Page 27 of No Mistakes (No Mercy #2)

MANDY

The sky stretches wide and dark above me, still clinging to the last shreds of night as if it’s refusing to surrender to the morning. The air bites at my cheeks, crisp and cold, but not enough to make me shiver. Instead, it feels like a jolt of electricity, waking my body up.

Five days before the buyer’s meeting, and I feel like the Grim Reaper who has sucked a thousand souls of disgusting men, but not in a tragic, shadowy, death-wish kind of way. No. This morning, I’m strutting out of the motel like I’ve spent the night doing the Lord’s work.

My boots crunch over the gravel, each step a reminder that I’m not the same girl who walked into that room last night. Something about me is different. Lighter. Sharper. Glowing from somewhere deep inside.

I know sex is meant to bring you good feelings and reduce stress, but fuck, the way I felt last night was something even better, and I never want it to end.

I spot Gunnar, Carter, and Flynn gathered in a loose huddle next to the cars.

Carter’s talking with his hands like he’s reliving some outrageous story, and Gunnar’s shaking his head with that half-smirk of his, amused but unimpressed.

Flynn leans against the bonnet, arms crossed, like the world’s calmest chaos manager.

Just the sight of them, so normal, so them , grounds me a little, but not in a bad way.

I pull my jacket tighter around me, not because I’m cold, but because I can’t stop smiling. My cheeks ache from it. There’s this… buzz under my skin, like static, like a secret the world doesn’t know yet.

Last night is still wrapped around me like silk.

The weight of his hands. The scrape of his voice against my skin. The way he looked at me was like I was his.

Ant didn’t just touch me. He fucking ruined me in the best kind of way. The kind that lingers long after the bruises fade and that makes you believe you were made for them.

He left my room just after we woke, mumbling something about needing a shower before we left. I wanted to stop him, to tell him he’s showering with me, but I knew if we did that, we wouldn’t be leaving the room for a very long time.

I exhale slowly, watching my breath curl into the cold air, drifting and vanishing like smoke.

My body feels tired, but my soul? My soul feels alive. Like I’ve just rewritten something that was always meant to be mine.

Flynn notices me first and lifts a hand in greeting, already holding out a takeout coffee cup like he knew I’d need it.

“Morning, Mandy,” he says, his voice warm with that effortless calm that only Flynn ever manages to have.

I take the cup from him with a grin, the warmth seeping into my fingers as he grabs my bags without hesitation and tosses them into the back of the car.

“Morning,” I say, trying to sound casual, but there’s a brightness in my tone that I can’t quite hide.

Carter glances over and squints at me like he’s trying to figure something out, eyes narrowing behind the steam of his coffee.

I see the moment he figures it out. A smirk tugs at the corner of his mouth, and he lifts his cup in a slow, knowing salute.

His eyes flick up just once, a wordless yep, I’ve been there.

I shake my head, biting back a grin as I open the back door of the car. But before I have the chance to slide in, a voice cuts through the morning air beside me.

“No backseat for you today, darling.” Gunnar’s tone is light, teasing, but there’s something amused in the way he says it. “Ant’s requested you up front.”

I pause, turning towards him. “What about Eva?”

Gunnar shrugs, a faint smirk playing on his lips. “She’s with Axel.”

Just like that, the buzz in my chest shifts in a way that sends tiny jolts of curiosity through my body.

With Axel?

I don’t ask. Not yet. This is something I need to talk to Eva about.

I figured she would be with him when I returned to my room last night, but now…

I want to know exactly what happened. I spot Eva leaving the motel, sprinting across the parking lot towards the car like the building’s on fire behind her.

Her hair’s a mess, wild and rough as if she hasn’t had time to brush it, and she’s still in yesterday’s clothes, a strap falling off her shoulder.

The boys all turn to look, their conversation dying mid-sentence, but she doesn’t even glance their way. She yanks open the back door, diving inside, and slams it shut like she’s sealing herself into a vault.

“Mandy.”

I twist around in my seat, grinning at her, already knowing what she is going to say. “Yes, Eva?”

Her eyes are wide, cheeks flushed. “I fucked Axel.”

The words fall out like she’s just confessed to murder, her hands flying up to cover her face.

I burst out laughing. Not because she did it.

We all knew it was going to happen. It was only a matter of time, judging by the way they both looked at each other.

No, I’m laughing at how dramatic she is about it, like it’s some earth-shattering, life-altering event.

I glance outside, spotting Flynn slap money into Carter’s hand, who is currently grinning from ear to ear.

No doubt knowing these lot, they had a bet on how long it would take.

Eva groans, tossing her head back against the seat like she’s trying to disappear into the upholstery.

I reach back, placing a hand on her leg, trying to hide my grin. “So… was it good?”

Her head snaps towards me, eyes wide with disbelief. “I just told you I fucked the man who lied to me and broke my heart, and your first question is-‘was it good?’”

I lift a shoulder, unapologetic. “It’s a valid question.”

She throws her hands in the air. “God, you’re impossible sometimes.”

She stares at me, exhaling slowly, her tone softer. “Apart from the humiliating walk of shame I just did?” Her gaze flicks out the window, almost like she’s replaying it.

“It was goddamn incredible,” she says, her words laced with defeat and desire. I squeeze her leg gently, then turn back to face the front. But just as I’m buckling in, I remember one crucial thing Gunnar said.

“Oh, by the way,” I say casually, trying to make it sound like no big deal. “You’re riding with Axel today.”

Silence follows, and for a moment, I wonder if she’s breathing. That is, until I hear a quiet, murderous exhale behind me.

“You’re kidding.”

“Nope,” I say, leaning my head back, “Your presence has been requested.”

She groans like I just sentenced her to death by embarrassment. “God hates me.”

I bite back a smile, “Or maybe he’s just really invested in your sex life.”

I don’t get a chance to do anything else before the motel door swings open. Axel and Ant step out, both of them dressed and looking far too composed for men who have just turned both of our worlds upside down.

Eva spots Axel instantly, her entire body going stiff. Axel spots her in the back of the car, and there’s a flicker, something raw that passes between them, like a lit match hovering over gasoline.

Ant glances at the car, then at me, giving a subtle nod.

It’s small, barely a movement, but it lands heavier than it should.

He spoke to me last night and this morning, but it was just me there.

I can’t help but wonder if that was a one-time thing…

or if he might actually speak in front of everyone else, and not just in private.

Eva opens the back door, climbing out with way too much energy for someone who just declared she had incredible sex and then confessed it like a sin.

Axel watches her closely, head tilted slightly like he’s trying to figure out if she’s about to slap him or kiss him again as they stop just outside the car doors.

Eva squares her shoulders and brushes past him like he’s air, her voice clipped as she mutters, “I’m picking the music.”

Axel doesn’t respond, just watches her climb into the passenger seat of his car like she belongs there. His jaw ticks as he tilts his head side to side. “Four hours to go,” he says to no one in particular, giving his brothers a curt nod before pulling the door open and sliding in after her.

It doesn’t take long for everyone to follow suit, and ten minutes later, we were on the road, starting our final stretch to Chicago.