Page 3 of Dangerous Games of Trust

“We’ll be home soon, girl, just relax and enjoy the ride.” Dani reaches for the mini bar, offering me a mini bottle of vodka.

I glare back at her. Is she kidding me? The last drink I took from her was laced with something. Seeing the intensity of my stink eye toward her, she slips the drink back where it came from.

“Marco, what are we doing in here? Where are we going?” I ask my brother desperately.

“Somewhere safe, Sis. Dani’s right, just relax. I know tonight has been traumatic, but you’re safe now. We got you out of there.” His eyes plead with me to understand, but how can I?

For the rest of the drive, I stare at my hands, too afraid to look at any of the other occupants. I have questions for them all, but something tells me I won’t get the truth. Nervously, I go to spin the engagement ring on my finger, but it’s not there. I stare down at my hand in disbelief. I thought that ring would be likea noose around my neck, there till the day I died. I wonder who removed it, and where Alessandro is right now. I can picture the rage on his face when he worked out I was gone and not walking down the aisle to join him. He would have been furious, the control he desperately craves slipping slowly away.

After some time, the Hummer comes to a stop. I hear the door to my side open and Marco leaving with Dani quietly. But I don’t move. I’m not sure I can. I want to shove open the door and run like the fucking wind. But not only is my body aching so much, but the thought of walking also seems impossible. I glance through the window, seeing a concrete parking garage, mostly empty except for a couple of luxury cars parked to our right. Next to them is an elevator. I have no idea what Geovani’s intentions are. Carlo could be here, wherever we are, and if that’s the case, I don’t want to know. I might not fear Geovani, but Carlo scares the life out of me.

“I thought you were my friend,” I whisper, knowing how pathetic it sounds now. But I really did. I thought I was someone special to him, something more than his friend, if I’m being completely honest. I didn’t think he would be capable of kidnapping me the night of my wedding. But here I am, stuck with him.

Out of my periphery, I see him scrub a hand over his face. “We can’t afford friends in this world, Red.” As our eyes lock, my heart races, pounding so hard I can almost hear it. The way his eyes narrow as he says the words makes me believe him. He’s no one’s friend, and I shouldn’t be either. Has Marco just had the same realization, and that’s why he’s here with Geovani?

He inches closer. “Don’t you fucking dare come anywhere near me.” I clammer away from him, sliding all the way over to the opposite side of the seat. He stops moving, glaring back at me as if somehow I have just wounded him. What does he want with me? Swallowing down my fear, I try to put on a brave face.“What I don’t understand is why become my friend? Why help me if I was only ever going to end up your prisoner anyway? You lied to me for six fucking months, Geovani. Why?” I force the words out of my mouth, not really expecting him to answer but needing to say them. I have thought about him a lot in my time with the Morettis, and I couldn’t make sense of anything they told me about him. I need answers.

“You’re not my prisoner, and I didn’t lie to you, just bent the truth a little to ensure your safety.”

My resting bitch face would say it all. Didn’t lie to me my ass. “Whatever you have to tell yourself so you can sleep at night. You fucking lied to me.”

“I won’t apologize for keeping you safe.”

“Ha!” I laugh bitterly. “Yeah, so safe.” I shake my head, thinking back to all the madness that has happened in my life over the last eight months. Not one moment of that time was I safe with him or not. “So, I can just leave now then, can I?” I push. Adrenaline surges through me. I stare back at him, not sure what to do. My heart tells me to run, but I have no idea where he’s brought me. All I see out the car window is concrete. I could be anywhere.

With a heavy sigh, he steps out of the car and leans on the open door frame. “Harley, my sweet girl. Your papa didn’t sign you over to me in that marriage contract like the Morettis thought. He traded you over to my pa, Carlo, for him to do with you whatever he wanted. Believe me when I say, it’s better not to know what he had planned for you,” he growls out, and I hear his pure rage. He’s not as calm about all this as he was acting. His tone is enough to imply he doesn’t have the same relationship with his pa that Alessandro does with his. There’s no trust between them or love. “They treated you like some fucking business transaction. There was no fucking way I was going to let Carlo lay a finger on you. Or let fucking Alex marry you.”

I blink back at him. He’s not saying he will let me leave, but maybe he really was trying to protect me, in his own way, I guess. Maybe he still is? That’s why he was helping me that night, that’s why he gave me the fake identity and got me to change my hair color. He mustn’t have realized at the time what the boys wanted with me, but he knew his pa thought he had some claim over me, and he wasn’t having it.

“But the boys said… my brother said…” I try to ask, but he cuts me off.

“Your brother only knew what he’d overheard until I set him straight. I have a copy of the contract. Carlo wanted your brother dead and you as his wife so he could take over all the Havardi holdings’ dealings. Your papa’s businesses would have made him a very wealthy man. It also would have given him something over Enzo, and the two of them have been fighting over territory and shit for as long as I can remember.”

“What you’re saying is if I married into the Morettis, they would get the businesses?” I ask, trying to make sense of exactly what they want with me.

“I’m not sure how much they knew about some of the businesses, but Alex has had an infatuation with you for years. He’s a smart man, Harley, he knew what it would mean for him having you by his side. If your family names were allied, he would gain a lot more respect of the people who happily followed your papa into whatever dealings he was interested in. He would also gain the territories your papa oversaw. It was all about money and power for him. He saw you as the key to his success. Since your papa died, Alex has spent a great deal of that time working with his men to earn their trust and keep your family’s businesses going as the devoted son-in-law to the man he ordered to be killed. What the fuck do you make of that?” He glares back at me. “I know you want someone to blame for all the fucked-up shit that’s happened to you. He’s your man, not me.”

This is why Geovani showed up at the rehearsal dinner. This is what he was trying to force out of Alessandro. He wanted me to know exactly what I was giving up by marrying him. I think back to Alessandro’s face that night. He was furious Geovani was causing trouble. But he was just trying to tell the truth. With my history with Alessandro, why couldn’t he have told me himself what my family name meant to him and what he stood to earn taking over what my papa built?

Pain radiates through my chest; I’m so hurt by all the lies and secrets. I was just a business transaction to all of them, just like I was my papa. An item to be traded. How degrading. “Why isn’t Marco running any family businesses? He’s not dead. He could run any family businesses for himself and then there would be no need for anyone to marry me over this. I could be free.”

Geovani drops his head and takes in a deep, labored breath, as if the world is resting on his shoulders alone. “The Morettis own your brother, Red. Your papa knew it from the day Marco swore in alongside Ricky and Maddox. He gave up all his rights; he serves Enzo for the greater good of the family name. Stephano had the contract drawn up in your name to get around that. In the event he died or when you turned twenty-one, you would be the legal owner of all his businesses. You are the sole heir to the Havardi fortune. That’s what Enzo was after. He didn’t know exactly what he would be getting his hands on, but he knew it was something Stephano was risking his life over.”

“Oh.” A wave of nausea washes over me, and I swallow it down. I turned twenty-one the month before he died, and my papa never once thought to mention any of this to me. He just let me go on about my life in Paris like nothing had changed.

I hate him so much for keeping all this from me. For not preparing me for this fucked-up life. He wasn’t trying to shelter his only daughter. That’s all bullshit and I know it. He dropped me right in the middle of this hell. I try not to completely fallapart in front of Geovani as my eyes blur, and I stare at the front of the car, angrier than I have ever been in my life. How dare they all treat me like property.

“Dani. How is she involved?” I sniff, not sure if I really want the answer. It’s going to hurt too much.

He tilts his head to the side, his piercing gaze fixed on me with intense curiosity. I can’t help but wonder what he’s searching for. Waiting for me to crack and lose it completely? I’m on the verge, he won’t have to wait much longer. “Most people will do what you want if you offer them the right price.”

My heart lurches out of my chest, a deep pain spreading through me. She drugged me and handed me over to these people, all for a little money. I feel sick. Really sick. The car spins, and I shove open the door beside me, hopping out in a rush, emptying the contents of my stomach on the cold concrete below. Nausea racks my body in waves until I’m dry-retching, placing my hands on my knees for support so I don’t fall to the dirty parking garage below. My head thumps, the low dull ache of a stress migraine on its way. I can’t trust anyone. I’m all alone in this fucked-up world.

Chapter 3

Geovani moves to myside, his hand coming to my back, gently stroking me. His dark eyes meet with mine with a protectiveness I’ve seen before. “Come on, let’s get you inside for a hot shower, you’re shivering. You’ve been through a lot tonight, but you’re strong. Remember that, Red, don’t let this beat you.”

With a nod of determination, he props me up with his arm and leads me toward an elevator. I go with him because at this point, what other choice do I have? I’m a shell of the human I was even two days ago. So much has happened. So much evil at the hands of these families. I’ve lost all will to fight. He can do what he wants with me.

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