Page 56 of Dangerous Games of Trust

“Harley. Get back here!” Maddox calls after me. I hear him struggling out of bed. I feel bad for taking off on him, but he will thank me later. When this shit is all over. “Don’t do anything stupid,” he yells down the hall.

I hear him, but I’m too far gone, sprinting down the corridor. I shove the down button of the elevator and hop in as soon as it opens, pressing the close door button before he has a chance to catch me. I don’t need him talking me out of this. I know what I need to do.

Enzo the asshole thinks he’s the motherfucking grandmaster, moving his pieces with precision around his board. Probably sitting behind a fucking computer screen watching us all and laughing at our pain. Every poor soul under his control is a piece on his board. But he’s sitting at the head of it all, the king, controlling all our lives. Everything revolves around him. He’s always thinking several moves ahead, anticipating all our reactions, trapping his enemies and his children into checkmate before they even realize they’re playing his game. But I won’t be one of his fucking pawns, just waiting to be sacrificed when he demands the time is right. And I won’t let any of my boys suffer at his hands another day.

I step out into the living area and move toward their voices. They’re not close by, but I can hear them pretty clearly. Their muffled conversation is coming from the front of the house.

Peering round the corner of the front entry wall, I find my target in plain view. Alessandro has his arms crossed tightly over his chest, glaring at Enzo. Ricky is by his side with a look that could kill. This isn’t a friendly chat, they haven’t even let them enter the house. Valentina stands there in a fancy fitted knee-length skirt and tailored jacket. She looks fresh from the country club, her smile extra fake today as she tries to get some of her sons’ attention.

But Enzo commands all eyes on him. In his usual tailored black pinstripe suit, his voice booms off the tile walls of the front portico. “Enough playing around. This bullshit with Dante is over, you took care of it, and I hear you loud and clear, you won’t be controlled. What you fail to anticipate is we’re a family and we stick together no matter what. You hear me, Son? I took care of Carlo and now you fall back in line.” His voice gets louder with every word he utters till my hands shake with a fresh surge of energy.

I can see why he’s so feared. His size alone would overshadow most men, but it’s his confidence, the poise of a man who’s been at the top for far too long, that really holds all the power.

He took care of Carlo. By sending him after us so we would kill him. Now I know it was him. The boys orchestrated that fight night to prove how much say they now have amongst their men, and Enzo counteracted it by sending Carlo in to play. Trying to prove he still has the upper hand. But he nearly killed one of them in the process, and in truth, he could have killed us all. It’s puzzling to see how that would be advantageous to him if his heirs have passed away.

Alessandro takes a step forward, meeting his steely gaze eye to eye. He’s just as tall and every bit as imposing. “I hear you, Enzo. I hear you conceding defeat. You don’t rule Ravens Hollow anymore. I do. Our people spoke last night. You’re outdated, oldman, and now it’s time for a new generation to lead the way. Retire and keep your honor intact.”

“Have some respect for the man who raised you,” his mother pipes up.

Enzo looks her over, and she shrinks back, knowing she’s overstepped the mark. His furious eyes bounce from her to his sons. “And I suppose that’s you and Geovani. With that little whore by your side.”

I flinch at his cruel words. I already knew what he thought of me, but no one wants to be called a whore.

Alessandro takes another quick step forward, his fists clenched by his side, forcing Enzo off the first step. It gives him the upper hand, Enzo having to look up at him for once. “Watch your mouth,” he roars, the fury in his voice making my hands tremble. But it’s not in fear, it’s with excitement. For the first time he’s sticking up for me. He’s sticking up for himself and showing Enzo who he really is. “I have spared you because you’re my pa, but this is your last chance. Go back to your men and tell them you’re stepping down from all duties and responsibilities. This includes your position at the casino. You’re paving the way for a new generation, and we all have your blessing. You have twenty-four hours, or I will make the call myself, and we both know if it comes from me, you won’t be alive to explain yourself.”

Enzo surprises me and bows his head. “I see how it’s going to be, Son.” Disappointment clouds his face, and I know he’s not going to do what Alessandro says. There is no way.

“No, you don’t,” he yells, and his mother looks like she’s about to burst into tears. “We all know the lies you have both kept from us. And if they find out who Ricky and Maddox really are to the Morettis, then they will toss you aside anyway. You have no honor talking about family when you have done so much harm to yours.”

His head shoots back up, ready to fight. “Are you blackmailing me, Son?” The words tumble out of his mouth with bitterness.

“I don’t need to blackmail you. You have done yourself in.”

Enzo watches Alessandro, looking between him and Ricky, realization registering. “Who told you?” he asks Ricky directly.

Valentina gasps and covers her chest with a perfectly manicured hand, like she might just pass out from all the drama.

“That’s not important,” Ricky mutters with so much hatred his voice doesn’t even sound like him. An ache forms in my chest for him. For the poor little boy who thought he was orphaned so long ago. For the kid who dreamed of being a doctor and had his dreams torn to shreds by a man who should have supported him all the way. This man has stolen so much from him, and he has every right to be angry with him. “But if you don’t do the right thing now, I will personally make sure you’re destroyed, the way you devastated my mother.” Ricky’s lips turn up at the sides, like he’s getting a sick sense of pleasure out of this confrontation. “You taught me to use my skills for evil, and I would happily make good use of them tearing you apart.”

Enzo nods cautiously, as if understanding them both better now. He knows he’s fucked. “I will book a meeting with my men today.”

He’s lying, I want to scream to them, he won’t back down. There is no fucking way. If he’s the same person who sent me that video, then I know he won’t. This is all part of his dangerous game. And as much as I want the boys to get their revenge on him, I don’t truly believe he will allow it. I aim the gun, ready to shoot before I have to hear any more lies.

But a hand clamps over my mouth and another around my middle, and I’m pulled back into the living room. The gun is knocked from my grip. Before I know what’s happening, I’m on my back with Geovani sitting on top of me, pinning my hands above my head so I can’t move.

I pant, desperately trying to catch my breath. Where did he come from? A fresh wave of anger radiates through me when I was so close to finishing Enzo. “Let me go,” I push through clenched teeth. “Get off me.” I buck my hips, trying to escape.

Geovani leers down at me, all domineering and powerful, and I know there is no chance in hell he will let me go. “You don’t know what you’re doing.”

“Yes, I do,” I cry desperately. “Enzo’s not going to step down and let you two take over, fat fucking chance. He’s lying through his teeth, and I have the proof upstairs.”

He looks me over with curiosity. “What do you have?”

“A flash drive with video evidence and a threat. It has to be from him.”

Worry flashes in his eyes. For once I have been able to surprise Geovani. “What the fuck are you talking about, Red?”

“During the fight the other night someone slipped a flash drive into my pocket. I don’t know how he did it, but I fucking know it was him.” Geovani stares down at me, furious, like he doesn’t believe me.

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