Page 69 of Dangerous Games of Trust

“You will get your reward for the job you have done.” Without warning, he produces a knife and slits her throat. Blood gushes from her neck as she tries desperately to stop the bleeding, her hands clamping over the wound.

Geovani’s hand closes over my mouth as a terrorized scream leaves my lips. My body shakes uncontrollably, not able to believe what I just witnessed. “Oh fuck!” I mumble around his hand, tears instantly springing to my eyes. I turn my head and sob into his chest. Enzo is a fucking monster.

He strokes my hair, trying to calm me, but I know he’s still focused on the screen. This is the most information we have had, or that I have seen anyway. “Enzo wasn’t alone,” he mutters.

I rise my blurry eyes back to the screen. Valentina appears, gliding her way toward him with a seriously oversized dude by her side. He carries some sort of a bag with him, and we bothknow this was a well-planned-out attack on Pia. I watch in horror as the poor girl is shoved in the bag, and he carries it out of there, while Valentina kisses Enzo’s lips like she’s happy to see him and that awfulness didn’t just go down. Was she hanging back and watching him the whole time? This is getting more depraved by the second.

“What now?” she asks, staring up at him. “How do we get the boys back? Or is it too late and we go to plan B? Alessandro is getting more powerful by the day, you know he is.”

“I have a few ideas. Pia wasn’t my only little spy in the Stryker organization. The little Havardi whore will be delt with soon enough and her papa’s businesses handed over to us. Even if we have to lose a few of our own to make it happen.”

“Not Alessandro?” she whispers and his eyes lock with hers.

“Not Alessandro.” He nods, a subtle, chilling smile playing on his lips, confirming that their full son is safe, but the others are fair game. He’s willing to lose them to make sure I give him what he wants. To give him what he thinks he’s entitled to.

I turn to Geovani, my heart racing out of my chest. They’re going to die because of me. The four men I love are in danger. He just killed this girl because she didn’t succeed in taking everything from me, and my boys will be next. “Make me disappear,” I cry, knowing I can’t let anything else happen to them because of me.

I notice a shift in his demeanor as he looks back at me, his eyes filled with a newfound seriousness.

“Please, Geo. You can do anything with your skills. Use them for good this time. You and I both know how much trouble it causes if I run. I don’t want the boys or you to get hurt because of me. You heard what they said. And we both know I’m their weakness. I’m petrified they will get killed because of me. If they think I’m gone for good, so far away that even they can’t get me back, they have nothing left to protect. They can get on with theirlives without me causing trouble. Please, I don’t want to end up like that girl, and I don’t want any of you to either.”

“They love you. It will kill them if they think you’re gone for good.” I hear the emotion in his words. I know it’s him it will kill. I don’t want to be away from any of them either. Not now when this thing we have is working so well. But it’s not safe for me to stay.

“It’s better than them being dead. Please, you have to help me. If you really care about me like you say you do, you’ll help me.” I sob, pain radiating through my chest.

“I’m not going to let you see the same fate as Pia.” He kisses me, trying to calm me. But I can’t be calmed down right now. My heart is racing like crazy. I need to know he’s going to help me.

I pull back from him. “Tell me you will help me. Please.”

As he closes his eyes and takes a deep, slow breath, I sense the weight of his emotions, knowing that the mere idea of me vanishing is too overwhelming for him to handle, when for so long he’s watched my every move. But he has to know I’m right. “I’ll see what I can do.” He sighs heavily.

Chapter 35

It’s late, and I’mcurled up on the couch with Ricky, watchingIndecent Proposal, the buttery scent of the popcorn we finished off still fills the air. My head is in his lap, and he’s been stroking my hair tenderly. I know he can tell there is something wrong with me. And when he came to my room earlier to find me for a night out with the other boys, I could see the worry on his beautiful face when I told him my head was thumping too hard to leave the house. Alessandro had no choice, with business to attend to, and Maddox was chomping to get out of here after way too much time cooped up, so they went on without us.

“Would you let me spend the night with some billionaire that came into Sinners Paradise just so you could save some architecture project you’re working on and build your dream house?” I ask him to try and lighten the somber mood.

He raises a brow. “I’m not an architect.” He smirks towards me playfully.

“You know what I mean.”

“No fucking chance in hell, baby doll. I would go broke before I ever let some old creep get his hands on you.”

“Good answer.” I offer Ricky a half smile, wondering how on earth I’m supposed to leave him. I love being so close to him.

Since I saw that footage of Enzo last night, I have been an absolute mess. I haven’t mentioned a word to any of the boys about what Geovani and I witnessed last night, and I’m not sure if he’s going to tell them or not. But I can’t. The image will stay with me forever. All night I lay there with Geovani’s words going through my head.There is no escaping this life, not now that you’re in it.And I believe him because I already know it doesn’t matter how far away I am from this place, I will never, ever forget what I have seen. After my tears dried up, a strange numbness came over me. One that has sat with me ever since.

“Red, can I see you for a sec?” Geovani’s voice fills my ears, and I sit up to find him in the doorway.

I run a hand through my bird’s nest of hair and sigh. “Be back in a sec,” I tell Ricky with a half-smile, the best I can muster.

He pauses the movie and leans in and kisses my lips softly. “Okay,” he agrees, but I can see he’s wondering what’s going on. Or maybe it’s just my paranoia. Now that I have made the decision to leave, I’m on edge.

Geovani motions toward his office down the hall, and we walk together in heavy silence. There’s so much tension hanging in the air between us. Once inside, he closes the door.

“Are you sure you want to go through with this?” A deep furrow creases his brow.

My eyes meet his, and I want to tell himno, I can’t leave any of you, but that’s just me being selfish. “I have to. I’m not letting any of you die because of me. And you saw that video footage. Enzo will stop at nothing until I lose it all. He knows how much I care about all of you. He’s going to organize someone to kill you, I’m sure of it. Just like he did with your pa. He’s a fucking mastermanipulator, and with so many people in this town still bowing at his feet, we don’t stand a chance.”

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