A V E R Y

'Jesus,' I moaned when my eyes finally cracked open. 'All I wanted was some fucking pizza but apparently I can't even do that nowadays without getting kidnapped.'

I opened my eyes further and blinked at the harsh lighting of the room. My hands and feet were tied to the back of a chair, and the room smelled like dead rodents.

'Hello?' I called out, slipping the knife from the inside of my sleeve out and slowly sawing through the cable ties. What kind of kidnappers didn't bother to remove weapons from the person they'd taken? They were practically asking for me to escape. 'Your hostage is awake and ready to talk!'

A door directly opposite me was wrenched open and six guys, all muscled and probably armed to the teeth, came in. Masks covered their faces, but I was pretty sure they were glaring, especially since I winked and grinned at them.

'You will not speak unless spoken to. Keep your mouth shut and we'll go easy on your pretty little face.' The leader spoke, brown eyes angry and promising violence.

'You think I'm pretty?' I said sweetly, 'Oh, that's so sweet. Also, did you guys bring the pizza with you? I mean, it's fine if you didn't, but that was my lunch and I really wanted it, so...'

One of the guys reached forward and smacked me hard across the face, my cheek stinging. I was pretty sure there was a cut on the inside of my mouth, but I forced myself to smile instead of leaping at them.

'What would you like to know?' I asked sweetly, shaking my head in an attempt to move the hair out of my face.

Smack. Another slap sent my head twisting painfully to the side. This time, when I turned back to them, I spat blood onto the one who'd slapped me. He reared back in disgust and I grinned, even as the leader motioned for another one of his goons to grip my chin, hard, forcing me to look directly at him.

He pulled out a slim knife and traced it delicately across my cheek. I went still. Today was a good day and I would not let this fucktard ruin it by slashing my face open, no thank you.

'There's a good girl,' he murmured, 'You're so much more tolerable when you're silent.'

'Ooh, I'm so fucking scared.' I muttered sarcastically, rolling my eyes.

To hell with it. I spat on his face-

And was met with a teeth-rattling punch to the stomach. The air rushed out of me and I gasped in pain as heat bloomed where he had struck.

At times like this, I really regretted opening my mouth.

When I opened my eyes again, I notice something off about one of the guys. He looked... strange. As if hated being there.

And when he moved closer, letting the lights shine directly onto him and illuminating his eyes, I realised why.

They were ice-blue today, and held rage and hurt within them at my expense.

Mason.

Somehow, even when I tried my best to avoid him, he came back into my life and I was stuck wondering why the hell I had ever left him in the first place.

And now he'd come to rescue me.

Well. It was nice of him, and all, but I had it covered.

The guys turned away to discuss something and I looked at Mason in the eye and mouthed, I've got this.

He seemed to get it, as his posture relaxed and he too turned to pretend that he was part of the interrogation team.

I sawed off the cable ties but kept my hands behind me, letting my hands drop as low as they could whilst lifting my feet so that I could saw the ties around my ankles too.

Within half a minute, I was done, and I let the knife tuck into the back of my jeans, where there was a slot for these kind of situations.

'Hey guys?' I called, flicking out the twin knives I favoured, 'Could you come here for a sec?"

They glanced at each other warily, but the leader came forward and leaned down so that he was at my level.

'What do you want, bitch?' he snarled.

I cleared my throat delicately, parking the knives more comfortably. 'Well, you see, I really don't appreciate you calling me that, you know? And I also wanted you to know that you're a terrible fucking kidnapper.'

The guy growled a little and I leaned forward to whisper in his ear before he could strike out again, my breath caressing his ear gently.

'Yo siempre gano, cariño.'

And as my knives came out to say hello, all hell broke loose.

***

I had to say, when faced with an audience and a means to escape, my flair for the dramatics popped up quite quickly.

So when I spoke in Spanish, that was merely me putting my knowledge of languages and general boredom together and pretending to be in an action movie.

The leader narrowed his eyes when I'd spoken to him, and I didn't hesitate to bring my hands forward and fling the knives into the air, slashing the throats of the two men standing on the sidelines. They clutched at their necks as crimson liquid bubbled out and dripped onto the floor.

By the time the remaining three guys turned to me, the shock passing, I had already shot one in the shoulder, one in the leg and punched the leader solidly in the jaw.

He stumbled back, clutching his cheek, and I held the gun up to his head.

'Bitch,' he growled, swiping at me with a clenched fist. I dodged and moved behind him to shove him onto the floor, twisting until I heard a crack, my knee barking in pain as it twisted awkwardly. He turned his face up, the mask having shifted, and I saw his mouth curl up in a sneer.

'Bad word,' I purred, shoving the knives into the back of my jeans. 'Who do you work for? Who sent you?'

Mason was stood still on the other side of the room, leaning against the wall with his hands in his pockets.

'I won't tell you. You'd be better off killing me.' The leader spat out, his face going red. 'I especially don't talk to whores like you.'

Mason snarled from the other side of the room but neither of us paid him any attention.

Frowning down at the guy, I shrugged. 'You think that's going to hurt my feelings, or something? Honey, I've been called way worse - you're a little late to the party. Now, I'm pretty sure I broke a section of your spine, and depending on your willingness to talk, and my mood, you might leave today not being able to walk again. So what do you say, huh? Willing to cooperate?'

'Fuck you!' he roared, writhing beneath my foot.

I hauled him up into the air then slammed his ass down onto the vacated chair as he howled in pain.

'I'll ask you once more, in case you didn't hear me the first time I said it. Are you going to talk or not?'

I was seriously losing my patience here, and the poor man wasn't exactly making it easier on himself.

When he began to chuckle, I kept a calm demeanour whilst my blood froze over.

'You think I don't know who you are?' he leered, 'I do. I know your family very well too. How are your sisters these days? I might go visit them, see if they turned out as much of a whore as you-'

He was cut off by a fist colliding with his cheekbone hard enough to make me wince.

Except it wasn't me who threw the punch.

It was Mason.

He stood next to me, breathing deeply as his chest rose and fell fast. Anger radiated from him, but all I could think about was how good he looked in black.

Damn my treacherous mind.

The man watched us with a creepy smile and spat blood out onto the floor, a tooth flying with it and landing beside us.

'Now that I think about it, that sister of yours with the dark hair looks like she could enjoy a good time. Maybe I'll-'

This time it was me who pulled the gun out of the holster and shot him clean through the forehead. Blood splattered out onto the walls behind us and a little went on me.

I didn't even flinch.

The man's head lolled back, his body going limp. I wiped some of the blood off of my shirt, frowning at the fact that I'd have to wash it, and walked out of the room.

***

M A S O N

She was death incarnate, an angel of violence.

The way she moved, how she killed all those men in less than ten seconds... I had nothing but respect and awe for her.

So when she shot the bastard in the head, I was glad of it. He wouldn't hurt her or any of her sisters if he was dead.

I didn't even feel bad for the guy.

Hell, if Avery hadn't shot him, I would've done it eventually.

I called some of my trusted men to come and dispose of the bodies and followed Avery out of the room. I found her sitting on a bench outside the building, sucking in deep breaths, her body shaking slightly.

Sitting down beside her, I pulled her into my arms and stroked her back gently.

'He knew about my sisters, Mason. I tried so hard to make sure they wouldn't come up if they did a background check on me, for their safety, and he knew.' she gasped out. It broke my heart to see her like this, scared and upset.

'It's okay, love. He can't hurt them.' I whispered. Then damning our agreement to hell, I held her close and pressed my lips to her head.

Avery stiffened for a second before melting back into me. I nudged her chin up after a few minutes and grinned at her annoyed expression at having been moved from a comfy position.

I would've let her lean on me all day if she needed it, I realised, as I looked at her sparkling eyes and dangerously tempting mouth.

Would've done anything if she asked me to, relationship or not.

You're damning yourself. You can't be together, and she clearly knows it, so why are you still torturing yourself by doing this?

Because I couldn't stay away.

'What do you want?' she grumbled halfheartedly, a small smile playing on the edge of her lips.

Man, I wanted to kiss her so badly.

'You want to go get pizza, love? We can talk over food.'

She stood, tugging my hand until I did too. 'You certainly know the way to a girl's heart, Woods.'

'What can I say? Something tells me you need it after what just happened.'

Avery's smile dimmed a fraction, but she looped her arm through mine and began walking at an easy pace. She was quieter than usual, but I was hoping food and company brought out her wild side again.

'Lead the way.'

***

An early Eid special for those who are celebrating it! Eid Mubarak guys <3

What did you think of the chapter? And what do you think will happen to Mason and Avery's relationship?

Vote and comment!

-M