Page 14 of The Players

Carmen’s chest heaved and her eyes spat fire. “I will never belong to any man again, let alone to two. And I will never ask for your help again. There’s another way to get out of this mess. I’m sure of it.”

She wasn’t listening. Her stupid pride and distrust in him were going to get her killed.

“Yeah? How you gonna fix this, Carmen? Enlighten me. I’m just dying to find out. You couldn’t fix the dead body in my club, could you?” She cringed when he mentioned that little tidbit he was planning to have a chat about later. “You can’t handle the casino situation all by yourself either. What’s it gonna take for you to admit that? If it weren’t for Gio, you would have already lost the casinos. And guess what? Either Morelli or Keegan would have taken you with it. Carmen Caruso, prized possession and their new whore.”

He’d gone too far. He knew it. But sometimes it took being an asshole to help an innocent. She needed a reality check. Stat.

“You bastard. You filthy, not going to put my life in your hands again, bastard.”

With those parting words, she all but ran away from him. Guess he should consider himself lucky she didn’t carry her whip.

***

Vince watched the sway of Carmen’s ass from above as she left the building. Her feet hit the pavement as if her skirt was on fire. Hell, he’d love to put her panties on fire. He also wasn’t the only one. Whether she wanted to be or not, she was on Sy’s radar now.

He remembered Sy’s words after his encounter with Carmen.

“She’s drawn first blood and is gonna pay for it, one way or the other.”

For a second there, a knot had formed in his stomach. A whipping was a major trigger with his friend. Carmen was lucky Sy hadn’t gone full berserker on her because when Sy snapped, there was no holding him. He went just as crazy as his brother, Viking, who loved to bring a hammer to a gunfight.

Carmen had barely left when Gio returned. He could see the worry lines in Gio’s face from across the hall. His brother knew exactly what was coming. He probably thought it was a bad time to be having a baby. His enemies would love his vulnerability, but they didn’t know his brother as he did. Having another person to protect, a tiny one at that, would only make Gio more fierce.

“Was that Carmen I just saw leave?”

“Yeah. She was here for help, and I took care of it.”

“Really? Since when?” His brother never minced his words. “You’ve never taken a woman seriously before.”

Why start now? The unspoken words hung between them.

Of course, he could have told his brother the truth. That he owed Carmen, and would do anything to right the wrong he did over a decade ago. Except, that would only lead to more questions. Still, it irked him that his brother thought so little of him concerning Carmen.

He thought back on the way Gio had reacted when he told him he was serious about sharing a woman with Sy. Gio told him he didn't understand it but he’d support him, no matter what. Then he’d called him a kinky motherfucker. He’d given him his support back then. Now, he needed his brother’s trust.

“You’re not the only one who knows how to protect and provide, big brother,” he gritted through his teeth.

The surprise on his brother’s face was almost comical. Him using their dead father’s mantra for the first time ever obviously had the effect he was hoping for.

“So, it’s like that?” Gio asked.

Yeah, it was, whether Carmen wanted it or not. The woman needed a keeper or two.

She just didn’t know it yet.

CHAPTER 5

CARMEN

Carmen practically jumped inside the first cab that stopped for her. She couldn’t get away from Detta Tower fast enough.

Become ours.

Vince’s outrageous words chimed in her head. Never again would she shackle herself to a man, let alone two. She was done playing the good, little, obedient wife.

Come to us freely and we’ll protect you.

There had to be another way. She just needed a clear head. Somewhere to sit down and think quietly. What she also needed was a friend. Someone who wasn’t her sister, who would go and kick Vince’s ass for suggesting to her what he did.

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