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CHAPTER 26
publish date:
2026-03-14 01:48:43
Latest chapter
THE THIRTY-DAY GAMBLE 42
"Is that a velvet blazer, Benjamin?"Nathaniel stood by the locker room entrance, his jaw hanging low enough to hit the linoleum. I didn't look at him. I adjusted the silk tie in the mirror—a deep, bruised purple that cost more than my father’s funeral."It’s Zegna." I smoothed the fabric over my shoulders. The weight of Jonathan’s black titanium card felt heavy in my pocket. Like a loaded gun. "Get used to it, Nate. The scholarship kid is dead. I’m the one signing your meal vouchers now.""You’re wearing three grand to a basketball practice?" Nathaniel stepped closer, his eyes darting to the floor. "Hayes is going to kill you. He doesn't like people touching his toys.""Jonathan isn't going to do anything." I grabbed my gym bag. I stepped past him, my shoulder checking his chest hard enough to make him stumble. "In fact, he’s waiting for me. On the sidelines. Like a good little dog.""You’re lying.""Watch me."The gym was loud. Squeaking sneakers. Thudding balls. The 'Wolves' were a
THE THIRTY-DAY GAMBLE 41
"Am I winning yet, Benjamin?"Jonathan’s voice was a sandpaper rasp. He didn't open his eyes. The steady, rhythmic beep-beep-beep of the heart monitor was the only thing keeping the silence from swallowing the room. He lay propped up against the starch-white pillows of the Hayes Private Clinic, looking like a discarded doll. His skin was the color of a gutter in winter."You're alive." I sat in the hard plastic chair, my fingers digging into the leather of the stolen ledger. My neck was stiff. My eyes burned. "That's not winning. That's just not losing. There's a difference.""Is there?" He finally cracked an eye. The pupil was still blown out from the Loyalty. A black hole in a sea of red-rimmed white. "You stayed. I woke up, and the first thing I smelled was your cheap laundry detergent and the blood on your shirt. That feels like a victory to me.""I stayed to watch the light go out." I stood up. I walked to the edge of the bed. The smell of antiseptic was so thick I could taste it
THE THIRTY-DAY GAMBLE 40
"Wake up, you bastard! Wake up!"I slapped him. Hard. His head snapped to the side, but his eyes stayed rolled back, showing only the whites. A thin line of pink foam bubbled at the corner of his mouth."Is he dead?" Nathaniel’s voice was a jagged glass crawl from the dirt. He was clutching his stomach, his face a purple mess of swelling and leaked blood. "Tell me he's dead, Benji. We can leave. We can just go.""Shut up, Nate." I didn't look at him. I pressed my ear to Jonathan’s chest.Thud. Pause. Thud-thud. Skip.His heart was an engine failing in the cold. The double dose of Loyalty was a death sentence."We have to call the cops," Nathaniel rasped. He started to crawl toward his phone, which lay cracked on the concrete. "They’ll come. They’ll see he’s the one who brought the drugs. They'll see—""They’ll see everything, Nathaniel." I stood up. My legs felt like they were made of water, but my head was a block of dry ice. "They’ll see the stalker software on his phone. They’ll se
THE THIRTY-DAY GAMBLE 39
"One is a sugar pill. The other is a hit of Loyalty so pure your heart will pop like a balloon."Nathaniel's fingers trembled as he set the two identical white discs on the scarred wooden table. The warehouse floor was cold. Silent. The 'Wolves' stood in a semi-circle of shadows, their breath visible in the damp air."You’re insane, Nate." My voice didn't shake. I kept my hands in my pockets, gripping the micro-SD card until the plastic edges bit into my palm. "This isn't a game. It's a suicide note.""It’s a trial." Nathaniel looked at Jonathan. "You say you own him, Hayes? You say you're the one who saved him from the gutter? Prove it. Prove you're willing to go into the ground so he doesn't have to."Jonathan didn't look at the pills. He didn't look at Nathaniel. He looked at me. His eyes were dark. Bottomless. The red dot from the sniper outside had vanished, replaced by the flickering yellow light of the warehouse."The stakes are simple," Nathaniel whispered. Snot ran down his l
THE THIRTY-DAY GAMBLE 38
Put the gun down, Nathaniel."Jonathan didn’t move. He leaned against the hood of his black obsidian sedan, the engine still ticking as it cooled in the damp warehouse air. A single cigarette burned between his fingers, the cherry glowing like a warning light. In his other hand, the grip of a suppressed pistol tucked into his waistband caught the overhead yellow glare. He looked bored. He looked like a man deciding which wine to pair with a funeral."You think you’re in charge here?" Nathaniel’s voice cracked. He gripped the back of my jacket, his knuckles white, shoving the barrel of a snub-nosed .38 into the soft hollow beneath my ear. "I’ve got the Wolves, Hayes. I’ve got half the varsity line behind those crates. You’re alone.""You have a pack of boys who play with balls." Jonathan took a slow drag. Exhaled a thin, grey stream. "I have the deed to the ground they’re standing on. Drop the weapon. Maybe I’ll let you keep your tongue.""He’s lying, Nate!" I shouted. I didn't pull aw
THE THIRTY-DAY GAMBLE 37
"I can’t do this anymore, Jonathan."My voice was a thin, frayed wire. I didn’t look up from my lap. I sat on the edge of his bed, my shoulders slumped, hands buried between my knees. The "Good Boy" was back. Or the ghost of him. I made sure my bottom lip trembled just enough."You can't do what?" Jonathan stood by the window, his silhouette sharp against the city lights. He didn't move. He was a statue carved from debt and cold air."Nathaniel." I let a single, jagged breath out. "He’s spiraling. He came to my room again. He said if I don't help him, he’s going after the diner. He’s going after Olivia. He’s going to burn it all down."Jonathan’s reflection in the glass didn't flinch. "What does he want, Benjamin?""He wants the warehouse. The one on 4th and Main." I finally looked at him. I made my eyes wide. Raw. "He says you’re moving the next shipment of 'Loyalty' tonight. He’s planning a raid. He’s bringing people, Jonathan. Violent people.""And why are you telling me this now?"
THE THIRTY-DAY GAMBLE CHAPTER 7
"Get the hell off my field!"Coach Miller’s voice tore through the heavy, humid air of Northwood High. He didn't look like the pampered coaches at St. Jude’s. He looked like he’d been carved out of a granite block and left in the rain.Benjamin didn't stop. He didn't even flinch. His cleats hammere
Last Updated : 2026-03-17THE THIRTY-DAY GAMBLE CHAPTER 9
"You coming or what, Parker? We’re grabbing burgers."Benjamin didn't look up from his locker. He just shoved his mud-caked cleats into a plastic bag, the smell of wet earth and stale sweat thick in the cramped Northwood locker room. "Nah. I’m good, Miller. Just gonna head home.""Suit yourself. Yo
Last Updated : 2026-03-18THE THIRTY-DAY GAMBLE CHAPTER 15
"You’re actually going in there? Ben, look at the line. It’s a literal meat market."Benjamin didn't stop. He didn't even turn his head toward the voice. He just kept his eyes on the neon-streaked glass doors of The Vault. The bass from inside thumped through the pavement, vibrating in the soles of
Last Updated : 2026-03-21THE THIRTY-DAY GAMBLE CHAPTER 12
The deadbolt gave way with a muffled click. Jonathan stepped into the apartment, the door swinging shut behind him. No one was there. The air was stale, trapped. It carried a hint of cheap laundry detergent and something else. Something sharp. Benjamin.Jonathan stood in the entryway. He didn't tur
Last Updated : 2026-03-19
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