Show No Mercy

Hales 2 stories

Story Notes

Summary

Four families. One circle. No room for mercy. Elizabeth Mills learned the rules before she learned to ride a bike. Sit still. Stay composed. Never let them see what you feel. As the daughter of one of New York’s four most powerful families, Izzy has spent nineteen years perfecting the art of silence—keeping her panic attacks invisible, her journal hidden, and her heart locked behind a door she swore she’d never open. Parker Warren breaks every rule she’s ever followed. He’s warm where her world is cold. Disarming where she’s guarded. The kind of easy, golden charm that makes people underestimate him—which is exactly what he wants. Because underneath the grin and the jokes and the effortless likability, Parker is keeping his own secrets. He watched his mother get taken when he was twelve. He knows what it costs to love someone in a world that turns the people you care about into targets. And he knows that falling for Izzy Mills is the most dangerous thing he’s ever done. The Circle—a coalition of ten mafia families that has controlled New York’s underground for over sixty years—doesn’t leave room for feelings. Not for Izzy’s brother Isaiah, who would burn the city down before letting anyone near his sister. Not for Parker’s father, who believes his sons owe him their futures. And not for the fragile alliances holding the four ruling families together, alliances that depend on loyalty, silence, and the understanding that love is a liability. But Izzy can’t stop noticing the way Parker looks at her like she’s something worth knowing—not something to manage, not something to protect, but someone real. And Parker can’t stop showing up. At her door. In her orbit. Steady and patient and dangerously sincere. When a fracture within the Circle forces the younger generation into the crossfire, Izzy and Parker will have to decide what matters more—the empire they were born into, or the person who makes them want to walk away from it. In this world, vulnerability gets you killed. Trust gets you betrayed. And love? Love gets you everything or it costs you everyone.