Wicked Game

by Romy Lockhart

  ***

  The house is like something out a wholesome family film. I look around as we enter, wondering if they have kids. I only see couples photos on the walls, so I guess not.

  “Sasha, this is Nick.” Asher introduces me to his flawlessly made-up sister.

  She seriously looks like she could have walked right off of the pages of a magazine. Not a sexy one. Like Good Housekeeping, or something. She’s wearing a rose-patterned dress and pink high heels. Her smile is sweet and pretty, like butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth. Then her gaze falls on me, lingering on my tattoos, and tightens.

  “Nick Levine, the billionaire playboy. Nice to meet you.” It’s all false, she sounds like she’s choking on her words, while her eyes try to hate-fuck me to death.

  “Oh, I’m a one woman man these days,” I tell her. “And you must be Sasha. It’s a pleasure.”

  At least it would be if my throat wasn’t closing up because of the perfume you’ve doused yourself in. I turn away to gag and catch my breath. She narrows her eyes at me when I look back at her.

  “Kitchen’s this way. Dinner’s almost ready.”

  She leads the way. Asher follows and I go after him. I’m already hatching plans to get him drinking later. That’s always a good way to get someone uptight to loosen up. He’s long overdue for a binge. I bet he only ever drinks a glass of wine like once a week with dinner. A couple of hard shots and he’ll be telling me his deepest darkest secrets. I just hope at least one of them is how much he wants a threesome with Eden and her sexy club owner lover.

  “Lovely house you have here,” I say. Being loose with compliments doesn’t always work, but I’m at a loss for what else to try on her. She seems to already be dead-set on hating me. In the past that’s always gone one of two ways: the woman doesn’t change her mind and will hate me until the day she dies, or she does a complete one-eighty, but only after I’ve banged her senseless. Considering I have Eden, and this one is married, option number two isn’t going to pan out.

  “Thanks,” she says, as she opens the door to the dining room.

  The smells of the home-cooked dinner make my stomach grumble loudly. I can so forgive the insane amount of perfume she’s wearing for this effort. The table is packed full of platters. It’s a meal for ten, at least. I check but only four places are set. There are two kinds of potatoes, biscuits, gravy boats, chicken and ham, sides of veg cut into fancy shapes. Holy shit, woman.

  I glance at Asher and he shrugs at me as he sits down. Clearly he’s been to dinner here before. He doesn’t look the slightest bit impressed. I take the seat next to him and Sasha moves to the door.

  “I thought Alan was inside already. Excuse me while I call him in.” She goes out into her garden and I look at Asher.

  “Okay, if she killed someone you’d tell me, right?” I have to ask.

  He raises an eyebrow at me. “What?”

  “This is some freaking apology for anything less.”

  He snorts. “This is just Sasha. She tends to go to extremes when she feels bad about something.”

  “Yeah, well. Maybe I should make her feel bad about how pissed off I seem to be making her. I could deal with this kind of apology once or twice a week.” I start slapping stuff onto my plate.

  He sits back. Either he’s not hungry, or he has manners enough to wait for his sister and her husband to start eating. I bite into a biscuit and moan. It doesn’t just look good, and it’s still warm.

  Sasha walks back into the room with a slightly nerdy looking man in a suit. He nods at us as he sits down.

  “Hi, Asher.” He glances at me. “You must be... Nice to meet you.”

  “You must be Alan. I’m Nick.” I smile slyly. “Eden’s other lover.”

  He glances from me to Asher and nods. He doesn’t seem to be having as hard a time with that information as Sasha is. Maybe he doesn’t really care. It’s not like Asher’s his brother.

  “Well,” I go on, as they start to fill their plates. “One of them, anyway.”

  Sasha drops her fork and stares at Asher. “Um, what?”

  His smile is tight when I meet his gaze. He wasn’t expecting me to allude to that then. My bad. Too late to take it back now.

  “Eden’s also seeing a sheriff.”

  Sasha’s mouth drops open. She doesn’t speak.

  Alan raises his eyebrows. “She’s seeing Eli?”

  Asher clears his throat but doesn’t speak. There’s a slight pinkness to his cheeks now. Fuck. I hope that didn’t piss him off. That’s the last thing I want to do.

  “The thing with him is new. Maybe I shouldn’t have mentioned it.” I try to brush it off, but I can tell that isn’t going to work. Coming here was probably a bad idea. I’m not good at keeping my mouth shut around people who seem close-minded. It’s too much fun to wind them up.

  They glance at each other and I can see Sasha’s having a hard time processing the information.

  “I mean, Eli’s a great guy,” she starts before shaking her head and reaching for an open bottle of wine that’s sitting on the table. She murmurs something under her breath about not realising how many men it takes to keep a celebrity happy.

  Shit. Now I feel bad. My intentions weren’t to make Eden sound like a slut. I wanted them to know because it’s damn well going to come out and we’re not ashamed of it. I’m not stupid. I know how a majority of people would see this situation. It’s not like we can tell them she’s a Goddess, for real. Even if she wasn’t, our situation isn’t a crime. It shouldn’t be looked upon as if it’s some big fucking scandal.

  “It’s not a sex thing,” Asher tells them. “I’m only going to talk about this once, because I know no-one here really gets it. This is a choice we all made to be together. It’s not some kink, or fling. I’m in love with Eden, and Nick is too. She loves us both. This is a permanent arrangement and I won’t be made to feel bad about it just because people don’t understand.”

  Sasha pours wine into Asher’s glass and then her own. She offers me and I accept. Alan’s is last and the bottle is empty afterwards. She takes a breath and raises her glass.

  “I’m happy for you, little brother.” She smiles at him. There’s a hint of sadness in her eyes, but at least she’s trying to understand. “To your happiness. All of you.”

  Everyone raises their glass. We all drink at the same time. The wine is sweet, and the conversation eases once we’ve all started to eat. I glance at Asher, but he still seems tense. I hope Sasha has more of that wine, because I think he needs to drink at least a bottles worth to be ready for our conversation later.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Eden

  My captor spends what feels like forever silently staring into my eyes. I don’t know what he’s doing, besides making me insanely nervous. I don’t like this. Is he distracting me? What would be the point? He can command me to do whatever. He doesn’t need to keep me busy.

  “I’m going to give you something to think about,” he tells me, finally breaking the silence.

  He leans back in his seat and looks me over. Ugh. Would he get on with it already? It’s starting to feel like his silence is what he’s trying to use to ‘break’ me.

  “I know who your lovers are, and my ability to stop hearts from afar have been tested. None of them are out of reach for me. Not one. Who would you sacrifice to walk away from me with your friend today?”

  I stare at him. Is he serious? He wants me to pick someone I love to be killed? “I won’t answer that question.”

  “Are you quite sure?” His lips twitch. “What if I told you, if you won’t choose, I’ll be forced to make the decision for you?”

  This feels like a trick. It has to be some sort of trap, right? I saw what he did to those men of his. It makes my skin crawl knowing they’re lying dead on the ground behind me. How would I know if he can or can’t do that remotely? He’s threatening my lover’s lives. I can’t ignore that.

  “I choose Asher.” He’s immortal, like m
e. Stopping his heart won’t kill him. I feel myself start to break out in a sweat. I don’t what I might have done saying his name.

  “Hmm. Yes, I can see why you’d say that.” He nods and leans in, resting his elbows on his knees. “You’d use him to make sure I don’t actually kill any of them. If I didn’t know any better, I’d be delighted that you made a decision. Knowing your reasoning, I’m disappointed. It lacks originality, Eden. I’m not going to stop Asher’s heart.”

  Fuck. Knew it was a trick. “Why are you doing this?”

  “It takes death to break the heart of a Goddess of Love.”

  “I’ve told you, I’ll walk away from this whole Goddess thing.” And I would, just as soon as I knew how.

  He laughs. “You don’t know how to do that. And you can’t stop loving those men of yours. They’re not giving you ultimatums to force your hand. You have no escape route to walk away.”

  I wish he wasn’t right about that. I’ve never felt so lost. I need to stop him from being able to hurt my lovers, but I don’t know how.

  “I’ll be kind and take it one at a time. We’ll soon see how many deaths it takes to break your heart.” He gets up, and I turn. “Bring him in.”

  The door to the room opens and my breath catches as Eli is thrown into the room, stumbling and staggering. I get up, wanting to run to him.

  “Stay where you are, Eden.”

  The order freezes me in place. I can’t move. I can only watch as Eli comes toward us. He looks dishevelled and bruised. What did they do to him? My heart hurts just looking at him. The pain deepens as I remember what the God’s intentions are. He’s going to kill Eli.

  I can’t let him. I close my eyes and summon my light.

  “Love can’t save him,” the God whispers close to my ear.

  I open my eyes and I can’t see a thing, but I can sense how close the God is to me. I reach out and grab him, sending my love for Eli into him with images of his mother the way she should have been, the way he wanted her to be. “Maybe not, but it can save you.”

  I see her hug him, I see her praise him, and kiss him, and spin him around in the air. It all happens so fast I barely understand what I’ve done. The light spills into his soul, covering the darkness. I pull him to me and kiss him hard. There’s nothing romantic in that gesture, it’s symbolic and I know it’s needed instinctively.

  He falls to his knees when I let him go, starting to sob. I run to Eli and hold him for a few seconds, needing his warmth, his strength. When I let him go he sees the dead men on the ground and moves forward. He picks up their guns quickly, glancing warily at the mess of a God now curled up in a ball on the floor. Well, look at that, I broke him. He’s not a God anymore.

  “We seriously need to get the fuck out of here,” Eli tells me.

  We really do. He wasn’t the only God in the building, and I’m not sure I have it in me to pull that trick a second time. “Let’s go.”

  We rush to the door. He goes out first, making sure the coast is clear.

  “The men who brought me down here are gone.” He doesn’t sound completely happy about that. I suppose it was probably kind of fast for them to disappear. He takes me to the elevator and stuffs one of the guns into his pocket, making sure the butt is covered by his T-shirt. He keeps the other by his side. “I know where Skyler is. We can grab her and get the fuck out.”

  “Did you see Lawson?”

  He shakes his head. “I thought he’d be with you.”

  “He screwed me over to get Skyler back. I think they screwed him over after that.” Hell only knows what that means. He might be captive somewhere. He might be dead.

  “I fucking knew it,” Eli says. “He was acting weird from the moment I met him.”

  Um, yeah. Eli still doesn’t know what I am. I really need to take care of that, and soon. He’s gonna need to know. We get into the elevator and go up two floors. I follow him down the corridor silently.

  He stops at a door, stays close to the wall and keeps me behind him, before he knocks. When it opens, he jams his gun in the occupier’s face. The guy moves backwards.

  “Give us the girl and I don’t have to blow your brains out.”

  He steps out of our way and Eli gives me the other gun. I point it at the guy in black. He looks afraid. I don’t think he’s going to be a problem.

  “You weren’t kidding when you said you’d find a way to get us out of here.” The sound of Skyler’s voice distracts me. I turn slightly and the scared guy comes at me. Eli slams his fist into the guy’s face and he goes down, hard. He rolls around the ground, hands over his face, groaning.

  Eli lifts Skyler up and carries her out. I follow, the weight of the gun in my hand feeling awkward.

  “I don’t know why you’re going to this bother. They’re only gonna come back for me,” Skyler says. “Oh, hey, Edie.”

  She sounds really out of it. They’ve been drugging her up to her eyeballs. She’s probably going to be high for a week. But she’s safe now, and we’re going home. We get into the elevator and Eli shifts Skyler in his arms. She wraps her arms around his neck and buries her face in his shoulder.

  He glances at me as the doors close. “Did you bring Lawson’s car?”

  “I know where it’s parked.” Parked was a loose term. He’d basically abandoned it. If he’d left the keys inside someone would be gone with it already.

  My nerves are rattled as we wait for the elevator to descend. I swallow the lump in my throat. I broke a God of Destruction. His friends are going to be pissed.

  “Put the gun in a pocket when the doors open on the lobby.” Eli has already stashed his somewhere when I wasn’t looking. “We’re heading straight to the car when we get out. Stop for nothing. Pull the gun if you have to.”

  “I don’t know if Lawson left the keys...”

  “I can hot-wire it.”

  Problem solved. The elevator doors open. There are no angry men in the lobby waiting for us. We get a few odd looks for the sleeping girl in Eli’s arms, but no one tries to stop us. I head straight for Lawson’s car, which is right where we left it. The doors are unlocked. Eli lays Skyler down in the back and takes the driver’s seat while I get in the passenger seat.

  He checks the glove and the sun visor, and smiles at the set of keys he lucks into.

  “Always check the usual spots before you hot-wire.” He starts the engine and I relax into my seat.

  The need to cry washes over me when we’re driving away from the hotel. I’m not sure if it’s emotional exhaustion, or if I’m so relieved it’s overwhelming. I let the tears flow as Eli gets us the hell out of there. My best friend has been rescued and my men are all safe. I couldn’t ask for a better ending to this mess.

  Chapter Thirty

  Eli

  Questions fill up my head as I drive Eden back to Lawson’s place. I don’t intend on letting her inside. I’m just going to grab our things before I take us to the airport. She cries the whole way there, silent tears streaming down her face. My stomach is knotting as I wonder what the hell she went through back there. What did that creep do to her?

  What did she do to him? That felt like the more important question. Considering I’d seen her bathed in golden-white light before she pulled him closer and kissed him. Had to be some fucking kiss. He’d been a weeping, broken mess when she let him go.

  Some crazy shit just went down back there. I might be filling up with questions, but I don’t think I’m ready to know the answers. I clear my throat as I ditch our bags in the trunk.

  Eden has wiped her tears away by the time I’m back in the driver’s seat. She turns to me, a frown darkening her features. “Are we going home? I need to go home, Eli.”

  I nod, and reach out to stroke her cheek. “We’re going home. We just need to figure out what to do about Skyler.”

  She glances at her sleeping friend. “We have to take her with us. She won’t be safe here.”

  “Can we stop by her place, get some things she might need
?” Mostly, I’m hoping to waste some time. We can’t take her to an airport when she’s drugged up and passed out like this. “Do we need to call ahead to book the flight?”

  Eden’s face drops. “I forgot about that. Yeah. They usually need twenty-four hours notice.”

  “Okay.” I take out my phone. “Put Skyler’s address into this so I can drive there. Do you have the phone number for the airport?”

  She nods. “I’ll call them while you’re driving.”

  I start the car and she puts the phone down into the dock next to the sound system. I check where I’m headed before I pull out of the driveway.

  She calls the airport, makes the arrangements and hangs up, within the space of a few minutes. I expect her to tell me what flight we’re going to be heading for, but she seems preoccupied. She looks at the phone for a second before she dials a number and puts it straight back to her ear. Worry lines etch into her face as she waits for the phone to be picked up. Her tension melts away a few seconds later when she breaks into a grin.

  “Nick, it’s so good to hear your voice.”

  I can’t hear the other side of the conversation, but talking to him seems to cheer her up instantly.

  “I’m not telling you what I’m wearing.” She laughs.

  It’s not going to take long to drive her to Skyler’s place. I’m wondering if we’ll need to spend the night there. I’m hoping for some time alone, but I don’t know how likely that’s going to be.

  My explicit dream rushes back to me. I’m into whatever she wants, I don’t have to think about that twice, but I’d rather our first time together be more intimate. I want her all to myself tonight. If that means making a move on the flight, so be it.

  “Okay. You’re kidding! Oh my God. Sasha must be going insane right now.”

  She relaxes in her seat with a bright smile lighting her features up as we drive on. “Don’t keep them waiting. I’ll speak to you soon. We’ll be home tomorrow.”

  She hangs up and sighs softly before she glances my way. “The flight’s tomorrow afternoon. We should call Skyler’s doctor and get him to check you both over tonight. That is, unless you think we should take her to the hospital?”