Trapped in his End Game (Series)

Steam spirals over the cup of coffee she holds in her hands, staring at her sister lying in the hospital bed. She hasn’t really moved in a few hours. I lean across the doorway, my heart breaking for her. Her sister will be fine, really. There wasn’t much to fix on the outside, but the damage that was done to her spirit-who knows how long that’ll take to heal?

It’s not everyday the man you call your family tries to kill you in a badly thought out plot to take over the family business.

A hand grabs my shoulder and I jump. Jesus Christ. It’s just Vince.

He gives me that annoying smirk and I embrace him. A dull thud pounds through my heart as he slaps my back. I owe a lot to the guy.

“How’s she doing?”

“How the fuck do you think? Her own brother tried to off her,” I say in an undertone.

A long sigh leaves his throat. “She’ll be all right. It’ll take a while, but she’ll be fine.”

He doesn’t look so sure.

“Jamie is at large, but we’ll get the bastard eventually.”

I roll against the wall as the lights burn into my eyes. “Jesus Christ.”

“Well, you can tell her that Jack wants nothing to do with the casino anymore. Not with the feds crawling all over it. So she has it back, no harm done.”

The news gives me a sudden shock of hope, but it deflates almost immediately. I can’t imagine that the news will cheer her up at all. I don’t think she really cares about it anymore.

“Yeah.”

Sighing, he slaps my shoulder one last time and turns around to leave.

“Listen, Vinny-thanks for everything.”

He gives me a pained smile. “I was worried about you for a while.”

“What?”

“I didn’t know whether you’d ever come back to us.”

I make a face, hating that he’s bringing this up again. “Yeah, well-”

“Then you met that girl. I thought you’d lost your fucking mind over that girl, and I was right, wasn’t I?”

I’m in no mood for his shit. Acid bubbles in my throat. “Vince-”

He laughs. “Relax, goddamn it. We all lose our minds over these fucking broads.”

* * *

The tension in her jaw is so tight that I’m afraid she’s going to crack her teeth. Once she’s in her apartment, she heads straight for the kitchen. I follow her uncertainly. She’s been through so much shit tonight-more than any normal person could handle. So far she hasn’t cried. She hasn’t lost it.

But she needs to.

Bending over, she grabs something-a garbage bag from the kitchen. The silence in the apartment is deafening. She grabs both ends and violently shakes the bag, opening it. I’ve no clue what she’s up to. And then a high-pitched gasp leaves her mouth as she lunges at something-a picture frame. I get a glimpse of her father’s face before she throws it into the bag. She moves through the apartment, gathering every portrait of her family-every photo of her brother. The glass shatters in the bag and I hang nearby. I don’t know what to do. I’ve never dealt with anything like this.

Tears stream down her face as photo after photo crashes into the bag. Her shoulders heave and my chest feels like it’s caving in. I can’t stand watching her cry.

“Marisa…Marisa.”

Her lip quivers and she tightens her fists around the garbage bag, and then suddenly she lets out a scream. She hurls it against the floor, smashes it against the wall with all her strength. The tinkling sound of broken glass is swallowed by her screams of rage.

Jesus.

Finally, she stops, red-face and arms shaking.

I’m almost afraid to approach her.

“All my life I’ve tried to be there for my family. I stayed even though I hated my brother. I didn’t choose this family. It wasn’t fair that I was stuck with a brother like that. My dad…” her voice chokes. “He didn’t help me. He threw me to the fucking wolves-”

“He probably thought that only you could deal with all this shit-with the families. He wanted to get out, that’s why he talked to the feds. There wasn’t enough time to explain it to you.”

She looks at me like she wants to believe it. “I don’t know.”

Cautiously, I take her hands in mine, forcing her to let go of the bag. “Let it go, hon. You’ve spent a lifetime trying to please everyone but yourself. It’s time to let them go.”

“What about-what about the FBI?”

“They won’t find any evidence against you. You’ll have to pay the penalties, and that’s it. You’re free.”

She wraps her arms around my middle as her face presses into my neck. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

The fear from last night rises inside me once more, when I thought we were all going to die. Her arms squeeze the breath from my lungs and I hug her back, never wanting to let go.

MARISA

There’s a small post-it note on my nightstand. I figure it’s a note from Joe, telling me where he’s gone, but instead I read a cryptic message:RêAd lat𝙚St chapters at Novel(D)ra/ma.Org Only

I’ll be back when you finish. Your first clue: the place where Aladdin finds Genie’s lamp. – Joe

I roll my eyes as a reluctant smile spreads over my face. He does this all the time-prepares these little games while I’m home and he’s out doing something for Jack. A ball of nervousness burns in my chest. It makes me worry when he’s out. Sometimes he comes back with blood on his shirt or swollen knuckles, and I worry. I worry that he might not come back.

So he makes me these games at night while I’m asleep, and then I wake up to a note and the treasure hunt begins. At least it distracts me from worrying.

I have no idea what to make of the first clue. Aladdin found the lamp in a giant, treasure-filled cave in the desert, which was shaped into a lion’s head.

I move the handcuffs from the floor into the nightstand, my face heating when I think about how he fucked me last night. Six months later, he still gives me the most incredible, most amazing-

The jewelry box!

The black jewelry box I have sitting on my vanity has to be where he hid the next one. Sure enough, there’s another note hidden among my necklaces coiled in the box.

Hey, gorgeous! Good job on finding your first clue. 😉 Next one: The enchanted object that a furry guy uses to spy on his love.

My mind draws a blank. I clutch the note to myself, moving around the apartment to look at the purse sitting on the counter, the vase with the long-stemmed roses.

Roses.

Furry guy.

Beauty and the Beast?

I shake my head, laughing as I enter the bathroom and rifle through my dresser. There’s a note attached to the handheld mirror.

Hello again, hotness. I have to say, those marks on your neck make you look pretty damn sexy. But, anyway, on to the next clue: That annoying bird hates what?

My forehead creases. Annoying bird. How many annoying birds can there be? I can only think of Iago, in Disney’s Aladdin. And he hated crackers.

Laughing at that, I walk into the kitchen and find a box of saltine crackers, with another note inside.

The game goes on and on, for nearly half an hour. He’s never put this much effort into a game. Every note has a sweet message that makes my heart melt a little bit, and I tuck them all into my pocket. I’ll want to remember this.

Congrats! That was your last clue! Come into the office to claim your prize.

Curious, I tuck the note inside my pocket and scurry around the corner, now positively beaming. In my office, I see my man dressed to the nines. Joe stands in an impeccable black suit, his hair groomed perfectly, his shirt ironed without a single crease in sight, his shoes shined, his chin shaved to that stubbly length that I love.

And he holds out a box.

A small, black one.

Oh my God.

He opens it and a ring sparkles in the light. My throat closes suddenly when he drops to one knee and plucks the ring from the box. The smile on his face trembles a little bit. He’s confident, but not sure. Not completely.

“I love you, Marisa and I want you to be mine forever. Will you-?”

“Yes,” I burst out, crying. “Yes, goddamn it.”

His face cracks into a wide smile as he takes my hand, slowly slipping the ring onto my finger. Oh my God. Oh my God.

“I can’t-I can’t believe it.”

He stands up to catch me in his arms, and I hold my hand out as if it belongs to an alien.

“Believe it, sweetheart,” he says huskily.

He hugs me so tightly that I feel my ribs cracking. I’m so happy that it wouldn’t matter if I died right now.

I’d have everything I want.

Then my eyes pass over a small detail. A small photo sitting on my desk that escaped my purge reminds me of the man I once admired. My dad.

“What’s wrong?” The confidence in his voice shakes slightly.

“I love you and I’m excited for our future, I just-I don’t want it to be-I don’t want any part of what you do for a living.” I look at his face, which looks worried. “I gave up too much of myself for my family. I won’t do it again.”

He smiles. “Babe, I don’t want you to be a part of it. You won’t ever be involved.”

Soft fingers curl around my jaw. “I mean it. The only reason you were involved is because we had business with the casino. That’s over for good. I promise.”

My eyes burn as he kisses me, and then he pulls away, frowning.

“I made reservations at a place with our friends and family, you know, if you said yes. Maybe I should cancel it.”

“What?” My voice echoes loudly. “No, I want to go!” I lift my face and press my lips against his, loving the way my skin heats when he brushes the hair from my neck. He stuns me with a deep kiss, until my back touches the wall.

“Well, then,” he says, smiling. “Let’s get you ready.”