Page 82 of Vicious Games

“Going to. Maybe. In the very fucking distant future. She’s not one now. Your guy… he’s already taken vows, Enzo. You know how these religious types are. They take that shit seriously. It’s like their ownomertà. Once they say the words, there’s no turning back.”

“I know!” He pushes me away and starts pacing the room. “Don’t you think I fucking know that?”

A frown tugs at my mouth as I watch my twin slowly unravel before me.

“Holy shit. You already like him.” The realization hits like a gut punch. “He was a mark. A toy to play with. You can’t actually catch feelings for him. That defeats the whole fucking point!”

“Well, maybe I can’t be like you. Maybe Iwantto feel. Ever think of that?” he snaps at me.

I see the tension in his jaw, the frustration so clear in his eyes. I close the gap between us and grip his shoulders.

“If that’s what you want… if you’re looking for something real, then fuck, Enzo… you shouldn’t have set your sights on a priest. He’ll never choose you. He already made his choice to you know who,” I say, glancing toward the ceiling as if the big guy upstairs is actually listening. “He’s got a man, brother. And he’s never gonna give him up for you.”

“You don’t know that.”

I wish I didn’t. Especially when I’m watching my twin tear himself apart over a game he can’t win.

“Facts, Enzo. What do we always say? Facts are tangible. Numbers are real. They can always be counted on. This… whatever feelings you think you might have for Alejandro? It won’t end well. You’ll be the one left bleeding. Fact.”

“What if it’s worth it? What if the pain is worth it?” He eyes me intently.

“It never is. No amount of pain is worth your sanity. And you will lose your mind when he chooses an invisible deity over you.”

His shoulders sag as he drops to sit on the edge of his bed. With his head in his hands, he says in a raw voice, “I think it might be too late.”

“It’s only too late if you say it is. Put some distance between you. Ghost him if you have to. Just do something before it gets worse,” I warn.

Enzo nods, but he looks so defeated that I’m unsure if he even heard me.

I decide to give him his space, knowing he’ll need time to figure out his own exit strategy from the clusterfuck he just got himself into. But just as I reach the door, he calls out the one name that halts me in my tracks.

“What about Frankie?” he asks, her name hanging in the air like poison. “You really don’t have any feelings for her?”

“No,” I say, steady. Unshaken.

“So you’ll be perfectly fine when she walks away from whatever little arrangement you two have to take her vows?”

“Couldn’t care less.” The lie tastes bitter on my tongue.

Before Enzo can call me on my bullshit, I walk out of his room and shut the door behind me.

Will I be okay if Frankie chooses a life of celibacy and prayer over ourexperiment?

Hell to the fucking no.

It would mean I failed. That I sucked at corrupting her.

And I don’t fail. Ever.

I will corrupt her.

Come hell or high water, Frankie O’Malley will scream out my name long before she ever whispers another fucking amen.

Bet.

With the box I purchased earlier this morning hidden behind my back, my eyes scan the school hallway, searching for the blonde vixen that kept me awake for most of the night. A lazy smile crests my lips when I see her through the crowd.

Frankie tries to keep her head down, doing her best to go unnoticed, but how she manages that is beyond me.

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