Page 46 of Dangerous Games of Trust

Even though my heart races and my palms grow sweaty, I tilt my head in rebellion. Fuck him! Fuck all of them. “You didn’t leave me any choice.” I push the words through clenched teeth. I’m angry, but mostly at myself for letting them find me. I should have ditched my phone as I was running. I didn’t even think. So yeah, maybe he’s right, I’m not very smart. I should have known better. Of course they would find me with my phone still in my pocket.

He pounces, causing me to jump in fright, interlocking his fingers with mine, holding my hand uncomfortably. “Why do you care so much what happens to me? Just let me go. Let Enzo and Carlo get me, who cares.” I know I sound like a crazy person on a rant, but I think I’m at that stage. I have no fight left in me. I’m ready to give up.

A cold hard object comes into contact with my wrist, the one Alessandro is holding. “What the fuck,” I cry, wondering what was just slapped around my wrist. I try to pull away from him but realize we have been locked together with a pair of handcuffs.

Maddox comes into view from behind us. “Sorry, temptress, can’t let you get away again.”

“Like you actually care,” I snap back at him, bitchy as can be.

He shakes his head. “Oh, sweetheart, you have no idea,” he mutters.

Ricky steps in beside him. “We gave you some freedom, thought we could trust you,” he says sadly, and I know I broke his heart tonight by running. But he is breaking mine right now by forcing me to stay.

“Freedom.” I laugh bitterly. They all know that’s bullshit. I haven’t been free since I stepped foot in this country nearly a year ago.

Geovani moves in front of me, and I flinch with the haunted way he stares at me. He’s still covered in blood and looks like a fucking zombie come to life. “You talk so much of trust, Red.” He runs a hand over his beat-up face. “Demand we earn your trust,” he yells, bitterness dripping off his every word. “But tonight, you proved we can’t trust you at all.” He looks so disappointed in me that I want to burst into tears all over again. “Alex explained why you ran. The boys will take care of you until we have this situation under control, then you will have the freedom you crave.”

His eyes meet mine, a silent message passing between us. I know how badly I fucked up, but he did to. He can’t blame me for this. The warmth he normally holds for me vanishes, leaving a coolness that sends a shiver down my spine. He turns to walk away from me, and I feel a sudden sense of loss. I don’t know what’s wrong with me, this is what I want, to be away from him, but it’s also not. There is something between us, and when I looked into his eyes just now, I felt it still, even if he scared me tonight.

I go to reach for him. “But…” I don’t get to finish because we’re suddenly surrounded by a group of masked men. Before I have time to think, Maddox throws a punch, stopping one of themfrom grabbing at me. All hell breaks loose around me as the guys try to defend themselves against the ambush.

“You know how to fight right?” Alessandro snips, and I know he means because we’re now attached to each other. The smartass must have thought it was a brilliant idea to lock me to him, until right now when he realized he’s now handicapped.

“Yes,” I grit out. I know how to; I’ve just never really put it into practice, unless attacking them counts. A man runs at me from the side, and I lift my leg high, cracking him in the face, his head flies back and he collides with the asphalt below.

Alessandro is busy dealing with another dude. The knife of his blade dug deep in his side, he twists it before dragging the thing upwards, the guy’s insides spilling out as he crumbles in a bloody heap.

I cover my mouth, trying to stop the bile from rising. There’s no time to be sick. Another man comes at me from behind, his arm slipping over my head and locking in place. My chest tightens as I try to suck in breaths. Alessandro is right there, and he swings his blade, slicing the man’s arm open. He releases his grip on me, and I bring my head back as I simultaneously lift my leg backwards, my boot connecting with his junk. Alessandro moves around my back, slicing the dude again with his blade. In a gory scene, he collapses to the side. Alessandro backs me towards the Jeep. The sight before us a mass of bodies, blood, and destruction.

Maddox lifts some guy and smashes him into a wall, while Ricky has some dude by the throat and in one swift move, he cracks his neck, the man’s body going limp in his hands, then he tosses him aside like he weighs nothing.

My heart races so hard I think I’m going to have a heart attack. What the fuck is this. My eyes rise to Alessandro’s in fear.

“I won’t let anything happen to you,” he promises me. But right now, I think this situation is out of his control.

“Get her out of here,” Geovani shouts toward us, dealing with another two of them, but they just keep coming. Like an army of masked white walkers crawling from the dingy streets of Ravens Hollow.

My heart constricts for him; he looks in such a bad way from the fight tonight already, and taking on one thug after another is sure to end badly.

Alessandro moves me toward the car, still fighting off a masked man who tries to grab at me. When we get there, he shoves open one of the doors.

“We can’t leave them,” I cry knowing this is all my fault. I’m not leaving them here.

Alessandro reaches in the car and grabs something. “We won’t. This is my responsibility.” He shoves a gun into my chest. “Do your worst, just don’t shoot one of us,” he says with a sly grin.

Oh, for fuck’s sake, the pressure when there is so much movement all around. I aim at a guy coming right for me and pull the trigger, getting him right in the forehead. He goes down right in front of me, and I have to stop myself from screaming as his brains explode.

Alessandro’s fingers curl around the cool metal of his newly acquired gun. With each calculated squeeze of the trigger, the sharp crack of gunfire fills the air. The acrid scent of spent gunpowder mixes with the metallic tang of adrenaline and blood. Alessandro’s aim remains unwavering, his focus unyielding, as he systematically eliminates his targets, one by one, shielding me as best he can with his own body. I feel the vibration go right through me.

I aim over the car and take out another dude who was coming at us from behind.

“Good girl,” he compliments me.

And for some unknown deranged reason, I find myself smiling at his praise. When I turn back around, my grin vanishes. “Geovani!” I scream. He’s caught between two guys in a brutal fistfight that he looks like he’s losing. In a moment of clarity, I aim my weapon and pull the trigger, hitting one dude right between the eyes. At the same time, Alessandro takes out the other.

Ricky rushes to Geovani’s side, helping him up to standing. The two of them look like old friends, not mortal enemies. Geovani sucks in ragged breaths, trying to catch his breath, but I don’t miss the subtle head nod of acknowledgment he gives me. For saving his life. Of course, I’m fully aware we wouldn’t even be in this situation in the first place if I didn’t fucking run. I’m such an idiot. I should have listened to them.

Ricky’s panicked eyes come to me. “Where’s Maddox?”

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