Heartless Mercy (The Sinful Alliance #1)

Love Can Kill by Lennon Stella

Hearing Catalina, Willow, and Sonny fuck for a couple of hours was agony for Niccolo. Funny for me, but so hard for Niccolo. Isabella has been out with the horses, taking in the scenery and reeling with all the pent-up emotions she let out the other night. She finally told us in detail what that shithead Ilya did to her back in college. Niccolo and I wanted to kill the bastard if she hadn’t already killed him herself.

She dealt with that for years and only told Catalina. I can’t imagine what she went through. Now that she’s killed him, she’s let go of a lot of that hatred and need for revenge. However, she and Catalina discussed her possibly joining Catalina on our missions. She got a pension for bloodshed and now she doesn’t want to stop doing it. We thought about it for a moment and said she could, as long as she got some training either with Catalina, Camila, Chiara, or her brother.

I carry Niccolo to the living room and set him on the couch as I get us some snacks and drinks from the kitchen. We decided to change locations for today since he’s been going a little stir-crazy in my room.

Catalina and Alejandro took Willow and Sonny to their apartment for some files Sonny needed and extra clothes Willow wanted. We didn’t want them to leave with the lockdown going on, but they promised to be quick. I have no doubt that Alejandro and Catalina can handle it.

Niccolo turns on the TV and puts on SportsCenter, showing highlights of the latest football game from the Las Vegas Rebels. Every time I think about the Rebels, I think about Nash and how even after that the fuck session Willow had with Catalina and Sonny, she was still understandably sad.

“Baby, can you bring me some water real quick? I need to take my painkillers in thirty minutes!” Niccolo yells as I bring a tin of popcorn filled with pickles and hot sauce and two cups of iced cold water.

“I have it right here, amorcito . Here, grab the popcorn so I can place the water on the coffee table,” I declare, pushing the popcorn tin towards him.

I sit beside Niccolo and grab some of the popcorn when I feel my phone buzzing in my pocket. Looking at the caller ID, I freeze. Fuck, something’s wrong.

“Baby, it’s Andrei. Call October to run a trace!” I shout. Niccolo springs to action, grabbing his phone from the coffee table, dialing October, and putting the call on speaker.

“Hey, what’s up?” she answers.

“Trace the call Dario is about to answer. It’s Andrei,” Niccolo relays as we hear October’s keyboard typing in the background.

Finally, I take a deep breath and answer. “Sokolov.” Short and sweet. That’s all that needs to be done for a man like this.

“Ah, Ramos. You finally answer. You had me worried there for a minute. I was beginning to think you weren’t going to know what I’m about to do.” He chuckles.

“Take her off speaker,” I mouth to Niccolo. He then takes October off speaker and sees if she got a hit on his location.

“And what are you about to do, Sokolov?” I ask, trying to stall him from doing something reckless.

“Well, it’s only fair I do the same to you what you did to me. You took the three people I loved, and now I’m going to do the same.” I start breathing erratically and I’m back to Niccolo being shot; there’s absolutely no way this can be happening. “Willow looks beautiful in her grey sweatpants and Las Vegas Rebels t-shirt. But she looks like she’s been crying. Is there trouble in paradise already, Ramos?”

Mierda . “I swear to God, I wi—” I start, but he cuts me off and keeps going.

“What? Kill me? I’d love to see you try. I actually always wanted to see the malen’kiy d’yavol to kill me. I’d love to see her fight in her signature, all-black clothes and spiked combat boots. You think she can take me?” he teases, laughing manically.

I look at Niccolo, wondering what’s taking so long to pinpoint a location, but the look on his face tells me all I need to know. Andrei is there. And he’s going to enact his revenge by killing the ones we love. I just hope Catalina and Alejandro are enough to take him down.

Niccolo starts typing on his phone and turns it toward me. It reads, “He’s there, Dario. I texted the guards here to round everyone, including Isabella, up. We’re leaving in ten minutes.”

I nod, as Niccolo rises from the couch like he’s not in pain and sprints to my room to change. I shake my head. I swear this man doesn’t listen when it comes to doctor’s orders.

“You better leave them alone, Sokolov. I mean it. Mark my words. If you hurt any of them, we’ll come back ten times harder. And your precious empire will be burned to the ground!” I yell angrily through the phone.

“See you soon, Ramos. And say hello to De Luca for me,” he adds, ending the call.

My world feels like it’s coming apart and I can’t do anything about it. Fuck. We put them in harm’s way and they’ll never forgive us for this if they make it out alive. I’ll do everything in my power to make it up to them, even if it’s the last thing I do.

Running to my room, I slide on my black jeans and cowboy boots, grabbing my black dress shirt from the closet. I take my gold cross chain and put it around my neck, kissing it before tucking it into my shirt. On my way out of the closet, I snatch my black cowboy hat and set it on my head when I spot Niccolo tying the laces on his black dress shoes.

Once he’s done, I grab his hand to lift him up and smooth his navy blue dress shirt. He leans his head against mine and we take a breath.

“We’ll get to them. We won’t stop,” I state, trying to reassure him as much as I’m trying to believe it myself. He nods and we exit my room and see Isabella waiting for us in her riding boots, all-black get-up, with her hair slick back in a ponytail. She looks just like Catalina right now and I’m thankful, because it looks like we’re going to need that Isabella right now.

“What happened? The guards just said we were leaving in ten minutes and started stocking every kind of weapon into four SUVs,” she says.

“Andrei called. He’s going to ambush them at Sonny and Willow’s apartment,” Niccolo answers, taking her into his arms before turning her around to head out the door.

“We don’t have much time, but we need to go to the chopper if we want to get there fast. Grab some weapons you can hold on your body in case they are still there when we arrive. Call Catalina and Alejandro on the way,” I add, snatching a few pistols and AK-47s I slide onto my shoulders. Isabella and Niccolo do the same while I talk to Camila and the guards before we take off.

“Meet us at Sonny’s apartment. You have our location. Andrei is going to ambush them, we don’t have time to waste. Get there as soon as you can and coordinate with all the guards. I trust you to lead today, Camila,” I order. She nods, ready to execute whatever I say.

I hop on one of my ATVs to Isabella and Niccolo, ten meters from my house on the landing pad. The chopper is all set as I climb in, buckle up, and start calling Catalina and Alejandro continuously.

“Anything?” Isabella shouts through the headphones on the chopper.

“No. They’re not answering. We need to prepare for the worst. He’s got them!” I shout.

Fuck. I just hope we’re not too late.