Chapter 39: The Third Family

HAYLEY

Hayley spent the rest of the week either working or with Luca. He made an effort to take her for lunch or dinner each day, and he seemed so different—carefree.

Whatever the problem had been, solving it had clearly had a good effect on him.

As Hayley had gone through the Dublin’s books, she’d hatched a plan to make it the best place in New York for live bands and DJs, and tonight was the first night of the new schedule.

The club was a blur of activity. She’d briefed the bar staff and the security staff, and she’d met with the band, who were now setting up on the stage.

She wasn’t going to lie—a part of her missed sitting in the dressing room with the other Venetian girls, but she also loved the responsibilities and challenges the new job gave her.

Ava

Have fun tonight Hayley, I miss my buddy though. X

Hayley smiled at Ava’s message. She’d had breakfast with Ava this morning, and her friend had been eager to know what was going on.

But there wasn’t much to tell, apart from that she was managing the Dublin and was staying with Luca Marcello—for now.

“I’ve never seen this place so full!” Leah, one of the bartenders, called over the music to Hayley, who was busy mixing drinks.

Hayley beamed at her. “It’s brilliant, isn’t it?” She was proud of herself—the head of security had just told her they were refusing entry until people left since the building was at full capacity.

“Can we have three whiskeys, baby?”

Hayley looked up, and there he was in all his glory—Luca Marcello, flanked by his two sidekicks.

“Of course.” She poured the three drinks and placed them on the bar top, and the three guys each took a sip.

Luca looked around the place. “You’re doing an amazing job, Hayley,” he said proudly, and she beamed at him before turning to serve another customer.

***

The night wore on, and eventually the place emptied out. Hayley began cashing up the club as security sat around different tables waiting for her to finish.

“Guys, we got this,” Luca said as he, Nic, and Frankie came through the door.

“Yes, Boss,” the head of security said, and he and the others left the club for the night.

Hayley looked up for a second and smiled. “You didn’t have to wait for me, Luca.”

“It’s no problem. We were around anyway.”

When she finished writing down the takings, she put it all into a tin, then marked the tin with the date and locked it. She took the tin to the office, placed it in the safe, and grabbed her coat and bag.

“Ready to go?” Luca asked when she emerged. She nodded, and he put his hand around her waist and kissed her temple.

“Lock up, Nic,” Luca said as he led the way out of the club, and Hayley heard Nic locking the doors behind them as they hit the cool night air and headed toward two SUVs.

Hayley noticed there were no drivers in them, meaning Nic and Frankie must be driving.

Out of nowhere there was a squeal of car tires, and a black SUV pulled up in front of them and their cars.

“Fuck!” Luca muttered, shoving Hayley behind him as Nic and Frankie pulled out their guns and stood in front of him.

Hayley hadn’t a clue what was going on.

Two men got out of the car. They were about Luca’s age, wore smart suits, and looked almost identical.

“Lost, Genovese?” Luca called out. Nic and Frankie never lowered their guns.

~Genovese?~ Hayley’s heart raced as she peered out from behind Luca. She knew that name. Detective Blake had mentioned a Matteo Genovese—he was the boss of another family.

Like Lorenzo Borroni wasn’t bad enough. What was this guy capable of?

“No,” the taller one replied. “We’ve got a problem, Marcello. You’re gonna have to come with me.”

“Fuck you,” Frankie spat, and the two nearly identical men pulled out their own guns, one in each hand.

Hayley gasped, and the Genovese man who’d spoken glanced in her direction.

“There’s no need for language, Altera,” he said. “I know Maria raised you better.” He then turned to Luca. “Look, we don’t want any casualties here, Marcello.”

Luca stiffened in front of her. “What do you want, Genovese?”

“I need to talk to you and Nic,” he said simply. “And it isn’t optional, Luca. ~We~ have a problem.”

LUCA

Luca could hear the urgency in Matteo’s voice, but Nic sneered. “Like we’re gonna trust you guys.”

Matteo’s brother Francesco spoke for the first time. “You won’t have a choice,” he said in a deep, gruff voice.

Luca glanced behind him at Hayley, then looked at his two men and tried to formulate a plan, running through all the what-ifs in his mind.

He knew Matteo, knew he would use Hayley as leverage—and was doing just that. Luca had to get her safely away.

“Marcello!” Matteo called out, getting Luca’s attention. And then he surprised Luca by lowering his guns.

“This is important, Luca. No men, no weapons.”

Luca heard Frankie scoff.

“Look, Luca,” Matteo continued. “You’re gonna wanna hear this. But it’s vital we keep our meeting between the five”—he paused to look at Hayley—“I mean ~six~, of us. But just you and Nic need to come. The girl doesn’t need to be here.”

“We go nowhere without our weapons, Genovese,” Luca insisted, and Matteo shrugged.

“Of course,” he replied, and Luca looked at Nic, who sighed.

If Matteo Genovese had approached them, it was serious. Their families hadn’t had business together for years, and the bad blood between them was ancient history. Yet, that didn’t mean Luca or Nic trusted them.

“Frankie,” Luca called out sharply. “Get her out of here.”

Frankie nodded and took Hayley’s elbow. “C’mon, bella,” he murmured, but Hayley went to pull away from him.

“Luca,” she whispered, sounding frightened.

“Just go. I’ll be back, I promise,” he said in a very low voice, then nodded to Frankie.

“C’mon.” Frankie walked a shaking Hayley around the Genovese car with his gun ready in case this was a setup, then put her into one of their SUVs.

Luca waited to say something until Frankie was safely driving down the road with Hayley. “What’s this all about, Matteo?”

“We can’t talk here. We have an abandoned warehouse nearby. You take your car and follow us.”

Luca laughed at Matteo’s words. “We went to school together, Genovese, so you know I wasn’t fucking born yesterday.”

Matteo just looked at Luca.

“I’m not stupid,” Luca said. “I’m not being taken anywhere without my own men.” He wasn’t going to fall into the same trap his grandfather once had. He was better than that.

“Fuck it, Marcello,” Matteo spat out harshly. “I have no reason to kill you.” He shook his head, then looked up at Dublin. “Do you control the cameras here?”

Luca nodded solemnly.

“Good. Here will do then. I could do with a fucking drink.”

Luca held out his hand to Nic, who handed him the keys. Luca didn’t want any Genovese man in his club, but it seemed he had little choice. So he unlocked the door and led the three men to the bar.

Luca jumped over the counter and grabbed a bottle of whiskey and two glasses. “Please, take a seat.” He gestured toward the booths that were along the sides of the dance floor.

Nic led the Genovese brothers over to a booth and both underbosses put their weapons on a table a little way from the booth—a sign they wouldn’t use them.

Luca slid in to sit beside his cousin and opposite Matteo, then began to pour himself and Matteo a drink; he assumed that, like Nic, Francesco was driving.

“Saluti!” Matteo declared as he held up the whiskey. Luca echoed his words and they both took a drink.

“So, what the hell is this about?” Luca asked.

“Lorenzo Borroni.”

Luca grinned at Matteo and took another drink of whiskey. “He’s not a problem; he’s in prison. And knowing Lorenzo, enjoying a nice big dick up his ass.”

That got a laugh out of Nic, but Matteo just sighed and shook his head. “That’s the problem—we need him out.”

Luca slammed down his empty glass. “You’re not fucking serious!”

Matteo nodded before taking a sip from his own glass. He was a picture of calmness, something Luca normally prided himself on. But he couldn’t keep calm about this.

“What benefit is this to you, Matteo?” he spat. “You always have an angle.”

“The benefit is for all three of our families. Lorenzo is a victim of a plan by a cop who is clearly one step ahead of us. My inside cop was there when the Borronis were arrested.”

Luca’s own inside guy had been there too—but he kept silent for now.

“This guy is using rats to get to us and our plans,” Matteo said. “Hence the need to meet with only you and Nic.”

“But why do we need Borroni?” Luca asked, pouring himself and Matteo a second drink.

“Strength in numbers.”

Nic eyed the Genovese boss. “Are you suggesting what I ~think~ you are suggesting?”

Matteo nodded. “It worked in the past. Our three families were nearly taken down by an idiot cop, but they worked together, and the cop disappeared.”

“I also recall your grandfather shot mine in an ambush,” Luca said darkly.

Matteo chuckled. “Yes, an unfortunate decision by my family. Which, between me and you, we rectified, so that’s all water under the bridge. Besides, Luca, you just proved you’re not stupid enough to fall for that.”

Luca’s mind was a whirl as he considered Matteo’s proposal. What he said was true: there ~was~ someone powerful out to destroy them—his insider was trying to find just that person.

He was also correct that in the past, the combined strength of the three families had brought down the NYPD for a time. Perhaps they could do the same here.

Genovese was the lesser of two evils. Working with Borroni, however, was going to be a problem. But Luca had little choice; he had to secure his family’s future.

“I want to be the one to bail Lorenzo out.”

Nic’s jaw dropped at Luca’s words.

“I want him indebted to me.”

Luca gritted his teeth. ~God~ he hated Borroni. But getting him out could secure Hayley’s future. The hit would be lifted—he would make sure of that.

“I thought you might say that. I heard about the hit on your girl. I’ve already secured the release of Vitali and his other guys, but Lorenzo is waiting in prison and has no idea why his guys are free and he isn’t.”

Matteo laughed and lit a cigar, and Luca threw back his drink and poured another.

“We must keep this between us and Borroni,” Francesco said. “This cop will have rats in our families—so for now, there mustn’t be an alliance.”

“Not until we want him to know anyway,” Luca muttered darkly, and Matteo and Francesco nodded.

“When will you secure Borroni?” Matteo asked as Luca lit a cigarette.

He took a drag and blew out the smoke. “I’ll put the money in the account of one of his employees or mistresses, then I’ll visit him tomorrow morning and explain the conditions.

“I’ll make sure he’s released by tomorrow night.”

Matteo held out his hand. “Until we meet again, as a unit.”

Luca was skeptical but shook Matteo’s hand; then the Genovese brothers stood up, and Luca and Nic did the same. The two underbosses went to retrieve their guns.

“Matteo Genovese!”

Four heads turned when they heard the voice.

Siobhan was striding across the club floor, glaring at the Genoveses, her hands on her hips.

“Siobhan Byrne, so nice to see you again,” Matteo said with a devilish grin as he walked toward her.

“I wish I could say the same about you. Now, fuck off out of my club.”

“As lovely as ever,” Matteo teased. “Don’t worry, I’ve got no matches; the club is safe.” He chuckled wickedly as he and his brother passed Siobhan on their way out.

Siobhan’s eyes caught Luca and Nic.

“What the hell is going on?” she snapped, speaking to them as if they were still children.

He supposed she had a right to be pissed. Matteo had torched the Dublin once in retaliation for something Luca had done.

Luca sighed, walked up to Siobhan, and gently took her by the shoulders. He knew she just needed reassurance.

“Don’t worry, it’s just friendly business.” He kissed her forehead and walked past her, followed by Nic.

Once outside, Luca looked at his cousin and grimaced. “We better get some cash together.”

Then they headed to their main office in the casino.

HAYLEY

“Who were they, Frankie? You’ve told me nothing,” Hayley complained. It was late, and Frankie had just gotten off the phone with Luca. He was safe at least.

“Please, Frankie.”

“~Fuck~, don’t give me those puppy dog eyes.” Frankie sighed. “Matteo Genovese and his brother, Francesco.”

“As in the Genovese family?” she asked, although she already knew the answer.

He nodded. “Don’t worry too much, Hayley. The Marcello and Genovese families don’t have much bad blood, not like Borroni. It was probably just a business call—an arms trade or whatever.”

She wasn’t convinced by his words and didn’t think he was either. She’d heard Matteo—he sounded like he had something important to say to Luca. But it seemed that was all she was going to get out of Frankie.

“I’m off to bed then. Night, Frankie.”

She yawned as she slid off the stool, then walked upstairs to Luca’s room.

She was exhausted. The night at the club had gone well, and she was proud of herself, but the thing with Genovese had her shaken.

She grabbed her toiletry bag and headed to the bathroom to get ready for bed.

When she opened it, she noticed the burner phone from Detective Blake. She’d hidden it in the only place she thought Luca would never look—he thought of this bag as off-limits, her personal girly place.

She switched it on and looked at the message that was in the inbox.

Adam

Hope all is going well. Anything you need to tell me? Remember, you’re safe as long as you give me something.

Hayley switched off the phone and hid it back in the bag. She knew she should tell him that Luca had met with the Genoveses, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it.

Besides, it wasn’t much of a risk. Only the six of them knew.

So for now, as far as Detective Blake was concerned, she knew nothing.

She grabbed one of Luca’s shirts and put it on, then headed to bed wrapped in his scent.