Chapter 21: Russian Roulette

LUCA

Luca narrowed his eyes as he looked at Hayley.

She was a mess—she had a red mark on her face and a cut from her neck to her chest. He was going to ~kill~ Lorenzo Borroni. Slowly and painfully.

But for now he had to remain calm. She was in the hands of his enemy, and these were dangerous waters.

Lorenzo walked around the table and placed his hands on Luca’s shoulders. “Still don’t know him, darling?” he said to Hayley, rolling his eyes.

“No,” she whispered.

Luca was surprised she was actually doing what he’d told her to do, but he feared this wouldn’t be enough to help her today.

Lorenzo tapped his shoulder roughly. “You must be shit in bed, Luca. This one can’t even remember you. But don’t worry, I can give her a better time.”

He laughed, but Luca didn’t move. He didn’t even try to say anything.

“You see, darling,” Lorenzo said, looking at Hayley—who kept her eyes down. “I’m here for my revenge. It would appear that Luca Marcello is a very bad boy…

“He fucks my fiancée, but before that his fuckface of a father kills mine!”

Despite Lorenzo’s obvious fury, Hayley just shrugged.

“Nobody fucks with me!” Lorenzo roared, and Hayley surprised everyone by bursting into laughter.

Luca frowned. What the hell was she doing?

“Of course not!” she laughed. “By the sound of it, they’re all fucking ~him~.” She jabbed her thumb toward Luca.

Within a heartbeat, Lorenzo had a fistful of Hayley’s hair.

“You’re starting to piss me off,” he hissed as he violently threw her into the chair across from Luca.

He nodded to one of the men behind Luca, and they removed his gag.

“~Why involve the girl?~” Luca spat out in Italian the second the gag was out of his mouth. “~This is between you and me!~”

Lorenzo chuckled and began to stroke Hayley’s hair. “A beautiful girl, Luca,” he murmured. “You see, I was plotting my revenge and I thought, why not kill two birds…”

He interrupted himself with his own psychotic laughter, then stepped over to the metal dome and held the handle, looking back at Luca and then at Hayley.

“I was going to say two birds, one stone, but it’s more like two birds”—he lifted the cover—“one bullet.”

Under the silver dome was an old-fashioned revolver, and beside it lay a single bullet. Luca’s stomach dropped—he immediately understood what was going on.

“~Why the games, Borroni? Just kill me~,” he growled in Italian, but his enemy shook his head before answering in English.

“You fucked Elliana, Luca. So I was going to just make you watch while I fucked Hayley. But then I remembered your dad killed my dad.”

Lorenzo sat on the table so he was facing Luca. “And since your dad is hiding in Italy, you’ll have to pay for his sins. Unless you’re planning to bring him here?”

“That won’t happen,” Luca hissed, and Lorenzo nodded.

“Understandable.” He then walked down the length of the table and sat in front of Hayley, smiling wickedly at her.

Luca was dying to rip his head off, but the restraints wouldn’t let him move.

“So, Hayley,” Lorenzo said slowly. “We’re going to play a game. Have you heard of Russian roulette? I know how much you enjoy normal roulette.”

Hayley’s eyes went wide in horror as she looked at the gun in the middle of the table.

“She’s not doing this, Borroni!” Luca shouted.

Lorenzo sighed dramatically, then barked, “Shut him up!” and someone smacked Luca across his already bruised face.

“The game is simple, Hayley,” Lorenzo said, rising to his feet and moving to stand by the gun. “There are six chambers in the revolver, but only one bullet. You and Luca will take turns.

“And just to be clear, ~someone~ has to die today. So Hayley, if you don’t play, I’ll shoot Luca. And Luca, if you don’t play, I’ll make you watch as I fuck her right here—then slit her throat.”

Hiding his inner turmoil, Luca rolled his eyes. “You always were so dramatic, Borroni,” he said, and he even managed to laugh a little.

Lorenzo just smiled darkly.

“What happens if I die?” Luca asked. “Will you let her leave?”

“Why should you care, Marcello? You’ll be dead.” Lorenzo looked Hayley over and smirked. “Ma Hayley è bellissima. You were a lucky guy.”

Luca wanted to stab him in the eye.

Instead he had to watch as Lorenzo picked up the revolver and placed the single bullet in it. He snapped it shut and spun the cylinder, then placed the gun on the table.

One of the Borroni men loosened one of Luca’s hand restraints.

“Not that I don’t trust you, Luca, but…” Lorenzo gave a signal, and another nameless heavy stepped forward and stood next to Hayley, his gun at the ready.

It wasn’t pointed at her, but if Luca fucked up, he knew Lorenzo would instantly give the command to have her killed.

Lorenzo slid the revolver toward Luca, and Luca looked at it, then back at Hayley.

“You’re a fucking crazy-ass motherfucker,” Luca spat as he picked it up and put it to his temple.

HAYLEY

Hayley watched Luca hold the gun to his head. And then, as if it were nothing, he pulled the trigger.

She gasped as it made a little clicking noise.

Luca tossed the gun on the table. “All this over Elliana?” He laughed and shook his head.

Her stomach churning, Hayley watched Lorenzo slide the gun toward her, then looked up to meet Luca’s gaze. A tear slipped down her face, and when Luca’s eyes flickered to it, she caught a flash of anguish in their brown depths.

“Elliana…” Lorenzo sighed.

Luca chuckled, distracting Lorenzo’s attention from her. “She was a decent fuck. She said she didn’t give blowjobs, but she didn’t mind giving one to me.”

Lorenzo flew at Luca and put his knife to his throat. “You can get another one off that bitch after I kill you. She might be waiting for you at the pearly gates. Did you know she begged for death in the end? Just like you will.

“Or perhaps it will be Hayley.”

He went to pierce Luca’s skin like he had hers, but Hayley made a show of picking up the revolver, drawing his attention away from Luca and back to her. Her hands were shaking.

“You don’t have to do this, Hayley,” Luca said evenly.

She couldn’t believe how calm he seemed, even in such a terrifying situation.

“He’s right, Hayley, you don’t have to do this at all.” Lorenzo looked at her intently. “Come with me right now, and I’ll show you how a true Italian makes love.”

Hayley looked at him with disgust and slowly raised the gun to her temple.

She knew she could have made better life choices, but right now she had to face the facts. She was going to die today whether this one was the bullet round or not.

She closed her eyes and pulled the trigger. ~Click.~

She let out a shaky breath, then looked straight into Lorenzo’s eyes as she set the gun on the table. “I would rather die than touch you.”

LUCA

Lorenzo chuckled coldly as he slid the gun back to Luca.

“She’s playing the game. Your turn.”

For Luca, this was the worst form of torture—if he died he couldn’t protect her, but there was no way he could watch Hayley take the bullet.

He put the gun to his head and looked into her beautiful blue eyes. He wanted them to be the last thing he’d see. He pulled the trigger, and when he heard a click, he realized he was still alive. He wasn’t sure how to feel about that.

He put the gun down and slid it away from him.

Lorenzo picked it up and placed it in front of Hayley, and she kept her eyes on Luca as she took a deep breath and held it to her temple.

She closed her eyes right before pulling the trigger. Again, it was not the kill shot.

Another Borroni man took the gun and slid it down the table to Luca. But Lorenzo picked up the gun before Luca had a chance to.

“I don’t trust you, Marcello.” He put the gun to Luca’s temple.

HAYLEY

Hayley closed her eyes and listened for the gunshot. But there was just another faint click.

“No!” she heard Luca yell, and she opened her eyes to see Lorenzo sliding the gun toward her.

This was it, the last shot. Hayley looked at Luca, who was struggling against his restraints, his eyes wild. Her heart was pounding in her ears.

“Pick up the gun, darling,” Lorenzo demanded, and she slowly did what he said, tears falling relentlessly from her eyes.

She was going to die. Would it be painful? Would there be a flash of white light? Would her mum guide her to the next life? Would she miss Luca?

“Shame. You were such a stunning creature,” Lorenzo purred as she raised the gun to her temple, her eyes on Luca.

“Hayley, don’t you pull that trigger!” he ordered, but she shook her head.

“When I play a game, Luca, I play till the end.” She wanted to remind him of the night she let him touch her, the night she was in his arms. She smiled at the memory, then closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

“Get down!” she heard someone shout right before a deafening boom rocked the room, toppling her and her chair right over.

Someone ripped the gun from her hand, and she looked up to see Frankie, who gently helped her up. There was smoke everywhere.

“Frankie, get her out of here!” Luca yelled.

She could see Nic and some others around Luca, untying him.

Lorenzo was on the floor but was slowly getting up, and Frankie grabbed her and threw her over his shoulder, then drew his gun with his other hand.

Frankie carried her through the smoke and confusion—men were running all over the place. When he finally got outside, he gently put her down against the side of one of the waiting SUVs.

He grabbed her shoulders when he saw that she was crying. “Hayley, you’re safe now.”

But the tears kept flowing—she’d nearly died, nearly taken a bullet, and for what? Luca Marcello? A mob boss? She fell to her knees and wrapped her arms around herself. What had she become?

She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to slow her breathing, and the image of Luca with a gun to his head came into her mind. He could have died too, she could have lost him, and that was hurting just as much.

Frankie knelt beside her and rested a hand on her shoulder.

LUCA

“Luca, we have to get out of here!” Nic shouted urgently.

Luca lifted the gun Nic had given him and shot a guy in the chest. He knew they were severely outnumbered, but he was full of rage and intent on revenge. Borroni must die.

He caught a glimpse of Lorenzo surrounded by his men and sprinted toward him, frantically shooting, but his prey ran into a room.

“Luca!” Nic called after him.

Luca tried to open the door, but it was locked. He could hear engines on the other side—what sounded like motorbikes.

“Fuck it, he’s going to get away!” he yelled as he slammed his damaged body into the door in a vain attempt to break it down.

Nic grabbed him and forced him to look at him.

“Luca! Ric has wired this place—it’ll blow in minutes. We have to get out of here. We’ll get another chance to get him, but c’mon!”

Luca roared at the door. He knew he had to follow Nic out, but from now on it was his life’s mission to find—and destroy—Lorenzo Borroni.