Page 36 of Dangerous Games of Trust

I meet her eyes in the mirror. “No, I’m not fucking okay, Dani. Would you be after getting told you should have been killed for just trying to protect someone you care about? I’m stuck in the middle of some fucking war I don’t understand the rules to. I can’t trust anyone.” A silent sob escapes me, and I clutch my chest. Pain radiates through me at the hopelessness I feel.

“You can trust me.”

I slowly turn toward her. “You.” I laugh bitterly. “You belong to Geovani too. I bet anything you do or say is recorded and watched by him just like everything I do is. I’m alone. And that’s the truth.” I am filled with such resentment that it seeps into every word I speak. How is this my life?

“I know it feels like Geovani is a bit harsh at times, but you have to remember the world he grew up in, with the pa he had. He wasn’t taught how to love the way you or I were. He was taught how to lie, steal, and kill to get what he wanted.”

“How the fuck is that my problem now?”

She gives me a look like I’m vapid. “Because you guys have this thing going on.”

I blink back at her in disbelief. “This thing? No. There is nothing going on. I’m not letting some other man manipulate and control me.” I stare up at the ceiling, searching for wherever the fuck these hidden cameras are, hoping he’s watching me right now and he can hear every bit of my anger toward him. “I hate him, and if he knows what’s good for him, he’ll stay away from me.”

She looks wounded on his behalf. “Harsh, girl.”

I shove past her and walk back into my room, scanning the rack for something to wear that will torture him. At this point there is nothing else I can do. The dress Dani made me buy is right there in front of me, and I pull it from the bag, deciding maybe she was right about something. He will jizz in his pants seeing me in this instead of the normal bland stuff I’ve beenwearing round here. I find some underwear to co-ordinate and pull them on, then slip the dress over my head, securing the zipper in place. It’s a sheath dress in a jade green and fits like a glove. I smooth the soft fabric over my hips. Dani was right, it shows off all my best assets. I look like a million bucks in it.

She wolf whistles when I re-enter the bathroom. “Yeah, you’re done with him.” She smirks knowingly from her place in the doorway.

I fix my make-up and hair, doing everything I can to pull myself together so I can make it through today. I have no other choice, after all. I’m trapped here with these people.

As I enter the room, I notice a pair of heeled ankle boots with red soles placed on top of their box, waiting for me. I know they will match perfectly with this dress. I have doubts about Dani’s trustworthiness, but perhaps she has some level of support for me. I slip them on then zip them up. Taking a deep breath, I stride down the stairs and past the hallway toward the office, walking right by his desk with a subtle sway of my hips as I make my way to my own workstation.

I feel his eyes on me.

They’re always on me.

I sit down at my station, my fingers trembling just a little with the adrenaline still rushing through me from our altercation. With my graphic design background, they have me updating some websites for Geovani’s more legitimate businesses. Part of me feels like it’s just busy work to keep me in here with them so they can keep an eye on me. But today, I’m grateful for the distraction. Besides, I actually like working. I channel all my attention into my work doing the best I can. While my life may not be reaching its full potential, this can provide me with a small amount of satisfaction to relieve that feeling of wasting away.

Every now and then I glance over in his direction. I know today is important, I overheard him and Dani talking about shutting down all of Carlo’s bank accounts. They also have a meeting with some thugs who used to work for him in an attempt to make it clear Carlo has turned on his own people. He’s now siding with Enzo, and if he won’t take care of them, they will fall under Geovani’s protection from now on. Every day he ups the pressure against his pa, hoping that something will flush him out of hiding.

Something Marco said to me this morning keeps playing through my head, and I decide it’s time to test out Dani’s friendship. When she’s done talking to Geovani, I move over to her desk. “You said you’re a whiz with computers. Can you give me a hand with something?”

“Anything, girl, pull up a seat.”

I grab my roller chair and come to sit with Dani. “I want to know how my ma died. Was there a toxicology report done, was her death investigated at all?”

She looks me over, biting into her lip as she thinks. “Hmm, okay. Let’s start with her death certificate. What was her full name?” She turns back to her computer, ready to type.

“Lucia Viviana Havardi,” I tell her, my heart aching as I say her name.

She types away, clicking on links and entering passwords. It doesn’t take her long before she’s found what she was looking for, my mother’s death certificate. “It says here her cause of death was acute opioid intoxication resulting in respiratory failure. The manner of death was listed as accidental.”

I purse my lips together. That’s what we were told, drug overdose, but I don’t believe it. That story was so suspicious. I might have been young, but I don’t ever remember my ma intoxicated in any way. If she was such an addict, I’m sure there would be a memory or something that would add up.

“What did you want it to say?” Dani asks, shoving her glasses back up her nose.

“That’s what I expected.”

“But you don’t believe it.”

“I was really young when it happened, but I’m positive my ma wasn’t a drug addict. And I know Marco agrees.” I lean in closer to her. “I think Enzo had something to do with it. He was the one who fed Marco the story about it being our papa who was giving her drugs, but it doesn’t add up.”

“So we need to find if there was a connection between your ma and Enzo.” She starts typing again. Images flash up on the screen, events from around the time she died.

“Wait, go back,” I call to her, thinking I might have seen something. There! I point at the screen. “My ma, with Valentina.”

“It says here this was a charity luncheon. It doesn’t prove anything. If your papa worked with Enzo, the wives would have known each other. Valentina makes a point of knowing everyone.”

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