Page 58 of Dangerous Games of Trust

“I’m fine,” I mutter, brushing her off. I don’t need her fussing over me. Right now, I need to get down to business.

Marco confidently takes a seat, as if he’s a regular in this room and knows exactly where he belongs. I, on the other hand, feel out of place. “What did you need to see us about that couldn’t wait till tomorrow, Sis?”

I take the seat directly across from him, making eye contact as I settle in. “Not sure Geovani has updated you, but Alex has given Enzo a strict ultimatum to step down and relinquish control within twenty-four hours. Geovani has the D’Amico men on our side already, and now they need us to make sure all the Havardi men are in.” I drop my gaze away from them, the weight of everything building upon me. I want to be the strength of our family, but I know I’m just a girl, and they don’t want me telling them what to do. “I can’t do it. Can you talk to them?”

I watch as his dark eyes transform, losing their warmth and becoming steely and unyielding. “You should be by my side. We do this together.”

I glance at Dani, and her nod of approval reassures me.

“If you think that’s best. What do we do?”

“Tonight, we have a meeting with the most influential individuals. There will be strict security measures in place, but I would advise bringing the boys along to show our unity.”

I nod, knowing he’s right. “I also have this.” I hand Dani the black flash drive that was slipped into my pocket the night of the fight. “It has a video on it, snippets of me and Geovani and a threat for me. Can you track down where it came from?”

Confusion crosses her face as she looks me up and down then studies the flash drive. “Where did you get it from?”

“Someone slipped it into my pocket the night of the fight.”

She glances at my brother, her brow raised, a silent message passing between them.

“What was that? Do you know something?” I demand, not wanting to be kept in the dark.

Marco moves forward, running a hand through his messy hair. “I met with an old friend of our papa’s that night. Our conversation was very enlightening. Apparently for years Enzo has been employing little spies from every walk of life to do his dirty work for him. The only thing they all have in common is they’re all women. Some of them are actors, musicians, models, even politicians’ wives. All young, beautiful and clever, and all seen with Enzo just once at one of his elusive parties, then six months later they mysteriously disappear. Never to be seen again.”

My skin prickles. “The images I found; I fucking knew it.”

Dani nods, her eyes sparkling in agreement. Maybe I can trust her after all, I gave her this project to work on and she’s come through for me. For us.

“The person I met with believes our ma may have been his first spy and the two of them worked together for years before he decided he was done with her and made it look like she suffered a fatal drug overdose. Somewhere along the way our papa got involved with the drug trade, and maybe that’s where it got more complicated, but this contact couldn’t answer me either way on it. All we know is ever since our ma died, girls have been going missing without a trace. Beautiful young girls who seem smitten with him and have their whole life ahead of them.”

Revulsion fills me as I blink back at him. “Are you saying our ma had an affair with Enzo?”

“We don’t know either way. All we know is they worked together for years starting right before she got pregnant with you.”

I feel a wave of nausea wash over me as my face turns ashen. “What are you saying?”

The air is filled with the sound of Dani’s contagious laughter. “Oh God, no, girl. Not that, no, you’re not one of Enzo’s love children. That would be bad.” She laughs again, but I fail to see the funny side here. For a second, I was starting to think I have been fucking two of my half-brothers, and that would be the only way this situation could get any worse.

I shove out of the armchair and stand in a rush, needing to move. “We have to stop him. Why isn’t someone stopping him? The authorities have to know what he’s up to, this madness has been going on for years.”

“They know, girl. They know it all.” She glances at my brother, waiting for him to say more.

As he stands, he approaches me and gently takes hold of my arms with his strong, large hands, his warm brown eyes offering me comfort in my panic. “When I was working with Enzo, I saw people come and go from their place, but it was never Enzo who was talking to the new girls they would bring in to these parties, it was always Valentina. She plays her part. I’m not sure exactly what it is yet, but they’re working together on this.”

I turn back to Dani. “That photo, ma and Valentina.”

“Yeah,” she agrees.

“The authorities are close, but every time they get a new lead or think they’re about to make an arrest, the witness ends up dead. Someone on the force is helping Enzo, probably more than one someone. The last two were Ivan Venality and Dante Deluca.”

The icy coldness in my veins freezes me to my very core. “Alessandro and Ricky killed Ivan and Geovani killed Dante, we all fucking witnessed it,” I splutter out.

He nods solemnly. “Ivan on Enzo’s orders.”

“What about Dante?” I look to Dani for answers.

“That you will have to ask Geovani about. The two of us can’t make sense of it. All we know is Enzo is calling the shots, even if no one realizes he is. Probably using these little spies to get the message out, then once they do their job, they’re taken care of.”

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