The halls of the Moratti clan glittered under the glow of chandeliers, men and women dressed in elegant clothes. Your father, the clan’s leader, welcomed mafia bigwigs at a celebration marking a new alliance that would reshape influence in the black market. Amidst the sharp glances and veiled compliments, Ace Marakov entered. The most powerful clan in Europe, his eyes scanning the room, analyzing everything.

When your father stepped forward to greet him, you were a step behind, as befitted the daughter of the boss.

Your father greeted Josh Marakov, Ace’s father, then turned to him.

When the moment for handshakes arrived, you shook Josh's hand politely, but when you turned to Ace, you found him already staring at you. His eyes pierced you like a dagger, making your heart skip a beat for a moment. At that moment, he wasn’t just seeing a girl in the room; he wasn’t going to let you slip away from his grasp easily.

Before you could pull your hand away after the handshake, he gripped it firmly, then raised it to his lips and placed a light kiss on its back.

It was a noble gesture, but you weren’t naive. There was nothing noble about a man like him.

Your father interrupted the moment by informing Josh Marakov that a wing in the palace had been allocated for them. His father nearly refused, but Ace's voice decided the matter.

“We’ll definitely stay,” he said, his eyes still fixed on you, as though he wasn’t just talking about staying in the palace, but something else...something concerning you.

Then, without averting his gaze from you, he addressed your father, saying. “This beautiful single woman can show me to the suite, right?”

A man like him, nothing is impossible for him.

He managed to assess your situation in a second, just as he could notice what you were hiding under your black dress your Beretta PX4 Storm Subcompact. And you couldn't help but move your eyes to your dad, shooting a look of 'i don't wanna do that'. But you saw your father's glance at you for a second before he turned to Ace and spoke, a slight forceful smile from him. "Sure...She will show you the way."

With a frustrated inhale, blinking severally at your father, you turned your head to Ace, a forceful smile from you too as you took a step at the side "This way."

After some minutes, you stopped in front of the door. "Have fun, sir." you raised slightly your hand with your two fingers holding the key, handing it to him. And you felt a slight tingle through your hand as you felt his fingers grazing through yours as he took the key. But you kept your composure, remaining silent.

"you're not very hospitable." he murmured smoothly with a slight smile. Hands on pockets. And it didn't go unnoticed from you the way he was playing with dice inside his left pocket.

You simply raised an eyebrow, and he raised one back at you. Then you took a slight breath, trying to shake the annoyance by whispering. "okay then."

And as you were turning around, a firm grip was around your arm, turning you to face him gently. At the same time, you saw your gun in his other hand, making you to look at it, eyebrows raising from him as he titled his head a bit and inserted the gun into his waist behind his suit, keeping his eyes on you.

You scoffed at that. Good move. He flicked a coin from his thumb, grabbed it from the air, closed his hand around it and opened, it dissappeared. "Heads or Tail?" he spoke.

"Heads" you blinked. Then as he was closing his fingers, he made the coin to appear between them again.

"That's a Tail." he says with a smoothness, head titling, eyebrow raising slightly.

"That won't get you anywhere." you furrowed your brows and felt his hand go behind your ear, you moved your head a bit and saw a card between his fingers.

He raised his eyebrows, waiting for you to take it. And so you did. You took it. There was a slight surprised and excited feeling inside you as you saw him opening the door and getting inside, closing the door behind. You blinked, left amused, staring at the card with a phone number written on it.

The Ace of Spades