Page 24 of Dangerous Games

I can’t fight anymore. My strength is spent. I go limp in his arms, sobbing. It’s an eerie, haunting cry straight out of my gut. Dominic’s grip doesn’t go slack though, and for that I’m grateful. He holds me more tightly as he speaks quietly to me.

“They hurt her and I’m going to get revenge for that.” He kisses the back of my head and I wince. It’s too much, too similar to Gallagher. “Jimmy and me, we’re not that different, you know? I’m using him to help me get revenge, and then I will take care of him. You’ll see, Nan. You’ll be free of this, and you’ll never have to do this again.”

I don’t know what he means by “take care of him” but it terrifies me. When men like Dominic say they will take care of something it is bad, very bad.

“My mother’s attacker will pay dearly, and the mole within my organization will go down. I’ll be rid of that problem and then Jimmy will get what’s coming to him.”

I stiffen as he says the words, my gut still churning. A mix of strong emotions has me on a yoyo. I want to hate him, lash out and scream, but part of me feels strangely comforted here in spite of feeling powerless. Dominic has the power now, and for the first time in my life, I’m not entirely traumatized by that. That someone else has power over me. Somehow, I trust that he won’t use that power to hurt me. He sees my game, using sex as a way to feel strong and brave, and he refuses to let me stoop to that level. But he could kill my brother, so why am I okay with lying in his arms crying? Why do I let him make me weak?

15

DOMINIC

Istir somewhere around one a.m., curled up around Nanette. She snores lightly, at peace after hours of crying and fighting me. I hated tearing her down, exposing her, but the only way to build correctly is to start with a clear foundation. Nanette has played games her whole life, so much so that she has no clue who she is. I see her. I know her game because I play it too, and I hate that she has to hide.

My phone buzzes in my pocket, revealing the reason I stirred awake. Without shaking the bed too much, I reach for my phone and see it’s Red. He sent a text telling me to call him urgently, and when he says urgently, I know what that means. He has news, or he’s been threatened. I hope it’s the former, because if someone threatens my family they threaten me, and I just can’t be bothered with killing people right now. I have bigger fish to fry.

Slowly, I extract myself from the bed, careful not to wake her. For a moment I watch her sleep. The dim light streaming in from the adjoining bathroom is just enough to see her peaceful expression. When this is all over, I will make sure she never has to fall asleep in torment the way she did tonight. She deserves nothing less than what my mother deserved, and if I can stop her from the same fate, I will.

I walk out into the hallway, bringing my phone to my ear with Red’s number ringing through. I head down the stairs to my office, tucking my shirt in as I go. It’s likely Red has something substantial, otherwise why would he message me in the middle of the night? So, I head for my keys and my wallet, both on the floor of my office where they fell out of my pants during my ordeal with Nanette. I pick them up and Red’s line goes to voicemail.

Frustrated, I call again, now on pins and needles. I had him looking into Jimmy and Nanette, not anything serious, or at least I don’t feel like it’s that serious. What mess could Nanette cause me? Jimmy, on the other hand, might have more of a risk associated with him. He’s a known hitman, which means lots of enemies and potential snitches—folks he’s done work for. When the line rings through to voicemail again, I get nervous.

Within seconds I get a text.

Red 1:12 AM: Dom, meet me at the bookstore ASAP.

Something fishy is happening. Red wouldn’t call me out this late if things were fine. The message he sent me, however, saying I should call him, worried me. I slide my Glock into my waistband and pocket my phone. With keys in hand, I head to my car. Even if this is a setup it means I’m getting closer to the root of things. Red would never betray me, which means if it is a setup, he’s in danger too, and I can’t leave my blood unprotected.

I drive across town toward the little bookstore on Brighton Beach Avenue, owned by my family for seven generations now. Red and I have fond memories in the place, growing up as kids, reading all the smutty romance novels we could get our hands on. I smile as I turn down the street to see the lights out front turned off. Red was such a horrible influence as a kid, and I loved it. Taught me what porn is and how to find the nudey magazines my father kept in the back of the shop.

I park out front, shutting off the engine and my lights. I don’t see any signs of movement inside, so I pull my Glock and chamber a round. The street is quiet too, no traffic this time of the morning, even in the city that never sleeps. I slip out of my car in silence, letting the door shut but not latch. A sweep of the street reveals nothing, not even a stray cat. It’s eerie, like I’m in a horror movie gone wrong heading toward the bad guy and my inevitable doom.

“Psssst,” I hear to my left, and I see Red there in the shadow waving me over. “Here, Dom.”

My heart beats a little more calmly now that I know he’s okay, though I’m still on edge. I keep the gun ready and duck into the dark alley. A quick glance over my shoulder tells me we aren’t being followed, which is a good thing. I trust Red implicitly, but I don’t have the same confidence in anyone else right now, not even my brothers. After yoyoing back and forth, I wonder if letting Sven in on this home-grown plot to oust me was a good idea. He doesn’t have the same tact and wisdom as me, and I fear he may screw things up.

“Dom, we have a problem,” Red says, turning around. His van—a short Mercedes Sprinter van—is parked next to a dumpster out back. One single overhead light floods the area, illuminating things enough that if someone is watching from a window of one of the nearby buildings, I will be a sitting duck. I stay out of the ring of illumination, hidden in the darkness for my own safety.

“What’s going on? You’re looking into Nanette Slater. Right?” I scan the area again, still feeling ill at ease, but Red’s okay. That was what I feared the most. I safety my weapon and slide it into my waistband.

“Yeah, well it’s not the lady that’s the problem. It’s her brother.” Red runs a hand through his ratty hair—ginger-colored, and the reason he has the nickname. I keep my cool, refusing to show my hand as Red spouts off details about Jimmy I already know. “He says you are paying him to sniff out a mole in the family. Says you’ve already given him some cash, and that you’ve taken his sister. He was snooping around the bookshop. I caught him on camera and tracked him down, Dom. He’s a serious threat. He’s a hitman, and if he was hired by the Italians, we have a whole other problem to deal with.”

I nod slowly. My trust in Red is firm; I have to remind myself of this. I have no reason to doubt that his motives are altruistic; he’s like a brother to me, more so than my own brothers. So, if he isn’t ruffled by Jimmy’s confessions enough to put a bullet in Jimmy’s brain himself, then he must trust Jimmy somewhat.

“What did he say?” I lean against the brick wall of the bookshop. I want to know if Red has been able to scare more information out of the rat. If Jimmy is holding out on me then we are going to have words.

“Not much else. He says you hired him and that he will only talk to you. Says he has intel and that he’s valuable—too valuable to shoot.” Red brandishes his own weapon, a Smith and Wesson nine-mil. “We can’t risk people like him knowing about the family, Dom. And Sven knows too. Sven is on to this Jimmy guy like stink on shit. I’d have called him, but I figured I’d give Jimmy the benefit of the doubt until you got here.”

He chambers a round and nods at the van. “I have him here. I can finish the job if you want, or you can question him first.”

I raise my hand, waving off Red’s vengeant protectiveness. “It’s okay, Red. I did hire him.” It’s time to put the chips on the table for Red, bring him in the circle. It will wound me greatly if I have to harm him because he doesn’t trust me as much as I trust him, but I have to find out who opened the door to this evil my family has suffered, both the plot on my life and the one against my mother.

“What?” he asks, squinting in confusion. “Why didn’t you just call me?”

Red backs up a step. I can see he’s hurt, but I don’t have time to coddle feelings. “Do you want to put Sven down? Leo, Matty, Rome?” I list off my brothers first before hitting home. “Tino?” When I say Red’s brother’s name his eyes grow wide. “Someone in our family has hired the Italian to come after me.”

“No…” He shakes his head in disbelief. “They wouldn’t… The man who hurt your mom?” I hear the emotion in his voice and nod.

---