Chapter 27: A Dangerous Lie

LUCA

Luca felt her hands slam into his chest as she shoved him away.

“You bastard!” she shouted, standing with her back against the door.

He calmly took a step back.

“You tell me you don’t want me, you push me away, and then you kiss me?”

Luca said nothing at first. She was right to be angry. And she shouldn’t want him, shouldn’t need him as much as he wanted and needed her.

“I told you I’m a fucked-up son of a bitch, Hayley,” he finally said, and she shook her head and shrugged out of his suit jacket so it fell to the floor.

“I’m used to fucked-up men, Luca. But you”—she turned to open the door then looked at him over her shoulder—“you’re beyond fucked up.”

She stormed out into the cold night air, still wearing her skimpy Venetian clothes, and walked clumsily down the gravel drive in her stilettos.

“Hayley!”

She didn’t stop, but he saw her wipe at her eyes.

“Fuck it, Hayley, come back inside. Now.”

She turned to him fiercely. “Why, Luca? So you can toss me out in the morning, tell me nothing is between us? I am not a feather girl. I am not a whore!”

“Hayley, get back in the damn house. You’ll die of hypothermia before you even get anywhere near a road.” He deliberately kept his voice firm but calm, even though this woman was capable of making him lose all self-control.

“A risk I’m willing to take!” she shouted before turning and attempting to stalk away in her heels.

He rolled his eyes as he strode toward her. “Hayley, I’m warning you. I’ll use force to get you back if I have to.”

HAYLEY

“Fuck you, Marcello,” she muttered under her breath.

She couldn’t be around that man any longer, but these damn heels were making her getaway almost impossible.

Then she felt two hands not-so-carefully grab her by the waist.

She let out a shriek, and Luca threw her over his shoulder just as an SUV pulled into the driveway.

“Luca Marcello, you let go of me now!” she screeched as Frankie and Nic got out of the car, laughing at the scene.

She put up a good fight—punching his back, kicking his chest—she even tried to claw him. But Luca seemed unfazed as he kicked open his front door and walked up the stairs to his bedroom, where he plonked her on the bed.

She shot him a death glare, but he just walked to the door, then turned to look back at her with a devilish glint in his eyes.

“You, missy, are on a time-out until you learn to behave.” He chuckled as he went out the door, shutting it behind him.

Hayley flew at it, trying to pull it open, but heard a key turn in the lock. She screamed in rage and banged her open palm on the door. “Luca Marcello, open this fucking door! I mean it!”

She was not only furious with him; she was beginning to panic. She hated being locked in anywhere. “Luca!” she cried out, a tear slipping down her face.

“Calm down, Hayley.”

Hearing his voice through the door was oddly reassuring.

“I want to talk to you,” he continued. “But right now you need to calm the fuck down. You need to accept the fact that you’re not going anywhere anytime soon.”

He chuckled, which pissed her off, and she started banging the door again. “You’re going to fucking pay for this, Luca. I mean it!”

“Oh, I’m scared, Hayley.”

At his mocking tone, she hit the door so hard she’d probably have bruises in the morning.

“Stop assaulting my door!”

“Sorry,” she said sarcastically. “I was imagining it was your head.”

She heard him chuckle softly again.

“Stop laughing at me!” she demanded, then slid down the door and put her ear against the wood.

“I can’t help it, you’re funny when you’re trying to be a hard-ass.”

His laughter was ticking her off.

“Now, be good. I’ll be back later to discuss things properly. If you want, my shirts are in the wardrobe and there are towels in the bathroom,” he offered before she heard him walk away.

She was annoyed and angry, but her heart still fluttered at the last things he said. Maybe deep down somewhere he ~did~ care.

She slowly got up off the fluffy carpet and walked over to the dressing table. Her feathered headband still sat on top.

She took a deep breath, then sat down on his amazingly comfy bed. And though she hated to admit it, she did as Luca said and calmed down.

LUCA

Luca walked into the camera room, still chuckling to himself. Hayley was a frustrating creature, yet there was something about her that kept making him go back for more.

Frankie was sitting at the video surveillance monitors, and Nic was standing up against the wall behind the chairs. Luca took the chair next to Frankie.

“She’s a handful, Boss,” Frankie said, laughing.

Luca said nothing as his eyes went to the monitor that showed Hayley sitting on his bed. She was looking around the room, then ran her hands through her dark brown hair.

“She’s probably still in shock,” Nic said solemnly behind Luca.

Luca sighed. He had to remember not everyone was accustomed to this world. Hayley was too nice and too innocent to be a part of this.

“Who did Artem work for?” Luca asked Frankie, who just shrugged. Luca wasn’t happy with that reply.

“You killed him before we could torture him for information,” Frankie pointed out.

Luca scowled at him and got a laugh in return.

“What about our man who was supposed to be watching him—Thomas?” Luca asked, getting impatient with his friend’s carefree attitude.

Frankie used the keyboard to bring the lockup onto one of the screens, and Luca eyed the young man sitting tied to a chair. It looked like someone had already given him the once-over.

He could see Ric and Dom standing silently at the entrance to the room while Thomas vigorously proclaimed his innocence, but they said nothing back to him.

Another guy that Frankie had trained had betrayed the family, and Luca knew this must be bothering his friend. First Nate and now Thomas.

Luca looked at the guy who’d nearly helped Artem kill him—with a shot that could have killed Hayley—and stood up and turned to Nic, who was leaning quietly against the wall.

“Nic, you take care of things here. Make sure she doesn’t destroy my door.” Luca glanced at the screen with Hayley on it, but she was now pacing the bedroom. “Frankie, you and I are going to have a chat with our little friend.”

HAYLEY

Hayley was still fuming—he had no right to keep her trapped in his bedroom. She heard voices pass the door and footsteps, but she knew calling for help would do no good.

Nobody would let her out and rescue her; they all worked for ~him~, and he was God around here.

She decided she needed a shower, so she grabbed a clean shirt from his huge walk-in wardrobe and headed to the en suite.

She placed her switchblade beside the sink and removed her corset.

What did he want from her? she wondered as the hot water cascaded down her body. Did he want to kill her? Did she know too much? Was he going to punish her?

She thought about how he’d called her “baby” as he tucked her into his chest. She remembered thinking, at that moment, that somewhere inside his hard-man exterior was a decent human being.

LUCA

“Leave us,” Luca said with firm authority, and Ric and Dom immediately obeyed.

Frankie shut and bolted the door behind them and stood stoically beside the entrance as Luca walked toward Thomas. The boy looked petrified.

Luca picked up a chair that had been knocked over in a struggle of some sort.

Thomas was smart. He never made a sound, just watched wide-eyed as Luca slammed the chair in front of him then sat on it.

“Hello, Thomas,” Luca said smoothly, his voice laced with dark undertones. This man had potentially committed a betrayal, risking Luca’s life, his family members’ lives—and Hayley’s.

“M-Mister…Mr. Marcello, s-s-sir.”

Thomas’s voice was shaky, filled with fear, as were his eyes. Luca’s father always told him the eyes were the gateway to the truth, a gateway to the soul and the mind.

“Who was Artem working for?” Luca asked as he pulled out his gun.

He opened it to check how many bullets he had. Before closing it, he looked back at Thomas, who shook his head, sweat dripping down his face.

“I…I…have…n-no idea, Capo, I have no idea. Frankie—”

The boy looked from Luca to Frankie, and Luca snapped off the safety and fired a shot into the wall. Thomas yelped.

“Don’t fucking look at him,” Luca growled, using his gun to indicate Frankie before pointing it at the boy. “He won’t save you. We don’t tolerate traitors.”

Thomas shook his head violently. “I am not a traitor, I swear.” Tears were running down his face.

Luca shook his head and fired a shot into Thomas’s leg, causing the boy to scream in pain.

“Shut up!” Luca demanded.

Thomas quickly clamped his mouth shut, still breathing and crying through the pain.

“You were right next to Artem at the bar, correct?”

Thomas nodded, holding his hand over his mouth.

Luca meant business, though he appeared relatively calm. What people who didn’t know him failed to understand was that Luca was a storm, and this was the calm that came beforehand.

The evil bastard that lived inside Luca was dancing with glee. The dark part of him loved a good torture session.

“So how come a bar girl heard Artem on the phone? Talking about killing ~me~—your fucking capo!” Luca shouted the last part as he jumped to his feet and put the gun to Thomas’s forehead.

“He spoke in Russian or Polish or—fuck, I don’t know what language it was. Sounded Russian. The girl must have understood it. I swear on my mama, I never heard a thing!”

Luca was not buying this bullshit. He used the metal butt of his gun to whack the little shit across the head. “Your mama will be dead if I find out you are fucking lying to me.”

He highly doubted Hayley understood Russian—why would she? And she’d never mentioned that Artem was speaking in a different language.

He looked at Frankie. If—and it was a big if—the kid was telling the truth, and Luca killed him, his men might start to have doubts about Luca’s leadership. But if he was lying, he was dead. And his mama too.

“I swear Artem was talking in some other language,” Thomas pleaded. “I would never have helped him kill you—I would have taken the bullet myself. Capo, you and Frankie helped me when I needed a job.

“My mama would be dead without you.”

Luca exhaled but didn’t lower his weapon. He knew Thomas’s story: his dad died from alcohol poisoning, his older brother hung himself, and his mother was sick. Thomas was all she had.

He’d needed money for her medications, Frankie offered him work, and the rest was history—until now.

“If,” Luca said darkly, “you are lying, boy, your mama will be dead and you will watch, understand?”

Thomas nodded frantically, and Luca walked to the door, which Frankie unbolted. Before exiting, Luca turned to Thomas and shot him in the foot.

“Something to think about, Thomas,” he said before he left the room, followed by Frankie.

Luca was trained to be this way: harsh, violent, and cold. All in a day’s work. This was his nature now, and this was the side he was trying to protect Hayley from—this dark, twisted, evil side.

“Ric, get him to the doctor. I don’t want him dying.”

Ric nodded and left.

“Dom, find his mama and keep her under surveillance. If the bastard is lying, bring her in.”

“What are you going to do?” Frankie asked as he followed Luca to the car.

“I’m going to ask Hayley. If she tells me Artem spoke English, then Thomas and his mama are dead.”

Luca was ruthless but fair. His father wouldn’t have cared whether the kid was telling the truth or not—he would have just killed him. He also would have killed Hayley for simply knowing too much.

***

Luca marched right by Nic, who was sitting in the kitchen having a coffee, and headed up to his bedroom. When he unlocked the door, there she was, under the covers and sound asleep. He sighed.

He quietly removed his jacket and tie and placed them on the gray chair before sitting on the bed beside Hayley. There was a switchblade on the bedside table that he recognized as hers. He picked it up.

He gazed at her innocently asleep in his bed as he idly played with the blade. What should he do with her? She knew too much, but she was too sweet, too caring for his dark underworld.

A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth as he thought about holding her in his arms, having her close to him.

This girl was going to be the death of him.