Page 62 of Ready Or Not

The thought makes a shiver run through me, but I quickly shut it down. Emotions have never helped me in the past, and they won’t now, especially with Riley eating up all my reactions with her dead gaze.

I don’t know who Noel is, but I’m guessing he’s the guy we were supposed to kill next. And that he’s part of the reason for the pain on Riley’s face.

I pick at my fries. I forced myself to eat the nuggets, but these feel cold and soggy, and the texture makes me want to gag.

Manson is the head of all my problems. I just need Riley to let me get close enough so I can kill him.

I grit my teeth. “I know you don’t want to go to Manson ‘cause you don’t want to lose the game.”

Riley barely glances up at me. “Yep.”

I pull in a breath. “So drop me off with him. Drop me off and leave.”

“He’ll have you, which means he’ll win this round.”

I shrug. “He’ll get me eventually.”

Riley gives me a blank look that I’ve come to interpret as dangerous. “Are you saying he’s better than me?”

I feel the tension from across the table. “No, Jesus.” I run my hands down my face. “Manson’s obsessed with you. You’re obsessed with him. The reunion is inevitable.”

“I am not,” she snaps. “He’s the worst person on the planet.”

“Then why isn’t he dead?” I arch my eyebrow at her.

Riley puts her phone down on the table and stares at me. She keeps her voice low. “Manson is a part of something much bigger than himself, Rachel. I’d be dead in twenty-four hours.”

“But you’d win the game.” I cock my head at her.

She snorts. “I’m not suicidal.”

I eye her. Do I risk telling her that I want to kill him? She says she’s not loyal to him, but she seems to be in denial about a lot. Saying what I’m thinking could get me killed where I sit. But my mom and I are dead men walking anyway, and I’ve spent too long hiding. I take a deep breath. “Then let me do it.”

Riley snorts, picking up her phone.

I lean in. “Let me do it. Let me kill Manson Kennedy.”

My heart is racing. I can feel it in my chest, and my fingertips are tingling. But I mean it. I’ve never thought about killing people more than I have in the last few days, but it seems inevitable around Riley.

Finally, Riley lifts her gaze to mine. “Did you just threaten to kill my brother?”

I stare into her dead eyes. I can’t tell what she’s thinking. He’s her brother? I completely read the room wrong.

A tiny smirk settles over Riley’s face. Then she starts laughing. “You really meant that too.”

I stare at her. She doesn’t lunge over the table or threaten me; she just laughs.

I feel the heat rush over my cheeks. “He’s your brother?”

“Stepbrother.” She shakes her head, and then her face grows serious. “You sure threaten to kill people a lot, bambi.” Her eyes spark with something. “In order to do that, you’re gonna have to stop being so helpless.”

I glare at her. “I’m not helpless.”

“Sure,” she smirks.

I cross my arms. “If you can’t win, why not team up with him? He has all these resources you keep talking about, so why not use them?”

“Now you’re just talking stupid.”