The Mafia and His Obsession: Part 1 (Tainted Hearts 4)

“Come and join us for breakfast,” she said, smiling. Evaline moved forward before wrapping Ayla in a hug.

“God, I missed you so much. Sorry for being a total bitch and leaving like that,” my sister muttered before pulling away.

Ayla shook her head. “No. It’s okay. It was understandable.”

With the little fiasco now over, we moved to the table again. The rest of breakfast went like usual.

Just like before. Like nothing had happened.

As if that one year never happened.

We were a family again.

***

I followed Alessio silently into his office. Phoenix and Nikolay followed behind me, and they closed the door.

It was late at night, and everyone was asleep. It was the perfect time to discuss business. The rest of the day had been catching up with everyone else. We had no time to talk about why I was back and what the next move was. Or if there was even a next move.

Alessio seated himself behind his desk, and he released a long breath. Now that I studied him better, he looked tired and stressed out. Something was weighing heavily on his shoulders.

Before he met Ayla, nothing mattered except becoming a richer fucking man and playing games with the less fortunate souls who thought they could cross us.

But now…he had a wife. A daughter. And another baby on the way.

And his perfect little family had just been threatened.

No wonder they said love was a weakness. It really was. Love was a twisted son of a bitch who fucked us all up. We fell into its trap without even realizing it.

It was a simple rule. Don’t fall in love.

Isaak and Lyov were right. This was the moment I wished we had listened to them.

I looked at Alessio again and noticed where his eyes were staring. A picture of Ayla on his desk. She was laughing while staring at the camera. In the background, I could see the creek.

She was happy.

And I knew, when Alessio took that picture, he was at his happiest.

The thing that Ayla taught all of us was that love could be a weakness and multiple shades of fucked up, but it was still someone’s strength.

She taught Alessio that.

She taught me that.

“He’s going to pay. For whatever he has done, he is going to pay ten times worse. He will pay for even thinking about hurting Ayla,” Alessio muttered, breaking the silence.

His voice was rough and held the edge of anger. When his eyes met mine, I saw the killer there. I knew his fingers were itching to end Solonik’s life. But not now.

Not before we knew his real plan, or whatever Valentin was planning behind closed doors.

He might have thought of me as his heir, but he never trusted me fully. There were things I still didn’t know. And to know them, I had to become the Devil. I had to become part of his little puppets and play along.

“What’s the plan now?” I asked, moving forward.

Alessio looked away from the photo, his eyes meeting mine. He leaned back against the chair before crossing his right ankle over his knees.

“Go back there. And tell him I sent you to spy on him.”

My eyebrows furrowed in confusion, and I heard Phoenix swear under his breath.

“Here’s the thing. We need to play his game. He thinks you’re coming here to gain our trust again. It’s simple. I hate you and want you to show your loyalty. Tell Solonik that I have given you a way to gain my trust again. All you have to do is spy on him and give me information. Of course, he’s going to think that you’re still on his side. Two birds with one stone. This way you can stay with him and figure out what he’s planning. In the meantime, he’s going to think that you’re playing me and giving me false information. He’ll think I have grown weaker. Except it’s just the opposite,” Alessio explained masterfully.

“That makes sense. It could work if you play it well and make it all believable,” Nikolay pointed out.

“After all, he needs you on his side. He’s desperate for it. Without you, Solonik can’t move forward with any plans,” Phoenix added.

I had done this shit for a year, and I knew I could do it again. I just had to fuck Solonik’s head up a little and kaboom.

“For how long?” I simply asked.

“Just keep playing, Viktor. A game never stops until there’s a winner,” Alessio replied, leaning forward. His elbows rested on the table, his chin on his entwined fingers.

The furious look on his face could make anyone whimper. “And this game won’t end until one of us is dead.”

Alessio stared at me straight in the eyes before continuing, his voice low. “In the end, only one person will be standing and left breathing. And there are only two choices. Me or Solonik.”