Page 73 of Dangerous Games of Trust

“Sure, Sloane’s beautiful to look at, but she’s fucking deadly as well. On the inside she’s every bit as badass as her four brothers. Their family is ruthless and violent, it’s why from time to time we work with them to achieve a common goal. Men don’t cross her because they know they won’t survive it.”

I look at the three of them, realizing I still know so little about this world. It’s all so interconnected and clicky, and I’m so new. “Are you friends with her?”

“Everyone in Ravens Hollow knows her, just like they know us. We don’t have friends, more people we know who might be useful.”

We all pile into Ricky’s Jeep. He and Maddox in the front and me and Alessandro in the back. And he takes off up the road.

I can feel Alessandro’s eyes on me. “So, what happened in the bathroom?”

I glance over to him; his arms are crossed over his chest, and I realize he doesn’t want a friendly chat. He’s demanding details. I wonder how much I should say. Geovani didn’t tell me that he filled the boys in on what we saw, but Maddox didn’t look at all surprised when I told him the story of what happened in the bathroom, and just the fact Geovani’s sent them down here to investigate means they know something.

“I overheard a conversation between that girl you know, Sloane, and another girl. Enzo certainly knows how to make enemies. Their friend is missing, and they think he has something to do with it because she was having an affair with him.” I keep staring back at him, waiting for his reaction. I’ve just told him his pa is a cheating asshole and all I get is a nod. And I know all of that wasn’t any new information to him. Piled on top of what I told them all yesterday, he should be raging about this. His papa is a fucking serial unaliver who preys on young girls, getting them to do his dirty work before ending their short lives. He needs to be more outraged about this.

Ricky glances back at us. “I knew it wouldn’t take long for the truth to start circulating. Once the Strykers hear about this, Enzo is in real trouble.”

I raise a brow. “What exactly do you know about what happened to Pia?”

Alessandro’s hand comes to my leg. “What do you know, princess? This new information doesn’t surprise you.”

“Nothing Enzo can do will surprise me anymore. The man is pure evil.”

“That didn’t answer my question, princess.”

“He killed that poor girl because she failed to destroy me. From what I could tell he was manipulating her with sexual favors and she, for whatever reason, fell for his shit and was doing everything she could to sabotage my life. She was the one who told him where we were the night that truck came through the wall at The Precinct, and she was the one who sent those men to attack us after the fight.”

He nods along, and I know he was already aware of it all. And I hear nothing from the front. They all knew.

“Enzo hates me, he wants to destroy me, and now he’s even more pissed that I’m having your baby. That girl died because of me.”

“She died because she got involved with the wrong person. Not because of you.” He huffs.

My scared eyes rise to meet his. Why isn’t he freaking out about this like I am? “He’s going to stop at nothing, you all understand that, right? He’s going to take you all away from me, and then when he’s done, he’s going to kill me too, just like he did my ma.” I can’t hold back and keep it inside. I need to let all of this out. “He slit her throat, for God’s sake. It was disgusting and brutal. He has to be stopped.”

“He will be,” Alessandro growls, giving my thigh a reassuring squeeze that does nothing to actually reassure me.

“How long am I supposed to hear you say it before someone actually stops him? Why can’t we go around there tonight and take care of him? He’s not the don anymore. You are. Can’t you order him dead, and it just happens?”

I see the pity in his eyes, and I hate it. “You need to play the game, princess, and trust us to take care of you. We don’t act out of fear but come from a place of strength.”

I glare back at him. That line sounds like some bullshit he’s learned from Enzo. He’s a product of his papa, they all are. And that thought has never terrified me more than it does now. I need to see them acting on impulse and they’re all just sitting around having a drink and calling it work.

“Enzo is earning himself more enemies by the day. If we play our cards right, he will implode all by himself,” Ricky adds from the front.

I stare back at them. Are they telling me they’re willing to let someone else take care of Enzo? Is that what they’re actually saying when I tell them what he plans to do to me, to them? I want to scream at them,what the hell are you waiting for?But what’s the point, they wouldn’t listen to me anyway. I’m just an insignificant girl in this world and my say means nothing. Feeling helpless, I pull away from him, disappointed and too exhausted to keep having this same conversation. I lean my head into the headrest and close my eyes, feeling less guilty about my decision to leave by the second.

When I wake up we’re driving into the casino parking lot. “What are we doing here?” I ask groggily and a little panicked. I don’t want to have a run-in with Enzo again. Not tonight.

“You will see.” Alessandro takes my hand and helps me from the car.

I feel anxious. I don’t like this place. Something about it gives me the creeps, and I’m not sure if it’s because Enzo has been in charge of it for so long or what, but I don’t want to be here.Alessandro’s hand runs down my side, and he places a kiss to my cheek. “Relax, gorgeous, this will be fun.”

His words don’t make me feel any better. We walk through the main entry then take an elevator up to the mezzanine level. We all walk out onto the balcony that looks out over the casino and into a private office of sorts. From here you have a bird’s-eye view of the whole place. I find Enzo immediately, strutting around the floor in his expensive suit, Valentina by his side in a glittering gown.

Alessandro wraps his arms around me as we watch them. “Tradition is ingrained in our society. The way we operate goes back through the generations. His men have lost respect for him because of the way he handled his business. If I want to keep their respect so I can make some change in the future, I need to do things differently. I have plans Harley, big plans, but they take time.”

I swallow the lump in my throat, staring down at the people gambling below and Enzo animatedly chatting with various groups of patrons like he’s king shit. It’s hopeless. There is literally nothing I can do. “Okay,” I utter, not sure what else he wants from me. He’s drawn his line in the sand, and I get it. This is his dream. All of their dreams. They have worked hard to get here and achieve the kind of fame and adoration their people will give them now. But they have to understand when I tell them it’s over, why I couldn’t sit back and watch this shitshow go down. Maybe Geovani was right all along. I am stronger than this, and that’s why I can’t sit by and idly watch Enzo continue on with his reign of terror. I have to be the one to stop him.

Alessandro looks pleased that I understand. And for once, I pity him, because he will be a man with it all. Money, power, notoriety. All except for me. My lips turn up at the sides, and I slide into the fake happiness I so easily seem to manage these days. “I thought you said this was going to be fun.”

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