Page 30 of Wickedly Played (Checkmate #1)

Chapter Twenty-Seven

SERENA

Have you ever had a bad dream? An actual night terror that scares you from your subconscious?

I’ve had those my whole life, and they revolve around this woman and what she stands for.

I remember Glenna Murray. I could never forget her for as long as I lived.

The woman is a fantastic doctor, but she’s a stone-cold killer.

Murray had been my father’s go-to doctor when something was needed in his syndicate.

She would spend hours at our home fixing my dad’s men, who took shots and a beating in one of their wars they had out on the streets.

Some of the battles were fought silently, and no one knew who had the upper hand until a shot was fired from a sniper.

I’ve been in a couple of these scrimmages.

I have watched my father kill a man by sticking his fingers through the other man’s eye sockets to yank them out.

I was there when he placed a man’s mouth on the curb and then stomped on his skull with his boot.

I remember every hit that I was forced to watch to scare me into submission.

To terrify me to the point I would never want to leave.

Luckily, I was able to leave after a few of my father’s men explained that a price tag was placed over my head.

Dad reluctantly let me go with the promise of never returning to their turf again.

I kept that promise the whole time. He’s the one who reaches out to me.

I haven’t contacted him since I left, and my marriage dissolved.

Each missed phone call from him would only end in the same way if I had answered the phone.

He’s going to convince me to come back to the compound.

He’s going to guilt-trip me into taking another husband to produce more heirs to the throne.

The sad thing is, if I were to have a son with one of his men, that son would have more power than I.

As a woman, I knew my place long before I started my period.

My worth was only measured by the number of sons I could bear for my husband.

“Sweetness,” Max begs me. “Look at me right now!”

I can’t look at him. Shaking my head, I roll into the couch cushion to hide.

Stella rubs my back. “What’s going on?”

“I can’t.”

Max makes a noise in his chest that sounds like a growl. “Dr. Murray, what is going on?”

She scoffs. “If Serena wants you to know, she will tell you. Serena, could I tell your friends what you were given?”

“Jesus. What is happening?” Stella demands.

“Yes, please. Then kindly get the fuck out,” I command.

“It has been long enough, sweetie. I’ve been worried about you all of this time,” she lies.

Glenna only cares about herself. She only cares about what she can get from the situation, and I have seen it happen. I have seen her pillage a compound. This woman is pure evil.

I roll back over to look at her. “I’ve been right here. I don’t know how you could have been worried about me when I have been here!”

My bodyguard gathers me in his arms to arrange me to sit on his lap with my back to his chest. “Let’s hear what she has to say, and then we can move from there,” he tries to reason with me.

If my strength hadn’t diminished, I would have punched him in his stomach. “Fine,” I acquiesce.

“I see you are still very much the mafia princess we all said you would turn out to be,” Dr. Murray snaps back. “I don’t know why I came over here. You’ve always been a spoiled brat.”

She could have called me a cunt, or something worse than that, and it would have hurt less.

I’ve been called a mafia princess for my whole life, and I hate it.

I never wanted anything from my father except for him to be a father to me.

I didn’t care about the extravagant lifestyle he boasted. I just wanted him to be a dad.

Pushing off of Max, I wobble a little on my feet, but I level my shoulders. “Glenna, I don’t know why you came here, either. I have a feeling you came to report back to my father that my life is falling apart without his protection. I don’t need his protection. I’m doing fine on my own.”

My hands are shaking from rage. Glenna had always been protected by my father for her silence and ability to be available whenever he needed her.

It was later that I found out she and my dad were hooking up on the side.

My mother knew of the betrayal but couldn’t say anything out of fear for her life.

I never wanted to live that way. Yet, I still walked down the aisle to one of his men.

I still pledged my love to him even though he didn’t love me back.

Glenna was there each time my ex-husband hit me.

She was there to patch up my wounds, set bones that had been broken, and ensure I was going to live.

No one wanted to report back to the Don that his daughter had died from one of his men.

To her credit, Glenna stands up in my face. I can see how hard life has been for her, judging by the lines on her face. It must have been hard for her to live in the shadows like she has. It must have been hard to be known as the other woman when so many people loved my mother.

“You are nothing but a fucking slut. No wonder your dad was okay with you leaving and getting a divorce. I’m glad he moved on to your sister. No wonder you’re in porn now. Fucking whore!” Glenna screams the last bit.

Swinging, I hit her right in the jaw. She falls back slightly and then sways. “Stay away from me, Glenna. Pretend you didn’t see me. If I see you again, I will bury you,” I promise.

Her hand flies through the air, but is stopped by Max. He shoves her wrist down away from me, pushing me behind him. “That is enough. Get out of her fucking house,” he seethes.

“I’ll be in touch,” she says. “One more thing, princess. I just want to remind you of your obligation to the family that has supported you.”

Shaking with anger, I swallow down the vile remarks I want to throw back at her. “Not happening,” I hiss.

“What obligation?” My sweet Stella asks.

Max’s arms band around me. “Baby, you don’t have to tell her anything,” he whispers in my ear. “You are protected by me.”

Glenna smirks. “That won’t save you from the family’s obligation.”

Stella coughs. “Hello? What obligation?”

“Can I talk to you later about it?” I don’t demand that she fall into line with me. I make sure to respect her as an equal instead of her mistress at the moment.

The doctor has the audacity to smile brightly at me. “Always a pleasure, princess. I’m sure I will be seeing you later.”

Before she leaves, she turns to look at Max with a flirty smile. “Don’t you look familiar,” she tosses out.

I wait for the door to slam shut before I spin on my bodyguard. “What the fuck was that?”

Max throws his hands in the air before rushing over to my standing body. His hands drop to my hips to grind me against his. “She’s crazy,” he tries.

“You need to tell me right now,” I order.

He looks elsewhere in the room before looking back at me. “Sweetness, there are going to be times I can’t tell you what I’m doing.”

I shiver. “What else aren’t you telling me?”

“A lot. But know I’m doing it because I’m protecting you.”

I lose it. I have lost all of my composure. “Protect me from what? My stalker? I’m going to tell you right now that Glenna and my family are hell of a lot scarier than my stalker.”

“Fuck!” Max barks out. In seconds, I’m tossed over his shoulder, and he’s running up to my playroom. “Good night, Stella!”

“What the actual fuck are you doing, Max?” I’m hitting his back with my fists.

With one quick movement, his paw of a hand comes crashing down on the fleshy part of my ass. I squeal at first and then moan as he does it three more times. On the last slap, I scream out because it stings a little too good.

“You asked if I was in this lifestyle. I’ve been holding back because I didn’t want to challenge you too much. I’m done holding back,” he bites out.

I’m tossed into my bed when I hear Stella at my door. “What is going on?”

Max’s heated glare lands on my face before flicking to Stella’s confused, yet aroused face. “You want her to join?”

My mouth opens and closes like I’m crazy. “Are you serious?”

He nods. “Yes or no. What’s it going to be?”

“Stella?”

She hasn’t been a sub for a man in a couple of years, and I want to make sure she’s okay with this. I have a feeling Max wants to take the power and control out of my hands for tonight to teach me a lesson. What that lesson is, I’m not sure.

Stella approaches me on the bed, places her warm hands on my cheeks, and kisses me passionately. “Whatever my mistress desires is what I want.”

I kiss her with all the intensity I have in me. “Pet, I need you to make sure this is what you want.”

“Will I have to kneel for him?”

Her question shocks me. “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do. Do you want to stay for this scene? I won’t be mad or punish you either way.”

She blinks several times, opening and closing her mouth. When she doesn’t respond, I cut in. “Lover, I am your Domme. I am still your mistress. Max is not your Dom or your master. Do you understand me?”

“Yes, Mistress Aphrodite.”

My hand cups her sweet face. “Do you want to stay?”

“I would love to stay and be with you,” she whispers.

Max rips off his shirt, making his muscles ripple from the effort. “A couple of ground rules before we begin,” he says, clearing his throat.

My thighs clench together from my arousal flowing through my veins. All of the warmth is spreading to my pussy, and I need friction. My thighs rub against each other to get some relief, but Max sees what I’m doing and grabs my thigh. The weight of his hand is shocking and an utter turn-on.

“Sweetness, I’m the one who will allow you to receive pleasure. Your pleasure is a gift from me and no one else. Do you understand? Say yes, sir, if you agree.”

My inner war I’m having is boiling past the point of no return. If I hand over power to him, what will that make me? I’m the one who calls the shots. I’m the one who provides pleasure to others, and that makes me happy. I don’t allow others besides Stella to pleasure me truly.

“Mistress,” she whispers. “Please do it. I want to see you be a sub, too. I want to see how beautiful you are when you submit to someone.” Her lips are kissing my face, and her teeth sink into my bottom lip. “Please, Mistress. I need to see you like this.”

If she sees me submit, will she no longer want me as her Domme? If I’m no longer a Domme, what am I? Max is standing in front of me with his tattooed chest, screaming at me to lick the whorls of ink.

“You wanted to know. This is what I have to offer you,” he confidently throws out.

When I don’t say anything, I feel the pressure boiling inside of me. I haven’t given up control in so long… I’m not even sure I can do it.

He’s crawling up my body with his legs and his hands on the outside of my frame. Once he’s resting on top of me, he thrusts his hard cock against the seam of my pussy. I cry out from the intense feeling I get of being electrocuted.

“Say yes, baby. Put yourself in my hands and allow me to make you feel good.” When I don’t respond, he thrusts against me once more. “Baby, let me take care of you. That’s all I want.”

“For how long?” The question flies out of my mouth before I’m able to stop it. I don’t know what I am thinking.

His hand grips my chin to make me have eye contact with him. “I want everything,” he promises. “Whatever that looks like with you, I want it. But I need all of you.”

“Yes,” I squeak out.

His mouth slams onto mine, his tongue invading my lips with a fever. I’m panting in his mouth, my fingers sifting through his hair. My pussy tries to fuck him from the bottom. He growls in my mouth, then bites my tongue.

Just as quickly as he began, he’s jumping off of me to stand in front of us.

“We need ground rules before we begin,” Max mentions again.

Even though I know what is happening, I allow sex to cloud my judgment. I know there are things we need to talk about. I know there are things he keeps from me, but there are things I keep from him, too.