Page 45 of No Mistakes (No Mercy #2)

Carter picks the lock, unlocking the door to the house that sits quietly at the end of a cul-de-sac. The house is quiet as we step inside. Pictures line the wall while shoes of every size rest at the bottom of the stairs.

A pang of guilt fills my chest as I look at the pictures of children laughing, family parties, and special occasions, each one of them holding a special memory.

Carter moves in front of me, leading the way up the stairs as they creak underneath our weight. I tighten my grip on the pistol as sweat clings to my skin, my heartbeat growing louder than my own breathing. “Remember what I told you. Don’t think. Just act.”

I nod, swallowing hard. “I can do this.” My voice doesn’t sound like mine, but it’s there, steady enough to keep me moving.

We reach the landing, and a strip of light spills under the door at the end of the hall. Carter looks at me, signalling with his fingers that beyond that door is the target.

The door creaks open, and a figure steps out amongst the darkness, the shadows shielding them. My body reacts before my brain catches up, and I lift the gun, my finger squeezing the trigger.

A bang bounces off the walls, the shot exploding through the narrow hallway as the body jerks back, slamming into the wall before crashing to the floor.

Adrenaline surges through my body. My chest heaves at the fact that our father will be proud. “I-I got him.” A shaky breath leaves me, almost a laugh. “I fucking did it.”

I turn towards Carter, waiting to see his expression, but he’s not looking at me. He’s staring at the body. I follow his gaze, wondering why he’s staying silent, but the moment my eyes connect with the figure. My stomach drops.

Not a man. Not the target.

A boy.

He lies there, his pyjamas covered with rockets. His chest red around the hole my bullet tore through. His mouth opens and closes like he’s trying to breathe, but all of a sudden, all his movements stop.

“No.” The word breaks out of me as my gun slips from my hand, hitting the carpet with a thud. I take a step closer into the hallway and drop to my knees, hands shaking as I try and process what I just did. “No, no, no, I didn’t- he’s just a kid, I didn’t mean-”

A scream tears through the house, and a woman storms out of the room that he just left, her eyes finding the child instantly. She collapses beside him, dragging his tiny body into her arms. The sound she makes isn’t human; it’s grief, raw and gut-wrenching, rattling the walls around us.

Behind her, a man charges out after her, his face twisted with rage.

Carter moves faster, lifting his gun as he takes aim. I panic, switching my gaze between him and the man. “Don’t!” I shout, reaching for his arm, but the shot fires before I can stop him. The man drops, and another round rips through the woman’s head, her body falling over her son’s.

I stumble back, ears ringing, breath catching in my throat. “We killed them…oh God, Carter, we fucking killed them.” My voice cracks. “She-She was holding him-she was holding him Carts.”

“Shut up,” Carter snaps, his face stone. He grips my arm, trying to drag me back down the hall. “We finish this, or you die with them. Choose.”

I nod frantically, but my legs don’t work. My eyes lock on the small hand limp beneath his mother’s, his fingers stretched out like he is reaching for her.

“Fuck Ant. We have to move. Please move.” Carter pleads as he pulls me up.

My world tilts, and my chest caves in. “I didn’t mean it,” I whisper, over and over, the words choking me as Carter leads me down the stairs. The hallway blurs. My own voice repeating “Murderer” as the screams from the mother replay in my head like my own personal mix tape.

Carter pushes me outside, and I fall to the ground, ripping my mask off, my fingers clawing at the cold ground, “I didn’t mean it. I didn’t mean it. He’s just a kid…”

“Do you still hear the screams at night?” Rachel asks, pulling me back to the situation at hand.

I open my eyes, blinking the memory away.

The room tilts, my chest clamping shut. The memory slams into me again as if it doesn’t want to let me go, the sound of the gunshot, the silence after the screams, and bile scorches my throat as it tries to climb out.

“You remember, don’t you?” she whispers, but her voice carries in the silent room. “The boy. The blood…”

My knees threaten to buckle, but I don’t let her get to me as I see Mandy move. She shifts in the corner, her breath ragged, eyes wild but locked on me. Her presence cuts through the pain from the ghosts I thought I left behind.

I latch on to her, linking my mind and soul.

I straighten, forcing my hands to stop trembling even as my chest burns. My voice comes raw, hoarse, but real. “Let her go.”

Rachel laughs, clapping her hands. “There he is. The mute boy who finally speaks. All it took was me holding your little obsession in my hands.”

She takes a step closer, running a hand up my arm slowly. “Do you want to know who I really am?”

My skin crawls underneath her touch, but I keep my eyes trained on her. She takes a step back, a smile on her face as she watches me and Carter. “My name is Aria,” she says slowly, like she wants me to feel each letter cut into my skin. “And you, Antonio… you killed my brother.”

Carter stiffens at my side, his gun still trained on her, his jaw locked so tight I hear the grind of his teeth.

“You’re lying.” The words come out in a rasp, but even as I say them, the memory claws up my throat, choking me. The small body, the blood, the screams…. oh god , the screams.

Aria steps closer, heels clicking against the floor like the toll of a clock counting down as she presses her body against mine.

She ignores Carter completely, her eyes never leaving me.

“You didn’t even look at him. Just pulled the trigger and took his life like it was nothing. Do you still remember the way he fell?”

I flinch from her words, because I do. No matter how much I tried to bury it, I always will.

Carter takes a step in front of me, pushing her backwards, blocking her path. “Enough.”

But Aria only laughs. “No, Carter. Not enough. You finished the job, didn’t you? My mother, my father. Both of them were dead before they even had the chance to beg. And you thought you left no witnesses.”

Carter doesn’t move. Doesn’t blink, but his silence is an answer all on its own.

Aria’s smile stretches, sick with victory. “But you missed one. Me .”

The weight of her words slams into me harder than any bullet could. All this time, the gym, the fake smiles, the harmless little shadow who trailed us, none of it was obsession. It was vengeance.

Behind her, Mandy shifts against the men surrounding her while they watch everything unfold. She doesn’t speak, doesn’t dare draw attention to herself as she moves, but her gaze keeps me grounded, stopping me from slipping under the waves Aria is trying to drown me in.

I drag a breath, my voice rough. “Let. Her. Go.”

Aria tilts her head, amused. “Or what? You’ll kill another innocent?” she laughs.

Her words echo in my skull, scraping against the memory of blood and screams. My chest tightens, my throat burns, and for a heartbeat, I can’t breathe as fear takes over me. She knows . She knows everything.

She lifts a hand, inspecting her nails while her men still hold their guns levelled in our direction.

She glances at Mandy before returning to us.

“I should thank her, Antonio. I mean, you didn’t really think Marco was the one pulling the strings, did you?

She gave me the perfect way to watch you burn. To lose her the way I lost them-”

A crack splits the air.

For a second, no one moves. No one breathes. Aria blinks, her smile faltering as her body jerks once, then twice. A red patch grows across her chest, staining the material that clings to her body. Her eyes go wide, stunned, and for the first time, she looks human.

I whip my head to Mandy, seeing her on her feet, one of the guards’ guns gripped steadily in her hands, her arms locked, her stare like ice as she stares at Aria. Her chest rises and falls fast, but her voice… Her voice is calm.

“Don’t you ever ,” Mandy says, each word dripping with strength, “think you can take me away from him.”

The men around her falter, thrown off by the sudden shift, their guns twitching with hesitation. Aria makes a sound that’s a mixture between a gasp and a laugh, but blood bubbles at her lips before she collapses to the floor, her heels clattering against the tiles.

The silence after is deafening as her men still, frozen in their spot. Carter darts towards them, moving like a shadow while his blade slices through the air once, twice, dropping the two closest to us.

Five more come barrelling through the door, and I spin on my heel, standing in front of Mandy, covering her from any potential damage.

I run forward, charging at one of her men, but Flynn storms in, quickly followed by Gunnar and Axel at his back, bullets shred through the air.

Blood paints the wall while bodies hit the ground around us, the sound of mayhem swallowing Aria’s last breath.

The moment the last body falls, Carter leans forward, resting his hands on his knees. “Took your fucking sweet time now, lads, didn’t you?”

Flynn walks towards him, clasping a hand on his shoulder, smiling. “Had to give you a little bit of fun before we saved the day,” but the laughter dies quickly as Gunnar’s boot nudges Rachel’s body, revealing her face.

Axel’s there immediately, his face twisted in disbelief. “What the fuck…” His eyes widen as he looks towards the gun in Mandy’s hand, like he’s piecing a puzzle together.

Flynn steps closer, leaning over Axel to get a better look. “Is that… Rachel?”

Gunnar lets out a harsh laugh, “You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me. Rachel? From the gym?”

They exchange looks, confusion thick in the air, until Carter straightens with a grim expression. “She’s not who you thought she was,” he cuts in. His tone filled with disgust. “She’s been running this shit. Marco was just her puppet.”

Carter starts filling them in with everything that happened, but I barely hear him as I look towards my girl.

I turn, finding Mandy’s eyes as she stares at me. She stands rooted to the spot, chest heaving, her fingers trembling around the gun until it slips free, clattering to the ground. Her shoulders shake, but her eyes-God, her eyes-are locked on mine.

I push forward, stepping over bodies, ignoring the reunion happening behind me. My hands find her face, holding her still, needing to feel her, to know she’s here. Alive.

She swallows hard, her lips parting like she’s about to break, but instead she breathes three words that shatter me more than any bullet ever could.

“I love you.”

My chest caves, a small laugh leaves my mouth, and my mind goes silent for the first time in years from hearing her say those three words, wrapped in truth and devotion.

I press my forehead against hers, and my voice cracks when the words escape. “I love you too, trouble.”