Chapter 28
My heart races in panic. His fucking parents! That’s the last thing I expected him to say. And I see the same look in both the boys’ eyes. Enzo is the last person any of us want to see. Ricky and I both scramble out of bed in a rush. I run into the ensuite and throw on my discarded clothes. Catching sight of my reflection in the mirror, I look a mess, but for once it’s in the best way possible. Freshly fucked by two men I adore.
“Maddox, stay here,” Alessandro demands when he sees his brother is trying to get out of bed.
Maddox ignores him and throws on a pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt. “We do this together.”
Alessandro claps him on the shoulder, a silent message passing between them, and I wonder what this is. “Not while you’re injured. Enzo doesn’t know what happened the other night after the fight, and I would prefer to keep it that way. The less he knows about what we’re up to, the better for all of us.”
“I’m fine. He won’t have to know.”
Alessandro throws him a look. “You look like death, Brother. Ricky and I have this. Besides, someone needs to watch Harley.”
“They get to have all the fun.” I huff with an eyeroll for Maddox’s benefit. I’m not stoked I need babysitting again, but I’m quite happy to avoid seeing his parents.
“I’m sure you will find a way to kill the time, baby doll.” Ricky’s full lips twitch up into a cheeky smile that sends a thrill through me. And I get what he’s implying, but something tells me Maddox’s poor body wouldn’t be able to handle any more excitement for today. And since I’m trying my best to take care of him, I will refrain from being the temptress he thinks I am.
Ricky heads out of the room, followed by Alessandro. There is a buzz of energy between them I don’t understand. A look they give each other that holds a challenge, and Alessandro seems excited for some reason. I wonder what’s going on.
When the door is closed, Maddox assesses me thoughtfully.
“What’s that all about?” I ask, hoping he will fill me in.
He lifts a shoulder in a shrug. “Family stuff,” he mutters under his breath as he climbs back into bed, sitting up this time with his head resting against the headboard. He looks so weary. Alessandro is right, he’s still not in a good way.
I nod, understanding that’s all he would be allowed to tell me, but I don’t like it. I don’t like knowing Enzo and Valentina are in this house. Carlo may not be a threat anymore, but that doesn’t mean they will be happy to hear I’m back here with the boys. His parents are overcontrolling and manipulative, and they hate me. And I feel like when it comes to them, there is a ticking time bomb just waiting to blow up in my face.
“In Ricky’s room should be a laptop, go get it. Let’s check out this flash drive while they’re distracted.” He grins slyly at me, and I just know he’s dying to get back to work in any way he can.
I smirk back at him, very pleased with his brilliant idea. “Done.”
I sneak out into the hallway and tiptoe to Ricky’s room. I’m not really sure why I’m creeping around, but I feel like I’m doing the wrong thing, so I keep quiet just in case one of them is lurking around a corner waiting to catch me out. I slowly open Ricky’s door to find his room meticulously organized, his bed made, and not a thing out of place. A laptop rests on a velvet armchair in the corner of the room. I scoop it up and hurry back to Maddox. Since I found this flash drive the other morning, I have been dying to know what’s on it. But without my office computer set up yet, I’ve had no way of looking at it myself.
I sit up in bed next to him, crossing my legs as I open the computer. “Need a password.”
“Give it here.” He takes the device and types in a code then slides it back to me. I grab the flash drive and plug it in, a nervous flutter in my stomach.
A video pops up on the screen, and I press the play button. Words come up on the screen in a speech-to-text format: Geovani’s not the only one with eyes on you. Better watch your step, girlie, your days are numbered. The video looks like a TikTok reel, but instead of it flicking up images of a story, they’re of me. Snippets of conversations I’ve had with the guys. The worst one is an image of me and Geovani the night he took me to open my papa’s safety deposit box. How on earth did someone see us? There was no one around, and I know for a fact no one was following us, the streets were empty.
Nausea washes over me, and I’m not sure if I’m about to pass out or puke. One last typed message comes up. You took something of mine and now I want it back. Are you ready to play this dangerous game? I know I am.
My scared eyes meet Maddox’s. “What did you do?” he asks with a tremble in his deep voice.
“Who… This… Carlo didn’t know the other night. This can’t be from him,” I stutter out, trying to make sense of what I just saw. My skin prickles with fear as I race through all the possibilities in my head. There are only a handful of people who even know about the safety deposit box. My papa who is dead. Carlo who is also dead. Marco, Dani, Geovani, and me. The only other explanation is Carlo was using this as a trading tool to get Enzo on his side. And when he couldn’t come through with the goods, Enzo turned on him. That would explain why he was so desperate the other night that he ambushed us in the street. He was running out of time. That has to be it.
I feel Maddox’s eyes on me, but I can’t stop watching the video, trying to catch a clue. The shot of Geovani forcing my hand toward the safety deposit box looks like it’s from up high, like there was a security camera attached to the building looking right at us. “What is it, Harley?”
I swallow the lump in my throat as my eyes rise to meet his. “Enzo, it has to be. He had the cameras on you boys, and I’m sure he could have worked out how to track me somehow as well. Or he’s paid someone off to give him this footage. That could be a thing, right?” After what Dani told me about whoever killed my ma, paying off police to change the report, I’m going to assume he’s paying off people all around this city to give him whatever the fuck he wants.
“Enzo holds a lot of power in this town. If he wants something like a security tape, all he has to do is ask,” Maddox confirms my suspicions.
“But how did he get this to me? Where the fuck did it come from?”
“You said you found it in your pants after the fight? Maybe that fight was more than an attack on us from Carlo. We know he was working with Enzo, so maybe he was sent with a message for you.”
“And what, Enzo knew it would be a suicide mission? There is no way Carlo would sign up for that shit.”
“Knowing Enzo the way I do, Carlo would have had no idea what he was signing up for. Hell, Carlo was so cocky he probably went in there thinking he was going to kill the lot of us and come away with you.”
I stand in a rush, adrenaline pumping through my veins so hard I can hear it whooshing through my ears. I reach under Maddox’s bed and pull out the gun I know he has hidden there. Then I run from the room.
“Harley. Get back here!” Maddox calls after me. I hear him struggling out of bed. I feel bad for taking off on him, but he will thank me later. When this shit is all over. “Don’t do anything stupid,” he yells down the hall.
I hear him, but I’m too far gone, sprinting down the corridor. I shove the down button of the elevator and hop in as soon as it opens, pressing the close door button before he has a chance to catch me. I don’t need him talking me out of this. I know what I need to do.
Enzo the asshole thinks he’s the motherfucking grandmaster, moving his pieces with precision around his board. Probably sitting behind a fucking computer screen watching us all and laughing at our pain. Every poor soul under his control is a piece on his board. But he’s sitting at the head of it all, the king, controlling all our lives. Everything revolves around him. He’s always thinking several moves ahead, anticipating all our reactions, trapping his enemies and his children into checkmate before they even realize they’re playing his game. But I won’t be one of his fucking pawns, just waiting to be sacrificed when he demands the time is right. And I won’t let any of my boys suffer at his hands another day.
I step out into the living area and move toward their voices. They’re not close by, but I can hear them pretty clearly. Their muffled conversation is coming from the front of the house.
Peering round the corner of the front entry wall, I find my target in plain view. Alessandro has his arms crossed tightly over his chest, glaring at Enzo. Ricky is by his side with a look that could kill. This isn’t a friendly chat, they haven’t even let them enter the house. Valentina stands there in a fancy fitted knee-length skirt and tailored jacket. She looks fresh from the country club, her smile extra fake today as she tries to get some of her sons’ attention.
But Enzo commands all eyes on him. In his usual tailored black pinstripe suit, his voice booms off the tile walls of the front portico. “Enough playing around. This bullshit with Dante is over, you took care of it, and I hear you loud and clear, you won’t be controlled. What you fail to anticipate is we’re a family and we stick together no matter what. You hear me, Son? I took care of Carlo and now you fall back in line.” His voice gets louder with every word he utters till my hands shake with a fresh surge of energy.
I can see why he’s so feared. His size alone would overshadow most men, but it’s his confidence, the poise of a man who’s been at the top for far too long, that really holds all the power.
He took care of Carlo. By sending him after us so we would kill him. Now I know it was him. The boys orchestrated that fight night to prove how much say they now have amongst their men, and Enzo counteracted it by sending Carlo in to play. Trying to prove he still has the upper hand. But he nearly killed one of them in the process, and in truth, he could have killed us all. It’s puzzling to see how that would be advantageous to him if his heirs have passed away.
Alessandro takes a step forward, meeting his steely gaze eye to eye. He’s just as tall and every bit as imposing. “I hear you, Enzo. I hear you conceding defeat. You don’t rule Ravens Hollow anymore. I do. Our people spoke last night. You’re outdated, old man, and now it’s time for a new generation to lead the way. Retire and keep your honor intact.”
“Have some respect for the man who raised you,” his mother pipes up.
Enzo looks her over, and she shrinks back, knowing she’s overstepped the mark. His furious eyes bounce from her to his sons. “And I suppose that’s you and Geovani. With that little whore by your side.”
I flinch at his cruel words. I already knew what he thought of me, but no one wants to be called a whore.
Alessandro takes another quick step forward, his fists clenched by his side, forcing Enzo off the first step. It gives him the upper hand, Enzo having to look up at him for once. “Watch your mouth,” he roars, the fury in his voice making my hands tremble. But it’s not in fear, it’s with excitement. For the first time he’s sticking up for me. He’s sticking up for himself and showing Enzo who he really is. “I have spared you because you’re my pa, but this is your last chance. Go back to your men and tell them you’re stepping down from all duties and responsibilities. This includes your position at the casino. You’re paving the way for a new generation, and we all have your blessing. You have twenty-four hours, or I will make the call myself, and we both know if it comes from me, you won’t be alive to explain yourself.”
Enzo surprises me and bows his head. “I see how it’s going to be, Son.” Disappointment clouds his face, and I know he’s not going to do what Alessandro says. There is no way.
“No, you don’t,” he yells, and his mother looks like she’s about to burst into tears. “We all know the lies you have both kept from us. And if they find out who Ricky and Maddox really are to the Morettis, then they will toss you aside anyway. You have no honor talking about family when you have done so much harm to yours.”
His head shoots back up, ready to fight. “Are you blackmailing me, Son?” The words tumble out of his mouth with bitterness.
“I don’t need to blackmail you. You have done yourself in.”
Enzo watches Alessandro, looking between him and Ricky, realization registering. “Who told you?” he asks Ricky directly.
Valentina gasps and covers her chest with a perfectly manicured hand, like she might just pass out from all the drama.
“That’s not important,” Ricky mutters with so much hatred his voice doesn’t even sound like him. An ache forms in my chest for him. For the poor little boy who thought he was orphaned so long ago. For the kid who dreamed of being a doctor and had his dreams torn to shreds by a man who should have supported him all the way. This man has stolen so much from him, and he has every right to be angry with him. “But if you don’t do the right thing now, I will personally make sure you’re destroyed, the way you devastated my mother.” Ricky’s lips turn up at the sides, like he’s getting a sick sense of pleasure out of this confrontation. “You taught me to use my skills for evil, and I would happily make good use of them tearing you apart.”
Enzo nods cautiously, as if understanding them both better now. He knows he’s fucked. “I will book a meeting with my men today.”
He’s lying, I want to scream to them, he won’t back down. There is no fucking way. If he’s the same person who sent me that video, then I know he won’t. This is all part of his dangerous game. And as much as I want the boys to get their revenge on him, I don’t truly believe he will allow it. I aim the gun, ready to shoot before I have to hear any more lies.
But a hand clamps over my mouth and another around my middle, and I’m pulled back into the living room. The gun is knocked from my grip. Before I know what’s happening, I’m on my back with Geovani sitting on top of me, pinning my hands above my head so I can’t move.
I pant, desperately trying to catch my breath. Where did he come from? A fresh wave of anger radiates through me when I was so close to finishing Enzo. “Let me go,” I push through clenched teeth. “Get off me.” I buck my hips, trying to escape.
Geovani leers down at me, all domineering and powerful, and I know there is no chance in hell he will let me go. “You don’t know what you’re doing.”
“Yes, I do,” I cry desperately. “Enzo’s not going to step down and let you two take over, fat fucking chance. He’s lying through his teeth, and I have the proof upstairs.”
He looks me over with curiosity. “What do you have?”
“A flash drive with video evidence and a threat. It has to be from him.”
Worry flashes in his eyes. For once I have been able to surprise Geovani. “What the fuck are you talking about, Red?”
“During the fight the other night someone slipped a flash drive into my pocket. I don’t know how he did it, but I fucking know it was him.” Geovani stares down at me, furious, like he doesn’t believe me.
Maddox comes into view, glancing down at me. “I’ve seen it, Geovani. Someone knows what you two did.”
“You thought we were alone when we got into my papa’s safety deposit box, but we weren’t,” I whisper. “It was all on tape, and somehow, someone got hold of it.”
His olive skin pales, and I know he believes me now. He thought he was smart, but someone is one step ahead of us.
The front door slams, and I know my chance has slipped through my fingers. “No!” I cry. “Don’t let him leave the property, we have the upper hand here.”
“Harley, snap out of it, you can’t just kill the don and get away with it. There is protocol that must be followed,” Maddox seethes, and I know he’s pissed with me for taking off with his gun, but fuck, someone had to do something.
“Maddox is right. You shoot him on Moretti property and you won’t live out the day, with us trying to protect you or not.”
“This mafia protocol is bullshit,” I huff. “What, like the protocol you used during fight night? Killing that man?” I spit back at him. I don’t understand what they’re all waiting for.
He gets off me, a look of disgust in his eyes, and I know I have pushed him too far.
I move to sitting up. “Don’t you all get it? Enzo is never going to back down and give anything over to you. He’s one step ahead of us every time.” My whole body shakes with anger because I feel so helpless. Why won’t they listen to me?
Ricky helps me up to standing. “You don’t have to worry about Enzo, we have him covered.” He grins, trying to reassure me. But he doesn’t know.
I turn toward Maddox. “Show them the video, maybe then they will get it,” I say to him on my way past. I need to escape them all. I’m just a girl trapped in this world, no one will hear me out or let me get the revenge I so desperately crave. I could have eliminated him today. And who cares what would have happened to me if I did. They would have been free for the first time in their lives.
When I get back upstairs, I slam my bedroom door and throw myself on my bed, feeling defeated all over again. Can’t they see what’s about to happen? Why do I feel like the only sane person in this place.
I’m not even left alone for five minutes when my door pops open and Alessandro and Ricky come into view. They let themselves in then close the door. I bury my head in my pillow again. Dramatic, I know, but right now, I don’t care. I’m feeling dramatic.
Ricky’s hand comes to my back, rubbing soothing circles. “You have to stop acting out of fear,” he says softly.
I move my head to face them. “Do you really think Enzo is going to back down and just hand Ravens Hollow over to you in the next twenty-four hours?” I don’t care if they know I was snooping.
Alessandro crosses one muscular arm over the other and stares me down. “No. I expect him to fight for the empire he’s built. But what he doesn’t know is his men have already sided with us. The casino board have drawn up the paperwork to hand Sinners’ Paradise over to us. They see his poor judgment over the last few months as weakness, and they don’t know the half of it yet. I’m prepared to spill every last one of his secrets to ensure they back us, and they will.”
I sit up, running a hand through my tangled mess of curls as I try to make sense of what he’s saying. “But won’t he just come for you?”
“He won’t have anyone siding with him. There is no power when you’re alone. Without our men backing us, we’re nothing. And he knows it.” For once Alessandro’s words fill me with a little reassurance. Maybe we’re closer to getting a little power back than I thought. As hard as it is, I have to trust them. “Geovani has Carlo’s men on our side, we are just waiting on you and Marco to talk with your men and make sure they’re on board. If they are, he will really have no one left to follow him.”
He enters my walk-in closet and returns with a black silk knee-length dress that he hangs on the door.
“Your brother and Dani will arrive tomorrow; everyone is expected at dinner at eight, and I’m sure there will be a whole lot to celebrate by then.”
“Make the call, baby doll, then this is all over,” Ricky adds, and the two of them leave me alone.
I pick up my phone, not exactly sure what to say.
“Hey, girl, how you holding up over there? Don’t fret, I will be there soon to save you from all the testosterone.”
I offer a laugh, but it’s forced. “I know you’re super busy packing stuff up over there, but I need to see you today. You and Marco if possible.”
“That bad, hey? Okay, we’ll be there in an hour.” She disconnects the call.