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 messingaround 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 twoarseholesover 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 ofthat. 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.
