Page 48 of Wicked Games of Desire

As I step out of the shower, he passes me a towel. “Why don’t I remember most of the night?” I ask, wrapping the plush fabric around myself, still in an orgasm-induced daze.

His eyes meet mine, and I can see he doesn’t want to tell me whatever it is he knows. My hands fly to my hips, ready to rip into him for keeping more shit from me. “He drugged your drink.”

A sick feeling washes over me. “Who?”

His eyes meet mine, a brutality in them that scares me. He’s fiercely protective of me, surprisingly so. “Geovani.” He mutters his name like it’s acid bubbling out of his mouth.

I blink back at him, confused. I didn’t know him back then. “He was here at that party with you guys? I didn’t see him.”

“You wouldn’t have, but he had his eyes on you.”

I hug my towel a little tighter to my chest, feeling creeped out for sixteen-year-old me who had no idea what she was getting herself into. “How do you know he drugged my drink?” I utter out the words, not sure if I really want the answer. This could all just be lies to get me to side with them.

However, his serious facial expression convinces me of his sincerity. “I saw him. I couldn’t get to you in time before you drank it. That’s why I took care of you. I couldn’t leave you out there with them when you had no idea what was going on.”

Something in the deep torment in his voice as he says the words makes me believe him. I don’t remember Geovani, but I know I didn’t drink that much beer and I was well and truly out of it. I was also sicker than I had ever been the following day. Someone drugging my drink makes more sense. But why the fuck would he have done that?

“Why was he here? Don’t you all hate him?” I throw back at him. He’s awful chatty today, and I want to know as much as he’s willing to tell me while the other two aren’t around.

“Not always.”

“Were you all friends?” I ask, trying to piece it all together.

He glances down at his phone, his expression changing. “The boys are on their way. Better get dressed,” he says instead of answering my question.

“They’re okay.” I breathe a sigh of relief. He said they would be. My eyes fixate on the shirt I have tossed onto the tile floor. It’s covered in blood and had the buttons ripped from it. Not really wearable anymore. I pull the towel a little tighter around my body. I guess I’m wearing a towel for now?

“There are clothes for you in the room down the hall,” he says like he’s just read my thoughts again.

My brow furrows. “Why?”

“So you can get dressed,” he responds, looking at me like I’m simple.

“No. Why would there be clothes in this place for me? And why were my body products and shampoo already in this place? We didn’t know we wouldcome here today.”

“Go get dressed,” he says, exasperated with me, but it’s not my fault I have no idea what’s going on. None of this makes any sense to me. He leaves the room before I can ask any more annoying questions.

I tiptoe down the hallway, pushing open doors going in search of a bedroom. I find three. Not four. Hmm. The first one I try has mostly black or dark gray furnishings. The only clothes in the closet are men’s. A leather jacket, mostly T-shirts and dark jeans, and from the scent I already know it’s Maddox’s room. The next room is larger with a four-poster bed in it very similar to the one I woke up in this morning in Alessandro’s room. I check the double wardrobe and sure enough, one side looks like what Alessandro would wear on an ordinary day. The other has dresses, jeans, and blouses all in my size.

Why am I not surprised he’s expecting me to share a bed with him from now on. Controlling asshole.

I pull out a pair of jeans and off-the-shoulder shirt with a print on the front, then find some underwear and a bra and slip them on, feeling the delicious pain left from Maddox’s rough touch as I shimmy into them. My hair is a tangled mess, and when I find my way into the ensuite, of course there is a replica brush of mine and everything I could possibly need to do my makeup and hair. I fix myself up as quickly as I can. I have no idea how long before the other boys will get here, but I want to check out Ricky’s room before they do.

On the bed a glint of metal shines in the late afternoon sun, and I rush to it, realizing what’s lying there. My knife. The one Geovani gave me and I thought was lost forever in the caves. I slip it in my pocket, wondering if this is Maddox’s way of saying he trusts me now. Or at least he’s pretty sure I won’t murder him in his sleep.

Not seeing any sign of Maddox when I pop my head out into the hallway, I sneak into the last room that has to be Ricky’s. Just like the other boys’, his wardrobe smells of him, and I wonder how often theycome to this house if it still holds their scent so well. I feel one of his soft button-up shirts, feeling grateful that he’s on his way. I won’t feel okay again until I actually see him in the flesh.

“What do you think you’re doing, baby doll?” comes his smooth voice from the doorway.

I shove the door closed and run to him, throwing my arms around him dramatically. He winces, and I know he’s hurt, but he pulls me in close, hugging me tightly anyway. Like he needed to feel my body close to his just as much.

Chapter 28

Ricky chuckles softly. “Someone’smissed me.” He pulls me back, kissing my lips like this is some kind of normal thing we should do, but it’s not and he knows it. There is nothing normal about any of this. I shouldn’t have given two shits if he survived today or not, but I did.

His finger gently grazes the bite mark on my lip. “I see Maddox has taken good care of you in my absence.” His lips twitch into a smirk, I’m sure imagining just how my lip was damaged, but he has no idea just how well his brother took care of me.

I shrug, not sure how much I want to give away about what happened between us. It might have been rough, but there was an intimacy between us as well, and until I wrap my head around what it was, I’m keeping the details to myself.

---