Page 37 of A Game of Secrets

Kat begins to laugh, quietly at first, but then contagiously and I can not stop myself from laughing too. At myself, at my situation, at my absolute lack of self restraint with hot men. I laugh until hot fast tears begin to paint my face. “I don’t know what to do.” I gasp between the sobs choking my throat.

Kat reaches over and grabs onto my hands. “Stop that right now,” she scolds. “You don’t want your son to see you like this.”

I nod and swipe at the tears pooling in my eyes. “You’re right, I’m sorry. I just don’t have a clue what’s going on right now. I’m confused and I just fucked a convict and then let his brother stick his tongue between my legs.” I exclaim. “It sounds fucking ridiculous.”

A laugh escapes Kats throat again. “No babe, it sounds fucking HOT!” She smiles at me. “So why did Max tell you these men are dangerous again?” she asks, sitting back in her chair. I pause for a moment, I need to be honest, if she’s going to give me sound advice she needs to know it all.

“They’re mafia,” I say, cringing as the words leave my lips. “Silas is the fucking mafia Don. His brother Cole and Linc both work under him, they practically run half the city.” Kats mouth gapes once more and a long drawn out “Oh shit” is all she can respond. I nod, sipping on my coffee, only now really realizing what the information means and the severity of my situation.

The ringer on Kat’s mobile breaks our silence and a quizzical expression breaks over her face as she picks it up to answer. “Umm hi Max,'' she says into the receiver. “Everything okay?” Kat’s eyes snap to mine. “Yeah she’s here,” she says. Fuck, I groan, forgetting I’d switched off my phone before I got here. “Yeah sure,” I hear Kat say before she holds the phone out towards me looking a little sheepish. “He wants to talk to you,” she says, mouthing the words “I’m sorry” as I place the phone to my ear.

“Can I help you?” I ask, my tone harsh and to the point.

“Where the fuck have you been!?” Max shouts into my ear. “I have been trying to get hold of you all morning. Do you have any idea what you have put me through these last couple of hours? I’ve had my…”

“What I’ve put you through!?” I cut him off. “What about what you put me through you selfish piece of shit! You knew last night that it was a risk taking me to that place but you didn’t give a shit, and then you have the audacityto lecture me about my safety.How fucking dare you!” I spit down the phone.

I hear an exasperated breath down the line. “For fuck sake Lucille, I said I was sorry, but I’ve been worried sick. I couldn’t find you after you stormed off last night and when you didn’t answer your phone, I thought the worst. I could have started world war fucking three just now had you not been with Katrina.” I scoff audibly showing my irritation.

“Are you okay?” He asks now with a calmer tone to his voice.

“Yes I’m fine Max, please I just need some space. Some time to think.''

The end of the line falls silent for a few moments before he agrees. “Okay, but Lucille, you keep your phone on you at all times.”

“Fine,” I sigh, not having the energy to continue the argument any longer. I end the call and hand the phone back over to Kat who’s watching me with eyes as wide as frisbee’s. Her eyebrows are so high they’re almost joining her hairline.

“Jesus, what the fuck?” she says. “Does he know what happened between you and the brothers?”

I splutter my coffee as she asks the question. “God no!” I exclaim. “There’s no way, and if he knew I’m pretty sure he’d be out for their blood not mine. He can never know!” I warn, narrowing my eyes at her.

“I hear ya girl,” she yields, throwing her hands up in surrender.

I lean my elbows against the table and hold my head in my hands and groan. “What the hell am I supposed to do Kat?“ I ask in desperation.

“Are you still on the pill?” My breathing hitches, I hadn’t even thought of that, thankfully I am but what a fucking thing to overlook. How stupid am I?

“Yes, I’m still on the pill.”

“Okay good, that’s one less thing to worry about,” she says.

I look up to her, scowling my face. “You know if this is meant to make me feel better, it really isn’t,” I snap.

“I’m just trying to be practical but seriously now that you’ve been,” she raises her hands and makes a quotation mark sign with her fingers, “marked by the mafia, I think you can say goodbye to your sex life because no other man is going to want to touch you now,” her voice full of pity.

“Great, I’m going to be a fucking spinster for the rest of my life.” Kat chuckles and in an attempt to cheer me up offers to marry me herself.

After spending the rest of the morning at Kats with her never ending assault of questions about Silas, Cole and Lincoln and her trying to pry out of me which one I think is hotter, I thank her for watching Teddy for me and promise to keep her up to date on any further advancements on the tragic mafia romance I now seem to be stuck in the middle of and drive us back home.

I almost hope that maybe this is just some sort of competition between them and my brother to see who wins, some sort of ego trip, because that seems a lot more easy to comprehend than them actually liking me the way they say they do. I don’t trust them, not knowing who they are now and my previous experience with the wrong kind of men. I need to keep my wits about me and not get sucked in by their nice words, hot bodies and the fact that they know how to please a woman. Well, two out of three at least.

My stomach flutters at the memory and I do well to keep myself in check as I pull up outside the house. Teddy runs straight to his room as soon as we get home, an excited little giggle echoing down the hallway. He disappears for a few minutes before returning clutching the pillows from his bed in his arms and dragging his duvet along behind him. I smile knowing what his intentions are as he climbs onto the sofa, spreads out his pillows and bundles himself under the duvet until only his head is on show. “Can we watch a movie please Mommy?” He calls from his pit. How can I refuse?

Chapter 21

Silas

Stepping out of my Porsche, I take in the surroundings of our home. The building itself is a traditional villa style house with its beautiful stone walls and high arched windows. We have a long driveway and a garage that has enough space for Cole's bike and Lamborghini, Lincs Ferrari and my Porsche and has extra space should we decide to add more to our collections. Inside, the main house is divided into separate living spaces for each of us. The east side of the building is where Linc resides with Alessandro. The west wing is Cole’s play area. And the top floor is my residence. The majority is sound proofed so we don't hear what each other is up to. Down stairs is a shared kitchen and living area as well as a meeting room and office. In the basement we have various torture chambers and storage along with a panic room. We also have a pool area that can be accessed from the patio that the lounge area leads onto. We have plenty of land around us so we aren't overlooked and no neighbors close enough to hear what goes on here.

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