwered to when we out. He was clearly out to torment Hayden. And he wasn’t just messing with him; he was messing with all of us. If Yara and I were dropped into that pool, Hayden would rush to save her, and how stu Bruno knew that. And he’d set it up so neither of them would make it out alive. It was the perfect trap. Bruno could wipe out everyone once or leave we in the only regu.

I hadn’t confirmed it, but everything pointed to Wayne being the real mastermind. Wayne was using Bruno to get rid of Hayden, destroy Jace, and crush any feeling bad at the t could take the Johnston family throne and swoop in to declare his love without ay. It was a sick, calculated move to take multiple targets down at once.

“The game’s about to begin. Ready, everyone?” Bruno grinned. Then he whistled, and the rope holding me loosened.