Page 10 of Darkest Game (The Dark Mafia #3)

“Oh, I know. And trust me, I’m angry with Jack.

Angry that he wants a prettier, younger model than me.

Angry that I’m not good enough for him. But I can’t take it out on Jack.

So I’m going to have to take it out on you.

And the only reason Jack wants you is because you’re so pretty. So I’m going to rectify that.”

I frown. “What are you saying?”

In one fast motion, she pulls a small knife out of her purse and slashes it at me. I just barely dodge back before it can hit me.

“What are you doing?” I scream.

“I’m going to ruin that pretty face. He won’t want you if you’re ugly.” Elaine comes at me again but I fling myself backwards and my spine hits the wall. She runs right towards me, the knife sticking outward.

I jerk to the side and the blade cuts my arm, instantly drawing blood. It begins to stain my white wedding dress. Another scream escapes my throat as I try to get away from her.

“Please, stop this,” I beg. “Please. I didn’t ask for this. I don’t want this. I don’t want to be raped tonight!”

“So, I’m doing you a favor.”

“You’re going to kill me with that knife.”

“Death will be better than being raped.”

Elaine is insane. There’s no other way to describe her.

I trip on my dress as I run for the restroom door. She grabs my hair and yanks my head back, baring my throat. That’s when she presses the knife right to my neck.

The door kicks open and Liam barges inside.

“What the fuck are you doing?” he snarls, shoving Elaine away from me. I sag right into his arms.

Elaine tries slicing the knife at me but Liam grabs her hand and makes her drop it.

“I repeat: what the fuck are you doing?”

“I’m doing the girl a favor,” Elaine says, wiping the sweat off her brow.

Liam pulls me into his arms, holding me close, and I cling right back to him. Never would I have thought I’d seek comfort with a man like Liam.

“By trying to kill her?”

“By making her ugly. I was going to cut her face if she just held still. Then Jack wouldn’t have wanted her.”

“Are you fucking crazy? Jack would still fuck her just because he can. Even if her face was mutilated. You can’t control your husband. But don’t try to kill my wife.”

Elaine scoffs. “She’s not your wife. She’s Jack’s. He only had you marry her because legally he couldn’t marry her himself. You act all protective over her but she is not yours.”

“And Jack’s not yours either since you can’t keep him in your marriage bed.”

“Just let me hurt the girl.” She tries to go for the knife but Liam kicks it across the room. I don’t let go of his jacket because once I do, I’m not sure I’ll be able to stay upright.

“No. Now we’re going back out to the party and you’re going to tell Jack what you just tried to do. If you try to blame this shit on me, I will mutilate your face, Elaine. And I will cut out your tongue so you can’t tell Jack I was the one.”

Her face goes pale. “I could still write.”

“Then I’ll cut off your hands. Tell Jack that you tried to kill Irina. If he thinks I did, he’ll try to kill me and I don’t have any plans to die tonight.”

“You’re an idiot,” she hisses. “If I could just make the girl ugly, then you can have her for yourself. You clearly want her if you’re protecting her like you are.”

“It’s not about protecting her. It’s about not wanting to see an innocent woman get mutilated because of a sick fucker’s game. Now leave.”

Elaine huffs, clearly not wanting to go, but she does anyway. The moment she’s gone, Liam holds me at arm’s length, studying my face.

“Are you hurt?”

I nod at my arm. The wound is still bleeding.

He winces. “It doesn’t look deep. But we should still clean it and cover it.

There should be a first aid kit around here.

Wait here.” He leaves the restroom and it takes everything inside of me not to beg him to stay.

The last thing I want is to be alone right now, waiting for Elaine to come back to finish what she didn’t get to do.

But Liam is only gone for a few minutes before he comes back with a first aid kit. “I asked one of the servers. Here.” He takes out an alcohol wipe. “This is going to sting.”

It does burn as he daps it on my arm before taking a wet wipe and cleaning up the blood. Then he covers the cut with a large bandage.

“That should make it stop bleeding.” His fingers linger on my arm before he drops his hand.

“Why did you help me?”

“Well, you are my wife now.”

I shake my head. “You heard what Elaine said. I’m Jack’s despite us being married. And you said you don’t care about me. So why are you helping me?”

“Just because I didn’t want to marry you doesn’t mean I’m going to let you suffer. You had a cut, I helped fix it. Elaine was trying to kill you, I helped stop it. You were never the one who was supposed to be taken. So that’s why I helped you.”

“Out of guilt?”

He averts his gaze. “I don’t feel guilt. I don’t care about most things in this life.”

Including me . I can’t let Liam saving me get in my head. He’s still not going to protect me against Jack. He’s not going to be a loyal husband. He’s not the man I dreamed of marrying.

“We should head back out there,” he says. “Who knows what the fuck Elaine is telling Jack right now.”

When we arrive back in the main ballroom of the reception center, one of the guests – a middle aged man with a bad comb over – comes over to me.

“You’re covered in blood.” His words slur. Judging from how badly he stinks of alcohol, it’s clear he’s drunk. He reaches out a hand to touch me when Liam steps forward and punches the man right in the face.

It shocks me so much, I stumble back, hands clasped over my mouth. The other guests look at Liam with wide eyes.

“Why the fuck are you punching my guests?” Jack’s voice booms across the room.

“He tried touching Irina.”

I stare at Liam in shock. Is he acting possessive towards me? Is this because Jack is making a fool out of him by trying to claim me first?

The one thing I’m sure of about Liam is that he’s an enigma.

“That’s not for you to decide.” Jack storms over to us. His eyes narrow when they land on my arm. “What the fuck happened here?” He grabs my arm so roughly, I can’t stop myself from crying out.

“Careful,” Liam grits out.

Jack tosses him a dismissive glance and turns my arm from side to side. “How did you get hurt? Liam. Just because I’m going to claim your wife first doesn’t give you the right to hurt her. I want to touch her unblemished skin.”

“Did your wife not tell you?”

“What?” His question is flat.

Liam nods at Elaine, who’s sitting at the head table like she hadn’t just tried to kill me. “You’re wife. I caught her in the bathroom trying to murder Irina. She had a knife to Irina’s throat and everything.”

“Why would she do that?” Jack tosses my arm back at my side.

“Because she’s jealous that you’re going to fuck Irina tonight and wanted to make Irina ugly so you wouldn’t touch her.”

Jack throws Elaine an annoyed look. “You don’t get a say in this, wife.”

“I should get a say,” she snaps back. The entire room is watching us all in rapt fascination. It is one hell of a show. “You’re going to have sex with another woman tonight. A virgin no less. How do you think that makes me feel?”

“You’re my wife in name and to have my children. But as a man and as the boss of everyone in this room, I need to make sure this girl is one of ours. And the only way to do that is to claim her myself.”

“Why not let her husband do that?”

“Because Liam has been a thorn in my side and needs to be punished.” Jack offers Liam a savage grin. “This is what happens when you fuck me over. When you don’t play by my rules.”

“I didn’t even know about your rules to begin with,” Liam replies. “I was next in line after Cillian. Don’t hate me for taking advantage of a situation anyone else would have done.”

“Know your place!” Jack shouts, spittle flying from his mouth.

“And stop punching my guests. If anyone of these men want to touch Irina, then they have my permission. Just not until I’ve had her first. But after I’ve claimed her, I don’t care who fucks her.

You. Me. Any of these other men. She belongs to us all now.

This little Russian bitch will know what it’s like to have hard Irish cock inside of her.

And if that bothers you, Liam, then I suggest you don’t get too attached to the girl. ”

“You made her my wife just to cuckhold me.”

He raises his eyebrows. “Cuckhold. That’s a fancy word for a guy like you.”

Liam’s hands are clenched into fists. I don’t move an inch as I watch this showdown take place.

“You want to embarrass me,” Liam continues. “Make me a fucking laughingstock out of all the men who work for you so you can be on top.”

“It works for me. Don’t hate the game, Liam. Now, let’s finish this wedding celebration. I haven’t had the first dance with your wife yet.” Jack pulls me into his arms before I can react and swings me onto the dance floor. Liam watches us with so much hatred in his eyes.

Jack is going to take all my firsts away from Liam. This was supposed to be mine and Liam’s first dance together as husband and wife and Jack is making a mockery out of him.

“I expect you to have fun tonight,” Jack says low into my ear. All I feel is numb. First, I was almost killed today and now I’ll be raped tonight. It will be easier if I’m numb and can’t feel anything. “I expect you to moan my name as I fuck your virginity right out of you. Answer me.”

I nod.

Jack huffs and spins us faster around the room. “My wife shouldn’t have tried to kill you. I want you pretty. If anyone is going to mutilate you, it’s going to be me.”

My legs can’t hold me up any longer and I slump right into Jack. He stumbles back from the unexpected weight of me and I fall right to the floor. The guests murmur, talking about me, but none of them come to help.

Except for Liam.

He walks right onto the dance floor and helps me stand up. “It’s time for my first dance with Irina.”

Jack smirks. “You can pretend that you’ll be first, but you’ll always know you weren’t.” He goes back to Elaine, who gives him the cold shoulder, which doesn’t seem to bother Jack since he gives the cold shoulder right back to his wife.

“Let’s dance,” Liam murmurs, holding me close to him. His smell is intoxicating. His strength is comforting. And his eyes are endearing.

“I didn’t mean to fall.”

He guides me much more slowly around the dance floor than Jack did. Almost gentle. Almost like he cares. “I figured. You’re in shock. You were almost killed. And Jack is going to hurt you.”

“I’m not going to ask you to help me anymore. I know you won’t.”

He stares at me with an expression I can’t make out. Parts shock, parts anger, and parts sadness. “Irina…”

“I just want to say thank you for saving me from Elaine. I’ll handle the rest on my own.” I drop my arms and Liam lets me go. I walk back to my seat at Jack’s side since that’s where I belong now. Even as it’s breaking my soul.