Page 25 of The Queen's Game (Ruthless Games 1)

TWENTY

REBECCA

I kept my face frozenas Gian explained what they planned to do to me. Shame me. Parade me all over town at this spring’s upcoming events. All three of them. To make it look like I was sleeping with each of them.

Then make me look like a scorned woman who the princes of New York have excoriated for being unfaithful. Despite it sounding weak, it could work. Juries were damn unpredictable. I stared at each of these crushingly handsome stallions in their expensive suits. Last I checked, there were a lot of single women in this city. My princes would have sympathy on their side to taint the jury pool if they branded me a crazed woman seeking revenge.

“And if I say fuck you and leave here?” I crossed my arms, looking at each of them.

Gian exhaled sharply and got on his phone. “210.”

“Stop!”

“Too late, Becca.” He handed me the iPad, and a man marched up a stone walkway that led to the house I rented for my parents.

Gian glared at me, and I stared back, holding my breath. On the iPad, I heard a knock. “Is that your boat out there, sir?” a voice said.

“No. Who are you?” my father’s voice sounded weak. He was getting sicker without his treatments.

Gian glanced down at the screen and frowned like he noticed my dad’s frail body and yellowing skin. He quickly gazed up at me and then into his phone, he said, “417.”

“Sorry, sir, I got the wrong house. Have a good day.”

I watched the man leave and finally breathed.

417 was Gian’s abort code.

Gian stared at me for an extra minute, the secret about my father being sick bared to him. Would he tell Sebastien and Anthony their leverage against me wasn’t rock solid? Sure, they had my mother. If I had to bet, these Italian mama boys wouldn’t kill her or their mothers would wipe the floor with them. Anthony and Gian’s anyway. Sebastien’s mother passed away while we were in high school.

Sebastien loved my mother, and she loved him. Mom cried with me when I told her he broke up with me.

I mouthed Kato to Gian, who then stepped away, furiously swiping through images and speeding up the video feeds. He turned to me and shrugged.

Fucking Kato bailed on my parents. Or he was dead.

“You’re cornered, Rebecca,” Anthony knocked me out of my dreadful thoughts. “Either hand over those documents to me or—”

“To you?” Sebastien snapped.

“Yes, Bastien. Me.”

Divide and conquer.

I rolled my eyes, even though those two fighting helped me. “Yeah, hand over my evidence or what?” I wasn’t handing it over.

“Your parents are toast.” Anthony picked up his knife. “Worm food.”

“It’s only a matter of time before the FBI finds a solid link between your companies and Sunrise. Right now, they only suspect because our fathers did everything together. That presentation with your fathers’ signatures proves they were involved.”

Sebastien cleared his throat. “I’m already working on changing all of my subsidiary names. Fuck load of work because you wouldn’t let me see the list, Becca.” He glanced at Anthony. “And you’re welcome. Those subsidiaries give you cover as well.”

“Fuck you.” Anthony also flipped him the bird.

“And?” I asked to bust into the fight those two were ready to have.

“By the time you give them your copy, they’ll see none of those subsidiaries exist,” Sebastien said. “I admit, my father was sloppy. He didn’t give me any details on this one. But I’m on it now. I would never let this junk be tied to my name. My name.” He slapped his chest, angrier with his dad than me, I suspected.

“That means, Rebecca,” Anthony taunted me. “Your evidence will eventually look like fraudulent made-up bullshit.”

The drug will still hit the streets...

I stepped back. “I can hand it all over today. You haven’t untangled everything yet, Bastien.”

“Giancarlo...” Anthony huffed. “Have your guys do something to Old Man Domenico. Anything. Show Becca we mean business. I’m tired of playing around.”

Gian stared at me and then spoke into his phone. “59. One vehicle.”

“What the heck is 59?” Instead of leaving me to wonder, Giancarlo handed me back the iPad. My stomach twisted watching a man in a white tee-shirt and jeans strut to a car in the driveway of my parents’ house...with a red container. Gasoline.

59 meant fire. Vehicle. This guy was ready to light my parents’ car on fire.

My gaze lingered on Gian again as his mouth opened to tip Anthony off that my father was sick. My eyes slipped closed in a silent plea.

“Becca?” Anthony’s voice snapped them back open.

“No, Anthony.” I trusted my father had resources to protect himself. Maybe Kato was recruiting other guards. I couldn’t save them from here.

“Then clear your calendar, angel. Starting with this Thursday.”

“No.” I shook my head. “You can’t physically drag me to a fundraiser, Anthony.”

He laid that grin on me again. “Gian, have someone trip her mother when they run out to look at the car on fire. At that age, I’m guessing her hips aren’t too good.”

Pain. Shit. Gian might not order the out-and-out death of my parents. He might just freaking torture them. “Fine. I’ll think about it.”

“There’s no thinking about it, Becca.” Anthony glared at me. Even furious, he was beautiful. “Hand over your evidence. Or get your ass in a pair of hooker pumps.”

“I don’t have hooker pumps.” When I turned from him, he grabbed my arm and roughly pulled me into his chest. From the corner of my eye, I watched Sebastien’s hands ball into fists with white knuckles and blue veins.

The heat of Anthony’s body under his expensive silk shirt radiated off him. His sensual cologne crawled down my throat as I breathed. The delicious scent coiled up my spine. I knew he’d smell good, the bastard. I kept my distance from Anthony all these years. Never touched him until the benefit last month. All I felt now was a solid chest of pure muscle.

His gray eyes stared down at me, and it was like we were looking at each other for the first time. It felt like he really saw me. A woman. Not Giovanni Domenico’s daughter. His lips parted as he sipped the air between us, perhaps taking in my perfume. His hold on my arm tightened, suggesting I may have some kind of power over him. Or at least my body did.

Hmmm...

My brain had fired up several minutes ago, processing their plan for me. I felt doomed, to be honest. They weren’t stupid men. Ivy-League-educated princes running kingdoms of their own. Their plan absolutely would work.

Until I broke and became the woman who wanted to fuck each of these men. A debased, lust-filled psycho who would just hand over the evidence to get more sex.

However, I had something better than their smarts. I had me. My body. My scent. My eyes. In just a few seconds, Anthony looked disarmed being so close to me. I didn’t need to look at Sebastien or Giancarlo. They could be seduced as well.

Their plan was to parade me all over town.

My plan was to use those nights to make them fall in love with me.

All three of them.

Then they’d do whatever I asked them, including joining me in the fight to take down Sunrise.

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