Wicked Games by Jarica James
Otsana
Over the week I wondered if Dani would poke her head in, but she had been as scarce as my energy. It had been days since I’d woken up in my childhood room here and still no sign of my men. Eros hadn’t come back and neither had Little Tony. In fact, it was silent in the house. Then again, it always had been. Eros had built this house like a fortress, cold, quiet, and sturdy.
The IV had long since drained, so I carefully took it out of my arm. It wasn’t the first I’d done it and I was getting to be a damn pro at this. Getting out of bed was just as slow and steady, but once I was on my feet I found I felt better than I’d realized, just stiff from being in bed for too long.
It felt like I was walking through a dream as I made my way into the closet. It was still filled with my clothes, though a bit mustier now that it’d been closed up for several years. Grabbing a quick outfit, I went into the adjoining bathroom and showered. By the time I stepped out, washed and fully dressed, I was myself again.
Being without a gun wasn’t my favorite thing, so I went back into the closet. I’d always kept a stash of knives and it seemed it wasn’t found. It’ll do. I shoved one in my boot and walked out of my room. I needed to get my bearings, figure out what Eros wanted so I could get the fuck out of here as soon as humanly possible.
It was insane that I could be back in this house, having grown up here for my entire life, yet not feel a single connection to it. I could burn the entire motherfucker to the ground and I would smile happily while doing it.
“Otsana.” My uncle's deep voice echoed in the hall and I turned to see Vincent nodding at me from Eros’ office doorway. “Your grandfather will see you now.”
“Of course he will,” I sighed. Walking toward him was the last thing I wanted to do, but if I wanted information, he would gladly taunt me with it. But I was fluent in reading between the lies he wove.
“Ah, good to see you healed. That bruise is nasty, though,” Eros boomed from behind his desk. I didn’t comment as I took the seat across from him. “Ah, we’re playing the silent game?”
“Not necessarily.” He chuckled at my detached tone and crossed his arms in front of him, leaning forward as he rested his chin on his clasped hands.
“I’d say we have a bit of catching up, don’t you, daughter?” It was a downgrade from princess and I fucking hated that title from him.
“Probably. Though I’m unsure why you’re upset about me dating the Adrostos triplets,” I said with a sigh. “My deal was five years.”
“Hm, you see it was. Then I noticed signs of you pulling out of our deal and I cut it early. That’s my call to make.”
“Then it’s my call to not marry anyone. And if you think I’ll even consider marrying Little Tony, you’ve gone senile.”
He laughed, his overly white teeth glinting in the light. He may have sounded downright jovial, but I was pushing his buttons. His eyes were hard and cold, no sign of care or amusement there.
“Little Tony!” he barked out so suddenly I almost jumped, nearly blowing my calm, indifferent expression.
Tony came running into the room, his weasel face eager as he stepped next to me. He met my eyes and gave me a wink before facing Eros. “Yes, sir?”
“Come here,” he said, urging my disgusting cousin to come around the desk to his side. He didn’t speak until my cousin was there, waiting to the point of being uncomfortable before Eros continued. “I have a little video here for Sana, show it to her.”
My chest tightened as I waited, taking the tablet he extended to me. I clicked play on the footage and bit back bile as it rose in my throat. Droves of Adrostos allies, my triplets, and Xander in the front, were fighting Eros’ men. The odds were in their favor, Eros couldn't hope to hold as many as my guys, but as bodies dropped, it took everything in me not to stick my knife in his neck. Refusing to sit here for however long, I fast forwarded to the end, making sure they were still standing in the end.
“I knew they would come. Why am I watching this?” I asked, handing over the tablet to Tony and watching until he was next to Eros, finally turning my eyes to the asshole in question.
“Just letting you know where you stand. Here on my side while they fight a useless battle. They’ll die soon enough and there will be no more questioning who I decide you will marry.”
“And that is?” I asked, waiting for him to say it out loud. To tell us both the plan that had nothing to do with our whims, but his.
“I’ve made an alliance with the Lachs. You remember them?” he said, giving me a smirk. He knew every damn thing that happened in that basement. And the fact that he was going to offer me to them like a piece of fucking meat?!
“Do I remember the men who captured me? Who tried and failed to keep me? Why yes, I do.”
“Well, the Adrostos have dealt them a dirty hand,” he said with mock sympathy. Every time the asshole spoke it was like more shit spewed from his mouth like a gaudy fountain.
“I’ll hold back my sadness for them,” I deadpanned.
“They have a new leader. And you will be marrying him. The wedding will be at the end of the week,” he said with a grin.
“What? No!” Tony yelled, his voice rising to a new pitch. Amusement struck me as he reached for his knife, clinging to it in his hand. For once, Eros was distracted, focused on my reaction. He’d clearly said yes to Tony to show me that my options could be worse. It lessened the blow of me being offered up to the Lachs, or at least he had thought it would.
“You said mine and Sana’s wedding was then,” Tony continued his outburst, unperturbed by the silent standoff Eros and I were having. At the challenge in his tone, Eros raised an eyebrow in warning and I knew things were about to get ugly.
Vincent stepped into the room, Eros turning to face him instead of looking at a belligerent Tony. Something felt off, but I didn’t care about either of them enough to do anything other than watch and see how this argument would unfold.
“I said that ‘a’ wedding would be at the end of the week,” Eros bit out, his joking done as he stood and faced my cousin fully. But in a move that shocked the hell out of me, he lifted an arm and shoved his knife right through Eros’ neck. Vincent and I were both on our feet in seconds as I tried to make sense of what I was seeing. The literal weakest link in our family just killed the man who had intimidated us all.
Aside from standing, not one of us moved to help our falling leader as he clutched at his neck, the knife poking out between his fingers. He started to sink to the ground as blood gurgled out of his hold and down his white suit. The desk in front of him and Tony himself were sprayed in red rivulets.
“Tony! What the fuck have you done?!” Vincent yelled, holding his gun aimed right at the man. Tony to his credit had a calm quiet about him, his eyes flickering to me. Apparently, we’d all been underestimating him.
“Taking my wife and my Family over,” he said casually, staring at the former head of the Priamos family, now crumpled on the floor. His lips curled into a sadistic smile. “Have someone take out the trash, Vincent, will you?”
“That was my kill,” I ground out before Vincent could answer. My jaw was clenched so hard that it was starting to ache as I faced off with Tony, my own knife now in my hand, but it wouldn’t be as satisfying. “Vincent, can I have that gun?”
“Gladly,” he muttered, handing it over without hesitation. He didn’t seem too broken up about Eros being gone for being the man’s second in command, but he also wasn’t pleased about answering to Tony.
“Whoa now,” Tony said, hands up as he backed himself into a corner. But I wasn’t the shoot from afar type, not for a man who watched me get tortured, who took that opportunity to make vile plans for me. He relaxed as I tucked my gun back into the holster, but putting his guard down with me was not a good plan.
My hips swayed as I walked closer, eyes softening just enough to be sultry. He swallowed hard, a hopeful smile flickering on his face as he tried to make sense of the change. When I was toe to toe with him, I ran my free hand down his cheek, smearing the blood there.
“You wanted to rule together, right? To take over the Family?” I husked. He grinned at that, relaxing and leaning into me, his dick hard as it pressed into my thigh.
“Exactly. I knew you’d see reason. I’ve got insight into his inner workings in the office, you’ve got his training.”
“Oh, you know about my training?” I said with faux sweetness. “How about the time he put my seven year old self into a room with traffickers and was going to let them take me if I didn’t get out?”
“Uh…” he trailed off, confidence dropping quickly.
“Ah! Or the time that he zip tied me in a warehouse with someone he sold me to? I was barely a teen then. Imagine what those men bought me for?” My smile didn't match the words coming from my mouth, Tony shifting on his feet, uncomfortable now.
“What about the fact that he forced you to fuck his business partner as a ‘courtesy’ to seal the deal? You have Sana to thank for those shiny new cars they sent over after,” Vincent supplied helpfully, still leaning in the doorframe and watching this unfold. There was no love lost between Vincent and Tony or Eros, he wasn’t going to intervene. My skin crawled at his reminder but I kept it under wraps.
“Thanks, Vincent,” I laughed, the sound hollow. Tony was slowly starting to get angry at our obvious mirthless teasing, but I still had him boxed in. “So tell me, Little Tony, what’s going through that small mind of yours? Do you still think you have any right to stand next to me?” My lips twisted in disgust as fury flared in his eyes. He reached for his gun and that was enough of a move for me. Putting the barrel of the gun to his bicep, I pulled the trigger.
His screams echoed in the room and he clutched his bleeding arm. But I wasn’t done, lashing out with my knife to shove it in his gut. His eyes were wide as he looked up at me, though the light was fading already. Weak.
“You watched as I was tortured, supplied the Lachs with whatever information they desired, right? Well, now I will watch as you bleed out on the floor, an eye for an eye. Count yourself lucky because you deserve so much worse. Eros was my right to kill and you took that from me, so I’m taking your life.”
“The Family is yours,” Vincent said calmly when I turned and handed over his gun.
“I don’t want this Family,” I said. “I have my own now. One that doesn’t hold the memories this one does.” He smiled sadly and frowned.
“I’m sorry, Sana, you deserved better,” he said. We both knew that if he had done anything to stop it, he would have lost his own life.
“We all did, Vincent,” I said with a sigh. He’d helped me in his own ways and I knew I could trust him to help me figure this out now. “Let’s clean house.”