Page 30 of Wicked Games of Desire

They all have their agenda. Now I need my own.

Chapter 18

The midday sun warmsmy bare skin, and I roll from my front onto my back. Being cooped up in that room so long can’t be good for a girl. I’m glad I made the snap decision to storm out onto the back patio instead of hiding out back there. I must have been cooking out here like a lizard for a couple of hours. The crystal-clear water of their pool looks mighty enticing right about now, even though I know I would freeze my tits off if I plunged in there. But I have to do something for fun around this place. Now my injury is feeling better, boredom is taking over. My thoughts are consumed by what my girlfriends at college and Dani at the diner might be up to. The lucky people who are free to live their lives however they please. I want out of this place, but the ten-foot concrete walls around the perimeter of the yard don’t look so easy to take on.

I sense Alessandro’s gaze fixed on me from the doorway. He’s not as stealthy as he thinks.

I suck in a sharp breath. God, give me strength to deal with whatever fucked-up things he’s about to throw at me next. I glance over my shoulder at him. “Can I help you?”

He comes closer. “I was hoping you might have cooled down a tad.”

“Nope.”

“Look, Harley, it’s shit your papa kept you in the dark about your family history, but this is the world we were born into. And no matter how much we want to, we can’t run from it.”

We.He wants to run the hell away from all this as well.“Easy for you to say. You’ve known your whole life this is who you are. What you told me today flipped my world upside down.”

“Not just some privileged, private school girl after all.”

He used to tease me about it, like I was stuck up or something. Part of me thought that was the appeal. He wanted me because he thought my papa was rich and he knew we could belong in the same circles. He also made it clear he thought I was some spoiled little princess who needed to be taught a thing or two.

“On Friday night my parents are throwing us an engagement party to announce to the world we’re getting married. I can’t hold it off any longer. I know you have your issues with this engagement, but I need you to understand this is bigger than just you and me. If you cause a scene in front of my father, he won’t be as forgiving as I am.”

I rise, prepared for a confrontation, aiming to diminish his height advantage. “Is that a threat?”

He takes it as an opening to invade my personal space, closing in on me. His hand threads through my hair and forces me to look up at him. “It’s a warning, princess. You don’t understand this world, but you’re about to get a crash course in the brutal reality. Unlike your father, I want you to be prepared before you’re thrown right into the thick of it.”

“I hate you for forcing me to do this,” I spit back at him, meaning every word.

“I can live with you hating me. Not if something happened to you.” The way he says it, it’s like he has my best interests at heart.

I laugh bitterly. “Bullshit. You’re doing this for yourself, not for me.”

His hand goes to my chin, running his thumb over my bottom lip just like he did last night. “You can’t even imagine the lengths I would go for you, my princess. Don’t assume you know what kind of man I am. You know nothing.”

It’s the same line Maddox pulled on me last night, and I wonder if they all had some sort of messed-up training in master manipulation because it certainly makes me second-guess myself for all of five seconds. Then my glare intensifies again. I know he’s getting something out of this. He wouldn’t be doing it otherwise. What we had two years ago was hot as fuck, but we weren’t anywhere near engaged. “I’m not marriage material.” I hooked up with one of his best friends last night and feel absolutely no remorse about it. That should be proof enough.

“You have a choice, then. Go out there alone and see what comes of you or marry me and let us protect you. I didn’t back you into this corner. Your papa did.”

I have no idea what he means by any of that, but the intense way he looks at me as if he wants to devour me makes me melt slightly. Why is his possessive hold on me such a damn turn-on? I should feel disgusted and take him up on his offer to get the fuck out of here. It’s the first I’ve heard I even had an option. “So, I can just leave?”

His lips turn up in a menacing smirk. “You could. It wouldn’t be smart. You wouldn’t last a day out there alone.”

I lock eyes with him, irritation crawling back under my skin. He thinks he knows me, but he only knows the girl I was before hedestroyed my soul. He doesn’t know what I’m capable of now. “I lasted six fucking months, asshole. I’m sure I would be just fine.” I go to walk away from him. I’ve had enough of this conversation and his conceited attitude toward me.

But he reaches out and grabs my wrist, stopping me. “It’s no coincidence, princess. You only survived because they wanted you to.”

My teeth grind together. “Who’s they?”

“Just another one of your father’s enemies, and they want their payback in the form of a mafia princess. Are you willing to take the chance out there alone for one of them to drag you in however they see fit? They won’t care if you’re half alive, as long as you give them what they want.”

I can tell by the look on his face he’s deadly serious. My father’s enemies are who they’re trying to protect me from. But how do I know marrying into this family would be a better option? He just admitted himself that his papa isn’t a very nice man. Maybe I’m better off taking my chances out there alone. “I have a passport. I could get on the next plane to Australia, or someplace really far away and kiss this shithole town goodbye for good.”

He takes a step closer to me, crowding me with his imposing figure. “Whose money are you using to do that with? You don’t have a cent to your name, princess,” he says, mocking me, and I hate him even more. It’s his fault I’m broke.

I glance down at the ring on my finger. I know he’s fucking right. My father’s estate is locked up somehow in his business, and short of pawning this ring, I have nothing. His hand comes to my waist, pulling me into him close.

“Let me take care of you.” His words hold a possessive edge to them, a hunger that is about more than just his infatuation with getting me in bed. He’s almost desperate for me to agree. I breathe him in, unableto help it. He has this power over me, and when we’re so close, I find it hard to think straight.

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