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

Chapter 16

Alessandro and I pull up to his and the boys’ mansion, park his sleek car, and enter through the discreet internal door connecting the garage to the main house. I feel like a normal person for once, not a hostage hustled in through the cave.

Ricky’s face lights up with a huge grin when he spots me walking through the kitchen. He was at the sink, chugging a glass of water, but he puts it down immediately. “Baby doll.” He bursts toward me, his arms engulfing me in a warm hug as I feel his energy radiating through his embrace. His shirt is off, and his skin is glistening with sweat, making me giggle as he leans in for a kiss. This man is the devil, hot as fucking sin, especially fresh from a workout.

Maddox stands back watching us, shirtless, beads of sweat glistening over the ink on his sculpted chest. Their flushed cheeks and slightly ragged breathing indicate they have just been working out in their home gym. His gaze sweeps over me, his eyes like ice, sending a chill through me with their cold disapproval.

“Maddox, can we talk?” I ask him nervously. I know I need to try and make things right, not just because my conscience wants it, but because for this all to work, I need them all on board.

Without a word, he downs the rest of his water and walks toward the outdoor patio.

I follow him, hoping that’s what I was supposed to do, not that he’s trying to escape me.

I watch as he takes out a cigarette, lights it with a flick of his wrist, and inhales deeply, filling his lungs with smoke.

“Should you be smoking while you’re in training?”

He sucks in another drag, his eyes narrowing in on me. “You took the easy way out,” he finally says, disappointment coloring his tone.

“I did what I had to so I could survive, and you know it,” I snap back. I won’t let him guilt me, I’ve done enough of that myself since I left them. “Get Geovani to show you the video of Enzo,” I say, wishing they could understand where I’m coming from, how desperate I felt in that moment.

He laughs bitterly. “No one has seen him since the night you disappeared. At first, we all figured you must have run off with him, until Dani told us the truth.” He looks me up and down cruelly, like he can’t stand my new disguise. “This is so much worse.” He spits back at me, disgusted.

I stare back at him, panic and guilt racing through me. Where the fuck is Geovani? And why is this the first I’m hearing about him taking off? “Dani, she would have a copy,” I stutter out, trying to stay on track. One problem at a time, Harley.

“I’ve seen the fucking video surveillance. I know you were running scared, but can you honestly tell me what we had didn’t mean anything? That I wasn’t worth sticking around for? You know I would have protected you at all costs. I nearly died doing exactly that not so long ago. And you promised me you wouldn’t leave.” He runs a hand through his blonde mohawk, tugging at the ends, his eyes bloodshot.

I stare back at him, wanting so desperately to tell him how much I love him and for him to carry me back upstairs so he can fuck me like only he knows how. Telling me we will all live in bliss for the rest of our lives. But that’s just not our reality. We don’t get the happily ever after, it’s just not possible.

I take a step closer to him, reaching up to run a hand through his stubble, needing my skin on his. “No, what you and I had was everything. But I’m a realist, Maddox, and while we have the threat of Enzo hanging over us, you boys weren’t safe with Harley around. I know what I did was fucked up. But I did it for you. I couldn’t stand to see you hurt again because of me.”

“Don’t lie to yourself, Harley, you ran scared, breaking every fucking promise you ever made to me. And the other two in there might be ready to forgive you, but I’m not.” He takes one more long drag then stubs the butt out in the ashtray on the outdoor table. I didn’t expect it to be easy with him, but fuck, he played his part here. “I’m done with this shit,” he mutters, leaving me alone out here.

“No!” I shout, frustration taking over.

It makes him stop dead in his tracks.

“You don’t get to fucking walk away from me, Maddox. It wasn’t just me who did this to us. I asked for your fucking help. Begged you, and you let me feel like escaping and dealing with this threat alone was the only option I had, with all the secrets you three kept from me. So, fuck you, I don’t want your forgiveness,” I spit back at him, bitterness dripping off my every word, a fresh wave of anger radiating through me. How fucking dare he.

He spins around to face me, his features contorting in anger. “You could have been raped or killed by that fucking pig. We kept stuff from you to protect you. To avoid you ever having to deal with the scum of this fucking earth. And what did you do? Ran straight toward it, thinking that somehow magically you could save us all.”

I close the gap between us, so much tension in my body my fingers start to tremble. “I don’t need your protection. That asshole came at me, and I took care of him. I need your trust; I need all your secrets and truths, no more fucking lies to keep me safe. I need you all to treat me like your equal, and if you can’t do that, then you’re right, this is done. Because I won’t live in any of your shadows anymore. When you’re ready to treat me properly, come find me.” I shove past him, knocking his arm as I go. I didn’t expect things to go quite like that, but I’m not disappointed. We both got to say our piece and now he knows where we stand.

I feel him behind me before I have a chance to get too far. His hands are on me, spinning me around, and his lips meet mine in a bruising kiss, our bodies colliding with the concrete wall of the patio. His tongue invades my mouth in a way that makes me crazy. He lifts me, pushing my back into the wall as my legs wrap around his waist, and I lock my ankles in place around him.

When he finally breaks our kiss, I stare back at him, a panting mess. “The games end now, temptress.” He wraps his arms around me and carries me into the house with my legs still wrapped around him.

“Maddox,” I warn him, not sure what he’s on about.

But he lets us in the elevator, and we ride up to his room. So much tension swirls through the small, confined space that I don’t know what to do with myself. When we arrive on the top floor, he walks me straight to his bedroom. My dirty mind has all sorts of ideas of how we’re going to sort out our differences. But when he dumps me down on his bed, he goes to his bedside table and pulls out what looks like a journal and hands it to me.

I open the book, flipping through the pages. Sure enough, it’s a handwritten journal. Parts of it have been highlighted, and when I notice a name that keeps repeating, I quickly look up at him. “Enzo? Whose journal is this?”

“Ricky’s mom’s. We found it stashed in the attic of the safe house. I have been trying to decipher what happened between her and Enzo all those years ago. After you told us what your ma went through, I had this sickening feeling. My memory of the night she died is so blurred with the brutality of it all. Ricky is the same, we were both so young. I knew my father was there, and I remember him fighting with her, but according to this he was the man protecting her from Enzo, he wouldn’t have killed her. All her entries in the weeks leading up to her murder, she talked about how scared she was that her past would catch up with her. She talks about Ricky and me. All she wanted to do was protect us from Enzo, but she knew he was coming for her and for us. She knew he would eventually turn on her and end her life because she had witnessed him doing it before. She was so scared.”

His eyes meet mine, and I know he wishes he’d done something to stop what happened to her, but he was just a kid. “The last entry is her deciding it’s time to do something, and from what I can work out, it looks like they were about to take off with us. Go someplace safe. She talks of this man Chambly, who was a detective at the time, who had a safe house for all of us to go to.”

A shiver runs down my spine, making my skin all cold and clammy. “As in Mayor Chambly? And the safe house we all stayed in together?”

His sad eyes meet mine. “Exactly.”

“But he’s in with Enzo, I saw the two of them having a meeting just the other day.” He doesn’t look shocked, I’m not telling him anything he doesn’t already know.

“Take a look at all the other highlighted names as well.” He motions back to the small book.

He’s right, every highlighted name I recognize. Palmer has to be the now police commissioner, Chambly is the mayor, Hops and Carillon would be the two detectives I met at the party the Morettis threw. “She believed all these people were going to help her, but they all work for him,” I say sadly. Ricky’s poor mother never stood a chance.

“Or did work for him after the night she was killed. It’s not a coincidence they all ended up with massive promotions. And look at this, it was the detectives who called in your mother’s overdose. Hops and Carillon again. Your ma and Ricky’s died or were murdered less than twelve months apart, and these same people were all involved in the cover-up.”

Our eyes lock again. This is what he’s scared of. He knows the power these assholes all have in their positions with Enzo at the lead.

“That’s not all we found. The hospital records for my birth mother say she died giving birth to me, but look who the doctor is.” He shows me his birth certificate. “Northgate.”

Northgate? I think on it for a bit, trying to remember where I know that name from. Then it all clicks, the charming doctor I met at Valentina and Enzo’s garden party. He’s one of them as well. “You think her death was suspicious as well? But your mother was Enzo’s sister. Why would he have her killed?”

“I’m not sure, but this is all too much of a coincidence.”

“Oh, it’s no coincidence. I met all of them at your parents’ party the other night. They’re all in on this. And have been for years, I’m sure of it.”

He stiffens as I say it. “You met them all.”

I nod, remembering the little green slip of paper I collected off the street after I watched Mayor Chambly get in his car the other day. I pull it from the protective case on my phone and hand it to Maddox. “What is this place? Is this something to do with Sinners’ Paradise? I found it on the road after I watched Mayor Chambly enter a back alleyway door. He stayed there for an hour then took off up the street. It was right after he met Enzo for lunch.”

He looks over the paper. “I have never seen a ticket like this before. It’s not from the casino. Where did you say this place was?”

“Behind the florist on Main Street. It doesn’t show on Google Maps; it’s like it doesn’t exist.”

“Yeah, that’s what they want you to believe.” He types something into his phone and zooms in to pull up the location on Google Maps. “This place?”

“Yeah, it was down that side street, the door at the back.”

“It’s a strip club, one of Enzo’s. I’m not sure what the stub is for, it’s been years since I’ve been in the place.”

I take his hand in mine. “So now you believe me about all of this.”

“There was never any doubt about any of it. We just wanted to keep you out of it to protect you. Enzo has a pattern, Harley, with young beautiful women. He uses them up then kills them or makes them disappear. We have seen it before too many times. Alex has been working for years to try and stop him, but it’s not that simple when there are so many big players involved. These men run this town. Even with Alex in charge.”

“The women, they discard them in one of his auctions?”

He looks me over, like how the fuck do I know that, but I know a lot more than he thinks. “We have our suspicion that’s how they’re disappearing, but we haven’t got any evidence to prove it.”

“That’s why you need me. I have a way in that none of you can access.” I squeeze his hand. “We all have our reasons for wanting to take him and this whole fucked-up thing down. Let me play my part.” I reach up and run a hand through his stubble, staring into his sad eyes. He looks more broken than usual. “I’m not going to end up like one of them. I know what I’m doing, and I have you three and an army of Strykers looking out for me as well.”

He pulls me toward him, kissing my lips more softly this time. “It’s not worth the risk,” he whispers.

I pull back from him, meeting his gaze. “It is. You can put that damn tracker back in me, bug my apartment, my car, whatever you need to so you know I’m safe. I don’t care, Maddox, I just need to do this. Okay? I have to make him pay for what he did to my family and these other poor girls he’s still ruining the lives of.”

“She’s right,” comes Alessandro’s voice from the doorway. I glance at him, grateful to finally have his backing. Ricky stands by his side, and I can see he’s on board as well. “But you’re going to wear this.” He holds up the engagement ring he gave me when I first came here.

I stand in a rush, moving toward him, knowing that ring was in my bathroom vanity. “What the hell, Alex?”

“You kept it for a reason, Harley. You could have sold it, but you didn’t.”

I blink back at him. “It’s a little fast, don’t you think? It’s going to look suspicious to Enzo. I’m good, but I’m not that good.”

He reaches behind my neck, pulling me into him. “Enzo won’t give a fuck how fast it is. Only that you are doing what he asked you to. And when you go back to him with the information he’s looking for, nothing else will matter.”

“What information?” I ask, looking between them.

“That’s what we’re hoping you can find out at the high tea Valentina invited you to. All the wives will be there, and you know what women are like.”

I raise a brow, my interest piqued. “No, Alex, what are women like?”

“They like to talk. Anything you can get on the people closest to him might be useful. We either use the information to turn Enzo against his allies or to help them self-destruct.” His smirk is cruel, and I know the three of them have been giving this a lot of thought.

“We thought Enzo’s men backing us, not him, would be enough, but we didn’t account for his other connections in the community,” Ricky adds, and for the first time, I feel like I’m in with them. They are telling me their plans and finally working with me on this, not against me.

A sinister smirk comes across my face at the thought. This is exactly what I have planned with Sloane. “One by one, we will eliminate all of his alliances till he’s standing alone and vulnerable.” I nod.

I feel Ricky’s hands brush my arm as he steps in behind me. “Fuck, you’re hot when you’re being so evil.” His lips dip to my neck, and I lean back into him.

“She is, isn’t she,” Alessandro agrees from in front of me, pulling me into a heated kiss.

Before I know it, Maddox is right in front of me as well. I reach for him, needing my lips on his. And he doesn’t disappoint.