Page 11 of Dangerous Games of Trust

He moves to cage me in, my back shoved against the window under his solid warm body. Tilting his head to the side, he looks so fucking cocky, like he knows me better than I know myself. “What did I say to you last night?”

I stare into the depths of his eyes. “I’m strong, and this won’t beat me.” I repeat his words, not sure why he’s so obsessed with me knowing I’m strong. But the words are empowering, and he’s right. This won’t beat me. While I’m still breathing, I’m going to keep fighting.

“Stop showing me how weak you are then. I can see the fear radiating off you.”

I tilt my head up defiantly. At this point I have only a few options: to go out there alone to be murdered, lie in my bed and cry, or take back what they all stole from me. “Show me the contract,” I say with a fresh wave of determination, and this time when I shove him off me, he moves, sending me flying to my knees. I let out a pained groan. The smirk of satisfaction on his face makes me want to kick him in the junk. “Asshole.”

“Good girl. I knew you would come around. Now let’s get to work.” He dusts off his hands as if he has done his job for the day. I glare after him, knowing I might have just been played. But what he doesn’t know is I’m going to use everything he gives me to seek out my revenge and make Enzo Moretti pay for ever thinking he could fuck with my family.

Chapter 6

I brush my kneesoff, standing up and reluctantly following him down the main set of stairs and through the lower floor of the apartment. He’s wearing relax-fit jeans and a white T-shirt that only accentuate his stupidly big muscles. That pisses me off even more. He’s so… just so annoying and stuck in my head. Why on earth did I ever kiss him all those months ago? I should have just had some damn self-control, because now he thinks he has something over me, I just know it.

He stops when he comes to a black door, shoving it open. “Home gym,” he explains, showing me inside. “Since you and your brother can’t leave easily, I’ve made sure you will be comfortable here. We do a gym session at seven a.m. and again at four p.m. You will be expected to attend. After what I saw this morning, I won’t be negotiating.”

I scrunch up my face at him. I didn’t particularly hate our sessions together; in fact, most of the time I found them empowering. But sparring with him is dangerous territory. I’m not surprised to see it’s fully equipped just like the boys’ was, butthat wasn’t where we are headed because he closes the door just as quickly, moving on to another black door across the hallway. This one opens into a massive workspace, with desks and its own kitchenette.

“You set all this up overnight?” I quiz him.

He laughs but doesn’t answer me. I guess that was my answer. Of course he didn’t. Geovani has been meticulously planning our arrival for a long time.

We find Dani typing away at a computer, and she smiles sweetly as we pass her. Marco is at another desk down at the back of the space, deeply engrossed in a heated conversation on his cell. He doesn’t seem to notice us, but I’m dying to get him alone so we can talk. I want to know what he makes of all this and what’s really going on with him and Dani.

“This is your desk. Food is kept in the kitchenette, and any special requirements let Dani know and she will add them to the list. You’re welcome to take breaks whenever you like, I don’t care what hours you work as long as we get the daily tasks done.”

My eyes sweep across the desk, taking in the neat stacks of books and the pen lying haphazardly on top. It’s just a white desk with an Apple computer sitting in the center of it. Looks like the latest model. Lying over the keyboard is a stack of papers. Geovani collects them up and shoves them toward me.

“Read this over, then sign. Any questions, I will be over there.” He points to a larger desk with a wall of computer monitors. He looks me over with concern. “Maybe make yourself a coffee and something to eat first. You look like you’re about to pass out,” he adds, his tone way too bossy for my liking. Then he walks away, leaving me staring at his back. Well, if I’m being honest, his ass. It’s mighty fine in those jeans.

I’m so fucking screwed locked up in this place with him. One bed we have to share, getting all sweaty when working out together, and sharing an office where he’s the boss! He’s createda psychological pressure cooker, eagerly awaiting the moment when I implode, kissing him like I did last time.

My head spins, and I take hold of my desk so I don’t go over. He might be a domineering asshole, but he’s right, I’m feeling light-headed. The lack of food over the last twenty-four hours may be a contributing factor, but all this is definitely a lot to take in. When I’m feeling more stable, I move past the desks and into the kitchenette, placing the contract down on the circular dining table. Opening and closing cupboards until I locate the mugs, I reach up and take one and get to making myself a coffee. Stacked in a basket on the counter are fresh pastries. I take one, knowing starving myself is just not an option. I am way too scared to take anything these people have to offer, but I am only making myself weaker and punishing myself at this point. They have no reason to drug me again. At least I don’t think they do. I sniff the pastry just to be sure, but it smells okay.

I find a seat, sipping my hot beverage as I scan over the contracts. One is an employment contract; it looks pretty straightforward. The other is a partnership agreement, outlining each of our roles and responsibility, ownership stakes and profit sharing, compensation and payment structure, and duration of the contract. From what I can see it all looks very fair. Dani and Geovani will help me run my businesses for a term of six months and be compensated for their time. After that time, it’s up to me if I still require their assistance or not. But it’s the final page that has me sitting a little taller in my seat.

It’s an NDA stating I can’t breathe a word of what goes on in these four walls to another soul. Not that I could anyway, who am I going to tell about it when I’m stuck here. The reality of what I’m signing up for sets in. This isn’t just a job and a way of accessing what my papa was working on. It’s illegal, and if I get caught, I will go to prison.

I tear a small piece of pastry and place it on my tongue. The delicious buttery flavor revitalizes my taste buds. I inhale the rest then wash it down with some coffee. To sign or not, that’s the question—or is it? At this point I don’t really have a lot of other options, and I really want his help with Enzo.

“Need a pen?” Dani says quizzically, leaning against the kitchen counter casually.

“I don’t need anything from you,” I snap, flicking my attention back to the papers shaking in my hands. This whole scenario makes me so anxious.

Dani ignores my coldness, pulling up the seat beside me. With my resting bitch face firmly in place, I scan over her, in her pencil skirt and blouse. She’s wearing her hair up in a top knot bun and has a pair of glasses sitting on the bridge of her nose. She’s like a completely different girl from the one I met in the grocery store.

“Please don’t hate me, Lana. I know I lied to you, but you were the closest girlfriend I ever had, and I didn’t lie to you about everything, just what I was doing at the diner. The rest, all my stories, the things I did to survive when I was younger, it was all true.” Her kind eyes meet mine, softening me a little. If the research Maddox did on her was true, she went through hell growing up and has every right to be trying to better her life rubbing shoulders with the likes of Geovani.

“Why are you working here? You must know how dangerous it is. Couldn’t you get a normal job, one that won’t get you killed?”

Despite her casual shrug, a hint of urgency in her eyes that contradicts her nonchalant demeanor—she clearly understands the gravity of the situation she has herself in. “He saved me.” She glances over her shoulder in Geovani’s direction. “Found me passed out in the back alley of a club. My boyfriend at the time, Johny, had beaten the shit out of me and left me to die after deciding I was good for nothing. Geovani picked me up…cleaned me up, taught me how to protect myself and how to work these systems. Turns out I was good at something after all. Thanks, Johny.”

Guilt eats at me for being such a bitch to her. She might have drugged me, but she did it to save me and get me out of a terrible situation, not to hurt me. Her heart was in the right place, I just don’t understand why they didn’t just tell me that they were trying to get me out of there. I wouldn’t have fought them if they gave me a way out. I would have gladly taken off. “I’m so sorry for everything you went through, Dani.”

“Maybe life stitched us up. Gave us a bad hand. But working here, we can take the control back.” She smiles softly. She thinks this place is awesome, I can see it. But I’m not so sure.

“Maybe you can,” I huff, feeling defeated by the situation I’m now stuck in.

“You can too.” She pats my shoulder softly. “Look, I’m so sorry about drugging you, girl. But you don’t know what we were up against. It was scary, we didn’t have any other choice. I’ve never seen him so distressed. You did a real number on him. The poor man is obsessed with you.”

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