Chapter 24: No Commitment

LUCA

Siobhan slid into the spot Nic just vacated.

“Stop messing with things I warned you not to touch!” she hissed. “You’re not a child, Luca. Christ! The one thing I asked of you.

“When I tell you not to do something, I am protecting you—and more importantly, her. Hayley is a broken mess.”

His godmother was right—she had warned him to keep away from Hayley. But he hadn’t been able to. Even now he wanted to see her, even though he’d had to push her far, far away.

He picked up the bottle and refilled his drink, then poured one for Siobhan and handed it to her. She accepted it and took a drink.

He checked his phone, then stood to leave. “I let her go to protect her, Siobhan. I had to hurt her to make her leave.” He felt empty, but he knew that somewhere deep down, at the bottom of the emptiness, he hated himself.

Siobhan nodded. “You’re doing the right thing, Luca. Remember what happens when a hurricane meets a volcano.”

Luca smiled grimly, then adjusted his jacket and walked away.

HAYLEY

Hayley hadn’t been the Venetian in days—she’d been given some time to sort herself out—and she hadn’t received anything from Luca. No flowers, no notes, and nothing to even suggest he was thinking or asking about her.

He was done with her, and in her broken heart, she knew she had to be done too.

Getting back to work should be a good distraction, though, especially since, according to Ben and Ava, Luca and his goons hadn’t been in the Venetian lately. They were presumably dealing with Lorenzo…

~Ugh~, his name still made her hands shake.

Anyway, she’d had time to think, time to evaluate her life, and she knew what she had to do: leave New York and take Siobhan’s Paris job offer.

“Ah, you’re back.”

Dimitri’s Russian accent was unmistakable, and she turned her head to see him grinning as she walked back behind her bar.

An emerald-green mask covered her eyes, and she wore an emerald-green satin corset, a pair of black shorts, and thigh-highs.

Ava had done a great job covering the bruise on her cheek, but the cut on her neck and chest had been harder to disguise.

She’d taken off the gauze, and Ava had given her a black choker necklace that had lots of long black fringe that covered her chest down to the top of her corset.

“Hello, Dimitri. You missed me,” she teased as she got him his usual, and he tipped her as he normally did.

It was funny. Hayley felt safe behind the mask, safe even as she stood there in lingerie with multiple pairs of eyes ogling her.

Her mind went back to the degrading way Lorenzo spoke about her, how he threatened to fuck her in front of Luca. She shook the memories from her head.

“Evening, Hayley.”

That deep, smooth voice filled her with tension. She paused to catch her breath, then looked up into Luca’s hypnotic eyes.

“You’re looking better.”

“Leave me alone, Luca.” Her words were harsh, but he deserved it. He’d put her in danger, had walked away from her. “It’s your fault I was looking like shit before.”

“Fine. Send up a bottle of whiskey. A good bottle, six glasses,” he said before turning on his heel to walk away.

“Yes, sir,” she spat, but he didn’t even pause. Nope. He just continued to cross the room to the stairs that led up to the VIP booths.

Hayley left the bar to go to the high-value lockup and get a “good bottle” of whiskey.

She placed the bottle and the six glasses on a tray, then proceeded to approach the booth where Luca sat with his usual crew of men, including Nic and Frankie.

Her stomach dropped when she saw Arianna sitting on his lap with his face in her neck. His eyes caught hers, and she wanted to smash the “good bottle” of whiskey over his arrogant head.

She looked away as she placed the tray on the table. He doesn’t do commitments, she reminded herself; he’s not a “boyfriend guy.” She began to walk away.

“Hayley?”

She stopped and slowly turned to face him, her hands on her hips. ~His~ hands were on Arianna’s waist.

“Can you get Arianna a bottle of champagne?”

Arianna beamed up at him, then looked smugly at Hayley. It was like a pissing contest—one Arianna was winning.

“Yep,” was all Hayley said before she turned and walked away from the arsehole and his feather whore.

When she got back to the bar, she threw the tray on the counter. Ava and Ben both looked at her.

“What happened?” Ben asked as he watched her angrily pull out a bottle of champagne and a champagne flute.

“Mr. Marcello would like a bottle of champagne for Miss Arianna,” she hissed.

Ben shot an angry look up at the booth where Luca sat with Arianna on his lap, and Ava took the tray from Hayley.

“Let me take it up. I could use the tips.” She adjusted her breasts in her bra and straightened her red feathered mask, then winked. “I’m irresistible.”

Hayley was grateful for Ava’s offer. She didn’t want to face them again.

“Can I get another, angel?” Dimitri asked, and Hayley gave her regular a wide smile and got back to work.

The rest of the night was hard—even though Ava, who was sitting with Nic, kept coming down for the drinks so Hayley didn’t have to go up there.

Hayley tried her best to avoid looking up at Luca’s booth. It killed her every time he touched Arianna, every time she laughed, and every time she kissed him.

She couldn’t do this.

On her break, she sat on her usual perch by the back door and thought things over.

She hadn’t been this obsessed with a guy since Alex Hunter, and that was something she didn’t want to repeat anytime soon. But she also couldn’t watch Luca slobber over someone else. It was too painful.

This just solidified her decision to go. It was the best solution for everyone, and it was time to let Siobhan know that she’d made up her mind.

***

“You want to go to Paris?”

“Yeah, I do. I think it would be a great opportunity to run the club.”

Siobhan nodded slowly. “Well, I think it’s a wise decision. And I know Adrien will be thrilled. I’ll arrange everything for you as soon as possible. I’ll be sad to see you go, but it’s for the best.”

Hayley smiled weakly at her boss, relieved. She was glad Siobhan hadn’t changed her mind about wanting her to go.

“You best get to work. I have some calls to make,” Siobhan explained, and Hayley left the office with a heavy heart.

She kept her eyes averted as she passed Luca’s booth, but Frankie caught her arm. “Hey, you okay?”

Hayley liked Frankie; he seemed a lot more down-to-earth than Nic and Luca. “Yep, I’m fine. Just been discussing my career options.”

When Frankie looked puzzled, she laughed. “I’m going to run the Paris club.”

Frankie’s jaw dropped. “Really? So, you’ll be going back to Paris?”

She nodded vaguely as she looked past Frankie to Luca. He was whispering in Arianna’s ear.

“I don’t like the New York scenery.” She shrugged.

Frankie looked over his shoulder, then back at Hayley.

“Well, I hope the scenery in Paris can make you happy,” he said with a kind smile, and Hayley nodded again before she walked down the stairs.

***

“You’re going back to Paris?” Ava said as Hayley sipped her cappuccino in the little café just down the block from their apartment building.

It was a new day, and Hayley was ready to plan her move.

“Yep. Siobhan has offered me the position of manager over there.” Hayley forced a smile, but when her friend gave her a puzzled look, she knew Ava could see right through her.

“Well…at least we have the night off.” She got a wicked gleam in her eye. “Let’s have one last night getting drunk in New York City.”

The two of them trudged around New York and bought new outfits, then went home to get ready.

LUCA

Luca was meeting a new business associate at the Venetian, a guy who was part of a strong family in Italy, and Luca needed this deal to go smoothly.

Thankfully, once he had a drink in his hand and a pretty girl on his lap, the guy had agreed to everything Luca wanted.

They were sitting at a round table next to the stage. His guest was lusting over pretty Callie as she danced for him, thanks to cash from Luca’s pockets, and Nic was on his phone, sorting out the night’s work for the men.

Luca noticed a silver-haired man walk in. What the hell was Adrien Lambert doing here?

He smiled at his guest as he stood up. “Scusami.” After politely excusing himself, he left the man to enjoy Callie and followed Adrien to Siobhan’s office, Nic trailing behind.

“Luca!” Siobhan shouted when Luca barged his way through the door.

She was standing up behind her desk, and Adrien had taken a seat in the chair opposite.

“What are you doing in here?” she said, giving him the look she used to give him when he’d done something naughty when he was eight.

But Luca wasn’t eight anymore, and she didn’t scare him.

“I could ask the same of our French guest. Hello, Lambert.” Luca strode over to Adrien, who stood up and held out his hand. Luca reluctantly shook it.

“Hello, Luca.” Adrien grinned from ear to ear. “I’ve come for Hayley.”

Luca’s fists clenched. “What the fuck do you mean? She isn’t a fucking object you can claim.”

“Luca,” Siobhan said calmly, but he kept his eyes on Adrien. “Last night she came to me and asked to go back to Paris.”

Luca slowly turned his glare on Siobhan. “And you’re going to let her?” he asked through gritted teeth.

If Hayley went to Europe, how could he watch over her?

“Luca,” Siobhan said gently, “it’s her decision to make. And at least if she’s in Paris, I’ll know she’s getting a decent wage and is protected by the club.”

Luca was pissed at Siobhan—why didn’t she try to stop her?—but even more so at himself. He knew the only reason Hayley wanted to leave was because of him.

“I warned you, young Marcello…” Adrien smirked. “She is a butterfly—the one you failed to catch.”

Smug fucker! Luca’s fist flew toward Adrien and hit his jaw with a crack, and he immediately followed it with a second shot.

“Luca!” Siobhan cried out as she rushed to stop him.

But Nic had already gotten ahold of him and pulled him away from Adrien.

“Nic, get him out of here!” Siobhan yelled, and Nic nodded before he grabbed and pulled Luca out of the room.

But Luca was like a raging bull—in the hall there was a shelf with empty, exotic gin and bourbon bottles, and he smashed the entire shelf.

He wanted to kill Lambert! He wanted to fly to Paris and burn the club to the ground!

Then she’d have nowhere to run to.