Page 111 of Twisted Little Game

“Thank God you left. You were likely nearly kidnapped that day. You may have been killed⁠—”

“You’re saying if I didn’t happen to sneak off like I did, he would have taken me somewhere?”

Roman runs his fingers through his hair, shaking his head. “And you screwed up their plan when you slipped away. No wonder the kid is pissed at you. He… he probably fucked up an initiation. Fucker.”

Roman strides over to the fireplace mantle and slams his fist against it hard.

It makes a thud throughout the room.

He does it again, two more times, then lets out a pained, frustrated groan.

“What’s an initiation?” I ask. “What the hell does that even mean?”

“Lucian Farina is likely being initiated to be a member of the Maletti mob. If he was able to nab you, and take you back, he would have been in. Now that it got fucked up, his life is on the line. He’s trying to prove himself to them. To win their trust back.”

Roman won’t say it out loud, probably for my benefit, but I can see it in his eyes.

This is so much worse than I knew.

Far worse than he knew, as well.

I shake my head, trying to piece it all together.

“I’ve never even heard of the Malettis before. They’re… they’re a part of your life, not mine. Why would they have wanted to kidnap me, months and months ago?”

“Dollar signs,” Maks says. “You would not be the first child of a wealthy celebrity that they have used as a ransom ticket, Tate. These things happen all of the time, and news of it never makes it to the public if they get their money.”

My stomach feels like a pit. “But I ran. So they never got their money.”

Roman is staring into the fire with his eyes wide.

“No. It is still too close to home. Too much of a coincidence. The Malettis want to make my life hell… so how did I end up watching over one of the kidnapping victims that they failed to score?”

“Yegor is the one who connected us with Tate,” Maks says. “Yegor despises the Malettis. He couldn’t have purposely led them here… no?”

Roman’s expression is unreadable.

My heart sinks.

“You know what this means?” Maks asks, staring directly at Roman.

I’m too afraid to ask.

“I do know what it means,” Roman says, standing up from the couch.

17

Roman

Yegor.

Yegor knew.

This whole fucking time.

Yegor is the one who informed me about the job to protect Tate, taking him under my wing here at Crimson.

So Yegor had to have known that the Malettis were after Tate.