Morozov

Chapter 22

I was sitting on my bed when my phone vibrated.

Halloween party starts at 8 p.m. Bring your hottie with you ;)

I chuckled at Vivien's text. She's always been this brutally honest. I quickly got up and ran to Ace's office in the mansion where he was having a little meeting with his inner circle; Archie, Cullen, Tris and some other guys.

I knocked and went in without waiting for an answer. Everyone looked at me in shock as to how I dared to interrupt them while Archie looked at me, trying to swallow his chuckle and Ace with his basic serious stare.

"When will you be done?" I asked before Ace sighed and got up. We went in the hallway and he closed the door.

"You can't just come in if it's not urgent" he whispered with a sharp, demanding tone. "It was urgent. We need to buy Halloween costumes for the party we're going to" I urged causing him to look at me in disbelief.

"Interrupt me one more time because of a Halloween party and I will not hesitate to lock you in your room until I'm done" he warned with a evil look on his face. "And what party are you talking about anyway?"

"Ugh a Halloween party. It's in a club a few minutes away from here. It won't be lame, I promise" I frowned at him earning a suspicious look. "I will think about it."

After a while of me waiting impatiently for them to be done I finally heard a knock at my door.

Ace opened the door and I looked at him waiting for him to speak. "Are you ready? We're going shopping."

A smile immediately lid up my face.

"Did he just say shopping?" I heard Archie ask in disbelief. Him and Cullen were standing in the hallway.

"Yes for a Halloween party" I answered. "A Halloween party? We will come too" Cullen said and I burst out laughing. "See, even they are excited" I said mocking him. "Shut up and let's go" Ace rolled his eyes at me and left.

In the mall the four of us were discussing what we will dress up like. I tried to talk them out of going as Mafia bosses because that was fucking lame.

"Okay we'll just wear all black and make our guns part of the costume. We have to take them with us anyway" Cullen suggested and Archie seemed to like the idea.

"No please guys, no guns at the party" I frowned at them causing Ace to finally speak up as well. He has been very quiet the whole time, probably because he didn't want to dress up.

"Mallory we're going into a highly visited club and the chance of other Mafias being there to sell drugs is more than high. And it is very likely that there will be enemies."

I frowned at them before picking up pace so that I walked in front of them and the boys behind me.

"Ace doesn't have to dress up you know?" Archie said extra loud so that his best friend would hear him. "Oh, why's that?" Cullen asked at the same volume. "He's ugly enough. A costume will probably make him look better" Archie teased and I had to bite my cheeks not to laugh.

"I would've suggested you go as my slaves but that wouldn't be a costume" Ace said dead ass serious before picking up speed with me.

At this point I could not hold in my laughter anymore. I was so not used to the three of them teasing each other like friends but in the end that is what they were. Friends.

"Yeah keep on laughing. I'll find a way to shut you 3 up" he said and then we laughed even harder. "Come on, Ace" Archie said as he shoved him from behind. "That frown will stay on your face at some point" I added on causing him to tickle me at the sides of my stomach.

I giggled as I tried to free myself from his grip when he suddenly picked me up and threw me over his shoulder. At this point I couldn't breathe anymore and my stomach hurt from all the laughs that formed in the pit of it.

"How's this?" I asked as I came out of the cabin with a short, white dress that hugged my body like a glove.

"No" Ace said before looking at his phone again. I dropped my shoulders and glared at him. "It's too short. Everyone will see your underwear if you bend over" he explained himself, unbothered by my reaction.

"Well I'll only bend over for you so that doesn't matter" I said with a smirk on my face, forcing their heads to snap at me all at the same time.

"Mal" Archie gasped surprised. "That's-" "I'll go change" I interrupted him as I walked back into the cabin and slid the curtain close again. Ace looked at me with a one-sided smirk on his face.

Eventually we found our costumes and headed back home.

———

I was improving my shooting skills and did not notice someone coming into the hall. "You should be wearing ear protectors" I heard Anne's voice behind me and jumped, shooting to the side on accident because I was about to fire at the target.

"Holy fuck, Anne" I exhaled heavily and unloaded my gun. "What are you doing in here?" I asked curious.

"I was looking for you" she answered while glancing at the gun in my hand. Our other guns were locked up and only a few had a key so that was the only one in sight and I was pretty glad about that honestly. Anne gave off a weird vibe and I could not assess what was going through her mind.

"Why for me? Archie and-" "Ace" she interrupted me earning a frown. "His name is Ace right? You can say it instead of Mr. Rodrigues."

I gave her a awkward smile before repeating myself. "Like I said Archie and Ace are in the training hall" I said only to be met with silence.

A weird tension thickened the air in the room because Anne kept on glancing at the Glock in my hand more often than necessary.

I walked backwards and locked the gun and magazine away but tried to act unsuspicious like I was facing her to chat. As soon as I closed the locker and pulled out the key she looked towards my target. It seemed like she was checking out how good I was at shooting.

"Come on, we should go" I said causing her to look at me and we left the hall, entering the other that was right on the opposite.

"Why don't you go practice a little? I'll come to you later" suggested but it was more of a demand than a question.

I made sure she was busy before walking up to Ace who was showing a boy some boxing skills.

I cleared my throat causing the both of them to look at me. "Can we talk? In private?" I asked facing Ace and he nodded.

"I think something's up with Anne" I said as we were standing in front of the door. He gave me a confused look and I went on. "She seems weird and she always wants to go to the shooting hall. That was her first question on the first day they were here. I was practicing earlier and she just came in and said she was searching for me. Then she kept on staring at the gun in my hand and my targets almost like she was checking how talented I am."

"Well maybe she's a fan" Ace shrugged his shoulders with his arms crossed, not a single worry behind his eyes.

"Ace seriously. There's something wrong with her" I said in a serious tone. "We checked her ID and family background. There's nothing you have to worry about" he shoved it off again and this time I started to get really pissed off, which is why I frowned at him earning a warning look from him.

"Guys are you coming back? I can't help so much people at once" Archie said as he opened the door and peaked his head out.

We nodded in synch before Archie went back into the hall but left the door open just a bit. I turned to enter when Ace grabbed my upper arm forcing me to turn and look at him.

"Careful with the attitude" he warned, his eyebrows raised and his index finger in front of my face.

I shoved my arm out of his grip and entered.