Chapter 347
Chapter 347
The moment his words fell, he felt her entire arm go stiff.
He looked up, his dark gaze locking onto hers with a hint of something almost obsessive. Then he smiled.
“Scared p>
She was caught off guard by his smile.
She had never seen him smile like that before.
There was warmth in it. Indulgence. And something deeper, more complicated, held tightly beneath the surface.
Maybe that wasn’t entirely true. Maybe there had been moments like this before, but they had passed too quickly for her to hold on to, leaving her to think she had imagined them.
But never like this.
Never so unguarded, as if he had stopped holding himself back.
And yet, beneath it, she saw something else in his eyes.
Something close to madness.
Something that wanted to pull her in and never let her go.
She remembered that day at Westbury, when he had fired at her. She yanked her hand free.
“I only get one shot. If I miss, it’s over. I’m not like you. I don’t have that kind of aim. You managed to knock the gun out of my hand even in that situation p>
Her voice was sharp with sarcasm, and her eyes held a trace of mockery.
But beneath it, there was something she couldn’t hide.
She was hurt.
Chris’s expression tightened. He caught her hand again, checking the wrist guard. His fingertips were cool against
her skin.
“I thought what bothered you was that my aim wasn’t good enough? That I didn’t just kill you back then p>
He remembered every word she had thrown at him.
Winter turned her head and looked at the target twenty-five meters away. A dull ache spread through her chest.
“If you’d been a second late that day and I’d shot Skyla, would you have shot me p>
He picked up a gun from the table, took her hand, and placed it firmly around the grip.
“No,” he said, calm and certain.
She frowned.
He guided her hand, aiming at the target.
His voice was low against her ear.
“You and her aren’t the same. There’s no need to compare p>
1.3
147
+25 Bonus
Bang.
The shot rang out.
In the echo, she struggled to process what he had just said.
Not the same.
By now, she understood what he meant. She understood the weight of his answer. The meaning behind everything he had done.
But what did it change?
Back then, he had still protected Skyla.
She knew Skyla had once saved his life. That connection would always be there.
Which meant she could never touch her.
A sharp wave of emotion rose up inside her, like being dragged under deep water. It closed in around her, suffocating.
She forced it down, swallowing back the tears that threatened to surface.
Slowly, she steadied herself.
She took a breath, tightened her grip on the gun, then turned to him.
“If I win, I get a reward. That still stands, right p>
He felt the shift in her mood. His throat moved slightly, his expression unreadable.
“It has to be reasonable,” he corrected.
She didn’t argue. She just nodded.
He was a marksman at the highest level.
She had only learned halfway through, trained by Roy.
There was no way she could beat him under normal conditions.
But he was right.
If she didn’t try, she would never know.
And she had no way off this island anyway.
She might as well take the chance.
Still, she needed to bargain for something.
She was about to speak when he picked up another gun, loaded it, and fired.
Bang.
After confirming it was functioning properly, he set it down and pulled a tie from his pocket.
Winter glanced at it.
2/3
+25 Bonus
Then, almost without thinking, she reached up and touched the low ponytail at the back of her head, tied with his
tie.
COIN BUNDLE: get more free bonus
Comments
E
Support
Share
GET IT
3/3
+25 Bonus
Florence
A passionate storyteller who brings emotions to life through her words. When she’s not writing, she finds peace nurturing her garden.