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

Chapter 14

Checking the peephole and seeing it’s Sloane, I let her into my new apartment. She waltzes through the front door with her arms piled up with linens. “What are you going to do about furniture?” she asks, placing a couple of towels and a sheet set down on the kitchen island.

I look around the mostly empty apartment I now call home. The walls are a warm white, freshly painted, with soft brown wood floors and cream carpet. Sunlight streams in through the main living room and bedroom window, and I feel like I have won the jackpot. My own space. “I have a sofa, a bed, and a box of money. What else do I need?” I laugh, not really worried.

I can’t help but smile when she laughs back at me. “I can help you gather some things and set it up properly. We’re going to have this place looking like a home in no time.”

“Thank you for everything you have done for me.”

“We all go through tough times, sis. It’s how we pick ourselves back up and get on with it that defines us, not the shit we went through.”

“Profound. I like it.” I can’t help but smirk at her, feeling a wave of gratitude for finding such a loyal friend.

“Besides, I’m selfish really. I needed a new bestie, and you showed up at the right time.” When I look back to her, she looks like she’s about to burst into tears. I have never seen her so sad.

“Shit, Sloane, I’m so sorry.”

She shakes her head, trying to get her emotions in check, but it’s too late. Tears fall down her cheeks. “The motherfucker slit her throat just like he did to Macey. She was kept in cold storage then sent to me as another fucking warning.”

Ice runs through me. “Are you fucking kidding me?”

“I wish I was. He wants my club. You need to fuck him over in the worst way possible. Take everything from him. Fucking everything, and when he’s alone, I want to be the one who ends him.”

I go to her, knowing she’s not the hugging type, but fuck, she needs something right now. I wrap an arm around her and pull her into me. “He’s as good as dead. And so is anyone else who aligns themselves with him, you have my word.”

The two of us stand like this together for a long time, trapped up in our own thoughts. Eventually she pulls back from me and seems to regain her composure, wiping her hands over her face and fixing her mascara. “Sorry, that was uncalled for.”

I raise an exaggerated brow and offer her a half smile. “Really, with all of my drama you have to hear about on the daily, I think you’re allowed one moment of weakness.”

“I’m not,” she says more seriously, and I get the impression she really believes it.

A knock comes at the door, and I flinch in shock, my head so wrapped up in what we’re talking about, then look toward her, confused. She and her brothers are the only people who know I have this place. Unless that’s for the old residents. But even then, this is a secure building, they would have had to be let in. Sloane goes to answer it, checking the peephole before turning back to me. She mouths Alessandro.

I suck in a deep breath, preparing myself to deal with him. Of course it’s him. I motion for her to let the impatient asshole in.

She undoes the chain then opens the door. “What are you doing here, Moretti?” she growls, unimpressed, her normal tough-as-nails demeanor back in place.

“Sloane, always a pleasure,” Alessandro greets her, pushing past her into my apartment with an air of smug confidence, his voice a low purr. Like he’s supposed to be here.

I can’t help but smirk at him as I shake my head. He worked it out, of course he did. “You were supposed to meet me downstairs. I don’t remember inviting you up,” I snip at him, taking the sheets off the counter and carrying them into my new bedroom, dumping them on my bed. I stretch out the fitted sheet, pulling it over one corner. When I turn back to face him, he’s right there.

Crowding me with his oversized body, his hands go into my hair as he pulls me toward him, kissing me. I wasn’t expecting it, but I can’t help the way my heart races with excitement, having his lips on me. And I have to wonder if his brother filled him in on what we did last night and now he thinks it’s his turn. He has another thing coming if that’s why he’s here.

“You did, and I decided I wanted to see your new place. Make sure it’s safe for you to live in.” He releases me, strutting around inspecting the place like he owns it. “I’ve decided it’s not. If some fucker would let me in without knowing who I was, then there is no way you’re safe here alone.”

I raise my chin, ready to have a go at him and tell him to fuck off, when I hear Sloane.

“Pfft.” She stands in the doorway to my bedroom, watching him. “She’s not alone. I’m right up the hall, and besides, every fucker in this town knows who you are. You probably scared the shit out of him first.”

His attention flicks to her. “Stay out of this, Sloane, it doesn’t concern you.” A fresh wave of anger surges through him. “Or maybe it does.” His attention snaps back to her. “You have a lot to answer for, when it comes to keeping what’s mine from me.”

“You don’t own me,” I seethe through clenched teeth, all the mushy feelings I was having for him vanishing in an instant.

Sloane glances to me quickly, then folds her arms over her chest, her eyes narrowing in on him ready for a fight. “You might think this city is under the thumb of Alex Moretti, but I don’t answer to you. And it doesn’t look like Viv does either.”

“This how you want to play it? You’re prepared to make an enemy over your very new friend?”

I shove him hard in the chest, trying to bring his attention back to me, but he keeps staring her down. “Leave her out of it,” I snap, not wanting any trouble to come to my new friend because of me.

She comes around to face him, not scared in the slightest. “This is the man who’s supposed to love you.” She shakes her head at him in disappointment. I can see exactly what she is seeing, a controlling asshole. But she doesn’t know him like I do. This side of Alessandro is infuriating, but there is more to him. A softer side he has just for me that tells me he cares and all this macho shit is more for show than anything. On top of that is the fucking chemistry. Just being in the same room as him sets my soul on fire. But that doesn’t mean I’m willing to be told he owns me.

He takes a step toward her, and I feel his tense muscles under my grasp as I grab his arm. “No, Alessandro. Your fight is with me, not Sloane. Leave her alone.”

He lets out a low growl, unimpressed, but his attention is back on me, a threatening look in his dark eyes that tells me not to push him. But unfortunately for me, it’s my new favorite thing to do, and since he’s trying to be all controlling again, I might just try tip him over the edge today.

“When you want to hit the shops let me know, sis. There is too much overinflated ego in here for me.”

“Thank you.” I smirk at her as she wanders off, leaving us alone, and when I hear the click of the front door, I turn back to him, ready to have it out.

I shove him again, trying to get some space, and he captures my hands in his. “The least you could do is be nice to her. She’s the reason I’m still alive.”

“Have you thought to question why? Girls like Sloane Stryker don’t just take in stray puppies.”

“So now I’m a stray puppy? Nice.” I shake my head; he really knows how to dig a hole for himself quickly. I shove out of his grip and go about making the bed, stretching the corners over the mattress. “I know exactly why. We both have the same goal, and since you’re not taking care of our problem, we have teamed up to deal with him.” I lock eyes with him, my gaze unwavering as I wait for him to speak.

“Just because you can’t see what I’m doing doesn’t mean I’m not taking care of this situation. You’re putting yourself in harm’s way, when you could be safe with me, and I won’t let you continue.”

I fluff the top sheet over the bed and tuck it in all the way round. “Oh, really. Well, you have no choice.”

“Harley, please.” His voice softens, and I glance back at him, surprised. “I don’t want to fight you over this anymore. Enzo is dangerous, you have seen firsthand what he’s capable of, so why get involved in his business?”

My brow quirks up in question. “You seemed happy about me getting involved last night if I remember correctly.”

He closes the gap between us in a way that makes my heart race. “So I could get you back. You were supposed to leave the casino with us, and then everything could return to normal, not get your own apartment and go on living this fucking lie.”

“I happen to like this lie. I have made friends and am free to think for myself for the first time in my life. If you can’t understand that about me by now, you never will, and what we have will only ever be fake.”

He stares back at me, his eyes holding mine for what feels like an eternity. “Marco and I are working with a contact who might really be able to take him down. And if he can, it will bring down every other fucker who is involved in the fucked-up things he’s been doing for years.”

I take a step back from him, surprised. “You’re telling me the truth?” I know it because one of the last conversations I had with my brother was about his contact.

“I fucked up last time, Harley, and I need you to trust me. I want my fucking parents to pay for their crimes every bit as much as you do, but I have to play it cool, give this person the time they need to build their case without people on his payroll working it out.”

I blink back at him, trying to process what he’s telling me. I remember what Marco said about his contact, that he was an undercover cop, I’m sure of it. He and Alessandro working together on this makes a lot of sense. It explains why he couldn’t tell me anything. It’s all so sensitive, any slip-up and a good man dies just trying to do his job in a city full of shady cops and a messed-up underworld who control them.

“I thought if I could pretend to be one of those girls, I might be able to work out what exactly they are up to and do something about it. Too many innocent girls are going missing or turning up dead because of them. Girls just like my ma and Pia.” Our eyes lock as a tear slips down my cheek when I think about what Sloane just told me. “I won’t let him get away with this horror show anymore.”

He wraps his arms around me and pulls me into him. “Neither will I, you have my word, princess.”

“Then let me keep working on this,” I whisper into his chest. “You can feed whatever information I get straight back to your contact, and you will be by my side to keep me safe.” I push off him just a little so I can look up at him. “We can do this together.”

He shakes his head, the worry all over his face. “It’s too risky. I won’t let you be put in harm’s way.”

“Please. I’m not made of fine china. I’m tougher than you all think. Look what I accomplished on my own the last few weeks. I have an army of Strykers backing me now, willing to go up against you and all.”

He tilts his head to the side, thinking my request over. “What did you have in mind?”

“Last night Enzo told me he would pay me a significant amount of cash if I can get you to marry me. I have no idea why it’s so important just yet, but I think it’s more about keeping some control over you. He wants me to get close to you and keep reporting back to him with whatever I can. He’s already gifted me a car and a box of cash. I think we should get married, or make it look like we intend to anyway, to keep up this lie. He will start to trust me and then who knows what he will let me in on.”

His lips twitch up at the sides, and I know he only heard one part of what I said.

I slap his chest playfully. “Not for real, Alessandro.”

“It sounds to me like you just asked me to marry you.”

“You heard me wrong. I said I was willing to be fake engaged to you to trick your papa so he will trust me.”

He forces me backwards, my body colliding with the bed. “Oh, I heard you. You want to marry me, don’t you, baby.” My knees buckle, and he lands on top of me, the weight of him pinning me down.

“Alex,” I warn him.

“You can keep up this lie, but we both know behind closed doors what we have is nothing but real, princess, and I will marry you.”

His lips meet mine as his hips rock into me, and I can’t help the moan that slips from my lips. There is no denying my feelings for him. Even if he is a controlling ass, I’m wearing him down more every time I see him. Him opening up to me and finally being honest is a massive improvement. And us working together could just be the key to really making this work.