Twisted Games of Revenge (Sinners of Ravens Hollow #3)

Chapter 2

Squinting up the dark alley, I catch a glimpse of the same blonde woman I’d been watching inside. Sloane, her face obscured by the shadows as she peers out of a doorway.

Shit. This is bad, Harley.

“He… I…” I stare at the man crumpled on the dirty asphalt in front of me, spluttering as blood drains out of him. Fuck. My heart races so hard I think I might have a heart attack. This is bad. I think I killed him.

Sloane moves in closer, her eyes locking with mine, the intensity of the hazel orbs sending a chill right through me. She’s like a cat, sleek and beautiful but unpredictable. I get the impression she could lash out at me, and I wouldn’t stand a chance. This dude said he was important. Please dear God, don’t tell me he was a fucking Iron Stryker.

My bottom lip trembles. I’m not quite sure what to do, it all happened so fast, and I was just trying to protect myself. But I know that will mean nothing to her if he was one of her men.

She walks right up to him and kicks him over where he has crumpled to the ground, revealing his blood-smeared face. “For fuck’s sake,” she says, sounding more irritated than deadly.

She picks up her phone and dials a number, tapping her toe impatiently as she waits for the call to connect. “I’ve got a situation I need you to take care of. Alley behind the club,” is all she says before disconnecting the call. She looks me up and down, her features softening a little. “You alright?” she says bluntly.

I stare at her, feeling like I’m about to burst into tears at any second. “Y-yeah,” I stutter, anything but.

She props a hand on her hip as she shifts her stance to really take me in. I feel her scrutiny, the shrewd way she assesses every little detail. “This asshole had it coming, I saw what you did to protect yourself on our video surveillance. Impressive moves. Who taught you to fight like that?”

I swallow the lump in my throat trying to find words. “An old friend,” I mutter. Sickness washes over me again when I think of what I did to that old friend yesterday. Geovani trusted me, gave me the freedom I needed, and I lied to him. Instead of going to the safe place he had planned for me, I’m now in a dirty alley, probably about to be arrested for killing a man. Or worse, killed by a gang.

She walks around my other side, the click of her heels the only sound to be heard echoing up the quiet of the alley. “Oh yeah, that friend got a name?”

I shake my head, not wanting to give anything away. I’m supposed to be invisible, that’s the only way my plan can work. What’s left of it now, anyway.

She purses her painted peach lips together and thinks on it. “Just an old friend, well, okay. Good for you. Most chicks I know wouldn’t have the guts to take a dude of his size. I could use your skills around here.” She raises a well manicure brow in question.

“I’m not interested in a job,” I splutter back, not sure if I’m horrified or should be taking her comment as a compliment. Glancing back toward the club, I’m not even sure what kind of job she could be offering. Stripper, escort, bar staff, if she’s after my fighting skills as a bouncer? There is only one option there I would ever entertain and that is if I was desperate. But right now, I’m not. I just need to get the fuck out of here.

“What’s your name?” she asks.

I shake my head again. There is no way I’m telling her my name, fuck that. “If you have this situation under control, I really should be going,” I mutter, moving past her. The last thing I need is anyone recognizing me or her feeling the need to call the Moretti boys if she works out who I am.

She reaches out, gathering my hood in her hand, nearly clotheslining me. “Not so fast, chickee. You killed a cop on my property tonight. If you want me to mop up your mess, the least you can do is tell me who you are.”

My eyes go wide. A cop. Oh God, no! That disgusting creep is supposed to be protecting the innocent people of this town. I look him over again; I should have fucking known. He looks like a slimy pig. “I’m no one,” I say, pulling out of her grip, hauling my hoodie back up over my head and tucking the loose strands of hair underneath it.

She tilts her head, her eyes locking with mine. “Everyone is someone.”

I meet her steely gaze, trying to be just as tough as she is. “Well, I’m not,” I spit back. I don’t have to tell her shit, and she knows it.

She rolls her lips, glancing up the alleyway. “Where you off to in such a hurry? Got someone waiting for you at home?”

Home, now there is a strange concept. The irony of my homelessness is so absurd, I feel like laughing in her face. I lift my shoulder, glancing toward the street as a noisy muscle car screeches up the road. Anxiety churns in my stomach, making me feel crazy. I need to get the fuck out of here. This chick is asking way too many questions.

“Don’t look so frightened, I won’t hurt you. Maybe I can help you instead, if you’re interested. See, you did me a favor tonight.” She bends down and pulls my knife free of the asshole’s neck, studying it. “This motherfucker has been harassing my staff for weeks. And now they can feel safe again. It’s why I was watching you on the monitor, I saw him bothering you earlier. One less problem for me to deal with now. So, thanks.” She offers me a smile, and I think it’s a genuine one. “I think you should come back inside for a drink. I owe you one.”

I was being watched by her. Did she know I was listening in on her and her brother’s conversation as well? Shit, Harley, you need to be more careful. “I really can’t.”

Her smile broadens, reaching all the way to her eyes. “But you can, because I insist.” She waits for me to respond, her toe tapping impatiently again. “Either you come inside with me on your own or Onyx over here will escort you.”

A man steps out of the shadows, making me flinch in surprise. He’s huge, even bigger than Maddox. My guess is at least six-six and built like a fucking brick wall. Not too different to the description I gave this pig earlier. His eyes are dark as the night, and they hold a promise that he won’t be as easily taken down as this guy was. How long has he been standing there listening to us?

I swallow the lump in my throat, knowing I’m truly out of options. “Why don’t we have that drink.” I grin at her, even though my teeth are clenched so tight I might break a tooth.

Pleased, she flicks a long strand of platinum hair over her shoulder and shoves open the back door to her club. She holds it open for me with one of her perfectly manicured hands, while Onyx waits for the two of us to go inside and then closes the door up tight behind us.

Once inside, I follow her down a short corridor covered in flocked wallpaper in a dark charcoal and black. Her heels click on the polished concrete floor, the sound just marginally louder than my thumping heart. When she arrives at a door, she shoves it open into an office of sorts.

I linger awkwardly in the doorway. “Is this really your club?” I ask when I can’t find anything else to say.

“Sure is.” She smirks at me, and I see how proud she is of herself. She knows she’s a chick in a man’s world.

“Sorry, I just mean, in my experience, everything around here is run by men with way too much power. I thought maybe you ran it for your brothers or something. Put a chick in charge to make the working girls feel more comfortable about taking their clothes off for cash.” I shrug, knowing I’m rambling because I’m so nervous. “Or something like that.”

Amused by my rant, she chuckles softly. “I never did quite fit the mold. But something tells me you don’t either.” She reaches her hand under my hoodie and pulls out a strand of red hair, a small smirk painting her peach-colored lips. “Yeah, I thought I recognized that face earlier, Harley Havardi.”

My eyes go wide, and I blink back at her in shock, worried I might puke all over her fancy Persian rug. I shove my hair back under the hood in a rush. “Sorry, what?” I feign ignorance and laugh it off, as if I don’t know who she means.

Entertained, she moves around to the other side of her sleek marble desk. Taking two glass tumblers, she flicks one up with her wrist, catching it and dropping it to the table before collecting a bottle of spiced rum. “I remember your face from the engagement announcement to Alessandro Moretti in the paper. What is a girl like you doing in my club all alone?” First, she pours rum, then ice, bitters, and syrup into the glasses. After mixing them, she gives me one. “You look like you need a drink.” She offers a half smile. “Something harder than lemonade.” She chuckles again, then gestures toward the jade-green velvet sofa in the room’s center. “Take a seat.” There is a no-shit edge to her tone that tells me it’s not a suggestion.

Tentatively, I sit at the edge of the soft sofa, feeling out of place with all her fancy surroundings. A small vase of white roses sits on her coffee table, their sweet smell wafting through the room. The wall behind her desk is filled with black-and-white images; beautiful girls, all of them.

“What’s with the photographs? They relatives of yours?”

It’s the first time since my run-in with her that I see a slight falter in her armor. She glances to them swiftly before coming around the same side as me again, sitting in an armchair, crossing one long leg over the other. She’s the most stunning and interesting woman I have ever seen. But there is an intensity about her that scares me as well. “They are the women I couldn’t save.”

My heart sinks, not understanding what she means but feeling the heaviness in her voice. “Sex workers?” I ask, knowing she might not want to tell me, but curiosity wins out over fear of what she might do if she doesn’t want to answer. She has me here in her office. I’m not sure what else we’re supposed to chat about.

She sighs heavily. “Friends, colleagues, women who all touched me and were taken from this earth too soon.” She shrugs. “This line of work isn’t always the safest. I keep them close to remind me why I do it.”

I stare back at her, wanting to ask so many more questions, but I can see she’s done with that conversation. It hurts too much. But still, she keeps them close to her instead of hiding their faces away. There is something in that.

Her piercing hazel eyes lock with mine. “So, Harley, what brings you into my club tonight? And this time I want the truth, all of it. You sat here for hours on your own, so I know this is going to be good.”

I roll my lips. Not this shit again. “Just wanted a quiet drink alone, is that a crime?”

She raises a brow at my snippy attitude. “Why not drink at your fiancé’s club or at the casino? I’m surprised Alessandro let you out alone at all, knowing that man.”

Oh, she has no idea. “He didn’t. I mean, he’s not my fiancé.” I shake my head, trying to get this right. “I mean, he doesn’t know I’m here.”

She cocks her head. “Oh yeah? That surprises me. The Morettis keep a pretty tight leash on their women.”

“I’m not a pet,” I snap back, disgusted by her accusation. “And I’m not his woman!”

A slight smile touches her lips. “Yeah, I like you. You’re feisty. Have your drink.”

I look over the amber-colored liquid sitting in the tumbler in my hand. It smells divine, but that won’t entice me. “I don’t accept drinks from complete strangers. Sounds like the beginning of a bad horror movie. You’re probably working for Enzo or some shit and you’re about to poison me.” I blink back at her, trying to see what she makes of that. After the two conversations I have heard from her, I know she hates the man, but I want to see what she’s willing to share with me.

“Enzo Moretti. Oh, fuck off. If that man ever stepped foot in here again, he would be leaving with a bullet in his fucking head. I don’t care what the rules are.” She takes the drink she poured for herself and swaps it with mine. “Drink mine instead,” she offers before taking a big swig from the glass she originally gave me. “Something tells me you’re a girl with trust issues. Been burnt in the past, Harley?”

“Please stop calling me that.” I glance into the drink, wondering if I should risk it. But she was about to drink from it, and my nerves could do with something to settle them a little. I’m still shaking from that altercation in the alley. So, I take a sip. It’s smooth and delicious; why have I never tried this before? “You really hate Enzo Moretti?”

Her face contorts in anger. “Who doesn’t? That man has more enemies than allies in this town these days.”

“Yet he still runs it,” I snip, my tone full of bitterness toward the situation. I still can’t understand, if the boys all love me the way they say they do, why couldn’t they just take care of him like they would any other situation?

“You’re a smart cookie, aren’t you.”

I drop my head, staring into my drink. “I wouldn’t say so. I nearly ended up dead in your back alley tonight.”

“But you didn’t. Instead, you killed that slimy piece of shit to save yourself.” She wipes a cloth over my knife, cleaning it before handing it back to me. “You might need this again. A young pretty girl like yourself alone in this fucked-up city, I know I wouldn’t be walking around without a weapon.”

I shrug, sickness swirling through me. I don’t want to think about what I did in that alleyway. I can’t, it’s too horrible. The girl they have turned me into isn’t someone I ever thought I would be. A killer, just like them. But if I didn’t hurt him, he would have raped me, and who knows if that would have been the worst of it.

She watches me curiously. “You know that dude you killed was Wyatt Cross. He’s not just a cop, he’s on Enzo’s payroll. He was the scum of the earth, you did us all a favor, every last chick in this town. Trust me. Don’t go feeling guilty over it.”

Goosebumps prickle over my skin. He was one of the dirty cops on Enzo’s payroll. She’s right then, he’s the scum of the earth.

She holds out her delicate hand I think for me to shake. “Sloane Stryker, I think we should be friends.”

I examine her hand like it’s a foreign object. “Can’t afford friends in this life.”

Her peach lips twitch up at the sides. “That sounds like something a Moretti would say. Girls like us can’t afford not to stick together. In this town we are the minority. Unless you have some dude calling you his, you’re fair game, and we both know what happens to too many of us.” She motions to the wall, and I get a shiver down my spine.

I swallow the lump now formed in my throat. “Is this town really as bad as they all say? I used to think the boys were just trying to scare me, but now I get a horrible suspicion their threats hold some truth.”

“This town is a dictatorship and has been for way too long, fucking Enzo.”

I finally hold my hand out and shake hers firmly. There is something in her honesty that makes me trust her instantly. We both want the same thing.

“So, Harley, now that we’re friends, are you going to tell me why you’re in my club tonight?”

“I’m going to destroy Enzo Moretti.”

Her eyes go wide, and I practically see as her chin hits the floor in shock. “Get in line, sister. You and half this town who have a death wish.”

“Yeah, but half this town aren’t already missing and presumed dead. I am.”

She sits up a little straighter in her armchair, and I know I have her attention. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

I inhale deeply, knowing there is only one way to get her help and that’s by coming clean and telling her all of it. “Yesterday, I left my life as Harley Havardi behind. It was the only way to escape and make sure the Moretti boys didn’t get hurt because of me. I couldn’t live with myself if they did. And Enzo was hellbent on taking everything from me, even his own sons. That man hates me because Alessandro had the nerve to fall for me. Or at least that’s why I think he wants to destroy me. It could also be because he killed my ma and papa.”

“He hates you because you’re female. Trust me. But let me try and understand your story. The Moretti boys?” she asks, looking confused by the ranting of the crazy girl sitting in her office. That’s what I must look like.

“Alessandro, Ricky, and Maddox, even my brother’s not safe because of me. I’m positive Enzo would have killed them all just to ruin me. So, I had to leave to save them.” A silent sob wracks through my chest, leaving a pain so deep it makes my chest feel like it’s going to implode.

She purses her lips, and I can see she is considering everything I’m saying. “So, you’re dead?”

“Yeah, I guess. I was supposed to get onto a flight to Australia and just disappear, but I couldn’t do it. I need to make Enzo pay for everything he’s done to my family and the boys. And I wasn’t leaving them here to deal with him in their way. Because they’re not fucking doing anything. Do you know how frustrating that is?”

She studies me, and I wonder what the hell she’s thinking. Probably that I should be locked up in an insane asylum. I feel like a crazy person when I explain my story, so I’m sure she thinks I am. “I’m going to help you. God knows you need it. I recognized you in a fucking second. A black hoodie isn’t a great disguise, sis.”

“It’s all I had.” Watching her, I wonder about her intentions and what I would owe for her help. I know that’s how these gangs work, well, at least I think that’s how they work. “Why would you help me?”

“I showed you the wall. Fucking Enzo is behind it all.” Her head drops, a sadness washing over her I didn’t expect to see. “And a few days ago, a very close friend of mine went missing, and I’m positive Enzo had something to do with it as well. It’s been happening more and more. I have a duty to protect my staff and my friends from motherfucking predators like Enzo Moretti and his high-profile friends who think they can use us and spit us out at the end. And any girl who wants to take him down, I’m here for it.”

“What was her name?” I ask, not sure if I really want the answer because I already know it.

“Pia.” She lets out a sad sigh.

I close my eyes and inhale deeply, trying not to see the horrible images that are still plaguing me from what I witnessed. “I’m so sorry, Sloane, she’s not missing. I saw Enzo kill her. She was working with him, giving him information to try and destroy me. And he just…”

Sloane’s porcelain skin pales further, and she nods once like she knew it already. This chick is tough as nails. She doesn’t fall apart like I would’ve. I wish I could be more like her. Instead, she holds up her hand. “I don’t want the details, Harley.”

“I’m so sorry,” I whisper, tears welling in my eyes.

She stands and walks around to the other side of her office, glancing at the wall of images. “Don’t be. Pia did this to herself, thinking she could trust him. She knew better. Another girl who worked for me disappeared just a few months ago, Macey Carnell. She was an aspiring singer, working a few shifts here as well to make ends meet. She had amazing talent and tits, the regulars loved her. Came in on the Friday, excited for some new opportunity she’d been offered. Some charity event run by Valentina Moretti. By Sunday, no one could contact her anymore. She just vanished. Then a week later, her body arrived on the back doorstep of the club with a note just for me. All it said was: Reconsider .”

“I don’t understand.”

“He’s been trying to get me to sell The Raven’s Nest to him for years, and in the last twelve months since Alessandro and the other Moretti boys have come into more power and he has been shunted out, he’s been trying harder. He used to come here every single week without fail. But after what he did, I can’t turn a blind eye to this shit anymore. He’s been banned here. I’m still working on my brothers to get him banned over at The Precinct as well, but they haven’t yet. Jagger thinks it’s better if he has some control over him. I’m not exactly sure what their arrangement is.”

“Do you think that is where he met Pia? I had a meeting with the boys at The Precinct a little while ago and she was there.”

“She worked for my brother for years. Harley, she wasn’t just a friend, she was like a sister to me. I have known her my whole life.”

“I’m so sorry, Sloane. Enzo gave me the creeps from the first time I met him, but I had no idea what he was capable of then,” I admit, remembering the engagement party and the way he slapped me across the face when I tried to stand up to him.

She shakes her head, seeming to snap out of a trance. Then she moves to where her drink was left, chugging the remainder of it. “He’s a monster, that’s for sure. And he needs to be stopped.”

“He does,” I agree.

“I’m going to help you. Together we will eliminate this asshole so he can’t destroy any more lives.”

I can’t help but smile back at her. For the first time since my papa was killed, someone is listening to me and actually wants to help.

“Tell me, Harley. Who exactly is Alex Moretti to you?”

I sigh, not sure how to explain. “It’s a long story, one I will need about ten more of these to get through.” I laugh, holding up my drink.