Shackle.exe: Episode 4

Without money or power, life's just a gamble between bad and worse.

Ashton Westworth learned the hard way. Selling herself to escape poverty should've been a sure thing. But now Alpha demands everything she has to give in mind, body, and soul, and he won't stop until she's broken beyond repair. When faced with destitution or destruction, there's no way to win.

Eight months ago, Sybil Pratte lost everything on the wrong con and landed right in Alpha's pocket. Now he's got one hand on her throat and the other snapping orders. The job is simple-spy on Ash and report back-but the calculating grifter has never bet it all on black and she's not about to start now. Too bad playing every angle isn't the same as playing the percentages. After all, who ever went up against Alpha and came out unscathed?

It's a problem party boy Sid Marrero is just starting to understand. Whether he's slinging drinks or bullets, nothing changes; he's still just a pawn in the mogul's game. Picking up a gun is easy enough. Putting it down, not so much. Looks like rolling the dice on his future came up snake eyes. Alpha has Sid right where he wants him, a shiny new ace up his designer sleeve, and he's pointing his pet hitman toward Academy Park.

While the last of Ash's sanity frays over the impossible choice, Sybil is waiting to make a move. They need time and money, luxuries to their underprivileged hands, but the clock is ticking and the game is deadlier than ever. At what point is it too late to cash in their chips and run?