Heartless Mercy (The Sinful Alliance #1)

Twisted by MISSIO

Niccolo, Maeve, and I grab our phones from October’s Faraday case and leave our second-in-commands to handle organizing the crew for Monday’s meeting with Andrei.

I press Niccolo’s private elevator button and the doors open. We pile in and Niccolo uses his thumbprint to access the Amethyst Royal’s game floor. The Amethyst Royal is not only a casino, but has an upscale hotel as well. The forty-story building houses celebrities, socialites, influencers, and everyday patrons who are in the mood to gamble and have some fun. It has become one of the leading attractions in Shreveport.

I look at Maeve and chuckle as she’s heavily engrossed on her phone. “What’s so funny, eejit ?”

“How long have you been fucking our hacker?” I ask, chuckling. She gave Niccolo and I so much shit for messing around with Isabella and Catalina and yet she’s doing the same thing, mixing business with pleasure.

“Fuck you! I am not,” Maeve huffs.

“Oh, really? Well, you could’ve cut the tension in there with a knife,” Niccolo remarks.

“I know there’s something there. Irina has noticed it, too. She even says she wants her to join us, but I don’t want it to go wrong,” Maeve declares as she shifts her feet from side to side, fidgeting with her hands.

“All I can say is she has a crush on you. It’s clear as day, reina . You won’t know if it can be more if you don’t try. Lay some boundaries, and if something goes wrong, well, at least you tried. I have a feeling it won’t, though,” I suggest, squeezing my hand on her shoulder for comfort.

“We’ll see. Now, fuck off,” Maeve says, shoving my arm off her shoulder. “October and I did some digging and it looks like Marcello’s girl is involved with someone who has a connection to the Albanians Andrei is in bed with.”

“Really? And Marcello hasn’t taken care of him?” Niccolo asks, intrigued at how a man like Marcello would let that slide.

“He plays football with your girl’s brother. Running back, I believe? I don’t know American sports,” Maeve explains.

“Ahh, I see. Well, it might be time to connect with Marcello soon. We need to gather intel. I’ll call him soon,” I declare as the doors to the elevator open to the casino floor. One of Niccolo’s guards awaits us near the door and gives Niccolo a tablet with footage of Willow, Sonny, and Isabella at the blackjack table.

“Shit, it looks like Willow is a shark at Blackjack. Look at those stacks of chips,” Maeve observes.

“Willow graduated from high school at the age of fourteen, which is why she became an ER doctor at the age of twenty. She’s a math wizard—and right now she’s counting cards,” I add, pointing to the screen where Willow is focused on the dealer. Niccolo shakes his head and Maeve looks astonished at how carefree we are about the situation.

“And you are just letting her get away with that? Or Isabella, for that matter?”

“Ehh, who cares?” Niccolo answers, shrugging his shoulders.

“You guys must really like them, because what the fuck?” Niccolo glances toward me and we both smile at the realization that we do. We like Willow and Sonny and don’t understand how a sudden attraction or pull toward someone can ignite some sort of possessiveness for them. “C’mon, let’s go join them,” I declare, grabbing Niccolo’s hand. Maeve sighs and walks beside us to the blackjack table near the slots. Isabella sees us approaching, smiles, and comes running to meet us. She puts her arms around Niccolo and me, and we encase her in ours.

“Oh my God, you have to see this. Willow is totally counting cards and she’s so good at it,” Isabella yelps proudly. Niccolo and I glance in Maeve’s direction and she rolls her eyes.

“Okay, baby. Let’s see,” I say, kissing Isabella on the cheek, causing her to blush. We all follow Isabella and hover behind Willow’s seat in front of the dealer. The dealer hands Willow’s cards, and just like that, she has twenty-one, and she smirks with delight that she’s done it once again. The dealer reveals the house’s hand and shows it’s eighteen. Willow wins again. We all clap and Willow turns, startled by our presence. She gets up from her seat with a look of guilt and panic.

“I’m so sorry. I swear, I—” Willow stutters. Niccolo grabs her forearm and lightly rubs his thumb up and down to soothe her. She looks down, shocked by his calmness, and smiles slightly.

“That was impressive, Miss Hayden,” Maeve remarks. Willow shifts her gaze towards Maeve, looking her up and down. I lift my eyebrow in shock at Willow’s forwardness.

“Why, thank you, beautiful. What’s your name?” Willow coos.

“Maeve O’Conner. Friend of these two arseholes over here,” Maeve answers, chuckling.

“Maeve O’Conner as in the head of—” Willow starts as she slaps her hand to her mouth. “I’m so sorry, ma’am. I didn’t mean to disrespect you.”

Maeve grabs her hand, kisses her fingers, and seductively says, “No need to apologize, sweetheart. And I liked it better when you called me beautiful.” Maeve winks and I immediately remove Willow’s hand from her grasp.

“Okay, that’s enough. Get your own girlfriend,” I say, my possessiveness for this woman so evidently shown. When everyone’s eyes are trained on me, I realize what I just said. Fucking idiot. I just called her my girlfriend.

“ Girlfriend , huh? And here I thought you were fucking the Italian boss? Looks like someone forgot to invite me to the party. What’s the occasion? Are we having an orgy? If so, I call the thick one right here. I can make you my pretty little whore, baby,” a new voice purrs.

The hair on the back of my neck raises and I know just who it is. We all turn around and my blood boils from the sight of Andrei Sokolov and his slimy fucking son. Before I can move, Niccolo and Maeve grab my shoulders, pulling me back.

“You better keep your mouth shut, Sokolov. I would say apologize to my girl, but we both know you aren’t capable of that. What the fuck are you doing here?” Niccolo growls, inching closer toward Andrei and Ilya.

“Your girl? Well, look at you both finally fucking women for once. When you are done with her, I’m nex—” Andrei starts before Niccolo advances toward him and grabs Andrei by his shirt collar. Ilya pushes forward, but Alessio comes from behind him and stops him in his place.

“Watch your fucking mouth, Sokolov. I’m so close to losing my patience, the alliance be damned,” Niccolo spits. Andrei chuckles and removes Niccolo’s hands from his shirt collar.

“Don’t worry, boy, I know you won’t touch me no matter how much you want to. I dropped by to see why everyone was meeting without me. Is there something I should know?” Andrei voices.

“For your information, October and I came to fix Niccolo’s security system. Dario just so happened to be here, hence, why I was introducing myself to his guests,” Maeve discloses.

“Ahhh, O’Connor, how’s my ungrateful daughter?” Andrei asks. Maeve seethes at the mention of Irina and sighs, collecting herself before answering his question.

“She’s fine. She’s at home. With your wife,” Maeve answers.

“And you? Why have you suddenly made the trip at the same time O’Connor has? Weren’t you all together at last night’s masquerade party in El Paso?” Andrei accuses me.

“And why do you seem to know all our whereabouts, Sokolov? Paranoid much?” Catalina interjects as she places herself in front of Sonny and Isabella. I grab Willow’s hand, getting her attention, and tilt my head towards Sonny and Isabella’s direction, indicating her to join them. She nods and does as she’s told, carefully and quietly to avoid getting anyone’s attention.

“Ahh, d’yavol , have they let you out to play?” Andrei teases.

“Want to find out?” Catalina spits out, advancing toward Andrei. I put my hand out before she goes any closer and sigh, ready to end this interaction.

“We came to show our guests a good time at the casino, Sokolov. Why you’re involving yourself in our whereabouts, I don’t know, but listen to me carefully. If you so much as say another word about my family here, an alliance will do nothing to hold me back. I will end everyone you care about and leave you for last. Don’t test me, Sokolov. You know I don’t play games.” Andrei shakes his head and laughs as he claps his hands slowly.

“Well, it was about time you came out to play, Ramos. I’ll see you on Monday. Do svidaniya ,” Andrei states as he turns around and walks out of the casino with Ilya following behind him.

A collective sigh can be heard as everyone takes a breath. Isabella is the first to break the tension in the air. She grabs Willow’s winnings from the table and walks off to cash them in. Catalina nods at me and walks off to follow her. Niccolo turns around to face Willow and Sonny.

“Are you two okay?” he asks, placing his hands on each of their shoulders to comfort them.

“Yes, we’re fine, Niccolo. We’re okay,” Willow whispers.

“C’mon, let’s head upstairs to talk. Maeve, I know you want to get out of here as quickly as possible, so we’ll be in touch,” I declare, grabbing her arm to stop her before she starts to walk away.

Getting closer, I hover near her ear and whisper, “He has eyes and ears. Figure it out and encrypt a message to me.” Maeve nods and tilts her head at October to follow her.

“Alessio, grab Catalina and Isabella and send them to my room. When you’re done, secure the perimeter. I expect a report tonight on why we weren’t immediately notified by security that Sokolov was here,” Niccolo orders. Alessio nods and walks off with two other guards as Willow, Sonny, and Niccolo approach me.

“Are you sure you both are okay?” I ask. Sonny and Willow nod and we make our way to the elevator. Grabbing Niccolo’s hand, I intertwine our fingers, lift our hands, kiss his knuckles, and squeeze his hand three times. The anger slowly fades, just by holding my baby’s hand. We calm each other down—and that’s exactly what I need right now. We both do. If we want to ensure Willow and Sonny don’t run, we need to reign in our anger and be a rock for both of them.

“I’m sorry y’all had to see that. We will do everything in our power to keep you safe. You’re ours now to protect,” I declare, squeezing Niccolo’s hand. Willow and Sonny blush at my statement and grab each other’s hands.

“Yours, huh?” Willow asks. She rises on her tiptoes and kisses Niccolo and I’s cheek. I am obsessed with her forwardness. She’s outspoken, a force to be reckoned with, so fucking brilliant, and so beautiful, all wrapped up into a small, curvy woman.

“We think we can live with that,” Sonny voices as Willow nods in agreement. I swear I didn’t expect to have this unspeakable attraction, to be drawn to these two innocent, but strong individuals. No matter what, Catalina, Isabella, Niccolo, and I will do everything we can to protect them.

The doors to the elevator open and we make our way inside Niccolo’s penthouse. Willow and Sonny look around, stunned at how huge the place is. I turn toward Niccolo and he smirks, an idea brewing in his twisted little head.

“Y’all just have these massive ass fucking houses, huh? I swear, there’s like so much shit you can do here!” Willow yells, making her way to the living room, pulling Sonny along with her.

“So much to do, huh? How about we make something happen, Mama ? Are y’all down for some fun?” I wink at Niccolo and the look on Willow and Sonny’s faces is filled with the possibility of a nasty fucking night. I can’t wait to show them how much we want them.