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

Chapter 26

Geovani and I walk through the bottom floor of the Flamingo Hotel, the sounds of chatter and clinking glasses following us as we searched for the boys. Uncomfortable and wondering if he’s seeing what I am, I glance back at Geovani, feeling the weight of everyone’s eyes on me, a blush creeping up my face. “Why is everyone staring at me?”

“They know who you are,” he mutters.

The buff guard manning the partition rope to the second floor lets us by, and nervously, I climb the stairs. I have no idea how I’m supposed to bring up Alessandro running for mayor; the thought alone makes my stomach churn. When we make it to the top, Geovani’s arm comes around me, and he shoves me back into the shadows quickly.

“Your brother’s here,” he growls through clenched teeth.

My heart kicks up a beat. I have already had to deal with too much drama today. I’m not ready for a run in with him as well. It feels like a lifetime since I saw him last. Part of me wants to run to him and throw my arms around him, beg for his forgiveness. The other part knows it’s more complicated than that. “What? I thought he was hiding out at your place. Isn’t it dangerous for him to be out on the town?”

“Probably,” he responds, but his eyes don’t meet mine. He’s stuck in stalker mode, watching my brother talk to Alex.

The two of us stay hidden in the shadows of the stairwell, just watching Marco and Alessandro talking. “Does he know Alex is getting married?” I ask after it’s been some time.

“Everyone in the city knows.”

I wonder what he makes of that. Alex was supposed to love Harley. I’m sure my brother doesn’t think much of his so-called friend moving on so quickly to some other girl. But as I watch the two of them interacting, I don’t see any animosity between them. Marco chuckles at something Alex says, then Alex slaps him on the back and the two of them go their separate ways. “Oh, shit, he’s coming right toward us.”

Geovani acts quickly, shoving me up against the wall and locking his lips with mine, knocking me off guard.

But I go with it, kissing him back until I can see Marco has passed us. Then I pull away. “Geo, what the fuck. You just said everyone here knows who I am. And who I’m marrying.”

“No one saw us except for your brother, and he had no idea who either of us were. You’re welcome,” he mutters, indicating I should follow him up the last stair and into the mezzanine level of the club because he somehow just saved my ass.

“Is something going on with you and Marco?” I ask, looking him over. Last I heard they were working together, but his expression isn’t betraying their closeness.

“Nope, just didn’t want him to see you.” The way he answers me makes me feel uneasy. “If anyone would pick that it was you, it’ll be him.”

I guess I was the one who asked him to keep my secret. Maybe my unease is knowing I’m lying to my brother. Guilt eats at me. I should tell him, but something is stopping me. Dani maybe? Or it could just be that this way is easier, less judgment from my last remaining family member. If he knew what I was up to, he would stop me for sure. And I can’t have that.

We stop walking when we make it to a table in the center of the room not far from the main dancing stage. Maddox has his feet up, a smoke in hand, though from the smell of it, it’s not just a cigarette. His eyes move slowly over me, something in his intense gaze, a mixture of mischief and something deeper, making my cheeks flush with heat.

Ricky doesn’t wait for an invitation as soon as he works out I’m here. He stands, rushing toward me and pulling me in for a heated kiss. He dips me, shoving his tongue in my mouth before I have time to process what’s going on.

I shove him off me. “Ricky,” I chastise him. “We’re in public.” He smirks toward me then kisses me again just to prove a point. I’m not sure what point, maybe that he doesn’t give shit, but it’s hot and I can’t help but kiss him back this time.

When he’s done manhandling me in the center of their club, he lets his hands slide down my body, landing on my waist. “Stop worrying so much what other people are thinking, baby doll. Remember we own this place.” He drapes an arm around me. “What can I get you to drink?”

I stare back at him, not convinced. Just because they own this place doesn’t mean people won’t be talking about us. And I for one don’t want the added attention.

From across the room, Alessandro spots me and immediately leaves the party of four men he was talking with and walks my way. “What are you doing here, princess?” he asks happily as he moves toward us, wrapping his arms around me before pulling me into him for a kiss. I feel like a local celebrity with all the attention I’m getting, but I guess I did tell them all I wouldn’t see them tonight because of my work. And now I’m here right in front of them.

I stare up at him, my fingers tangling in the soft cotton of his shirt. “We need to talk, is there somewhere private? Maybe your office.” I have no idea what his reaction is going to be, and I know right here with all these people around is a bad idea.

He looks over his shoulder and up toward his office. “I have a better idea.” He takes my hand and leads me away from the others.

“You better bring her back, brother,” Ricky calls to us playfully.

Having crossed the mezzanine, the sounds of the party fading behind us, we find ourselves in a long corridor. When he comes to a door, he flashes a card of some sort, and the door opens. I follow him inside, wondering where he’s taken me. He shuts the door and flicks on the light, illuminating the space before us.

I’m met with what looks like one of the rooms Sloane showed me on her tour around The Raven’s Nest. My attention comes back to Alex. “What is this place?” I ask with curiosity as much as surprise.

His eyes twinkle mischievously, and I know he’s up to something. “One of our private rooms.”

“Do you bring girls in here often?” I ask, suddenly feeling irritated for no good reason. But the idea that he has been in here with another girl makes me stabby.

With a predatory grace, he narrows the space between us, his nearness and his intoxicating scent stealing my breath away. “Never. You’re the first.” His hands come to my waist, and he pulls me in closer so I can feel how hard he is under his suit pants.

My lips purse together as my eyes narrow in on him. “I said I needed to talk, not fuck, Alex.”

“You said you needed somewhere private; this is as good as it gets in my club. Now spill, what the fuck is going on? You have two minutes, then I’m taking what I want from you.”

I raise a brow, wondering the same. What is going on with him? Something has him on edge more than normal, all possessive and desperate to get his hands on me. He hasn’t been like this since I was locked up with him. “Why was my brother in here tonight, and don’t even think about lying to me.”

I feel his hand sliding down my back, gripping my ass roughly. He can’t take his hands off me tonight. “Your brother needed a little help. Assurance that I will protect him if Enzo comes for him.”

“I thought that was a done deal.”

“Nothing has been a done deal since you disappeared, princess, you should know that. You taking off didn’t just affect all of us but your brother as well.” His hands slip down further, toying with the hem of my dress.

My head drops, ashamed for the trouble I have caused Marco when all this time he’s been trying to help me. “I know, I feel terrible about that part. Is he okay?”

“Marco is resilient, he’s learned to be. He knows you’re alive, and for now, that will have to satisfy him.”

My head shoots back up. “Was he asking questions about me tonight? This new girl you’re marrying, he doesn’t suspect a thing?”

“He knows we’re all doing what we can to survive. Before all this shit went down and we took over from my papa, he had a rule in place. I had to be married before I turned thirty-four or I wasn’t going to take over from him. He would have given his second born the chance to rise to the challenge.”

“That’s why he was trying to marry Ricky off to Elisa. But none of you knew he had another kid back then,” I say, not really understanding the reasoning.

“That didn’t stop his threats. Ricky was always his insurance. He believed he was more easily manipulated than I would be. But he wanted me in charge. I have the reputation amongst our people.”

“Why is marriage so fucking important? Your papa, and it seems every other fucker around, cheats on the regular, with whoever the hell they want, so why make such a fuss about it?”

“It’s all about image.” His fingers trail down my arm, then he spins me so I’m facing a mirror. His arm wrapped around my middle, his lips dust kisses down my neck. Our bodies are so close I can feel how hard his cock is. How massively turned on he is. Our eyes lock in the reflection, and I know he’s done talking. But I’m not.

“Alex,” I warn him. “I’m serious, I need to talk.”

He chuckles darkly. “Well, I need to fuck you. You look edible tonight, princess.” His hands are on the hem of my skirt, lifting it over my head before I can stop him.

He has a fucking one-track mind tonight. “Enzo came to see me tonight while I was working,” I get out, saying what I need to anyway. Maybe it won’t hurt if I am half-dressed while we have this chat.

He stills. Now I have his attention. “What the fuck did he want?” he growls, furious.

“He demanded I stop working there.”

He considers me. “He’s not wrong. That place is a death trap. You don’t need to work now that you have us to take care of you.” His hands land on my breasts, and he massages them through my bra, teasing my nipples to stiff peaks.

I shake my head, trying to pull away from him. “Don’t you start as well.”

He looks unimpressed that I’m avoiding his advances. “I won’t stop you from working if that’s what you want, princess.”

“But you will send Geovani to watch over me every second of my shift.”

“I won’t apologize for keeping what’s mine safe.”

I roll my eyes. He knows exactly where all the possessive bullshit gets him. “Well, it’s too late for that. Your papa has already demanded I stop working there, he just can’t stand Sloane. I’m so angry, Alex, I can’t stand him trying to control my life, and not only that, now he’s demanding I convince you in any way I can that you should replace Mayor Chambly.” I watch for his reaction, knowing how ridiculous it sounds.

He chuckles darkly. “Told you the old man has lost his fucking mind,” he says like he’s not even surprised, and part of me wonders if this isn’t new information to him.

I place a hand on his chest, trying to stop him. “I don’t think you understand how serious this is, Alex. We both know what happens when the girls he pays to help him don’t come through with the goods.” I motion having my throat slit, my insides churning at the thought.

His hand comes to my throat, his fingers closing around it as he lifts me and presses me into the mirror. My legs instinctively wrap around his body. “We can’t have that.” He looks at me, his eyes filled with a combination of love and lust that does things to me, especially with his hand around my neck. “Guess I will just have to run for mayor then.”

I feel my eyes go wide. “What the fuck, Alex?”

“I knew it was coming, princess; me and the boys have had time to plan our reaction. For now, we go with it. Play Papa’s game. Take over one thing at a time until he has nothing left. We know you have your plan and we’re all for it. But we have our own.”

“You’re starting to scare me,” I warn him.

“Trust me, princess, everything will work out for the best.” He undoes his fly, and in one swift move, he shoves my panties out of the way and thrusts inside of me.

“Fuck, Alex. What the hell has gotten into you tonight?” His hungry eyes bore into me, and he lowers his face closer, his lips meet with mine, and he kisses me like his life depends on it. Something was going down here before I arrived. There is a charged tension in the air, and I can fucking feel his desperation in the way he thrusts into me, like he’s claiming me for the first time.

He pulls away from our kiss, his forehead meeting with mine. “You’re so fucking perfect,” he growls, fucking me harder, my back hitting against the solid mirrored wall behind us.

I dig my nails into his back, taking every deep pump. I have no clue what’s gotten into him, but if he needs to fuck it out, I’m here for it.

When he finishes filling me up. He wraps his arms around me, holding me close, in a more tender way that I’m not expecting. I stare up at my poor broken man, wondering how I help right now. “I love you,” I whisper, not sure if he needs to hear it right now, but I know I need him to know no matter how fucked up all this gets, he is mine and I am his.

He lowers his head, closing his eyes for just a second. When he opens them, his mask is gone. He’s the man I have been getting used to seeing, the real Alex, not the man he pretends to be around everyone else. “There’s an issue with some of your papa’s men,” he grumbles, a hand running through his hair.

“Marco?”

“No, Enzo. He’s causing trouble, and the Havardi people aren’t happy about it. They want Marco’s help, but there isn’t a lot he can do while he’s still hiding out from Enzo. He shouldn’t have even come here tonight, but without you, he’s getting desperate.”

I lace my hand with his, staring deep into his eyes, grateful I’m not on the outside anymore and he finally trust me. “Thank you for letting me in. You could have brushed me off tonight. Your honesty means everything to me.”

A gunshot rings out, sharp and loud, followed by a chorus of terrified screams that pierce the air. I jump, my fingers digging into Alessandro’s arms in fright.

My eyes shoot wide. “Was that what I think it was?”

He pulls out of me then lowers me to my feet and fastens his pants.

I fix up my panties and throw my dress back on.

Pulling a gun from behind his back, he rushes to the door. “Stay behind me,” he calls back to me, holding a hand out for me to take.

I run to catch up with him as he opens the door to the hallway, gun drawn. He looks from left to right then moves back in the direction of the club. I follow closely behind him, gripping his hand. What was a busy club when we entered the private room is filtering out quickly. And I know for sure it was what we thought. A gun being fired right here in the boys’ club.

We move toward the mezzanine railing and peer over. There, just to the side of the dance floor, is a man’s body lying lifeless. “Fuck,” Alessandro curses, running a hand through his long hair.

From our bird’s-eye view, I can see the boys clustered together near the dance floor, no sign of the shooter.

Geovani appears behind us. “Two men down. The first, Detective Carillon, the second, one of our guards who chased the masked gunman.”

Detective Carillon, isn’t that a good thing? I’m sure he was one of the men on the list.

“Go check out the video footage, I’ll deal with the mess downstairs,” Alex tells Geovani.

Alex kisses me quickly. “Go with Geovani, I don’t want you out of his sight until we locate the cunt who did this.”

My heart races like crazy. I go to argue with him and tell him I want to be involved, but there is a haunted look in his expression that tells me just how serious this is. They all believed we would be safe here in their club and then this happened. It’s shaken him up. I kiss him quickly, then he takes off for the stairs.

Geovani’s arm comes around my shoulders, and he guides me into Alex’s office then locks the door behind us. He moves to sit at his desk and types in his password like he’s done it a million times before. “Come sit with me, Red.”

I take his outstretched hand and position myself on his lap, watching as he brings up the live feed of the club surveillance. “Alex just trusts you with all this now?” I ask, surprised.

The sideways look he gives me tells me it’s more complicated than that. He clicks on one video in particular, the camera that was focused on the dance floor, and blows it up big, rewinding till the time of the shooting. “Fucking hell,” he grumbles under his breath.

“What is it?” I ask, not seeing the problem.

“Someone external has hacked into our systems and tampered with this image. Right there where it should clearly show the gunman shooting the detective, it’s been looped with the previous five minutes of footage.”

I look back at him, confused. “How the hell could someone do that?”

“There are only two people I know who are that skilled in hacking, me and Dani. And we both know I was here.”

My face creases in concern. “She wouldn’t.”

“No, but someone has, someone who wanted to murder this particular detective on our turf and get away with it. This makes us all look involved. And when this dude is on Enzo’s payroll, shit is going to hit the fan.”

There is a knock at the door, and I stand in a rush to answer it, but Geovani shoves me out of the way, getting there first. Alessandro, Ricky, and Maddox all come in. “The club has been evacuated and locked down. Enzo is on his way.”

“Why call Enzo?” I ask in a panic.

“This is one of his detectives. He’s going to want answers.” Alessandro looks to Geovani, asking if we found anything.

“The surveillance has been hacked, we have nothing to show him. Whoever did this was prepared and had someone on the outside assisting them.”

Alessandro runs a hand through his already disheveled hair, the gesture revealing the deep stress lines etched into his forehead. “There is a bigger problem here that no one in this room is to mention to Enzo. Detective Carillon wasn’t who he made everyone believe. He wasn’t really working for Enzo, he was just making it appear that way—he was our inside man, the guy who had been feeding Marco and me information and vice versa to try and finally bring down all the big players. Him being killed in our club tonight wasn’t a coincidence. This is a message to all of us. Someone knows how close we are to bringing this web of lies and destruction down.”

I want to burst into tears, it’s always one step forward and two back. If our one good contact with the cops is gone because someone was on to us, we’re in trouble. Big fucking trouble. My brother and Alessandro included.