Free Arabella by Nicole Sobon

The Unraveling
    T he rain beat down upon me as I stood on the edge of the building, peering down over the city below me. It was your choice that led to this, Arabella, remember that . My father’s words replayed in my thoughts, a nagging reminder of the mistakes that I’d made.
    But that was the funny thing about choices, we never could really be sure of their outcomes until it was already too late. And it was beyond too late.
    Gwen was gone, and nothing would change that.
    “I thought I would find you up here,” Cole’s voice sounded from behind me as he made his way through the roof entrance.
    “What do you want, Cole?” I leapt down off of the edge and turned to face him, forcing myself to rein in my annoyance.
    “Your father sent me to check on you.”
    “Of course,” I muttered. “Well, I’m fine. You’re more than welcome to leave now.”
    “Bullshit,” he said. “I know you better than that, Bell.”
    “Can we just drop this, please? I’m not in the mood.”
    I lowered myself onto the ground and leaned back against the rough edge of the building, running my fingers through the loose gravel that surrounded me. The only thing that I wanted was to drown out the regret that had dug its way inside of my veins.
    I’d fucked up. There was no way around that.
    I made the wrong choice, and Gwen had paid the price for it.
    “I’m not going to allow you to wallow in misery by yourself, love. Sorry, but it doesn’t work that way.” He took a seat next to me, careful to maintain some distance between us.
    “Do you know what your biggest problem is?” he asked.
    “Other than you? No, please enlighten me.”
    “Your biggest problem is that you feel as though you need to protect everyone. You’re so eager to go out there and save the world, to hurt yourself in order to ensure the safety of others, and it’s like you forget that you’re still human underneath it all.”
    Cole leaned over and gently grabbed a hold of my chin, forcing me to look up at him. “You can’t allow this thing to consume you. It’s not all that you are, Bell. It’s only a part of who you are, you need to remember that.”
    “Easier said than done.”
    “Do you think that you’re the only one of us to make a mistake that ended up costing them someone they loved? We’ve all screwed up at some point. The only thing you can do is force yourself to keep going, and to remind yourself that mistakes are a part of life.”

Project X
    F our months later...
    “This is your idea of mission uniform?” Cole asked, eyeing my burgundy leather ensemble.
    I arched a brow at him as I shoved my cell phone inside of my back pant pocket. “What? Do you have a problem with it?”
    “Well, last I checked, we were supposed to get in and take care of the mission without drawing any attention to ourselves.”
    “And we will,” I assured him. “Just remember to keep your eyes on the target as opposed to on me, and we’ll be fine.”
    A smirk tugged at his lips. “Sometimes I feel as though you aim to drive me nuts.”
    “Only sometimes?”
    The sound of heels slapping against the tile floor forced us to look up as Mara entered the room, her clipboard pressed tightly against her chest, almost as though she feared she would lose it if she loosened her grip any.
    Mara was a petite older woman with dark skin, gray hair, honey brown eyes and a smile that could lure just about anyone in. She was a sweet lady, assuming you did what she asked of you.
    Her top priority had always been her loyalty to my father, which was why, when she entered the room, she made sure to command the attention of every person within the room.
    “Arabella, Cole,” she said, placing her clipboard down on the table in front of her. “I presume that you have been informed as to what tonight’s mission entails?” I tried to ignore the stern glance she shot my way as she spoke.
    “We’re to retrieve the hard-drive without harming any civilians,” Cole answered. “Same