Page 41 of Wickedly Played (Checkmate #1)

The gun hits me harder against the back of my head and then resumes its position.

“That loser is just using you to kill your father. He doesn’t love you.

How could he? You’re just a whore. Did you know he couldn’t keep his last girlfriend safe?

She died. Adam killed her, just like he almost killed you.

Max is a dumbass loser who you let between your legs. ”

My head swims with the information he has given me. My poor brain is struggling to keep up with everything. With my thoughts muddying, I feel the butt of the gun hit me again. Connor’s verbal assault continues.

“He knew all about Adam. He knew he was going to rape you. He knew he was the stalker, and that’s why he was in your house.

He fed him all of that information. All the cameras installed in your home had their feeds directed to Adam’s phone.

” His words are scathing as he hits me with spittle.

I’ve been at the receiving end of his brutality before, but this is something different.

“You’re going to watch Max die, you dumb whore. Then I’m going to kill your father. Then I’m going to kill Amanda. Then we’re going to get back together since you are the eldest McGuire.”

I’m shaking in the chair with my heart beating too fast in my chest. My breathing is choppy while my future passes in my mind’s eye. This is going to be my life. There is nothing more for me.

“Please,” I whisper.

“What?”

“Just kill me.”

“Why would I do that?”

“You never wanted me. Just kill me.”

“You are worth more as a shell than you are dead,” he growls in my ear.

I cry out, but then I see Max walking through the smoke. I must be dreaming. I squeeze my eyes in hopes of ridding them of the haze from the smoke. Is this a dream? Did Connor finally kill me? If so, I’m okay with it. I welcome death.

At least with death, I will not have to endure any more pain. Pain from Lorcan or Connor.

I watch the whole scene unfold. Everything that happens- happens in front of me. My father punches my ex-husband, and then my bodyguard/ lover attacks him on the ground. The fighting around the warehouse pauses, and all that is heard throughout the room is Connor’s dying breaths.

I wish I felt bad that this was his last day. However, all I could think about was how badly I wanted to get out of here and get as far away as possible. My mind is such a mess, I feel about fifty different conflicting thoughts at once.

“Max!” Someone yells and then pulls him off my ex-husband.

Hearing my father make claims about knowing me or being any father would be laughable since he was going to turn me into a breeder. I can’t believe him. Actually, that isn’t even true. I can believe him. This is something that he would do. He is a deplorable man.

I hate the mafia.

I hate everything the mafia stands for.

I hate everything the mafia does and touches.

“Boss,” Max calls out to the man who pulled him off Connor.

What the fuck?

I’m lifted in the air, carried like a bride through the warehouse, into a room with chairs and couches. Max holds me close to him as he sits down in one of the chairs across from my father. I’m not stupid and I pick up on the pecking order of what is happening.

“I need someone to start fucking talking,” I demand.

“Sweetness,” Max begins.

“Nope. You’re not going to sweet-talk your way out of this. I have been raped today, kidnapped, and drugged. I got told I was going to be given back to my ex to be a breeder, and then watched my ex-husband die. I need to know what is going on.”

The man Max referred to as Boss is the one who begins to talk. “Serena, I’m Franky. You probably won’t ever see me again, but I’m the don of the McDougal Family.”

“Wait-” I stutter.

He holds his hand to stop me. “If you want answers, you’re going to keep your fecking mouth shut to let me finish. Do you understand?” The cool, icy tone that is perfected only by years of hardened mafia domination is prevalent in his warning.

“Watch it,” Max warns.

“I’ve had enough of your shit, little boy,” Franky throws back.

I try to push off Max’s lap, but he holds on tighter to me. “I’m not letting you go. The last time you left my sight, you ended up kidnapped. You’re going to stay right here.”

I give up fighting. Why? Because I think I’m going to need his strength for this conversation.

“As you know, our two families have been at war for many years. It has been a cold war, but it has been one. Your dad jump-started it and brought Adam into it. He had orchestrated this huge web to get close to you. Lorcan killed Max and Adam’s dad a few years ago, which caused the cold war,” Franky explains.

“Adam played on this because he was obsessed with you. He needed to get to you and used everything he could to get it.”

“Dad,” I whisper.

My father shrugs. “Serena, you and Amanda know that in this world, war is war. Casualties are common. It isn’t personal. It could have been anyone.”

Max starts to tense under me. “I should kill you right now.”

One of the other men put their hands up. “Franky, Max, and Lorcan. We’re here to act as mediators. What’s done is done. Are you going to stop this shit?”

“Armando,” Franky utters. “If the war is not stopped, I have four bombs scattered throughout your ports in four cities. I also have surveillance posted in all of your casinos in Metro Detroit. I have emails drafted to send to the police and all of your adversaries about your dirty dealings with other criminals. I also have rerouted three trucks of your products from Canada and Mexico to bypass your warehouse to go to an undisclosed place.”

“What the actual fuck? This is an ambush!”

“You stole my woman!” Max yells. “You went behind my back and turned my brother against me. You tried to break your own daughter. Fuck you, dude. Do it, Franky. I say we just kill the bastard.”

“Max,” I whisper.

“What, sweetness?”

I curl into a ball on his lap. I soak up his warmth as I’m suddenly shivering. The events of the day are crashing down on me. “I just want my life back.”

He murmurs into my hair. “Your life will never be the same. I hope you know that.”

I nodded against his pec.

“It is your choice,” Franky states.

“This is bull shit,” my father exclaims.

Franky holds out his phone to press a button. “My offer expires in two minutes. In two minutes, McGuires will no longer be a name. You will just be a distant memory. People will talk about you like they would an old relative.”

Max’s hold on me is tight. “I will make it all go away, sweetness. I promise.”

Joey is quiet off to the side. I can see he’s low on the pecking order. What does that make Max?

Armando and his buddy stand up with their hands reaching into their pants. I can tell they are ready for whatever is about to come. Lorcan’s men do the same with their own hands. I flinch out of instinct as I wait for the inevitable.

Lorcan McGuire never backs down without a fight.

“One more minute,” Franky warns.

“Fine! You win. Ceasefire,” my dad says.

Max stands up with me in his arms. “Don’t come near my woman again. If I see you near her, I’ll kill you. Do you understand me?”

I look over his shoulder to see my father’s beet-red face. He sputters for a second before nodding. In the end, he never cared enough about me to fight for me. I was never anything more than a bargaining chip. This proves my worth even more.

“Lorcan.” I clear my throat. “My name is no longer Serena McGuire. I am Serena Jermaine. You only have one daughter, and her name is Amanda. Leave me alone.”

“Serena,” he begins.

“Put me down,” I wiggle.

Max sets me on my feet, and I walk over to Lorcan with my finger raised. My chin is raised in the air, and Detroit’s most powerful men surround me. I know they could wipe me out in a matter of seconds, but I have to say what I have to say.

“My whole life, I did what you wanted. You have caused me nothing but pain. I’m sorry, I was born as a McGuire. I will never wish that upon anyone. I’m sorry you didn’t have a son. You will never know the amount of pain you have given me,” I seethe.

I turn back to Max. He throws his arm around me to lead me away. His fingers dance on my arm as I hear footsteps trail behind us. I don’t bother to look behind me. What Max’s men do to Lorcan is whatever they want to do to him.

All I know is… Max is in the mafia. A rival to my father. He had a vendetta against my father. Somehow got involved with me. I somehow fell for him. His ex died. My ex was killed in front of me.

And now everything is turned upside down again, all because of the mafia.

I am back where I never wanted to be.