Page 14 of Darkest Game (The Dark Mafia #3)

“We have to go,” he says.

“Right. Yes.”

“Are… are you ok?”

“Why do you ask?”

He runs his hand over his face. It’s still stained from Jack’s blood and now Don’s. “Because you were almost raped. Again.”

“But you saved me. Again. Was that your plan? To save me when you chose… this option for me?” I nod down at Don’s dead body.

“I knew if they untied you, it would be easier to save you. It was the only option where death wasn’t instant. Where I could try to fight.”

“So you weren’t just trying to save yourself?”

“I was trying to save myself. I won’t deny that. But… I was also trying to save you.”

I wrap my arms around myself. “You have no reason to care for me.”

“You’re still my wife. And you don’t deserve any of this happening to you. I wanted to save you. Just accept it.”

“Ok,” I finally say after a moment. “I’ll accept it.” Even if I don’t understand it.

“We should go. Elaine got out. She could come back with reinforcements and I don’t even know where the fuck we are.” He grabs my face so suddenly, I can only gasp. “You need to follow my every move. Do as I tell you. I’ll get you to safety, ok?”

I believe him.

I believe him. It might make me na?ve but he’s the only one I have right now. And there’s a sincerity in Liam’s eyes that makes him trustworthy.

“Ok,” I say again.

“Good. Let’s go.”

The door was left unlocked when Elaine escaped out of it. Pushing it open reveals a long stairwell leading up to somewhere. Liam goes forward, gun in hand, and opens the door at the top of the stairs. My heart is pounding fast.

Natalya and Sasha both know how to fire a gun.

My mom taught them when our dad was still alive.

But she never got the chance to teach me because of Denis’s control.

I really wish I knew how to use one now.

I could help instead of feeling like dead weight that Liam has to carry around out of obligation.

The other side of the door opens up to a kitchen. A little outdated with rustic counter doors and messy, filled with the brim of trash, it’s an otherwise normal kitchen. I can’t imagine Elaine living in a place like this.

No. The further we move into the house, it’s clear that this place is used to torture people.

To hold people. It’s not used to live. The entire place reeks of mold and rotten food and mouse droppings.

There aren’t any guards around. Probably because Liam killed them all downstairs but there could be more soon if Elaine called for help.

We leave the house without any problems. Except for the fact that we don’t have a car and judging from the woods around us, we’re not anywhere near the city.

“We’ll have to walk until I can call for help,” Liam explains. “We’ll stick close to the road so we can hide in case anybody shows up, looking for us.”

“Once you find a phone you can use, can we call Mikhail and Nico? They’ll help.”

He scoffs. “Those two hate me. They won’t help.”

“They’ll help me.”

“Yes. They’ll help you. But they’ll kill me on sight. They’ll assume I’m the one who kidnapped you.”

“I’ll tell them you saved my life.”

“Sorry, baby. It’s not happening. You’re staying with me until I can get word to Mikhail and Nico that I wasn’t responsible for this. I survived just now. I’m not in the mood to invite even more danger into my life. We’ll head back to my place as soon as we can get a ride there.”

I plant my feet into the ground. “I want to return to my family.”

“That’s just not possible right now. Word will get out about what happened. There’s a good chance Mikhail and Nico already think I’m behind this. I did capture your two older sisters about a year ago now. It’s not out of the realm for them to believe I could do this to you.”

“But I’ll tell them you didn’t.”

“And they’ll believe you?”

When I hesitate, he nods. “Exactly. So for now, we’ll get somewhere safe. Regroup and figure out what to do next. Now, we have to start walking. More of Jack’s men will come here once Elaine spreads the word. She’s probably bad mouthing me to anybody who will listen. Come on.”

With no other options, I follow Liam down the road and prepare myself for the uncertain future.

Nico

Word spreads fast about the wedding between Liam O’Connor and Irina.

Me and Mikhail are driving to the house where Irina was once spotted. An Irish mobster hangout.

“This is a fucking disaster,” Mikhail groans into his hands. “I haven’t even told Natalya yet about this. It’s going to break her heart.”

“That’s why I haven’t told Sasha. She’ll spill the fucking beans the second she gets. We just find Irina, kill that fucker Liam, and call it a day.”

We arrive at the house, which is in some bumfuck part of New York. Dog kennels are off to the side with some very sad looking dogs in them.

I keep my gun out and Mikhail does the same as we approach the house. “Is anybody home?”

No answer.

Mikhail and I share a nod and kick the door down. There’s a scream from inside.

A woman stands up from the couch and cowers. She’s middle aged but nothing else about her is distinguishable.

“Who are you?” Mikhail growls. “Where’s Irina and Liam? She was spotted around here buy one of my men.”

“Please. I don’t know much,” she sobs. “I only know that… that Liam forced the girl to marry him. And that he killed my Jack.”

I stand up straighter. “Jack? As in…”

“Jack Finnigan.” The woman hiccups. “Liam killed my jack to get to Irina. He stole her away. I tried to stop him but I couldn’t. I wanted to save the girl. I didn’t think it was right what was happening to her. Being forced into a marriage. Being raped.”

Mikhail gives me a worried look. “What happened?”

“Liam raped her,” the woman sobs. “Just raped her right in front of me after he killed my beloved husband. I ran when I could and I came straight here. I’m so scared. I’m sorry. I never asked for this.”

“What’s your name?” I demand.

The woman looks up at me and to her credit, there are real tears on her face. I don’t get the sense that she’s lying. “I’m Elaine. My name is Elaine.”

“And Liam has Irina?” Mikhail asks. “You’re sure about that? Why would the wife of Jack Finnigan give up this information to us?”

“Because he killed my Jack!” she screams. “I have no love for him. I want Liam dead. And that poor girl… That poor, poor girl. She deserves to be reunited with her family.”

“Do you know where they could be?” I ask.

Slowly, Elaine nods. “I have some idea.”

Liam

It doesn’t take me long to realize that Irina is limping beside me.

I have no idea how close or how far from the nearest town we are and this is only going to make things tougher.

I know Elaine will be sending men this way to deal with me and Irina.

I have a loaded gun but it’s still only so many bullets.

Now I have to deal with a girl I never wanted to be with on top of it all.

A girl I risked my life to safe.

Fuck. Why did I even do that? It’s not like I love her or care for her.

But when I look at her, all I see is some pathetic, sad girl that I can’t help but feel bad for.

At least, that’s what I tell myself. It’s not because I find her distractingly pretty.

It’s not because she’s tiny and it brings out the urge to protect her.

It’s not because she’s my wife. That means nothing to me.

If I keep telling myself these things, then sooner or later I’m going to believe it.

“Are you hurt?” I can’t stop myself from asking. If she’s seriously hurt then that’s a problem we’ll have to deal with sooner rather than later. I can’t have her slowing me down.

And frankly, I don’t want to leave her behind. I’m not going to leave her behind.

“I think when I was thrown to the floor,” she responds, staring at the ground with her arms wrapped around herself. “I hit my leg. But I can walk. It’s just painful. I don’t think it’s broken though.”

“If it were broken, I’m not sure you’d be able to walk at all. Take it from someone who’s had his fair share of broken bones in my life.”

She slants her eyes at me. “Which ones?”

I point to my left arm. “Broke it when I was a kid from falling off a jungle gym. I thought I was superman. Thought for sure I could fly. Boy, was I wrong.” I point to my right leg next.

“Broke that when I was a teenager by jumping off the roof of a building and into a pool. They say a water landing is always better than landing on the ground but from a high enough height, water can be like cement. I couldn’t walk on it for a few months after and it took some physical therapy to regain full movement in it. My parents were not happy about it.”

“Sounds like you thought you were invincible.”

“Yeah.” I rub the back of my neck. “But I don’t think that anymore. I’ve been in too many life or death situations. It’s a miracle I’m still alive today.”

“It’s a miracle we both are. You saved my life. Again. Thank you.”

“Well, I’m the one who got you into this fucking mess to begin with so I’m not sure you should be thanking me.”

“Where are your parents?”

The change in subject startles me. “My parents?”

“You mentioned your parents weren’t happy about you breaking your leg.” She blushes the longer I look at her. It’s infectiously cute. “I was wondering where they are.”

“Oh. My mom is alive. She just couldn’t make the wedding in such a short time. Well… I didn’t tell her about it.”

“Why not?”

“She doesn’t approve of what I do. She would not like coming to a wedding of mine where the bride is being forced into it. I thought it was better she wasn’t here. And for her own safety. I never like anyone thinking they can use her against me.”

Her eyes darken. “I get it. My own family has been used against me many times.”

“I didn’t expect a sheltered girl like you to have a complicated past.”

“When my father died and my uncle took over, he locked me and my sisters up. Kept us as prisoners. He used us against one another. As in, he’d threatened to hurt us if anyone got out of line.

And he did hurt us. My younger sister the most. But now Denis is in hiding and I finally had a home.

Until…” She flicks her eyes at me and away.

“Until me.”

She doesn’t comment on it. “Your dad?”

“Dead. Heart attack. Ate too many cheeseburgers.”

“You don’t sound like you were close with him.”

“That’s because I wasn’t.” I side step over a can on the side of the road.

So far, it’s still just trees and road for the eye to see.

“He was a real asshole. I ran away at eighteen because I couldn’t stand him any longer and that’s how I got taken into the Irish mob.

Cillian took me under his wing. Made me feel like I had a real dad for a change. ”

“That must have hurt when Nico killed him then.”

“It did hurt. It’s why I could never forgive him.”

“I miss my dad every day,” she whispers as tears spill from her eyes. I reach out a hand to comfort her then drop it to my side. I have no fucking clue how to comfort someone.

But that’s when I see a car rounding the corner and I recognize one of Jack’s men in the driver seat. We’re in trouble.