Page 79 of Wicked Tricks

The fact was, that Rome was a big part of an operation to undercut and take down my business, she had stolen from us multiple times. I know what I should have done when I found out about what they had been doing - what was expected of me.

If she was anyone else, she would already be dead.

But what had I done when I found out about the whole operation?

Ran straight to her.

Not for revenge, not for vengeance - but to beg for forgiveness and to try desperately to salvage any sort of relationship that we had built.

A relationship that had only started because we were playing each other.

Playing these wicked tricks on each other in order to further our own agendas.

I quite quickly forgot about mine, but I wondered how much of the past few weeks had just been exceptional acting on her part. I wouldn’t be the first man who had fallen for it.

I felt an ache in my chest the more I thought about the whole situation, but I shook my head and took in a deep breath.

“I just need someone to tell me what to do,” I said softly.

Obviously, there was no reply from the dead man who laid six feet under the ground.

Standing with a growl, mostly towards myself, I stormed off back towards my car.

This was fucking stupid.

I didn’t want this guy’s advice anyway.

Why had I come here in the first place?

When had it ever made me feel better?

I left the graveyard, I left my dead father, feeling heavier than I had before.

Muscle memory guided me home as I drove, because I knew that I was not paying attention. My mind was not on the road, but on something, someone, else entirely.

Pulling into the driveway, I noticed an unfamiliar car parked in my spot.

My eyes narrowed to try and make out any figures inside of it. My hand reached for my gun before I spotted the silhouette that was sitting on my doorstep.

I turned off the car, and raced towards the shadowy figure.

“Val?” I called, throwing my arms around my sister as soon as I was close enough.

She flinched backwards from the physical affection.

I was the cuddler - Valerie was not.

“What are you doing here?” I asked, unlocking the door and all but pushing her inside the house.

She was tiny, compared to the rest of us, even though she was the second eldest.

Her small frame was cloaked in a large jacket that she kept wrapped tightly around herself. After being gone for so long, she was obviously not used to the cooler weather anymore. Her long, light brown hair was tied atop her head in a mess of frizzy curls, and her icy blue eyes were bordered by dark circles, indicating that it had been a while since she last slept.

“Zarina called,” she said, dragging her small duffle bag inside by the strap, “she said you were having issues with mum.”

“That’s putting it lightly,” I scoffed.

“Well, since I’m the undefeated champion of pissing that woman off - I thought I could be of some help.”

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