Page 96 of Inferno

The twins, Rowan and Reggie, appear from the side office, and I nod, hearing the soft click of their shoes on the polished floor.

We stop, and Enzo looks between them, studying them.

“Hang on.” He holds up his finger. “Don’t tell me.”

We all stand in silence as Enzo holds out a hand to Reggie on the left. They are identical, even down to the dark green streaks in their black hair. Same style, shaved sides, swept over on top.

“Reggie,” Enzo finally says with a grin, and Reggie bursts out laughing, accepting his handshake.

“Got it. What gave it away?” he asks Enzo.

“You have a slight speck of amber in your eye.”

Reggie looks at me, impressed. The twins are our right-hand men. Down to do anything. They mainly oversee the non-chocolate operations we have here.

“You don’t miss a thing,” Rowan says, and Enzo nods.

“Sir, we have a delivery coming today. We are going to split it between Mr. Volkov and Mr. Falcone and deliver one each tomorrow. Then we will be back in time to run the games,” Rowan tells me.

“Good job. Everything is ready for the games, yes?”

They nod, their eyes losing their light, a chilling darkness replacing the usual spark.

“Yep. I have to say, I’m looking forward to this. Whichever woman wins is a total badass.”

My lips curve into a broad grin, showing my teeth. That’s the plan.

“I said I wanted this year’s games to push them to their absolute limits.”

“Oh, it will.” Reggie grins.

Pain and pleasure. The premise of my games. A way I can find a woman—to inflict some of this torture I feel inside on.

No emotions. A clear deadline. No ties.

It’s perfect.

The games give us exactly what and who we need. But it’s far more than that. These games establish who the Quinn brothers are to the world.

They must believe the illusion that we are the true villains so we can be their saviors.

Once one steps into Decadence, there is no way out.

The illusion is real. In a sense, we make them walk through hell to get a taste of heaven.

“Are you ready?” I push open the door and turn to Enzo.

“Now you have me all excited.”

The group trails behind, their footsteps echoing softly as I lead them down the long corridor. We created this as an add-on to the back of the factory, completely separate with security to get through. Only to be used for the Decadence games.

Two secret exits exist.

One is for the winning girl to lead her to me.

I scan my finger on the pad and then type in the code, causing the bolt lock to turn. The first room to my left is the holding room.

Where the losing contestants are held before they meet their fate.

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