Page 73 of Twisted Games of Revenge

“Does Alex know you’re telling me this?”

Maddox’s head drops. “It was his idea.”

“Oh.” I nibble my lips, wondering why he’s letting Maddox tell me. Shouldn’t he have come as well? But when I look around at the charcoaled space, I get why he didn’t. Maddox is the only one morbid enough to want to come into this haunted hotel.

“The story Doña Carmela told was when Enzo was eight years old, his poor mother feared for her life and that of her three small children, especially her girls. So, she plotted to escape back home to Mexico, seeking safety and a fresh start for her kids under the protection of the cartel.

His mother only got as far as this hotel, a stop for the night, before he tracked her down. Enzo and his sisters witnessed everything; the violence she endured for two weeks before he finally strangled her to death. Doña Carmela didn’t know anything else for certain, but she believed that to guarantee his young children’s loyalty, his papa told Enzo it was her fault for betraying her family and for trying to use the children as pawns.”

All I can see are the little faces of those poor kids having to witness the horror. The violence right here in this very space I’m standing in forces out a silent sob. “I’m heartbroken for him.” My voice is barely audible above the tremor in my chest.

“Who wouldn’t be? It was seriously fucked up. Enzo grew to hate his mother for abandoning him and for causing the rift between the two families. His papa only grew in his bitterness to all women, and eventually, I’m sure that’s what rubbed off on Enzo. Growing up with him, Harley, I started to believe what he was saying. The only woman I had witnessed being nice to me was Ricky’s mother, and he had plenty of lies he made up about her to warp my memory of her. He was so manipulative, and we were so little when we arrived there. Other than Valentina, Enzo resented women in general for as long as I can remember, telling us they were manipulative, and we should never trust a thing to come out of their mouths. All they were good for was a hole to fill when you needed it. He spent years trying to groom the three of us to embrace power and control, just like he had, a speech so practiced I’m sure it came right from my grandfather feeding Enzo’s hunger for wealth and dominance.

“Even to this day, he has a strong hatred for his mother’s cartel and any family ties to them. We don’t feel the same. Alessandro has been obsessed with his Mexican heritage for as long as I can remember. And after his Doña Carmela came to him with this fresh information, he made sure Enzo knew about it.”

“The Day of the Dead masks.” I gasp, finally getting it.

Maddox’s lips curved into a subtle hint of amusement. “Every time he paints his face that way, it’s a fuck-you to Enzo and his grandpa. It’s also why we bought this place and did it up. Enzo hates this place. Understandably, but we needed to right the wrongs of the past. It had sat vacant from the night it had been torched. A haunted hotel, the stark reminder of what his papa did.”

Something clicks for me. It was the boys’ idea to theme the night we finally got our revenge on Dr. Northgate. “The night at the casino.”

“There is always more going on than he can tell you. Alex has his own ghosts to hide, temptress, but he’s trying. We all are for you.”

I look back at him, knowing they are. Gradually, I’m deciphering the Moretti mystery, bit by bit, revealing their inner workings. “Why are you telling me all this now?”

“Finding out you’re having our baby scared the shit out of me. What if I turn into him? I witnessed my stepmother killed right in front of me, and now that I know the truth of the horrors my birth mother endured, I can feel it rotting my insides. I hunger for revenge against Enzo in a way that’s starting to scare me, because I want to destroy every fucking part of him. To tear him apart and make him suffer in the worst way possible. But if I do, I know there will be no coming back. I’ll be just as evil as him.”

I wrap my arms around him, needing to feel his body close to mine. My poor broken man.

He pulls back from me slowly. “Enzo killed his papa. When he was ready to take the throne, he killed him. He has been a fucking psycho ever since.”

I take his hand in mine and give it a squeeze. “Even the fact you’re thinking this over as much as you are, I know you won’t turn into him. You’re different, Maddox, you do care about other people. Me, Ricky, Alex, and I’m pretty sure even Geovani.”

“The thirst for revenge warps ordinary people, distorting their minds until they become merciless and cruel.”

I blink back at him, and I know we’re not just talking about him and the other boys anymore. He’s worried about me. He cups my face, running his finger down the side of my cheek. I lean into his calloused touch, needing to be close to him. I feel the way my heart races, the desperation engrained inside of me to make Enzo and his inner circle pay. At times, it’s all-consuming. I have done unthinkable things over the last fewmonths, all in the name of vengeance. “I will stop when he’s dead,” I promise him.

“Will you be able to?” he asks more seriously.

My heart beats rapidly as I process exactly what he’s saying; he thinks I’m turning into them. But I’m not, am I?

“I don’t want the money or the power Enzo is obsessed with. And I know you could give two fucks about all that shit as well. I just want him to pay for the hell he has brought to my life. For all the pain he has caused so many innocent people in the name of power. He’s sick. I’m not. This is different.” The more I try to defend my actions, the more I get a sinking feeling. I move my hand, so our pinkies are locked. “I promise, when he pays, I will stop, and we can all leave this fucked-up life behind and go find something better. Somewhere safe for our baby to grow up so he or she won’t ever have to know this life that we have.”

He pulls me toward him, kissing my lips softly. “It’s a beautiful dream, temptress. I only hope you’re right.”

Chapter 31

Geovani and Maddox arriveback home fresh from a morning in Geovani’s downtown gym, their gorgeous, shirtless bodies glistening with perspiration in a way that makes me drool a little. I watch them move into the kitchen. I’ve been lying here on the couch in our apartment, earphones in and music playing to try to distract myself most of the morning after Ricky had a doctor come in early and take some blood tests to make sure I am actually knocked up. But that is the least of my concerns, I know I’m pregnant. The vomiting hasn’t subsided, and besides, I just feel different.

I have so many things running through my head after my conversation with Maddox the other day, and after a quick chat I had with Sloane in the hall this morning, I’m itching for answers. There is a feeling in the pit of my stomach that there is a missing piece to this puzzle. A clue that would unravel the mystery of exactly what happened to my ma.

Sloane said the recordings Jagger got access to were on most occasions different to what we had all imagined. Even thoughher escort contact had only ever been with Enzo himself, while Valentina watched from outside the room, the past recordings he found showed a different pattern of Valentina hooking up with female escorts or other women who they met at the bar, while Enzo instructed them on what to do to each other. The other girl would be blindfolded and told to wear a wig of long red curls.

Much like my own hair.

Jagger said Valentina didn’t even look lucid for most of the sessions, stumbling around the place while she followed his orders. Most of the girls would end up in tears and never come back. Jagger said it was some of the most messed-up shit he had seen. And Enzo was now banned from The Precinct. Jagger didn’t care what the consequences would be. Apparently, the only reason there even was video footage was because Enzo specifically asked for his session to be recorded, and when that happens, Jagger always keeps a copy just in case.

I don’t think the boys even know the half of what Enzo and Valentina have been up to. All three of them are real half-brothers, and that is just madness to wrap my head around. How many women was he sleeping with on the side while he was forcing his wife to participate in whatever sordid sex act he decided he wanted to see? Part of me feels sorry for her. It’s a sad reality, but she stands by him and even supports him. I saw her do it with Pia. She was right there watching while he killed her, and honestly, I think that makes her just as bad. I don’t care how evil he is. She could fight him on it, and she doesn’t.

---