Page 76 of Twisted Games of Revenge

He collects me in his arms, scooping me up like a child.

“What are you doing?” I look up at him, worried what the doctors will think of us.

“Taking you home. You’re having a panic attack, and I need to get you home to bed to show you everything will be okay.”

I place a hand on his chest, stopping him. “No, Maddox, for the first time in so long I’m seeing clearly, and I know what I’m saying. I’m scared, but I know what I have to do. I’m not panicking, I’m just sad and scared.”

He doesn’t put me down, just keeps marching me out of the room and past the sonographers and toward the elevator we came up here in. Alex catches up with us, with Ricky and Geovani following closely behind. “What’s wrong?” Alex calls after us.

“Maddox, put me down,” I warn him, very aware that people are staring at us and we’re making a scene.

“No, not till we’re back in the car.” I glance up at him and see I’m not the only one freaking the fuck out. I hadn’t even considered how this would affect him today, I was too caught up in my own head. I should have realized. He tried to warn me the other day, that’s why he told me the story about Enzo as a child. He knows better than anyone how fucked up he is and how easily Enzo can steal away happiness in an instant. If he works out who I really am, I’m dead and so is my baby.

I cling to him, needing him to know he’s not alone, and if taking me home to bed so he can work through his trauma is what he needs, then I’m all for it. If locking me away with them for the next seven months is, then so be it. There are more important things than revenge.

The five of us pile into the elevator, with Maddox still cradling me. We must look ridiculous, but for once, I don’t care. This is my life now, with my boys. All five of us. And our baby.

My phone dances across the coffee table, and I reach over and grab it from my place lying on the sofa with Ricky, the late-afternoon sun warming my face. I have been dozing for the last couple of hours, wrapped up in his embrace as he stroked my hair. It’s been so easy to forget the rest of the world even exists. Until I see whose name lights up my screen. Fucking Enzo. “Fuck,” I curse under my breath, showing Ricky who’s calling me. I don’t have the energy to deal with this asshole today.

“Don’t answer it,” he mutters.

“We both know I have to.” I sit up and run a hand through my tangled curls as I answer the call before he hangs up and puts me on his shit list. “Hello.”

“Vivian, how’s my favorite daughter-in-law?” he purrs, his voice a warm rumble of affection.

I roll my eyes. “A little under the weather if I’m being honest, Enzo.”

“Is that why you haven’t left your apartment in three days?”

I glance at Ricky, a flutter of panic racing through me. I don’t like one bit that he’s openly admitting he’s actively watching my movements. “Yeah, I must have the flu or something,” I lie.

“Well, I hope you will be better by tomorrow. Valentina and I would like to invite you and the boys to a dinner at our estate. We simply won’t take no for an answer, girl.” There is a threat in his voice that tells me this isn’t an invitation, more a demand. And he’s calling me because he knows the boys won’t follow his demands anymore. But I, unfortunately, have no choice if I don’t want him to work out who I really am. Regret swirls through me, knowing it’s my own fault I’m in this situation. I never should have gotten involved with him in the first place.

“Okay, I will see what I can do,” I agree with a heavy heart, trying to sound chirpier than I feel.

“We will see the five of you at six.” He disconnects the call, not giving me any other choice.

I slump back into the soft sofa, sighing heavily. “We have dinner at the Moretti estate tomorrow with your papa and ma,”I say loud enough so they can all hear me from wherever the rest of them are in the apartment.

Maddox comes into the living room with a spatula in hand from where he was preparing dinner for us all. “He’s up to something.” He points it in my direction.

“You’re not to be left alone with Enzo again,” Geovani says so the others can hear. “I’m serious, Red, I don’t fucking trust him with you. I agree with Maddox, he’s up to something. He wouldn’t just demand we all come to the estate for a dinner party.”

I stare back at them, feeling like I’m missing something. I know I have been a little out of it the past week and preoccupied with my pregnancy, but the way they are looking at me, it’s like they know something I don’t. My heart races instantly in irritation. “What’s going on? Don’t keep shit from me,” I warn them, sitting up a little straighter so I can see them all. I might feel like shit, but I’m not beyond tearing them a new asshole if they keep me in the dark again like they used to.

“With the recent string of deaths among high society, whispers are making their way around town,” Alex says. “Enzo is losing his edge, the only club he’s still allowed in is his own, and I know he’s scrambling to get his name in people’s good graces again. The cushy life he has become accustomed to is slipping through his fingers.”

Ricky laces his fingers through mine. “Then there are the whispers of him losing his mind and turning on every person who was ever close to him. They are circulating more by the day.”

Geovani slaps the local paper down on the coffee table in front of me. “Local reporters are having a field day with the intel they were sent.” He grins cruelly, and I know he’s been working behind the scenes to leak every little bit of information we have found out about him over the last few months, makingsure this town knows the real story. The heading I can see isPhilanthropist Turned Dirty Don: the Sins of Ravens Hollow’s Elite. “The only one he has left is fucking Police Commissioner Palmer and some other dodgy cops at the local precinct. But from the update Catherine gave me, even their days are numbered. It won’t be long before they do a clean sweep of the entire station, and every filthy cop in the place will be arrested and charged for their involvement.”

“So, we are making a difference?” A small smile paints my lips. I know I said I couldn’t keep up the fight I have against him, but just hearing his arrogant voice demanding I comply is enough to want me to start up my fight all over again. In all honesty, I do still want the boys to make him pay and make sure this world is safe for my baby to come into.

Alex’s gaze lingers on me, his expression etched with a deep and unsettling concern. “He will eventually work out who is behind it all.” He takes my hand, his calloused fingers closing over mine, his eyes dark and serious, sending a chill down my spine. “Do you trust me?”

For once I don’t have to think. I know the answer. “Yes.” I search his face, my gaze lingering on his expression, searching for any hint of what he is thinking.

“Marry me before we leave the apartment again. I have an officiary lined up.”

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