Chapter 432 - GAME

"Bloody… hell." Zoey gasped, her eyes skimming the entire place that one would believe to be more of a base camp. Slowly, she turned her head to the man standing to her side.

As soon as her eyes landed on him, Matthew was already looking at her. Slowly, his arm raised and his palm rested on her chin to close her gaping mouth. "Welcome to Dredd's House." The corner of his lips tilted up into a proud smirk.

Slowly, Matthew turned his head ahead where his men were busy doing their training. "What the…" Her voice, which was full of disbelief, reached his ears, causing him to nod his head as he had already expected this type of reaction from her.

Currently, some of his men were doing target shooting; there were three men competing, which seemed to be a test of their marksmanship. Matthew crossed his arms, watching them hit the bullseye without batting an eye.

"They're my best men who have impeccable marksmanship." Since she was staying silent, processing this discovery that she didn't expect at all, Matthew decided to brief her slowly. "It seemed they had another argument about who was the best. Although, it's such a waste of time since I can no longer count how many times they've competed against each other." He shrugged, seeing that one man shot in the same hole where the first man had shot.

Shortly, another man came up and shot at the same paper target. This time, the bullet didn't go through the same hole. But rather, it went a few millimeters above. "Show off." Matthew commented, chuckling as his eyes glanced at the other targets they had used that were still hanging.

There, all targets had two holes; one on the bull's eye and the other, a few millimeters above it. Matthew could guess that what happened to the other targets was exactly what they had witnessed just now.

"What do you think?" He asked, slowly turning his head towards her. However, instead of shock, Zoey's eyes were now twinkling, which he had expected… but not too soon. 'It seems she is fine.' He heaved a sigh of relief secretly, sensing the high energy emanating from her.

"Wow…" Zoey, who was sidetracked from her initial shock, awed. At first, she thought that the last person had a bad aim. But, after seeing the other targets, she was wrong. "They're so good…" She muttered, forgetting the fact that these were Matthew's men whom she didn't have a chance to meet in their previous life and neither did he ever mention them.

"I want to watch up close…" Suddenly, Zoey turned to Matthew, her eyes blinding with a glitter as she clasped her hands together. She looked at him, without saying anything, but her expression was enough for him to read what she wanted.

"Will you behave?" Cool and composed as always, Matthew arched his right brow. Without further ado, Zoey nodded her head profusely.

"You won't cause trouble?" Once again, Matthew inquired, and Zoey didn't waste a second as she nodded her head excitedly.

For a moment, Matthew remained silent as his eyes studied her excited front. Slowly, the side of his lips curled into a smirk as he thought of something. "Do you like me?" He asked, and again, Zoey nodded even before she could process his words.

"Good girl." Matthew nodded his head, pleased to receive the response he wanted to hear. 

"Ah?!" Zoey finally snapped, blinking her eyes as she realized how he tricked her. "Hey! That's cheati…!" Before she could berate him, Matthew grabbed her wrist and dragged her towards the people gathered there.

"Young Master," As they headed towards the field, some people stopped training as they punctually bowed their heads. As usual, Matthew didn't bother with them. Thus, he didn't care even if their eyes were on the lady their boss was with.

The puzzlement in their eyes was evident as Zoey caught a glimpse of it. "Uh…" Zoey clicked her tongue, jogging her steps so she could keep up with his pace.

When they were close to the target shooting, the three men, who they were watching earlier, turned to them. "Master!!" The man, who had been shooting millimeters away from the bull's eye, greeted with a high energy at the presence of Matthew.

"Master," The second man, who was shooting at the hole in the bullseye, greeted sternly, simultaneously bowing his head as he put his muzzle down. 

"Boss! Did you see how these copycats tried to steal the bullseye?" And then, the first guy who had been shooting the bullseye, boasted proudly.

"Mhmm," As usual, what they received from him was a low hum. Just then, the three noticed the lady standing behind him.

Upon laying their eyes on her, their brows knitted in bafflement. There, Zoey was staring at them with sparkling eyes — it was as if the girl was meeting her idols up close. "Uhh… boss?" The guy who boasted as a greeting turned his head towards Matthew, bearing a questioning eye as if silently asking who she was.

"Do you have another round?" Before Matthew could open his mouth — if ever he felt the need to disclose Zoey's relationship with him — Zoey already perked up as she inquired.

"Uhm…" The man who was brimming with the highest energy before couldn't help but let his brows twitch. Her eyes blinked many times, expectant for a positive answer. "Actually, that was our last round." For some reason, he felt sorry for relaying this message as her excited eyes immediately dimmed.

"Aw…" Zoey frowned, her shoulders lowered as she cast her blaming eyes towards Matthew. 'It was his fault. He shouldn't have driven for two hours just to ride a chopper and go back to the city where this place was hidden.' She dissed internally, pushing the blame to him for missing the whole friendly competition.

"Do another round." Matthew just glanced at her gloomy front and then raised his head and ordered.

"Ah?" The three knitted their brows, tilting their head to the side in bafflement. One would understand their puzzlement at this order, as Matthew often told them it was a waste of time. Still, not that he ever stopped them.

"Errr… okay?" Although confused, the man who was boasting didn't ask why. He just agreed while scratching the back of his head.

"Really?!" Zoey, who was brought back to life clasped her hands together. When Matthew nodded his head, her eyes lit up. "Can they do it with blindfolds?!" She asked, her sparkling eyes scanned the three before she turned to Matthew, hopeful for a positive answer.

"Can you?" Instead of answering for them, Matthew glanced at the three and asked.

"Err, yes."

"I don't mind. Not that it will make any difference."

"Yes, young master."

"Great!" Upon hearing their answer, Zoey's already excited eyes blazed. "Then, let you three be the targets!" Out of nowhere, Zoey proposed, which caused the three and Matthew to knit their brows as they looked at her in confusion.

"You guys are competing, but no one has won yet.. So, how about, instead of having one target, you will be the target!" Zoey proposed excitedly, recalling the game she had played before in the Silva Family in the past.