Page 97 of Twisted Games of Revenge

I shake my head. I’m not ready to look into their devastated eyes again.

“Okay.” She pauses before leaving. “Harley, I know right now it feels like all is lost, but I heard what you went through yesterday. You’re brave and so strong, and you will get through this.” She smiles warmly. “You’re lucky to have such a strong support system around you. Those boys didn’t leave your side for a second last night. But if you need something else, I will leave some flyers for a support group for you. There is no shame in asking for a little help after suffering a loss like this.”

“Thank you.” I force the words out of my mouth, not wanting to even consider what other help I might need.

She walks out of the room and closes the door behind her with a click. I stare at the blank wall in front of me, not sure what to do. Eventually I throw my legs over the side of the bed, letting my feet touch the cold linoleum before I attempt to stand up properly. On shaky legs I get to my feet and walk to the ensuite attached to my room. Closing the door behind me, I take hold of the sink, seeing my reflection. The scary reality that stares back at me. I’m pale, my cheeks blotchy and tear-stained, my eyes bloodshot with dark bags hanging under them. I look like shit. Enzo took everything from me. But somehow, I’m still alive, and he isn’t.

On autopilot I turn on the shower and wait until the air fills with steam. Discarding the sleeping shorts and shirt I was in, I step under the spray, feeling the warm water hit my face and trickle over my body. I’m so devastatingly sad but numb at the same time. There is pain in my body, a light cramping that builds then disappears, and more of a constant ache in my chest, my guess that’s from the broken ribs.

A dark bruise takes up most of my middle. I run a hand over my stomach, closing my eyes, allowing another sob to rip through me. The weight of the last eleven months is stacking up on me. It’s all too much. I fought so hard, but it wasn’t enough. That asshole just keeps on taking and destroying lives, even from the fucking grave.

Then I remember the sickening crunch as I stabbed my knife into the side of his neck. The look in his eyes knowing it was me ending him. He got everything he deserved. He turned me into a monster, one just like him, but all that ends today. I won’t be defined by him or the pain he put me through. The evil king is gone, and I’m going to make sure all my sacrifices won’t be for nothing.

When I open my eyes again, the water is a pale shade of red. Blood leaking from me into the water, and it kills me all over again. How am I supposed to face the boys after this? I feel like I failed them. Alessandro and Ricky were so excited about this. Pain radiates through my chest as another sob tears from my lungs.

The shower curtain is pulled back, and Geovani stands in the space. He shuts off the water and wraps me in a towel, cradling me in his arms. He just holds me as I fall apart in his strong embrace. When I think I can’t cry anymore and my sobs turn to sniffles, he pulls back from me, his dark eyes meeting mine.

“Has anyone ever told you, you have major boundary issues?” I snip. Of course he was the one who couldn’t follow the doctor’s instructions and stay out of my room.

“You know I lose my shit when I can’t see you, Red.” He offers me a half smile, a sad one, but something in it snaps me back to reality. “Come on, let’s get you home.”

Chapter 41

After the boys broughtme home, I climbed into bed and slept for three days. Every time I woke, someone different would be holding me tightly, kissing me and telling me I was safe and loved. Our conversation has been minimal, mainly Ricky and Maddox demanding I eat and take my pain meds, nothing real.

Nothing about what happened.

But a comment I just overheard has my ears pricking up and me wanting to venture out of bed for the first time.The hotel is gone. I’m sure that’s what I just heard Ricky say.

“Alex says we need to get down there and started on the clean-up today,” comes Maddox’s voice from just outside the door to my bedroom. “Is she awake?”

I’m awake, just. When I woke this morning to the smell of fresh brewing coffee, it was Ricky’s arms embracing me. He left in search of breakfast for me, but he didn’t get far. Maddox must have been waiting right on the other side of the door. The night of the auction, I recall Valentina saying something about them being too busy putting out fires to be concerned with me.

“What happened to the Flamingo Hotel?” I ask, sitting up in bed, running a hand through my tangled curls.

Ricky glances over his shoulder, surprised to see I want to talk or that I’m sitting up. I’m not sure which one.

Maddox also pushes his way into my room, with a fresh mug of coffee that he places on my bedside table before coming to sit on the end of my bed.

“What happened?” I ask them again when neither of them have answered me.

“Enzo,” Maddox mutters.

Ricky joins me back in bed, resting his head against the headboard. He looks exhausted. “After they arrested you, we all waited down at the station for you to be released. But none of the fucking corrupt pigs would tell us anything. It was Maddox who realized your tracker was moving and you weren’t even in the holding cell anymore.”

“The cops on Enzo’s payroll orchestrated the whole thing, making sure you were separated from us,” Maddox adds, and it all makes sense. It’s what I had assumed.

“But they didn’t know about the tracker.” I find it now hung around my neck and clutch it tightly in my hand. “They were fucking idiots; they didn’t even search me properly. I fucking knew something was up.”

Ricky pulls me in closer and kisses my hair. “Lucky for us.” He offers a half smile, and I see how that night is still haunting him. “When we realized it was a set-up, we went straight to Geovani’s place and got the chopper. We knew there was no way Enzo would let us into his estate if he was holding you there. That’s when we knew Marco was involved. Geo’s place was trashed and he and Dani were gone.”

“I saw you through the window of Enzo’s office. You know Enzo wasn’t the one in charge anymore, right? Marco had taken over; he was the one dishing out orders to Enzo. He lost his shitwhen he realized Alex had tricked him by marrying me already.” A laugh escapes me. It’s not funny, I know it’s not, but fuck, it was satisfying to see that look on both their faces, knowing we had something over them.

Maddox pulls my hand toward him, kissing the back of it. “We figured as much. He must have been the disguised voice Enzo was talking to on the recording, that or it was the lawyer.”

“They had some lawyer there. You know it was Marco who killed Detective Carillon. He tricked Dani and had her teach him how to hack into your servers, he was using her the whole time.” A dull, throbbing ache settles in my chest, a heavy weight I can't ignore. A pain that feels like it will be there forever, my brother’s betrayal cutting so deep.

“He’s lucky he’s dead,” Maddox mutters, his eyes darkening, and I can only imagine what he’s thinking right now. “Being shot by his girlfriend was a lot more humane than he deserved.”

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