Page 55 of Twisted Games of Revenge

I smirk back at him, and I realize maybe I do have the love heart-eyes emoji every time I look at him. I kiss him quickly, then I turn back to Ricky. With a nod, my face hardens. This is his time for revenge, not mine.

I look back at the piece of shit dying in front of me. “This fucker should have saved Ricky’s mom when he had the chance. Instead, he left her to die at the hands of Enzo. I hope all the perks were worth it, Mr. Mayor,” I spit out in disgust.

I see it in his eyes when he realizes we’re not going to save him, and he knows exactly why. He fucked up ever getting in with Enzo Moretti. It might have taken a long time to see his retribution, but the universe works in mysterious ways, and today, I hope Ricky’s mom can finally rest in peace.

Ricky squats so he’s eye to eye with the pathetic man. “This city respected you. After today, they will know the truth. That you spend this city’s money on cheap whores to feed the guilt that eats you alive for all the sins you have committed at the hands of Enzo Moretti.” Ricky stands and makes his way back over to me, pulling me into him in a way that makes me feel every bit how much he fucking loves me.

“You won’t get away with this. No one double crosses Enzo and does,” he struggles out, his eyes on me.

“Lucky the only thing I care about is living long enough to make all you fuckers who helped him for so long pay.” I turn away from him, smiling back at Alessandro, Ricky’s arms wrapped around me protectively.

Alessandro looks up the alleyway. “This place gives me the fucking creeps.”

I glance back up to the black door with the gold number ten on it, a sadness washing over me for him. Was this where he lost his virginity to one of Enzo’s escorts? From the haunted look on his face, I know it is. Ricky looks just as messed up, and I can only imagine if Enzo thought it was good enough for Alex, he sure would have endured the same shit when he was considered old enough.

With a sigh, Alessandro’s head drops, his gaze falling to the asphalt below. “You want to know why Geovani and I have been warring for years? His wife Bianca was one of the girls we saved from Enzo, from this very club one night. The four of us were here working for Enzo, and there she was, dancing on the stage. Geovani become obsessed with her and decided that we needed to get her out of there. It was like something snapped in his brain because not one of us had ever questioned what my papa had been doing before. But this night he did. There was something about her, something broken that spoke to us all. And when we took her home and found out the truth about what Enzo and scum like this piece of shit were doing to the women who worked here, we knew something had to change.”

With a frustrated sigh, Ricky shakes his head. “Geovani thought he could save her, but she killed herself because of the pain she was still in?”

“Geo didn’t take it well?” I ask already knowing the answer.

“He promised to protect her. She became such an important part of all our lives, the reason we were all fighting my papa, and then she was just gone.”

“Geovani was devastated, and the rest of us lost a little more hope in this world,” Ricky adds and I can see how torn up he still is about it.

Sadness fills me for them all. For the poor girl they tried to save. “It’s devastating. How can we get this place shut down?”

“You can’t,” Ricky says sadly. “Not while Enzo and his entourage are still running this town. After Bianca died, we opened the Flamingo Hotel. It was our way of protecting girls who wanted to work in the sex industry. There was no way we would let what happened to Bianca happen to anyone else, or at least we thought we could control it, anyway.” I know there is so much more to all this.

Alessandro sighed. “If a girl came to us in trouble, we would get her out and provide her with protection. But there was so many who slipped through our fingers and more who didn’t want to be saved. They were so manipulated by Enzo they believed what he had them doing was normal. It was then I worked out how much control he had over this town and everyone in it.” He really has been trying to stop Enzo in his own way.

I glance back to the man now dead in front of us. He deserved what he got today, and I’m sure so much more for the poor women who were hurt at his hands. “We will take back control,” I assure them. They have been fighting all this for so much longer than I thought. I feel so bad for all the times I told them they weren’t doing anything. They were. They just had their hands tied.

“Let’s get out of here.” I toss my full coffee in the bin at the end of the alleyway, and the three of us head through the park across the street, Ricky’s hand in mine and Alessandro’s arm slung over my shoulders protectively. Like we didn’t just orchestrate the murder of our town mayor. A strange surge of adrenaline races through me, knowing I can tick one name off my list.

Chapter 24

The three of usarrive back at my apartment on a strange high. One I didn’t expect after what I witnessed today, but it feels like we just stole some control back, and that’s empowering. As I push open the door, Alessandro takes a step back, his eyes narrowed, and a flicker of something – uncertainty or apprehension maybe? – crosses his face, making my stomach clench. Ricky just looks guilty as all hell.

“What did you boys do?” I ask.

“See for yourself, princess.” Alex pushes the door open wide, and the first thing I notice is the massive wall that was connecting me with my neighbor is now missing.

My mouth nearly hits the floor. What the fuck! My apartment now looks enormous, just like Sloane’s but in the reverse layout.

“What do you think?” asks Ricky, with a kiss on my cheek and excitement in his eyes that steals away the pain of earlier.

I step a little farther into the room and realize I can see a whole other apartment, its interior bathed in the warm glow of afternoon sunlight. “I think you fuckers don’t know how to letme have my own life,” I say, but my tone isn’t laced with the bitterness it normally is when I’m angry with them. I’m just kind of confused.

“See, I told you she would be pissed about it,” Maddox grumbles, crossing his arms and slumping down on the sofa. The brand-new chocolate leather sofa that wasn’t sitting in my living room this morning when I left. I run my hand over the back of it, feeling the smooth fabric.

“How did you know what sofa I wanted?” I ask, not to any of them in particular because I don’t know who exactly did this.

Still beaming from his surprise, Ricky takes my hand in his, his grip firm and reassuring. “Looks good in here, right? Come on, I want to show you around.” He drags me into the second apartment—or what would have been the second apartment this morning. I look over my shoulder, wondering how the hell they had the wall removed and the damage all cleared up, flooring laid, and walls painted over just in the time I was out with Alex. They must have had an army of tradespeople working to make this happen in time.

“How did you get my landlord to agree to this?”

“That was the easy part.” He grins cheekily, and something tells me I don’t want to know why it was so easy. “See, this is my room,” he pushes open the door. It’s a replica of his room over at their mansion. “Next door is Maddox. Then Geovani. Alex has taken the room next to you.”

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