Page 63 of Darkest Game

The fact that Irina wants to be here to help me save my mom is something I never thought would happen. How can she care about a guy like me?

“Stay safe,” I say gruffly before getting out of the car. My heart is pounding as I head to the front door. Please let my mom be all right. Let her be alive.

Since I keep my mom out of a lot of my mafia life, we don’t talk that regularly like we used to. Usually just once a month on the phone. I haven’t seen her in person in a few months.

I knock on the door. Someone peers through the peephole and opens the door. One of Jack’s men, Connor, lets me inside.

The front door leads right into the kitchen. And that’s where I see my mom, tied to a chair, a man standing behind her with a knife to her throat. Oliver is the name of the man.

Behind him stands Elaine, a smug look on her face like she knows she’s won this round. “Took you long enough to get here.”

“I was around thirty minutes away. Let my mom go.” My eyes flick to her scared face. A rag is in her mouth, preventing her from speaking.

My mom, Ashley O’Connor, pleads with her eyes for me to save her. It’s fucking heartbreaking. My mom who used to comfort me, who used to be superwoman in my eyes when I was a boy, now needs my help. Now needs me to be superman to her. To be invincible when we both know I’m not.

“I’ll let her go when I get what I want,” Elaine says. “She doesn’t need to die for your actions.”

“Fine. So kill me and let her go.”

“No. Not until I get Irina. I know you took her from the park. I know you have her. Where is she?”

“Let my mom go and I’ll tell you.”

Elaine smirks. “That’s not how this works. Oliver can stab her in the throat at any moment.”

“Then I won’t tell you where Irina is. And you’ll never get your hands on her. You’ll never get to kill her. I know you desperately want to.”

A look of pure fury crosses Elaine’s face. “Fine. We’ll let her go. But only if you give me Irina. Go get her and give her to me and then I’ll let your mother go.”

“My mom has nothing to do with any of this. She didn’t even know Jack. She doesn’t even know I’m married.”

My mom’s eyes widened and she struggles against the binds holding her to the chair.

“Keep her quiet,” Elaine snaps and Oliver smacks my mom across the face.

“Careful,” I growl. “If you hurt her again, I’ll never give you Irina.”

“Give me the girl. You can’t honestly care about her. You barely know her. So give her over to me and save your mom. You would choose some girl you’ve only known for a week over your own mother?”

My mom is my mom. Of course I’ll do anything to save her.

But Irina… she’s wedged herself into me in a way I never thought possible. I don’t want to lose her but to save my mom?

“Let my mom go,” I repeat. “And I will give you Irina. I swear it. But you have to remove that knife from her throat. Now.”

“Check him,” Elaine says, nodding at Connor. “Make sure he doesn’t have a gun on him.”

Connor pats me down and takes the gun from my jacket. “This is the only one.” He hands it over to Elaine, who points it at me.

“I’ll let your mom go once you give me Irina.”

“Let my mom go and I’ll give you Irina.”

Elaine smirks. “I don’t trust you.”

“And I don’t trust you. It seems we’re at a standstill. One of us is going to have to bend and it’s not going to be me. So bend, Elaine. All you have to do is untie my mom and let her go.”

“Once I do that, you’ll try to attack me.”