Chapter 41: Trusting Luca

HAYLEY

Hayley’s head rested on Luca’s chest as Ric drove them back to the house. Luca was talking to Nic or Frankie on the phone in Italian, and she didn’t understand a word of it.

When they arrived, Luca led Hayley to the kitchen. “Hungry?”

In truth, she was starving and exhausted, but what she needed the most was answers. Not for the detective, but for her peace of mind.

“Where have you been, Luca?” she asked simply.

He began grabbing ingredients to make something, not looking at her.

“Luca!” That got his attention—he stopped and looked up. “I don’t want food, I want answers.”

“I can’t give you that, Hayley. I’m sorry.”

She swallowed the lump in her throat and wrapped her arms around herself. She wasn’t done. “You abandon me in the middle of the night—”

“I didn’t abandon you,” Luca interrupted. “I left you in Frankie’s capable hands.”

“Luca,” she moaned. “You ~left~ me. I know who that man was. I ~know~ he’s the boss of another family…” Her breathing was heavy—she had no idea how he was going to react to her words.

He walked around the counter and took her shoulders in his hands. Hayley gasped, but never lost contact with his eyes.

“Are you in danger?” she whispered.

“No. You~ never~ have to worry about me. I’m capable of looking after myself. And you.”

Hayley tried to pull away, but he was a lot stronger than she was. “You don’t have to protect me. I’m capable of looking after myself.”

He let go of one of her arms and used his index finger to lift her chin so she was looking at him. “I know, baby, but like I’ve told you before…” His voice was low and smooth, causing her to get lost in his words.

“Protecting yourself in this world takes a lot more than a knife.”

He slid his hand up so it was cupping her face. “You have to trust me.”

“But how can I trust what I can’t see?” she cried. “How many lies are you telling me?”

It was a simple question—what was she trusting him ~with~? Was he in danger? Was ~she~? Her stomach sank as she recalled Lorenzo taking her and forcing a gun to her head.

But it started to churn when she remembered her own lies.

Luca moved his hands to her waist and pulled her closer. “I will only lie to you, Hayley, if I have to.”

She heard him sigh above her head, but she didn’t say a word.

“Genovese,” he murmured into her hair. “You’re right, he is the head of a family. He was giving me some information about a cop.”

A cop? Her heart raced. If only she could tell Luca about the detective, but it was too late. She’d gone too far. Too many days had passed since Halloween.

She pulled back and looked up at him. “Why would he do that? You’re from rival families, right?” She’d witnessed firsthand the hate between Luca and Lorenzo Borroni, and he’d seemed just as cold with Matteo Genovese.

Luca shook his head. “The Marcello and Genovese families have no major issues. For the most part, we stay out of their business and they stay out of ours. But without each other, we can’t do what we do.”

She didn’t want to talk about this anymore; she didn’t want to have to lie to him. “I trust you,” she whispered, and the words came out effortlessly.

He held her face again and kissed her. She closed her eyes and gradually felt all her fears disappear, getting lost in a kiss that went from slow and tender to rough and passionate.

He lifted her and she wrapped her legs around his waist, and he carried her to the kitchen table and set her down, his mouth never leaving hers. It was raw and animalistic—he wanted her, and she couldn’t get enough of his touch.

She pushed off his jacket as his mouth moved down the sensitive skin of her neck, and her eyes caught on the gun holsters under his arms. He stopped and looked her in the eye.

“I’m always prepared, baby,” he whispered as he removed them, then placed them on the counter behind him.

As he came to stand between her legs, she reached into the pocket of her gray tailored dress and held up her knife.

“Me too,” she said, tossing it onto the counter beside his weapons.

She raked her fingers through his hair and pulled him in for another kiss. After a minute, she stood up and began to remove his shirt, and his hands found the zipper going down her back.

“Turn around.” His voice was low and seductive.

She obeyed, and he finished unzipping her dress, letting it pool to a heap at her feet.

LUCA

Her ass looked fucking incredible in those purple and black lace panties.

“Bend over,” he growled in her ear, and to his delight, she did. He unhooked her matching bra, tossing it to the floor, then kissed down her spine as he moved his hands slowly down her back.

She moaned as his hands moved to her hips and then down her smooth legs. He was teasing her, and she loved it.

Luca dropped to his knees behind her and slowly removed her soaking wet panties. It was incredible how responsive she was.

He was normally a quick-fuck kind of guy—very rarely went down on a woman before Hayley—yet he loved to devour her. He’d never craved a woman like he craved her.

Hayley gasped when his tongue found her entrance, tasting her, teasing her clit, and thrusting its way inside her pussy.

“~Luca~,” she moaned, and his hand snaked around her leg and found her clit, applying pressure, rubbing the sensitive bundle of nerves.

Her cries and gasps made him strain against his dress pants, but he kept teasing her with his tongue. He felt the muscles in her legs contract, and she rose onto her tiptoes.

He could tell she was close, so he gently sucked her folds, and that was what tipped her over the edge.

“Luca!” she cried out in ecstasy, but he didn’t stop eating her out as she came—he kept feasting on her juices.

“I need you!” she breathed, and that was all he needed to hear.

He quickly stood up and dropped his pants, and in a heartbeat, he was filling her up.

He started slowly, but she was so tight and so eager that he soon built up speed. Being taken like this, bent over a table, obviously excited her, and he loved her wild abandon. But he wanted to see her.

So he flipped her so her back was on the table and her perky breasts were on display.

He bent over, moving deeper into her, causing her to cry out, then sucked on her nipple while his hands held her hips tight.

His mouth moved up to hers, and he loved that she could taste herself on him, and together they came, calling out each other’s names.

Luca kissed her gently as they both came down from their high, then scooped her up bridal-style and carried her to his room. He fell asleep with her in his arms.