Page 87 of Wickedly Played
“Why didn’t you just try to talk to me?” I beg. Tears are rolling down my face from frustration and feeling utterly betrayed. Did Max know about this all along? Has he been in on the deceit? If he hadn’t been, was he played, too?
Dad stands off to the side, lights his cigar, and begins to puff on it. He couldn’t look more stereotypical if he tried. “Just wait, honey. The story gets better.” He steps closer to me with the smoke billowing around me. “Max and Adam have been working for me all along. You didn’t think Max was just ex-military, did you?”
I feel something inside my chest slam shut. My eyes feel like needles are poking them repeatedly, but it is the way my stomach turns to acid that gets to me. “This was all a game?” I ask weakly.
Connor, my ex-husband, smiles wickedly. I haven’t seen him since our divorce, as I have been avoiding all family functions. This is too much. I can’t… My breathing becomes ragged as I try to force myself to inhale and exhale. Nothing is working. My head feels light, but still heavy at the same time.
“Serena,” Conor greets me.
“Will someone please tell me what the fuck is going on here?” I demand.
“Everything will make more sense in just a moment, darling,” Dad tells me. “I’m just waiting for a couple more of this dipshit’s friends.” He is pointing at Adam.
I hope he can feel the daggers I’m flying at his head from over here. He set me up! My thighs jolt from the exertion, causing a slight strain. “Did you… Did you rape me?” My voice is small under the pressure of being surrounded by so many men.
Adam stands off to the side with a proud look on his face, but doesn’t confirm. He’s too chicken shit to admit to what he did. He knows he’s about to die.
Dad won’t let anyone get in his way to get what he wants. If he wants me back here, he will burn the world down for me.
“You wanted it,” he throws out.
Connor has his forearm pressed against Adam’s neck, and he has been tossed up against the wall. “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t kill you right now.”
“Tie him up in the other chair. I have a feeling we will be getting company soon,” one of Dad’s men directs.
Adam is immediately tied to a chair with a rope around his mouth to keep him from talking.
“Dad, why am I here?” I ask again.
Dad stands in front of me, snaps his fingers at one of his guys, and then sits in the chair that has been placed below him. “Serena, I have given you plenty of leniency. You have done what you wanted to do and made a mockery out of our family.”
I try to talk, but he shoves his finger against my lips.
“You don’t get a chance to speak.”
My eyes fill with tears. If I have to come back here, I might as well have them kill me. That is what coming back here will do for me.
“Amanda has struggled to get pregnant. We need an heir,” Dad casually informs me. “After you have produced an heir for Connor, you can go back to your life.”
My head is swiveling on a spicket right now. There is no way I heard him right. “You want me to be a breeder?” I spit out.
The mafia has never made it a secret that they have some women who are only meant to produce babies for the high-ranking men. These women are looked down upon and are seen as less than garbage on the side of the street. These women areaddicted to drugs to get through the day and get passed around like baseball cards. Being a breeder is a death sentence.
He scoffs. “Darling, don’t look at it like that. This is your opportunity to make it up to me for turning your back on our family when we needed you the most.”
“I did what you wanted! I married Connor, then he cheated on me, and then I was granted freedom! Dad, you can’t make me go back there.”
Leaning back in his chair, he looks me up and down. “I can make you do whatever I want. This is the part you don’t understand. In fact, you and your sister are spoiled little mafia princesses who think the rules don’t apply to you. You are only as good as the male heirs you bring into this world,” he breathes out.
“Dad,” I cry.
“Don’t look so sad, Serena. As long as you do what you’re supposed to do, and that’s spread your legs, you should be free to live your life.”
This is punishment for leaving. I got cocky and thought I could survive this. I don’t know why I thought I could be the lucky one. No one escapes the McGuires. No one has lived to tell the story of how they escaped the patriarchy of the family. Dad won’t ever let me leave. He will find another reason for me to stay.
“Trust me, the last thing I want is your used-up pussy,” Connor spits out. “Especially after that asshole nutted in there,” he grumbles, pointing at Adam.
“Why?”
