His Queen of Clubs

Chapter 1 Vlad No f*****g way. Just when I thought I was the least lucky bastard on this continent, I catch a break. I’ve been staking out the Bellissimo and Nico Tacone for two months now. The Tacones took down my entire cell. Junior Tacone and his brothers destroyed the Chicago operation while I was back in Moscow dealing with my mother’s affairs. Granted, Ivan, my i***t second, planned to take them all out and forever end their reign of influence in the Windy City. But he failed. And six of my men were found dead in an Italian cafe. Victor put Ivan in charge of setting up the street business, but he was too small-minded and power-hungry to make it into much. And when I was sent to join the cell, he saw me as a threat to his autonomy. I had set up a meet with Junior to get the Tacone family involved in my laundering scheme—to diversify interests—but Ivan f****d everything up. When my mother died and I had to fly home to Moscow, he used my absence to try to eliminate the Italians and take the Chicago underworld for himself. He underestimated Junior Tacone. Six of our guys ready and waiting with guns, and Junior single-handedly shot them all dead. I’m not heartbroken over the loss of the Chicago business. I’m more concerned with the big money operations of the bratva. I’m the guy who manages our laundering accounts. But killing all the men in my cell? Unacceptable. And Victor, our pakhan, ordered me to exact revenge, so I’m here to do exactly that. The Tacones may have done the brotherhood a favor by taking Ivan out, but they still owe me. Victor would go for blood. Kill everyone Junior Tacone loves. That’s the way he operates. But I’m not that guy. Yes, I was raised in the violence and death of the organization, but I’m the money man. And the Tacones have money. Plenty of it. But it’s not coming from their Chicago operation. As far as I can tell, they’d begun shutting down most of their loan sharking on the streets in the past few years, and completely closed shop since I’ve been back. So I came to Vegas. Where they own one of the most lucrative casinos in the country. And I’ve been watching the two Tacones who run it, trying to figure out what my play will be. I was thinking about taking one of their women. Simple ransom. Both men are clearly devoted to their wives—girlfriends—whatever. And things just got much easier for me. Two limos rolled up this afternoon carrying the entire Tacone family—the three brothers from Chicago, a girlfriend, a mother, and a beautiful young sister in her early twenties. I got a gossipy cocktail waitress to tell me everything she knows. I found out they’re here for Junior Tacone’s wedding—a spur of the moment kind of thing. The entire top floors of the casino have been closed off for the celebration. Rumor has it Stefano, the youngest brother, might marry his fiancée at the same time. But I don’t give a s**t about their marital status. All I care about is one Tacone. The lovely Alessia—baby sister to all five multi-millionaire brothers. I’d been trying to figure out which female to take—which brother would be most willing to pay for his woman. Now it’s easy. Grab the one they all care about. And I don’t mean the mother. Of course my decision to take Alessia over the old lady has everything to do with her model-perfect body, mile-long legs, and f*****g gorgeous face. If I’m going to hole up with a Tacone female, it might as well be one who’s worth looking at. All I have to do is knock out one of the waiters before he brings the food up to the wedding celebration and take his uniform and his place.