Page 77 of Twisted Games of Revenge

I stand in a rush, pulling away from him, sudden heat flooding my cheeks and my belly churning uncomfortably. What the fuck? Glancing around the room toward the other boys, they all look just as worried. Their concern for my safety when it comes to Enzo makes my heart race. I get it, right now he must feel like he’s in a pressure cooker, his entire existence about to explode. He will be looking for anyone he can to blame.

“It’s just a hunch, baby doll, accompanied with some snippets of conversations we have been able to tap, but we would all feelbetter knowing you have a little more security. Especially when he does eventually work out who you really are. He’s a smart man, and when he works out you’re more pregnant than you should be with Alex’s baby since you haven’t been together all that long, it’s going to raise suspicion. You heard him, he knows you haven’t left this place in three days, and Sloane said it as well. He’s watching you, just waiting for you to slip up. It’s his paranoia and his hatred toward women. He will turn on you, it’s just a matter of time.”

Alex takes my shoulders, his eyes meeting mine. “I have to save you from him, Harley. Marry me and he won’t touch you or the baby, you will be one of us. You said you trust me, and now’s the time. When we get all this sorted, you can annul the marriage if that’s what you want, but at least you will be safe to make that choice.”

With a quick glance over my shoulder at the boys, I check for their opinion on what to do. Ricky’s eyes encourage me to say yes. Maddox gives me a nod, and Geovani’s face says it all. He really is concerned. Fuck. “Geo?” I ask, knowing how he feels about this.

“It’s for the best, Red. We have to do all we can to keep you safe. If he thinks you’re one of us, you have a better chance.”

My heart races, and I swallow the lump that’s formed in my throat. A real marriage is the last thing I want, but I do trust them, all of them, and I know they wouldn’t be doing this unless there is real reason to be alarmed. What would they get out of tricking me at this point? Nothing. He knows what I have and who I am, and I know everything there is to about him. “What did the conversations say? The snippets you heard?”

“He has someone else working with him. Their voice is disguised in the recording, so it’s impossible to know exactly who it is, but there is talk about your family’s businesses. And who is the rightful heir in your papa’s absence.”

“Marco is. He’s the first born.” I sigh, exasperated.

I can feel Geovani’s eyes on me. He wants me to take control, but he knows how I feel about it. “Red, we all know Stefano signed the paperwork over to you, and Enzo is questioning how it’s possible since you’re dead, that the papers haven’t transferred to Marco.”

I narrow my eyes. “Why would he want Marco to have control over them? He hates Marco for betraying him.”

“As far as we know, he doesn’t want Marco to have anything to do with it. But whoever he was talking with, possibly a lawyer judging by their tone, is demanding concrete proof of your death, and he was meticulously searching the records for it.”

I feel the color drain from my face. I knew this was coming, that he would eventually work me out.

Alessandro grips my hand tightly, pulling my attention back to him. “Princess, they have no proof; we did a good job of making your death look legit. Enzo was a master at falsifying records, and he taught me everything he knew. Maybe a little too well, since all the people he used to pay for favors now ignore his calls and walk right past him on the street, preferring to put their trust in me.”

I glance up at him, processing what he’s saying. He sounds confident in his people, but how can he be sure? Enzo’s corruption is so deeply ingrained in this town’s history. How can we ever really be sure someone won’t turn on us just because he’s willing to pay a little more. “Was there ever a person in Dani’s car? The news report said there was a body found in the burnt-out vehicle,” I ask, needing to know.

Alex shook his head, his dark hair falling over his eyes making him look younger, filled with fresh hope for the future. “With new ownership of several media outlets, it’s simple to shape public perception. Enzo isn’t the only one who has diversified his career.” His eyes gleam with pride, knowing he has somethinghis papa doesn’t. He mentioned to me he was broadening his interests, but I wasn’t imagining this. “I told you I have big plans for the future, Harley. I don’t want to follow my papa’s footsteps, and I have kept this to myself until today because I didn’t want Enzo to find out until I was ready. I won’t let my name define me anymore, and I don’t want anyone else in this room to be defined by it either. We can forge our own path and leave behind the shit of the past and the legacies we were born into.”

I stare back at him, trying to process all this new information. He looks as though a weight has been lifted off his shoulders, and I’m happy for him. This is what I wanted for him, to be out of the shadows of his horrible papa. This was his plan all along. Not just to take his papa out but to obliterate what he has created over the years. “This is why you couldn’t just rush in and take him out. This is why you kept saying you needed to be ready,” I mutter almost to myself.

“It wasn’t that we didn’t want to help you take him down. For years this has been our sole purpose. It was just more complicated than shooting him in the head. As much pleasure as that would have given me.” Maddox sniggers from behind us, and I know how much pleasure he would have taken in ending Enzo.

I smirk over my shoulder at him.

“Enzo’s immense power meant that his death would send shockwaves through the fragile ecosystem of the underworld, trickling down to everyone. Now it’s what the people crave.” Ricky chuckles, a low rumble in his chest, and I’m sure he’s imagining the horrified look on Enzo’s face when he works out what Alessandro has done.

He once said to me how defiant Alex was and that he would only do the opposite to what he told him. He might have been right about that, but in the best way possible. Where he saw what his papa was all about and eliminated him, Alessandro chose torise above the awfulness and make something better. I smile at him, proud of what he has achieved, knowing our baby will come into a world that is better than the one we have all suffered in.

He smiles back at me, a warm, genuine smile that crinkles the corners of his eyes. “With the help of my new media allies, I aim to mitigate the harm and reshape our town’s narrative, transforming it from a misogynistic dictatorship where women are mere pawns in his twisted game—controlled, silenced, and stripped of their dignity—into a place of empowerment and equality. Your friend Sloane might even change her opinion of me now.” He laughs. He actually laughs. “I know some of this is a bit of a shock, but from now on, princess, I promise you I will tell you everything. I want us to be in this together. All of us.”

I squeeze Alessandro’s hand back, swallowing down my fear. “Okay. Let’s do it,” I agree. “I’ll marry you.”

He pulls me close, his arms wrapping around me tightly, and then kisses my lips. I feel his relief, a weight lifting from my shoulders as it does from his. We’re all really in this together now. In less than twenty-four hours I will be a Moretti.

Chapter 33

I run my handsover the white linen dress I picked out for today’s very informal ceremony, if you can even call it that. I look as nice as can be expected when I still feel shitty. The makeup job Sloane’s girl did for me at least gives me a slight glow. Anything so I don’t look like death warmed over for tonight’s dinner with the Morettis. From what the boys have told me, it’s pretty simple. The officiary will come, and we will both sign the paperwork, and then it all gets sent off to be made legal.

Me legally bound to Alessandro.

I still can’t believe I agreed to it, but I’m not backing out now. I agree with his reasons, and the only thing I care about is protecting my baby from its monster of a grandpapa. If giving up my independence is how I do it, so be it.

A knock comes at the door to the small farmhouse room I changed into my dress in. Geovani is waiting for me when I open it. He looks sharp in his expensive suit. I tilt my head to the side, way too many inappropriate thoughts going through my head.

“It’s time, Red.” He smirks wickedly, and I know he’s right there with me.

I sigh heavily. “Are you sure you’re okay with this? I know Alex said I can annul the marriage when this is all over, but we both know this will look real to everyone else. I’m sorry I can’t marry you both.”

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