Chapter 46: Chapter 46

“I heard Kali caught her man cheating on her.” Gabby pursed her lips over her glass of wine as she reclined on the sofa.

“Really?” Charlie leaned forward with curious eyes. “With who?”

Gabby shot her a pointed look. “Tessa. She and Kali were close friends until Tessa seduced Dion. Now he’s back to having two wife candidates, and Kali is pissed. That’s why she attacked them at the party last Tuesday.”

I glanced up from my phone and murmured, “Does it matter since this is low-key considered an arranged marriage? We joined the games to make a living, marrying someone comes second to that.”

Charlie shook her head. “You underestimate how many women dream of marrying rich, powerful men.”

Gabby nodded. “She’s right. Dion has a pretty high position in the family. I heard that his father is an executive. Compared to Tessa’s previous partner, Drew, Dion is a better option for stability.”

“I feel bad for Kali, though,” Charlie said with a sigh. “I heard that she fell in love with Dion, only for him to bring another woman into the house. It’s heartbreaking.”

Of course Charlie had more gossip to add to the conversation. She was just as nosey as Gabby.

“I heard that it got even more physical after they left, though,” Gabby continued. “Drew and Dion got into a fight, and Drew got shot in the leg.”

Charlie gasped. “No way!”

Gabby nodded. “Yeah. It was serious. Kali got hold of Tessa while the men were fighting and scarred her face with a knife. Now the original couple is in the hospital together.”

Charlie sucked in a sharp breath. “Women are brutal.”

Gabby huffed. “If you have the balls to seduce a mafia man, you need the strength to back it up. This whole mess could have been avoided.”

“I guess we’re the lucky ones,” I said. “We don’t have to fight for our men because they’re already ours, and they know that.”

Gabby raised her glass in a toast. “Damn straight. Krystie knows better than to come between me and Andrei now. She’s focused on winning the games so she can work in one of the labs. Did you guys know she was a chemistry teacher before this?”

“Really?” Charlie asked. “What made her join the games?”

“Protection. She offended someone she shouldn’t have. Now that we’re not fighting over Andrei, we’ve had some pretty good conversations. She’s smart.”

I glanced back at my phone and opened Selena and my chat for the thousandth time, but nothing had changed. I was still left on delivered.

I pursed my lips worriedly.

I went to Instagram to stalk her account, but there was nothing new there either.

“You all right over there? You’ve been on your phone since we got here.”

My head snapped up to see two pairs of worried eyes staring back at me. I sighed and exited the app. “It’s nothing. I was just looking through my sister’s Instagram to see if she’d posted anything lately.”

“Has she?” Gabby asked.

I shook my head and bit my lip. “No. She hasn’t posted since the semester started.”

Charlie stared at me with soft eyes as she tried to reassure me. “Don’t worry. I’m sure she’s safe wherever she is. The last time she called, she said not to worry, didn’t she?”

I sighed. “That’s what worries me even more. Selena has never ghosted me like this. Something’s going on. I’m sure of it.”

Gabby got up and came to sit next to me, wrapping an arm around my shoulder and tugging me into her side. Considering she was significantly shorter than me, it was an uncomfortable position, but I appreciated the gesture anyway.

“Don’t worry. Everything will work out fine. Stefano’s already looking for her, so it’s only a matter of time.”

Charlie’s eyes sparkled as she leaned forward. “Speaking of… You’ve got to tell us. How’s your relationship with Stefano? I didn’t want to say anything because of how tense it was lately, but are you guys good again?”

I smiled and nodded. “We’re good. He’s been great to me.”

Stefano and I hadn’t solved the underlying issue of our argument, but after that night at the party and our very heated makeup sex, we simply went back to normal as if the argument had never happened.

I didn’t know if that was good or bad for our relationship, but for now, it was enough.

Gabriella sighed wistfully. “I never thought I’d be able to look at another man again, but Andrei. He just keeps breaking down the walls I’ve tried to put up, and I can’t stop it. He’s so gentle…and attentive, and he always asks for permission before we do it.”

My eyes widened, and I whipped my head around to look at her, gasping dramatically. “You guys had sex? I thought you were waiting until after the games!”

A bashful smile tugged at her lips as she giggled and shrugged. “Well, we were, but one thing led to another, and bam! I had a thick as fuck horse dingy poking at my insides. I’d never felt so blessed.”

“Oh my god!” Charlie and I laughed until tears ran down our cheeks. Gabriella sure had a way with words.

“What’s a dingy?” A soft, child’s voice broke through the laughter in the room.

I coughed on my spit as Charlie’s eyes widened in surprise. We looked over as Josh, Charlie’s six-year-old son, came charging into the room and onto his mother’s lap.

Ever since their school went on break, Charlie’s sons had been joining her at the mansion when she came to work.

Charlie went into mother mode as she lifted Josh into her arms. “Hey, baby. I thought you were sleeping. Where’s your brother?”

Josh pouted pitifully, on the verge of tears. “He won’t let me play on the phone!”

Charlie gasped. “What? Why won’t he let you play?”

“He said I’m too small! He thinks I’ll make him lose!”

“Awww.” Charlie squeezed his cheek. “Do you think you’ll lose?”

Josh shook his head and announced proudly, “No! Rollins men don’t lose!”

I smiled as I watched him puff up his little chest. He resembled his mother a lot.

Charlie placed her hand out for a high five and praised him. “That’s my son! Go show your brother just how good you are. Tell him Mommy says to give you a turn on the phone.”

He slid off her lap and grabbed her arm, tugging her toward the hall. “You gotta tell him. He won’t listen to me.”

Charlie shot us an exasperated look as she got up. “All right, all right. I’ll go.”

Josh skipped out of the room with his mother trailing behind him. I took a sip of my wine and watched them leave.

“Wait, Mommy! You didn’t tell me what a dingy is!”

~Pfft.~

I spat my wine back into my glass as Gabriella and I laughed our asses off.

Charlie shot us a glare before she disappeared from view, but not before we heard her try to explain. “Well…a dingy is… It’s… Oh my god.”

“It’s a boat!” Gabriella shouted after them. “A seven-inch boat!”

I lightly slapped her arm as she cackled to herself.

This was the first time in a long time that I’d been able to relax and just talk to the girls. I’d been so busy with training and planning for the closing ceremony that I couldn’t help but treasure moments like this.

Spending time with Gabriella had always been an interesting experience. I was happy to make such a friend throughout this entire ordeal.

While we were deep in conversation about what we’d do once these games were over, one of my security guards walked into the room and handed me an orange envelope.

“What’s this?” I asked as I took it.

“It was sent through the mail by Simon.”

My eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Simon? The game master for the Mafia Games?”

He nodded. “It’s the fourth game.”

I froze.

~The fourth game? Already?~

“Thank you. You can leave.” I waved him away. He retreated, leaving Gabby and me alone.

Gabriella leaned over curiously and urged, “Open it.”

I shot her an amused glance. “You probably got one as well. You know that, right?”

“Yeah, and I’m not there to open it, so let me see yours! Hurry!” She sounded anxious, and I didn’t blame her. It was two months ahead of schedule.

I opened the envelope and reached inside to pull out a paper folder. Inside the folder was a picture of a middle-aged man with basic information about who he was, his career, what he did in his spare time, etc.

I furrowed my brow in confusion. “What’s this? Did they run a background check on someone?”

“There’s a letter.” Gabriella pointed at a folded piece of paper stapled to the folder. It had my name on it.

I opened the letter and read it.

~Dear Catalina Williams,~

~Congratulations on passing the third game. We’re pleased to see that your loyalty to the family is strong.~

~It is time to introduce the fourth and most challenging game of the year:~

~Courage—Never bow your head in the face of danger.~

~Prove that you have what it takes to eliminate your foes. You have two months.~

~Included in the folder is basic information about your target. Your job is to assassinate them. We don’t care how you do it, as long as you get it done.~

~Your partner can aid you in this task if he so chooses, but you have to be the one to complete the assassination.~

~We wish you the best of luck.~

~Sincerely,~

~The Game Masters~

Silence blanketed the room.

Gabriella snatched the letter from me and proceeded to read through it herself. When she was done, she sucked in a deep breath and cursed. “Fuck me.”

I pursed my lips, my heart trembling at the weight of those words.

“We have to what?” Gabriella asked in disbelief.

I looked at the photo of the middle-aged man who was smiling brightly at the camera. “We have to kill someone.”