Chapter 14: Broken Trust

LUCA

Luca woke up with Hayley breathing peacefully in his arms. Careful not to disturb her, he got up, showered, and dressed. When he returned to the bedroom, she still hadn’t stirred.

He went downstairs and noticed an unusual amount of his men scattered about, so he walked to the kitchen and found Nic and Frankie standing there looking serious, each holding a brown envelope.

“Did you get rid of Jackson okay?” Luca asked as he strode over to the coffee machine and poured himself a cup.

“Yeah, that’s all fine,” Nic replied.

Luca glanced at his hard-faced cousin before looking down at a third brown envelope on the kitchen counter. He put his mug down and picked up the envelope. There was writing on the outside.

~Luca Giovanni Marcello:~

~Souvenirs from your fabulous party last night.~

He pulled out the contents of the envelope. They were photographs. The first one was of him in his outfit from last night talking to various people.

The next one was him at the roulette table with his hand on Hayley’s waist.

The third photo was of him and Frankie walking out of the casino’s office, and the fourth was of a poker-faced Hayley sitting at the poker table. He could see himself next to Frankie in the crowd.

Then there was a photograph of him dancing with Hayley.

The next was his hand on Hayley as he was leading her out of the party, and in the next photo, he was kissing her before getting in the car.

The last photo was hazy. It seemed to be in a smoke-filled room. Then he recognized the image and his anger flared—it was of Hayley asleep in his arms.

“What the actual fuck!” He looked up at Nic and Frankie.

They held out their own brown envelopes, and Luca took them and read what was written on Nic’s.

~Niccolo Dante Marcello:~

~You’re always the one missing the parties. Cleaning up after Luca again?~

He then looked at Frankie’s, and fury was boiling in him as he read it.

~Franco Altera, the boss’s trusty wingman:~

~He got the girl at least.~

Luca furiously looked through their photos. They were of Frankie and Nic carrying bags, disposing of Jackson’s body.

“This is fucking Borroni,” he spat. “He’s the only guy I know who would use the word ‘fabulous’—he’s so fucking dramatic.”

He’d gone to school with Lorenzo Borroni; all the families’ kids went to school together.

But times changed. Their parents had fucked up New York, and now the kids were fighting the wars they left behind. It probably didn’t help that Luca had screwed Elianna, Lorenzo’s then-girlfriend.

Luca’s mind went back to the photo of Hayley naked in his arms. “He was in my fucking ~house~?” Why was the photo so hazy?

“I checked the camera. It must be an inside job,” Frankie said as Nic went and closed the kitchen door.

Luca looked up at the camera.

“I turned the camera to the kitchen off, and the camera room is locked,” Frankie said.

“Somebody must be working for Lorenzo,” Luca hissed, glancing between his cousin and best friend, the only two people he trusted. “How else did he get the picture in my room?”

Frankie smiled as he held out a canister, an empty one, and placed it on the counter.

“It’s a sleeping mist,” Nic explained when Luca picked it up. “It will knock people out for hours. It was in your room. When we received the pictures, Frankie slipped in while you were in the shower and found it.”

Luca put down the canister and scowled at Frankie.

“Don’t worry…” Frankie chuckled wickedly. “I never even noticed the sleeping beauty in your bed. I had my eyes covered the entire time.”

Luca sighed. There was some sort of mental defect with Frankie, he was sure of it. His friend’s perverted mind was a dark and disturbing place.

“So,” Nic said, bringing Luca’s thoughts from Frankie’s dirty mind to the problem at hand. “Whoever is working for Borroni managed to slip in the canister, wait a few minutes, then take one quick picture.

“But the idiot forgot to remove the canister.”

“They were also able to wipe the casino’s entire security system for the night,” Frankie added. “They managed to do all this while Nic was cleaning up with Ricardo and Dominic, and while I was watching the poker game.”

“So, we can rule out Dom and Ric,” Luca said, to which Frankie nodded without a word.

Luca was grateful for him. And for a few select others who were just as loyal, a group that included Dom and Ric. They’d worked for his father when they were teens and were older than Luca by a couple of years.

“Let’s keep this between us for now. We don’t want to spook the rat.” Luca spoke with quiet authority, making sure to keep his tone low and dark, just as his father had taught him.

Panicking could lead to death. Acting on impulse could lead to bad decisions. So Luca always strove to remain calm and in control.

“Frankie, I want you to try and salvage any footage you can. Nic, we have to get to the meeting at the Venetian.”

Luca’s mind went to the innocent girl lying in his bed. Last night she’d trusted him with all of her. Had trusted the dark beast. And he, sadistic bastard that he was, had allowed her to.

“Frankie, when Hayley wakes, take her home. I’ll leave her a note. Nic, go and get a car ready.”

HAYLEY

When Hayley woke up later, she was alone in the bedroom.

“Luca?” she called out hesitantly before slipping out of the bed. She washed her face in the luxurious en suite bathroom—it was all gray, black, and white marble—then picked her clothes up off the floor and got dressed.

She quickly made the bed, smiling at how well things had gone last night, and when she was done, she went over to the dresser to look for a comb for her hair.

There was a pile of cash on top and a note with her name on it.

~Hayley,~

~I had to go to work; please take the cash. Last night was great. Thank you.~

~Luca.~

Her stomach dropped as she looked at the pile of bills. There had to be, well… She couldn’t bring herself to count it—it made her sick.

After she’d put her trust in him, he treated her like a fucking feather girl? Paying her for sex? She was humiliated—and suddenly furious at how he’d played her.

She spotted the headband she’d worn last night, but she didn’t want it, so she left it with the cash and the note before storming out of the bedroom and down the stairs, her coat draped over her arm.

“Hayley?”

She looked up and saw Frankie by the door.

He grabbed one of the car keys from the hooks. “I’m going to take you home.”

“I can get a cab,” she said huffily. She would not be indebted to Luca Marcello—that arsehole!

Frankie laughed. “You have no clue where you are, do you? No cabs drive past this house. Look, just let me drive you home.”

Hayley wanted to protest, but she found it difficult to fight against a person who didn’t fight back. Frankie smiled warmly, causing her anger to further subside.

So she gave up and followed him out of the house to one of the cars parked out front.

“Where did Luca go?” she asked with feigned casualness as she put her coat on the seat beside her.

“The Venetian, I think.”

Hayley nodded but was fuming inside. He was probably looking for his next whore! She needed to give him a piece of her mind.

“Shit!” she said, pretending to look at the time on an imaginary watch.

Frankie looked at her in the rearview mirror, and she ran her fingers through her hair as if she were stressed out.

“I’m late for work,” she lied. “I forgot I was doing the early shift.”

“I’ll drop you off there if you want,” Frankie said.

She feigned relief. “Thanks, Frankie. Siobhan is going to kill me.”

But there was only one reason she was going to the Venetian, and that reason was Luca Marcello.