Page 40 of Wicked Games of Desire

“I can’t believe you’re here.” Feeling like I’m in a dream, I let him guide me away from them. I’ve been so lonely without him, so lost, but it was all a lie. He’s alive, and now everything is going to be okay. It has to be.

He takes my hand. “Let’s go somewhere quiet to talk before we go back to the party.”

When I take a quick look over his shoulder, I notice the boys are still watching us attentively. Of course they are.

“You have twenty minutes,” Alessandro snaps, and it leaves me wondering why Marco has so much sway with these guys.

Marco guides me into a room just a little farther up the hall and the two of us go inside. He closes the door behind us, and the click echoes through the room. I glance around, wondering where he’s brought me. The room looks like a bedroom with a king bed off to one side and an office to the other. But it’s the travel bag on the floor that has my curiosity piqued. “Are you staying here?”

He nods as we take a seat side by side, with a heavy silence hanging in the air between us. I can’t help but stare at him—his expensive suit, the way his hair curls at the ends, the fresh scar on his face, and his unusually long beard. He’s not the same boy who called me every night to check on me. Something enormous has transformed him.

He squeezes my hand in a silent gesture that offers some reassurance. “I only got back yesterday. The Morettis have kindly offered me a home until this has calmed down.”

I look him over. “Where have you been?”

“Italy.”

I give him a piercing look, questioning why he’s being so abruptly curt in his responses. He’s acting like one of them. “And you didn’t think to mention that to me? Call and let your only sister know you’re still alive? I mourned you. Jesus, Marco, I thought they killed you. I could have…” God, when I think of what I was aiming to do when I arrived at their underground compound, it makes me feel physically sick. How did I get all of this so wrong?

He lowers his head, and I sense the burden on his shoulders. “I’m so sorry, Lana. I never wanted to hurt you, but the situation got out of control, and this was the only way.” When our eyes meet, I see a haunting sadness in his gaze. “I had to turn to the Morettis for help or we would both be dead because of our stupid father.”

“What did he do? I want the truth. No sugar coating it because you think I can’t handle it or shit like that. I can, and right now I need to know exactly what we’re up against so I can get us out of this mess.”

“You can’t get us out of this. No one can. The Moretti family employed our father to smuggle cocaine across the nation hidden in the spare tires of the high-end vehicles he was bringing in. He engaged in illegal drug trafficking on behalf of this family for years. He was a big deal, and our name still is. The Morettis’ business doesn’t just extend to the casino. It’s a hell of a lot more complicated than that.”

I feel sick, his unsettling gaze stripping away the illusion I’ve held onto for so long. “What are you talking about, Marco?” My intuition already knows the answer deep within. For years, I’ve had vivid dreams, flashes of conversations or fights that didn’t seem real, but Iknew were. My drawings flash through my head, and one in particular sticks with me. “Mom?” I whisper, not sure what to expect.

He nods, and memories flood through. A vivid image of her on our bathroom floor fills my mind, making my chest tighten.

“She died because of him, didn’t she?” Deep down, I always knew it was true, but I couldn’t accept the idea that her death could be linked to him. Everything was always veiled in secrecy, with hushed whispers that were beyond my understanding as a young child. But I had ears, and I knew something more was going on. Maybe that’s why he sent me away. Sadness overwhelms me at the thought.

I get a vision of my beautiful ma, the last I remember. She was curled in a ball on the bathroom floor. I screamed for my papa to come help me wake her up. Hugged her ever so tightly, hoping my cuddles would warm up her cold skin. But there was nothing I could do. My father took one look at her and knew. The way he yelled at me to get away from her scared the shit out of me, and I ran for it. Straight into Marco’s protective arms. He tried to shield me from the pain I was about to endure, but he was right there with me, grieving for her as well. He may have been eight years older than me, but he was still a kid who needed his mom.

“He was the one who got Mom hooked. She died of a drug overdose, not a terrible accident like he made you believe.”

A sob involuntarily escapes my lips as the harsh truth digs its way into my soul, gradually eroding the small amount of goodness that remained. He’s lucky he’s already dead. If he hadn’t been killed by the Morettis, I would have taken it upon myself to eliminate him for taking her away from me.

“His selfishness knew no bounds, and she held onto him as if he was the only thing that mattered in her life. Until he became so engrossed in the business that she became invisible to him, and he started feedingher the product to keep her sedated and pliable. If she was high, she wouldn’t know the truth about what he was doing behind her back. How deeply engrained in this life he was. And it was deep, Sis, our father did things for this family no one should have to. And for years it worked, he distracted her enough he could keep up the charade.”

“How could he hurt her in such a horrible way? She loved him.” Tears blur my vision, and I bury my head in my hands. I keep seeing her beautiful face and the way she looked at him like he was her everything.

Marco’s hand comes to my back, rubbing slow circles. But doesn’t this all tear him up inside as well, or is he so accustomed to it that it doesn’t affect him anymore? “He didn’t care about anyone but himself and how he came across to his boss—Enzo Moretti. Dad dreamt of being one of the big players, having the billions and the life that went with it.”

Mr. Moretti, I hate that name with a passion. That man, he’s pure evil. I can see it in his eyes. My cheek still fucking stings from his slap. “How do you know all of this?” I demand, needing to know everything.

His eyes, filled with ghosts, meet mine with a sense of gravity. “I know he seems harsh, but he has done things for us that only family should ever have to. We both owe him our lives.”

I return my attention to Marco. “Why did Papa send me away? When I was little, why did he keep all of this from me?”

“To protect you from this life. It’s no place to bring up a little girl without a mother.”

“Then why drop me in the middle of it now?” I cry, frustration taking over my emotions.

The door opens, and I hear Alessandro, Ricky, and Maddox enter the room quietly, right behind me, but I keep my focus locked on mybrother. Adrenaline surges through my veins, causing my hands to shake. I’ve never experienced such a blend of confusion and clarity in my life before. “Who are you? And don’t fucking lie to me, Marco. I deserve the truth.”

He looks toward the boys, seeking their approval before proceeding. “Maddox, Ricky, and I have been friends since childhood, and we all swore our loyalty to the Moretti family together.”

“So, you work for Alex?”

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