Chapter 26: The Ugly Truth

HAYLEY

Everything happened at once: Frankie closed the door, Luca stepped back and pulled her into his chest, she felt Luca reaching into his jacket. And then—a loud bang.

Hayley shrieked into Luca’s chest when she heard the gunshot, but she knew how fast he was, that he must have been the one who’d fired the shot.

“Bastard,” Frankie said into the ringing silence.

She heard a clatter as Luca threw his gun on the table, then felt him wrap both arms around her and hold her close.

“Shhh, Hayley.”

She hadn’t even been aware she was making any noise, but she was sobbing and shaking as he held her. She tried to pull away and find out what was going on, but he kept her close to his chest.

“No, don’t look, baby,” he murmured into her hair.

She felt him lift his head. “Nic, find out who the fuck he worked for, then get this cleaned up. And talk to our guy at Hayley’s bar. I want to know why ~Hayley~ heard what Artem was planning and he didn’t. I’ll be at home.”

Luca tucked her against his side as he moved out of the room. Once the door closed, he stopped and lifted her chin.

“Are you okay?” he asked, studying her face.

She nodded slowly, and he gently kissed her cheek.

“Thank you,” he whispered before he threw his jacket over her and took her hand, leading her out to the VIP area.

He stopped at the first booth, where Ava still sat with Luca’s men.

Her mouth fell open when she saw Hayley, and she gave Luca a dirty look.

“Ric and Tony,” Luca said, all business. “You two come with me. Dom, Nic, and Frankie need you in the meeting room.”

Hayley held tight to Luca’s hand as he led her out of the club, Ric and Tony trailing behind. To be honest, she had no idea what was going on, but she didn’t want to let go of him for a second.

LUCA

During the car ride, Luca talked on the phone to Nic and Frankie—in Italian to protect Hayley—but her hand was in his and her head rested gently on his shoulder.

Nic had put his phone on speaker so they could talk to him while they cleared away the mess in Meeting Room One.

“~Thomas…was the guy…I had keeping an eye on Artem~,” Frankie called out in Italian between grunts. He must be busy pulling Artem’s teeth, a job that usually fell to him.

It was Dominic’s usual job to disfigure Artem, while Nic was probably looking through the guy’s phone. Frankie was always complaining that Nic got the comfy jobs—maybe he was right.

“~I’ve got some of the guys taking him to the lockup~,” Nic said. “~Oh, and I checked the callers on Artem’s phone. There was just one number.~”

“~Don’t touch Thomas. I want to question him myself~,” Luca instructed.

This was personal. If Thomas had heard this information and not passed it on, that meant he was a traitor.

“How’s Hayley?” Frankie asked.

“She’s in shock, I suppose. She’s just witnessed a shooting. How are your balls?” Luca asked, and heard Nic laugh.

“I’ll find out later,” Frankie replied. “I’ve got a nice little blonde that I promised a night she’ll never forget~.”

Nic laughed again. “Yeah, she might not forget it when you get there and can’t get it up~.”

“Ha-ha, funny, Niccolo,” Frankie shot back. “It’ll take more than a knee to the balls to stop this Italian Stallion.”

“Look, we have to go, Luca,” Nic said. “We’ll get over to the house once everything is clear here.”

“Excellent, talk later.” Luca hung up and looked down at Hayley, whose head was still on his shoulder. He sighed.

It felt great to hold her, but he had to keep her safe. And keeping her away from him was still the best solution.

But as he held her hand and breathed in the scent of her shampoo, he couldn’t imagine letting her go. It seemed the harder he tried to push her away, the more the world conspired to bring them together.

HAYLEY

After Ric and Tony got out of the car, Luca helped her out of the back, then pulled her into him as he guided her into his home.

When they got to his huge kitchen, she sat on a stool and studied him as he pulled out a bottle of wine and two glasses.

He moved around his kitchen like he hadn’t cared in the world—like he hadn’t just shot a man. How was he so unaffected?

“Is…” She struggled to speak, to ask the question that had been weighing on her.

He didn’t look at her, just continued to uncork and pour the wine.

“Is…he dead?”

He put down the bottle of wine, leaned on the kitchen island, and sighed. “Yes, Hayley. He’s dead.”

LUCA

“This is me, Hayley,” he said in a low voice, then shook his head and gave a bitter laugh. “This is exactly who I am.”

She just looked at him, her face pale and her eyes still bloodshot from the crying she’d done earlier.

“I’m a fucked-up son of a bitch.” He spoke with all the honesty he could muster. “I kill people who get in my way, I hurt those who try to hurt me or my family. And I’m not even sorry for that.

“I’m trained to show no remorse, to torture people for information, and to bury people without them ever being found.”

Hayley’s eyes were wide and petrified as she sat across from him. “Why are you telling me this?” she whispered.

Why was he telling her this? Because he wanted to frighten her. He wanted to scare her so much she’d start running and never come back.

He shook his head and pushed himself off the counter, then walked to the other side of the room.

HAYLEY

They were both silent for a minute. Hayley heard him sigh loudly, but he kept his back to her.

“You’re a confusing man,” she said, jumping off the stool and walking to the kitchen door. She paused in the doorway, but he still didn’t move. “You know what? Fuck you. I’m out of here.”

She marched down the hallway and was just about to open the door when he came up behind her and put his hand on it.

She didn’t turn. “Let me leave, Luca,” she demanded, trying to keep her fear out of her voice.

“I can’t.”

She let go of the handle and whirled around to face him, her eyes fierce on him despite her pounding heart.

She had just witnessed this man kill someone—~again~—and he’d also just confessed that he would kill anyone who got in his way.

Could he not let her go because he was planning to kill her? Was this the end? She could feel her body shaking.

“I know too much, right?”

She summoned whatever courage she had within her—she was scared, but she was determined to go out fighting. “Just kill me, Luca!” she cried. “If that’s what you have to do, just do it.”

Luca’s face was hard as he removed his hand from the door behind her. She watched warily as he moved his hand toward her face.

But he just pushed the mask she still wore up and over her hair, then held it in his hand for a second before tossing it aside.

“You do know too much. How many men have you heard me kill?”

His voice was smooth like velvet. Before, it would have sent shivers of passion down her spine. Now, it was shivers of fear. She swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat.

His hand moved to a stray curl that covered her face, then tucked it behind her ear. “What are we up to? Four?”

Then he did something completely unexpected. He gently cupped the side of her face and kissed her.