Page 3 of Darkest Game
I take her hand. “Mom, I know you’re afraid. So am I. But we have to contact Mikhail and Nico and tell them. We have to trust that they’ll keep us safe. Because otherwise…”
Otherwise, we have no one. And that does put me and Ana at risk. We’re easy pickings for any mafia man to steal us. In the mafia world, women are property. We’re not real human beings but trophies for our husbands to parade around. At least, that’s what I assume. I’m not married so I don’t fully know how any of it works.
“You’re right,” Mom says, letting out a sigh. “Once Denis is gone, we’ll get word to Mikhail and Nico and hope they can protect us. But once others find out Denis is no longer controlling us, the vultures will swoop in.”
I can only shiver at her words. They’re an omen of bad things to come.
Denis’s guards leave after a few hours, meaning Denis is truly gone into hiding. But he could come back at any moment. Come back to ruin our lives. I don’t want to get too comfortable. Too happy. Because once I’m happy, it will hurt more when that happiness is taken away.
Mom finds Dad’s contacts in the office, including Mikhail’s number. They used to work together when my dad was still alive.I have to hope that’s reason enough to trust Mikhail. But it’s only Natalya I trust.
“Mikhail will be here soon to pick us up,” Mom says. “It will be better to get out of this house as fast as possible. I don’t want anyone trying to take advantage of us when we’re vulnerable.”
My mom always speaks of the outside world as a dangerous, deadly place and she would know better than I do. When my dad was alive, he kept me sheltered. All of my sisters sheltered. And when Denis took over, he literally kept me locked up. I haven’t known much of the outside world. It was fine when I was a kid but now I’m an adult. A young woman. I can’t be so innocent to the way of things. I’m scared it’s going to ruin me.
But I’ll have no way of learning about how dangerous this life is if I never experience it and frankly, I don’t want to experience any more trauma for a long time.
Mikhail arrives within the hour. Natalya is with him.
The sight of my sister in the driveway makes me break out into a run until I’m in her arms. She squeezes me back so hard, it almost hurts, but I don’t mind it. We haven’t spoken in almost two years. Neither of us make any move to let each other go.
“I’m sorry it took so long,” she whispers to me.
“You’ll keep us safe? Mikhail will keep us safe?”
“Yes. I promise you that. You’re safe now.”
I finally let myself break down into tears because I know my big sister is here to catch me.
Mom and Ana also join in on the hug and for the first time in years, I feel safe.
Liam
I settle back in my seat behind my desk, feeling powerful. My nightclub is in full swing. Money is coming in. Drinks are going out. People are caught in lust and desire. I love nights like this.
As the head of my fraction of the Irish mob, I have a lot of privileges. After my former boss, Cillian Kennedy, died I took up the mantle and life has been sweet ever since then. Money and women and booze. It’s all ripe for the picking.
My second in command, Jimmy, brings a silver platter into my office. On the platter are three perfect lines of coke. I indulge here and there for the fun but I’m not a serious drug addict. I need to keep my wits about me in this job. If someone saw any weaknesses with me, they would strike and I can’t have that. I have worked too hard in the past few years to get where I am.
Putting up with Cillian’s demands when he was still alive, forging my new path as boss, and fighting for power. It’s taken a lot and now here I am.
I snort a line and lean back in my seat. “That’s the good stuff, Jimmy. You can have the rest.”
“Thanks, boss.”
Within the mob, there’s multiple ranks of bosses. I’m just one of them. There’s a few others in the city who are technically higher than me in rank but we usually leave each other alone. I do my work and they do theirs and no one fights.
“Bring in Amanda,” I say. After snorting a line, Jimmy leaves the room and a few minutes later, a sexy redhead comes into my office. “Hey, baby.”
“Hey.” Her smile is sultry as she sits in my lap. Her hands rake over my tattooed arms. I’m not one for suits. I prefer the rockstar look – half button shirts and rings on my fingers. What can I say? It’s a good look on me.
“How are you tonight?” I ask, gripping her ass.
“I’ve missed you.” Amanda is a woman I regularly fuck but I don’t have a serious relationship with. Neither of us are looking for anything serious at the moment.
“Good,” I growl before bringing her lips to mine. I can feel myself harden, ready to fuck her, when the door to my office bursts open and in walks a man I’ve never seen before. “This is my office. Get the fuck out.”
“Liam O’Connor?”
