Page 30 of Twisted Games of Revenge

I slump down on the velvet couch, and she hands me a box. “That’s just it, I don’t want them to get over me. I’m still in love with them. When I thought Alessandro was really looking for someone to replace me already, I was crushed. I just want this shit dealt with so I can work out what I really want without all the turbulence, you know.”

She nods, and I can see she really does understand.

“Are you okay?” I ask, wondering what happened while I was out tonight.

She fakes a smile. “Fine,” she lies.

I raise a brow, informing her I can see through her bullshit, but I will leave it for now. She clearly doesn’t want to discuss whatever is upsetting her.

“I’d be careful opening that box, it came from one of Enzo’s goons,” she adds, watching me.

“Yeah, I know. Enzo said he dropped off my payment.” I take out Alessandro’s knife and slice open the lid. When I see what’s inside, I swear my heart nearly stops.

“Oh, shit, sis.”

It’s more cash than I have ever seen in my life. “Fuck. When he said he was going to take care of me for helping him, I never expected it would be… I don’t know what to say. This is a fuck load of money. Is this what my ma was getting, is this why she was risking her life? And girls like Pia? This is so insane.” Mywide eyes rise to meet hers. She shakes her head, as much in disbelief as me.

“There is something else in the box as well.” With a quick movement, she reaches in and retrieves a car fob, feeling the smooth surface in her palm.

I stand in a rush, scared my dinner is about to come up. “Oh my God, Sloane, I feel sick. I can’t accept any of this.” I pace her office, my mind racing. This is getting out of hand.

“I don’t think you have a choice. If you want to keep up the charade, you kind of need to look the part, and he needs to believe you’re one hundred percent on board. That means accepting whatever form of payment he decided. Lucky you, it’s a shit ton of cash and a fancy new car.”

I stare at the box, not sure what to do. “I don’t want his fucking dirty money he got by murdering or trafficking innocent unsuspecting girls.”

“Yeah, and we’re going to put a stop to it, but you need to play the part, sis. We both know there are way too many dirty pigs in this town to turn him in. He would be released within the day and every witness involved would be found months later at the bottom of the Ravens Hollow dam. I get what you’re saying, accepting all this feels wrong, but when we take him down, you can give it all to charity or whatever will let you sleep at night.”

I stare back at her, knowing she’s one hundred percent right. The thing that kills me the most is the wondering if I’m becoming more and more like my poor unsuspecting ma every day. Did she start out with good intentions then get corrupted by the money, or was she just as bad as Enzo and Valentina right from the start?

“Let’s go check out your new wheels.” I walk with her out the side entrance of the club and out to the back parking lot, a chill coming over me. This side alley gives me the creeps. The only thing that makes me feel slightly better is knowing Onyx is closebehind us. He’s never far away from Sloane. I haven’t had the chance to ask her why she needs a bodyguard, but she just gets on with her day and he follows her around like it’s normal, so I guess I have to act like it is as well.

I flinch when I make it to the lot and see Ricky leaning up against his Jeep at the far end of the lot. “For fuck’s sake,” I utter under my breath. I have had enough Moretti to deal with tonight. I move across the lot quickly. “What are you doing here?”

“Waiting for you,” he snaps, looking over Sloane and Onyx who have followed behind me.

“Ricky.” Sloane smiles at him, but her tone is not impressed. She has a way of sending a warning without saying anything more than a name.

“Give us a sec,” I tell her, not sure what Ricky wants, but I know I can’t keep on avoiding him forever. If I’m going to keep up this act, I need him on my side. Even more than that, I need him not to look at me the way he is right now.

“I’ll leave you to check out your new car alone,” Sloane mutters, throwing me the key. The fob goes off, and I see the taillights of a red Maserati Levante light up. Oh my God.

Ricky watches me walk around the vehicle, checking it out. It’s beautiful, my papa would have loved it.

“Whose car?” he asks.

“Mine.” I sigh. “I’ll give you two guesses who gifted it to me.”

“Enzo.” He lets out a low growl, then motions with his finger for me to come toward him. “I need to talk to you,” he says when I don’t move. The problem is maybe I don’t want to hear what he has to say. I know how much I hurt him, I can see it every time he looks at me.

With reluctance, I nod in agreement and start moving toward him. With a gentle push, he opens the back door of his car. “Get in.”

Wondering what he’s up to, I rest a hand on my hip, feeling a mix of confusion and irritation. “Why?”

As he leans in closer, I can feel his warm breath tickling my ear. “So no one can hear our conversation. If Enzo bought you that car, it’s bugged for sure.”

“Oh.” I glance back at my new car, believing him. I know Enzo likes to bug shit to watch over the boys, and what better way to control his son’s new girlfriend than to know everywhere she goes and what she’s saying. What Ricky doesn’t know is his car is also bugged by us.

I hop up into his car, and he joins me, closing the door once the two of us are in the back together. Alone in a confined space that smells like him, I can’t help but inhale his scent. Something about it makes me feel like I’ve come home.

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