Page 119 of Filthy Little Games

This lifestyle is so fucked up, it constantly has me questioningwho I can and can’t trust to kill me or rat me out to the cops. Or who will die next because of me.

“How is Zara?” he asks.

“She’ll have some scars, some bones that need to heal, but she’ll be okay.”

“Well, you look like someone just ran over your puppy instead of scooping it up and saving it from the middle of the street. You’re serious about sending her away after everything?”

“I hate it. I do. Of course, I want her to stay. But I can’t. Our necks are all on the line now. Shit is going to be tense for a while, then we’re all going to be locked up.”

“Yeah, I doubt Stella will take the news of me killing dear old dad very well either.”

“She won’t find out,” I assure him. “We’re taking the guards with us. Emilio’s death will look like a suicide. As long as we don’t leave any breadcrumbs behind, we might be okay.”

“You’re not going to be okay without her, man. Admit it.”

“Zara’s been through hell. It’s time for her to be free and live her life on her own terms for once. She told me...”

“Told you what?” he asks when I hesitate.

“She told me I was the first man of her choosing she’d ever slept with.”

“Fuck. That’s brutal. Especially when you didn’t believe she actually wanted you.”

“No, I didn’t. I should’ve, but everything was so fucked up. Even with him torturing her, she was determined to make sure I knew Bowen Bertelli helped Izaiah with the raid and gave her up today.”

“That fucker’s funeral is next on the agenda,” he remarks.

“We’ll have to be careful about how we handle it. The last thing we need is to have two families coming after us. One is plenty.”

“That littlefiglio di puttanais going to pay for killing Carmine and Jasper one of these days, though.”

“Yes, he will,” I promise him. “I’m sure we can come up with something in a few months to make it look like an accident once all this dies down.”

“Of course we can.”

“Just as soon as things are settled with the Rovinas. And before we go to prison,” I tell him. “For now, we need to clean up any trace of Zara in this building and get a doctor to the penthouse to clean those wounds.”

37

Zara

The family’s doctor on call was already at the penthouse when we got there. He examined my burns, treated them, and set my fingers. There was nothing to be done about my toes other than taping them to the others. Before he left, he gave me antibiotics and pain pills along with all the bandages and supplies I’ll need for the next several weeks.

I could barely keep my eyes open after, so that night I didn’t think twice before I climbed into bed with Oriana. My arms wrap around her, as if I might fall asleep and she’d disappear again. I couldn’t handle it if she were taken from me again.

Which is why I hate to admit that Creed might be right. She’ll be safer if she’s far away from him and the mafia world, which means both of us will be far away from him, since I’ll never leave her side again for another second.

Paige and Bethany were, thankfully, okay and not too traumatized after Tristan and Creed’s men grabbed them.

Nobody was shot, or at least that’s what Tristan told me. I know what will happen to Emilio’s guards. They’ll probably end up in the ocean with Izaiah.

I’ll be forever grateful to the two women sleeping soundly on the other side of the bed. I hope wherever we’re going they stay with me and Oriana. The three of us could share an apartment and help each other with all the other finances, so it wouldn’t be so bad, taking turns watching Oriana.

It sounds like a pretty good life, except Creed won’t be there, and we won’t ever see him again after we leave New York City.

The life of a don will always consist of violence. That reminder is now etched across my chest.

The only option would be for Creed to come with us, which I know he won’t do. He can’t walk away from all the people who need him here, running things in the city. Even the occasional visits would be too difficult because eventually the distance would cause us to drift apart until we both decided to give up.

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