Page 32 of A Game of Secrets

Max steadies himself as he comes too, pulling himself up off the floor. Visibly concussed, he stumbles forward towards his opponent’s outstretched hand. He can not be serious, he wants to shake his fucking hand!? I am full of anger and before I can stop myself I’m already climbing between the ropes and screaming in this brutes face. His beautifully demonic, bloodied face.

“What have you done to him, you monster!” I scream, unable to stop myself, while shoving at his chest. His brows furrows in the middle and his face suddenly contorts somewhere between hurt and anger. It stops me from lashing out again.

I turn to face Max and help him back onto the stool in his corner of the ring and begin dousing a cloth with warm water to soak the already dried blood painted onto his face. He smirks widely, baring bloodied teeth in his opponents direction. I scold him quietly, “Don’t fucking gloat you dick, you lost!”

“But the look on his face is priceless,” he chuckles, before wincing as I apply pressure to his split eyebrow.

We stay quiet for a few minutes while I debride his wound and apply a few butterfly stitches to close it. “These will hold for now but you may need some sutures if it continues to bleed. Your lip will be fine. Your ego I’m not so sure about.” He scoffs at me. “Who was it you were fighting? What’s his name?“ I ask, trying not to sound as interested as I really am. Max’s face hardens and I can tell he’s deliberating his answer.

After a painfully long minute he finally spits out, “His name is Silas Salvatore. He’s a piece of shit. The Italian Don. Boss of the West territory and our main rivals. They’ve had it out for us big time ever since one of their main guys mother got shot and they pinned it on us,” he tips his chin up in the direction over to the side and I follow his gaze over to where the second man, who I now realize is Linc, who I met in the park only a few days ago, stands deeps in conversation with a group of men, all of whom are built like bloody brick shit houses.

My eyes widen and a small but audible gasp escapes my throat. “I know him,” I say, eyes still focusing on Linc, now absolutely sure he is the man from the park. “I know Silas. I know them all.” I say, each word getting quieter as I do.

Max’s harsh grip on my arm startles me. “What do you mean you know them?” His voice more of a demand than a question.

I gape open mouthed at him, the feel on his fingers tightening around my bicep. “You’re hurting me,” I say.

His eyes all of a sudden soften as he apologizes. “I’m sorry, but you must listen to me. You can not get involved with these men, they’re dangerous!” He pauses before repeating the question. “How do you know them?”

I swallow hard and begin to explain. “Silas was an inmate at HDSP when I did my monthly rotation there not long ago. He was waiting for treatment when I got back from my lunch break. I didn’t know his name, I didn’t ask.” I feel the heat rise in my cheeks at the memory, hoping Max won’t notice.

“Did you tell him anything about yourself?” Max asks, the answer already written on the horrified look upon my face. He lowers his head and runs his fingers through his hair.

“I only told him my name!” I blurt out. “It’s not that bad is it?”

He looks up to me. “That’s all he would need to know, Luce. How do you know his brother Cole, and what about Lincoln Rossi?”

I cringe debating whether or not to mention meeting Cole in JEWEL the night he looked after Teddy and Bella, and for letting him take me home after, though at the time I didn’t realize it was him. He’ll think I’m fucking stupid for sure at letting my guard down so easily, and I kissed him for fuck sake, I really am a lost cause. His one eyebrow cocks and I know I have to tell him. “I met him in the club, the night I went out with Kat.” I say, holding my breath for his response, intentionally leaving out the few minor or maybe major details he doesn’t need to know. “And Linc I met in the park with Teddy, his son was with him and he helped get Teddy’s plane down when he got it stuck in the tree.”

Max snaps his head immediately. “The day I was with you at the park?” His eyes now almost burn a hole into the back of Lincoln Rossi’s head. I nod slowly. “I fucking knew it was him on that bench!” He roars, standing up straight. He wobbles slightly, holding onto the ropes to steady himself. “He knew who you were, Lucille. Don’t you get that? They all know who you are. You’re one of us and that means something to them!” His voice is desperate now and his eyes are pleading with mine. “You need to stay away from them, they’re dangerous.”

I blink at him, unable to respond straight away. He grabs onto my elbow and attempts to leave the ring. “Get off me Max,” I say as I snatch my arm away. “How bad can they be, really? You brought me here, you knew whose club this was. If you didn’t want me involved then you shouldn’t have fucking asked me! Don’t mind putting me at risk when it helps you, do you?”

Max looks at me like I’ve just stabbed him in the chest. “Luce, I…”

“Don’t bother!” I say, holding my hands up as I start to retreat backwards. “I’ll find my own way home.” I turn quickly on my heel and climb through the ropes back into the crowd of people still singing Silas’ victory.

I’m almost at the exit and unsure how the hell I’m going to get home. I can’t call Kat, it’s way too late and the kids are probably sleeping, when a sharp tug on my wrist stops me from going any further. “For fuck sake Max, I said…,” I start as I turn to face him, but the rest of my words fail me as I come face to face with Lincoln Rossi. I gasp in shock, he looks like a different version of himself than when I met him in the park, more serious, more threatening. I look at him properly this time, my eyes looking for any indication that he’ll hurt me, but there are none and I’d be blind if I didn’t recognise how beautiful he is. Just like the other two, with tanned skin and dark features, a light shadowing of stubble across his jawline and the edging of tattoos, creeping up from his collar, that I imagine line all the way across the dips of his muscles beneath his shirt. I breathe in trying to remain calm.

“We need your help,” he says, matter of factly. I blink, mouth agape in utter astonishment, who are they and what the hell do they need MY help with.

Glancing quickly at the exit, trying to judge how long it would take me to get there if I pushed him and ran. He immediately senses my hesitation and releases my wrist, holding his hands up as if to let me know he comes in peace. “I won’t hurt you Lucille, please trust me.”

The little voice in my head is screaming loudly at me to run. Surely only people who are about to hurt you tell you they won’t hurt you, and the people who tell you to trust them, you really shouldn’t. I take a slow step backward edging closer to the door. “Did you follow me and my son to the park last week?” I ask nervously, unsure if I want to know the answer.

I notice his jaw tighten and his muscles flex beneath his shirt. “No Lucille, I did not. I was already there with my son and I didn’t recognise Max either till he was leaving. If that was your next question.” I think hard about his answer, so many questions springing to mind, but before I can ask any of them he starts again. “I won’t lie to you Lucille. I knew who you were as soon as I figured out it was you on that park bench. I could explain it all, but you’re going to want to hear this from the boss, and right now he needs a medic. So please, will you help us?”

“Boss? As in Silas?” I ask, my mouth drying at the mention of his name. Linc nods and holds his hand out for me to take. I glance down at it, and raging a war against all of my instincts to turn away, I place my hand in his and nod. I need some god damn answers and if this is how I get them, then so be it.

Linc leads me back through the crowd, the music blaring louder now and the lights turned down low, the excitement from the fight still buzzing through the air. We head towards the changing rooms at the back of the warehouse and come to a stop outside of a room marked PRIVATE where he drops my hand and turns to face me. “He’s through there,” he points, his chin towards the door. “He’s expecting you.”

I tut and rolled my eyes in disbelief, so they knew I’d just accept their cries for help then. I reach forward and grab hold of the door handle, my palms already slick with sweat. I'm so nervous it’s seeping out of my skin.

Linc leans forward and gently places his hand on my arm. “He won’t hurt you Lucille. If he does, I’ll kill him myself,” he says, his face deadly serious before leaving me alone at the door, his words reeling through my head. That was kind of hot in a fucked up sort of way, and if I wasn’t about to come face to face with the devil it may just have turned me on. I swallow hard,it’s now or neverI say to myself, trying to hype myself up, unsure of what to expect when I open the door. I lift one hand to the solid wood and knock three times so he knows I’m here, and taking a deep breath, I slowly tilt the handle and push the door open as I step inside the dressing room.

Silas is sitting on a long wooden bench in between two lines of lockers running the length of the walls as I step through the threshold, slowly closing the door behind me until I hear it click into place. To the left of me there’s a punching bag hanging from chains attached to a bracket from the ceiling, a running machine and a weight rack set up to my right, and a little further across, rests a huge full length mirror that’s been shattered into a thousand tiny pieces. A mixture of blood and glass covers the floor like little sparkles of confetti. I gasp, my mouth instantly drying at the sight of the carnage in the room and the bare chested beast before me, plastered in blood and sweat.

Some of which is his, some of which is my brothers.

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