Temporary Alliance

Chapter 27 : Bittersweet

Cadence's face remained perfectly impassive through my outburst, there wasn't even a flash of guilt in her eyes as she met my furious gaze.

She yanked all the trust I had in her from my heart and crushed the delicate feelings in the palm of her hands with a smile on her face. It hurt more than any bruises or cuts I've received. Just like that, the trust I had gathered from all those years of friendships slowly disappeared from my consciousness.

Efren burst out laughing, but I simply ignored him while I fiercely glared into Cadence eyes. I still couldn't wrap my head around the fact that she was standing alive right in front of me, but even more so, I never thought that she would be the one who would betray me.

"Where's the USB, Simmons?" Efren demanded, but I didn't give any indication to him that I was listening.

When he realized I wasn't paying attention to him, he immediately slapped me and pinched my chin between his forefinger and thumb to force me to look at him. "Look at me when I'm talking to you. If you don't have it, it's still not too late for me to call my men to put a bullet through your parents' skulls."

I copied the emotionless mask that Cadence held tightly over her face and looked at Efren. "You're wrong. You are too late."

My mask fell for a second and I let out a dark chuckle.

"Why are you laughing?" Efren narrowed his eyes at me.

"You won't get past Alexander."

Efren's face started to become red due to fury. "Search her." He took a few steps back as Cadence walked towards me until she was right in front of me.

Physically, she looked mostly the same as she had a few months ago. However, one thing that drastically changed was that Cadence's blue eyes were now flat and empty, like a piece of her died long ago. Cadence commenced patting me down to search for the USB and when she reached my combat boots, she slipped a finger in the edges of each boot to check if I was hiding the USB there, but she didn't find anything so she straightened up.

Efren saw that Cadence was unable to find the USB so he stomped over towards me and landed a solid blow to my stomach, the impact forcing me to slouch forward a little bit. "If you had brought the USB per our agreement, I could have saved you the torture with a simple bullet through your skull, but you didn't bring it." He screamed closely at my face as he slapped me twice. "Unbelievable." Efren narrowed his eyes at me.

"We could use her as a bargain, Efren." Cadence spoke up. "What you can achieve with the USB is far more important than some petty revenge. You can always kill her later."

Her words ripped me apart and I couldn't look at her anymore. Betrayal, what a bitter pill to swallow.

"Get out." Efren sneered and Cadence obediently did as she was told without another word or look towards me.

"Maybe Cadence is right. Though your death is important, what I can achieve with the USB is of greater importance. Anyways, with the USB I can always kill you later." Efren taunted me as Cadence disappeared from sight. "Curious what's on it, Vita?"

I stared at him with a bored expression on my face, making it seem like I wasn't paying attention but in reality, I couldn't help the pique of interest that formed. I wasn't able to open the USB so I was curious of the importance of what it contained because so many people died protecting or trying to retrieve it.

"It is something that will bring down everyone that wronged my brother and I. Remember that." He had a sinister smile on his face as he beckoned one of his men standing near the door to come closer.