Advantage Play Series Paperback Bundle

Book 1: Wild Card

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐"The chemistry between Ace and Kingston is off the charts hot!" --Amazon Reviewer

I got caught counting cards in a mob-owned casino. Now, I owe the sexy mob boss, Kingston Romano, a favor. And he's come to collect.

I shouldn’t trust him.

Not with my safety, my body, or my heart.

Especially if the rumors are true.

After all, there’s a reason they call him the Dark King.

He’s ruthless. Heartless. Brutal.

But I can’t help it.

Besides, we have a common enemy.

And I’ll do whatever it takes to bring down the man who murdered my mother.

Even if that means I have to make a deal with the alluring devil himself.

Prologue - Kingston

“Take a seat.” I motion to the chair in front of my desk while keeping my face void of any expression.

The pathetic fucker in front of me plops into the chair, and I watch as his beady little eyes dart around the room, desperately searching for anything that might give him a clue as to why he’s been called here.

He’ll find out soon enough.

I let the silence feed his anxiety until a light sheen of sweat collects along his forehead. My mouth twitches at how easy this is going to be.

Looking at his watch, Diece quirks his brow, and the action reminds me that I have more important shit to do than interrogate a rat. Diece is my right-hand man, and if I’m being honest, one of the few men I really trust, especially when I find myself surrounded by traitors like the one in front of me. Diece and I have been friends since we were little. He was groomed for his position as much as I was, though I don’t think either of us is comfortable with our new responsibilities. 

Leaning forward, I rest my elbows along the top of my desk. The movement makes the rat in question gulp thickly.

“So…uh…B-Boss? There a reason you called me in here?” he stutters, trying––and failing––to look me in the eye.

“Have you ever been in this office before, Vince?”

“N-no, sir.”

“Do you know who this office belongs to?”

“Your father?” It comes out as more of a question than an answer.

I shake my head. “It did belong to my father. Just like it belonged to his father before him and my great-grandfather before that. This office belongs to the head of the Romano family, Vince. So let me ask you again…who does this office belong to?”

With a quick glance in my direction, he mumbles, “It’s yours.”

“A few of your associates have told me you feel differently than that,” I explain before pushing myself up from the seat and walking around the desk. “That I haven’t earned the position. That I’m not strong enough or smart enough to lead the family. That I’m too soft.”

Diece laughs, grabbing Vince’s attention before his neck snaps back toward me.

“W-what?” he asks, feigning confusion, though that same soft stutter makes it clear he understands the shitstorm he has created for himself. With his eyes wide, it’s as if he’s surprised by my audacity to voice such a ludicrous accusation.

“I know. I found it quite surprising, as well. I mean, who did you expect would take over the Romano family after my father died when I’ve been groomed for the position since I was six years old?”

His index finger starts tapping against his upper thigh, and my gaze shoots to Diece. Stepping forward, Diece drops his burly hands onto Vince’s trembling shoulders, making him flinch while simultaneously keeping him in the chair when I know he’s contemplating bolting from the room. He wouldn’t have gotten far, but still.

“I asked you a question, Vince. I suggest you answer it.”

Raising his chin, he looks me straight in the eye, and I know he’s putting on his bravest face. “I don’t know what my associates have told you, but they’re lying.”

I shake my head. “Let me ask you something else, Vince. Were they lying about the fact you’ve been in contact with Burlone Allegretti?” 

His Adam’s apple bobs up and down before Diece leans over him and digs his fingers into Vince’s wrists. Vince starts to struggle when my cold voice freezes him in place. “I suggest you cooperate. I have a few questions, and if you can answer them truthfully, then you have nothing to be afraid of.”

His lower lip quivers, but he stops fighting long enough for Diece to restrain him to the chair with a set of zip ties around his forearms and wrists followed by his ankles around the legs of the seat. Vince might think he’s fooling me by his compliance, but I’m not the idiot he thinks I am.

Once he’s secured, I continue my interrogation as the sweat that’d been collecting around his hairline finally drips down the side of his face before gathering along his chin. Unfortunately, he can’t wipe the moisture away, so it just hangs there, threatening to finally fall while still clinging desperately to the sniveling asswipe it belongs to.

Blinking slowly, I snap my focus back to the traitor in the room.

“Tell me, Vince. Why did you reach out to Burlone?”

“W-what? I didn’t—”

I cut him off. “Now, now, Vince. We both know you’re lying to me, and I think you’d be wise to change your strategy if you want to get out of this situation in one piece. Answer the question. Truthfully, this time.”

“I’m not—”

“Do you know who I am?” I probe.

“Kingston Romano?”

“Yes. Do you know what I specialize in?”

He gulps. Again. If that’s not a tell, I don’t know what is. Growing frustrated, I reach for the letter opener lying on my desk and run the pad of my thumb along the dull edge before dragging it up to the pointed tip. Yes, this’ll do nicely.

“You specialize in torture,” Vince mumbles, his gaze glued to my hands.

“I specialize in getting answers. How I get them depends on the individual I’m interrogating. Now, you’re trying my patience, Vince. Let me be clear. You won’t be walking out of this office. You said goodbye to that possibility the moment you gave sensitive information to my enemy. However, Diece can carry you out of this office in one piece…or multiple. That’s the only control you have here. And even that decision is given to you because I’m feeling generous.” Again, he eyes the letter opener in my hand warily, and I reply with a dry laugh. “No. This can’t slice through dry bone, but it can still poke you full of holes before I decide to send Diece for my kit that holds the fun stuff. Now, tell me why you betrayed the Romano family.”

When he remains silent, I count to three in my head before lunging forward and driving the letter opener into him an inch below his left collarbone, and he screams in pain. After twisting it clockwise, I tug the weapon back and wipe the crimson blood along his ashen cheek as he sobs like a baby. Satisfied with the war paint I’ve gifted him with, I growl a single word, “Talk.”

Through his sniveling, he starts, “Y-you don’t understand. He approached me. He asked about the warehouses near Harbor Drive. Wanted to know how heavily they’re watched. I-I didn’t mean to say anything—”

“Wrong. You approached him because you weren’t happy when I took my father’s position and wanted to get into Burlone’s good graces. However, only a fool would trust someone from a family other than their own, and Burlone isn’t a fool. That being said, he did take advantage of the situation by asking for information concerning his enemies. What does he want with our warehouses?”

“I don’t know!” he weeps, tears streaming down his cheeks. 

Tilting my head to the side, I assess him before nodding, satisfied he’s finally telling the truth.

“And what did you tell him?”

As he squeezes his eyes shut, I can tell he’s going to need a little more persuasion, and I drive the letter opener into his opposite side but in the same spot near his collarbone. Again, he squeals in pain; then the truth begins to spill out of him just like the piss that’s soiled my chair.

I’ll have to get a new one. 

Dammit.

By the time I’m finished prying the answers I need out of the little weasel, my shirt is splattered with the traitor’s blood. Looking down at the soiled clothes, my fingers slowly unbutton the white dress shirt at my collar. D’s voice distracts me from inspecting the dead body slumped in my office. It’s a shame he squealed so quickly that I had to put him out of his misery before getting to the fun part. 

“Seems you haven’t lost your touch,” he notes. “And the sulfuric acid? That was new.”

I laugh dryly, observing the marks along his skin where it was eaten away by a clear liquid I keep in my liquor cabinet. “I dunno. I’m a little disappointed I didn’t need to pull out my hunting knife.”

He joins in with a deep chuckle. “And that is why your enemies call you Dark King.”

“If only I didn’t have to remind the Romano family,” I sigh before pulling my arms out of the sleeves and dropping the stained shirt onto the lifeless body hunched in the chair. “Have you heard anyone else who’s disappointed in the transition?”

“No. Vince was the only one. You heard him. He wasn’t conspiring with anyone else.”

“Yeah, but not before he passed along valuable information to Burlone,” I argue bitterly.

With a shrug, Diece pulls out his phone and sends a text to someone before looking back at me. “Doesn’t matter how well we do our job, there’s always going to be someone with a stick up their ass. We’ll figure out what Burlone is trying to do with the information about the dock, and when we do, we’ll eradicate the issue like we did with Vince. I just sent a text to Stefan to clean up this mess. We’ve got more important shit to do anyway.”

I nod. “You’re right. I guess I shouldn’t expect anything less.”

“Not when you’re the head of one of the most powerful mafia families.”

“One of?” I jest with a quirked brow.

“For now.”

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