Page 8 of Dangerous Games of Trust
I can’t help but laugh. “That was the only option I had last night.” I smirk back at him. He’s obsessed with my hair. I was half waiting for him to tell me I smell like sunshine or something like that. But of course, he noticed it was different from normal.
Eventually he pulls back from me, letting my legs slide to the ground, leaving me staring up at him wanting more. “I have to get going,” he tells me, producing a gold chain from the back pocket of his black jeans, then motions for me to turn around so he can put it on for me. He slips it around my neck and does up the clasp. “Geovani is helping us for now, but never for one second think he doesn’t have his own agenda. If you’re in trouble, press the panic button on the necklace, I’ll come for you.”
I quickly turn around, my eyes fixated on him towering above me. “Did you really remove my tracker?”
He nods. “I need you to trust me, temptress, and with that fucking thing in your arm you were never going to. Don’t fucking get killed while me and the boys are sorting out Enzo.”
“Okay.” I nod, not sure how I feel about that. I push up onto my toes once more, kissing his lips, trying to get everything I need before he has to leave. “Do you really have to go?” I complain. Things were just getting good between us.
“If we don’t want Enzo to know what we’re up to. Not even Ricky or Alessandro know where you are, they have no idea I’m here. For your safety, I had to keep them in the dark.”
I raise a brow, knowing how serious this is then. When they find out, they’re going to be pissed. I intertwine my fingers with his. “Please be careful, big guy.”
“You too, temptress.” He places a kiss to my forehead, then he’s gone. Leaving me alone with my brother, the chick who lied to me for six months then drugged me, and the son of one of the most feared and brutal men in Ravens Hollow. Trapped in a tower with nothing to do but plan my revenge.
Chapter 5
A sharp knock soundsat the door. I cover my head with a pillow, groaning loudly for them to fuck off, not wanting to deal with whoever is on the other side. The silence in here might be deafening, but at least I’m not looking into the eyes of all the people I can’t trust. Yes, my brother is now on that list. He could have come and talked to me, but again, just like the night my papa was murdered, he chose not to. He doesn’t trust me, and I can no longer rely on him to keep me updated with anything relevant, even if he is doing whatever he can to keep me safe. He treats me the same as any other man in my life, to be seen and not heard or included in the dealings of this fucked-up world.
Yeah, I’m bitter, and the longer I lie here thinking it all over, the worse it gets. I thought my brother was different.
I hear the door push open. “Are you going to sulk around in here all day or are you going to claim your legacy?” comes Geovani’s smug voice from the doorway.
Claim my legacy, what does that even mean? I don’t move. There is nothing to say to him, I might as well just play dead until he leaves me alone.
As soon as his hands touch my sides, I instinctively jump. Before I realize what’s going on, he flips me onto my back. Then he’s lying on the bed, pinning me down, with his legs straddling my waist, his fists holding my hands above my head. I didn’t even hear him enter the room and now I’m trapped under his massive body.
“What the fuck,” I spit back at him angrily, thrashing around as I try to free myself from his grip. “Get your hands off me, Geovani,” I warn him.
“Not a chance. Had to snap you out of your pity party. We don’t have time to sit around questioning our life choices, Red.” He gazes down at me, radiating authority. One I had almost forgotten about in my time with the Moretti brothers, but there is no denying the effect he has on me. I’m powerless under his intensity.
Now I see everything I should have when I met him the first time. The menacing look in his green eyes, the slight bend in his nose where he’s obviously broken it at some time and never got it fixed, the scattering of scars that pebble over his face, hands, and arms. He’s cute in a bad boy kind of way that does things to me it shouldn’t.
With a steely gaze, I mirror his level of intensity and meet his glare head-on, not wanting him to know how giddy being this close to him really makes me feel. “What exactly does being the owner of Havardi Dealings involve?” I finally get out when I realize he’s not going to leave me alone.
“The older generations like to work in physical products: weapons, drugs, counterfeit goods, betting rings. But your papa was ahead of his time. Sure, he had the luxury car showroom to act as a front and help him move product for the Morettis, aswell as launder the money they all made, but he was working on a much bigger enterprise. He was well on his way to owning the largest online casino in the world. Taking a massive cut out of Sinners’ Paradise’s profits and making an enemy out of Enzo in the process. Not that Enzo was smart enough to work out what he was up to. Not entirely, anyway, from what I can tell.”
“What do I want with some fucking online casino I know nothing about?” I try to move my arms, using all my force to buck him off me, but he doesn’t budge.
“This casino is now yours to run.”
“Why me? Can’t Marco take care of it?”
His eyes turn into slits as he glares at me. “It’s all in your name, Harley. Your papa left it to you. I don’t think you understand just how life-changing something like this is.”
“It sure is life-changing, just look at me.” I roll my eyes in frustration. I can see he wants me to be happy about this, excited even, but I’m not. It just feels like another thing being forced upon me. “What about you? Who are you?” I snap, frustrated I’m stuck under him while we have this little chat. “Obviously not the cop you told me you were.” I roll my eyes like the brat I am just to show him how pissed I still am about his fucking lies.
“Careful, Red. You might be free in my home, but I’m not above punishing you for your childish behavior. In fact, I would quite enjoy it after the fucking stunt you pulled, following the Moretti brothers back to their place. What the fuck were you thinking that day?”
My eyes go wide, and he must be able to hear the way my teeth scrape as I grind them. Is he kidding me right now? He wants to have a go at me about tailing the brothers when he knew who they were all along and made me believe he was going to help me catch them. I bend my knees, attempting to lift my hips, recalling the techniques he showed me to escape from a similar grip. But he was anticipating me and locks my thighstogether, gripping my wrists, shoving them into the comforter with burning force.
“Why do all you mafia men think I have a daddy kink and want to be punished for being a brat?” I spit back at him, the taste of bitterness and anger lingering on my tongue.
“Perhaps it’s because deep down, you long for someone to control you.” I see the flash of disappointment come over his features as he says the last part. “Your piece-of-shit papa couldn’t keep you in line or out of danger. So, the job’s been handed to someone who can,” he adds, a smug sense of satisfaction coming over him.
“Oh, fuck off. You know I’m more than capable. Or I was. The last couple of months have just done a number on me.” I pout, because they have. “There is no way I could have known what was going to happen when I followed them back to that cave. I thought I had the upper hand. The element of surprise, but it was like they were ready for me.”
He assesses me, then shakes his head and purses his full lips. “Do you admit you need me to take care of you now?” There is a caution in his tone I don’t like the sound of.
