Chapter 43: Revenge or Alliance?

HAYLEY

“It’ll be okay,” Ava said, bringing Hayley a mug of hot tea. “I’m sure Luca and Nic will sort it all out.” Hayley was in the living room, the place she’d first met Detective Blake.

Tears were starting to form again. Sure, Luca would sort everything out—but what about the innocents? Two men were killed. For what?

Hayley hadn’t a clue; she just knew Lorenzo wanted to get Luca’s attention. And it succeeded.

“It will never be okay,” Hayley choked out through her tears.

She was angry with herself for not stopping Lorenzo, angry with Lorenzo for killing those young guys, and she was angry with Luca.

He didn’t pull the trigger, but it was all for his attention.

Hayley hated that she wanted Luca so much, hated everything about the situation she was trapped in. The detective had a metaphoric gun to her head, but Luca had one at her heart, and it hurt.

She remembered the detective’s words: ~These men, Luca included, are bad men. You have the power to do the right thing.~

She had no power earlier when Borroni killed those innocent men working at her club. However, she did have the power to stop him.

“I’m going for a nap,” she lied, and Ava just nodded.

Hayley went into the room that she’d made her own when she came to New York. The double bed took up almost the entire space, with a dresser to the left just before the door to her bathroom.

She sighed, then crouched down to the loose floorboard and lifted it up. Her stomach clenched when she saw the white corset, still stained a little red from the fake blood.

She pushed it out of the way and pulled out the manila files underneath.

She sat on the bed and put the files in front of her, then picked up the one with her name on it and set it aside; she didn’t need to see all that again.

Then she looked at the file marked “Wheeler Brothers.” She didn’t need to see the pictures of the two police informants—their bodies were etched on her brain. That wouldn’t help her today, so she placed that file on top of hers.

“Victims/Missing Persons: Family Members,” she read, then sighed and placed that file with the other two. Those men, including Artem and the three men at the poker game, had reaped what they’d sown.

She looked at the final file, “Victims/Missing Persons: Innocents,” and opened it. It was full of faces, young and old, men and women. Some were just candids, normal snaps that were given to the cops.

The people in many of them looked happy: a young woman celebrating her eighteenth birthday, a fifty-something on holiday with his wife, a bride in a wedding gown, a teenager in a school yearbook picture.

Each photo had a life behind it. And a tragedy that ended it.

She hadn’t properly looked at the file when she’d met with Detective Blake, but she planned to rectify that now.

Deeper in the file, she found the police reports.

Deaths. Murders.

Horrified, she looked at the photos of corpses—victims of “organized crime fights.” Simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time, just like the guys who were killed today.

Some were shot, some were run over, some died in car accidents after a police pursuit of gang members. It was terrible.

Finally, unable to read any more, she got off the bed and placed the files back under the loose floorboard.

She wasn’t powerless after all. Lorenzo Borroni had killed two men today, and she had the power to bring him down. He was a criminal and deserved what he got.

But did Luca? Her head replied yes—he would have killed those men too in order to prove a point or make a statement.

But her heart insisted that Luca wasn’t like Borroni. But what proof did she have?

She flew out of the room to grab her bag and coat.

“Hayley?” Ava said, watching her frantically gather her things.

“I need to go back. I need a shower and my toiletries—”

“You can borrow mine. I have shampoo.”

But Hayley held up her hand. She needed ~her~ toiletry bag.

“Please, Ava. I want my own stuff.” She went for the door. “I’ll text you!”

She ran down the stairs and out the front door. Dom was leaning against the wall, having a cigarette.

“Please, can you take me to Luca’s?”

He grabbed the door handle before she could and opened the car door for her. “Of course.” He closed the door and jumped in the front with Ric.

When they arrived at Luca’s house, Hayley thanked Dom and Ric, told them she was going to have a rest, and went to the bedroom. The smell of Luca’s cologne still lingered, but she tried to ignore it and grabbed her toiletry bag.

She went inside the bathroom, shut the door, and turned on the phone. There was a new message from Detective Blake.

Adam

I heard the Dublin had an accident, and you were there. Details?

She sighed and dialed the number, and he answered on the first ring.

“Hayley,” he said.

She took in a deep breath before speaking quietly and quickly. “It was Lorenzo Borroni. He came in and shot two guys who worked there.” She felt relief wash over her.

“Why? Did he say why?” he asked eagerly.

Why wasn’t he asking about the guys who’d died?

“Hayley?” he called into the phone.

“He said he was sending a message to Luca,” Hayley replied softly as tears slipped down her face.

“~Fuck~,” the detective hissed. “Borroni was in prison up until last night. Some idiot paid his bail.”

“The bar guys—” Hayley began, but he cut her off.

“Is this all you have?” He seemed angry.

“Isn’t this enough?”

“Really?” He laughed. “You’ve given me a shoot-up in a club owned by Siobhan Byrne, godmother and known associate of one Luca Marcello. And it was staged by Borroni, Marcello’s enemy. Nah, I need more than ~that~.”

Hayley didn’t give a shit about what he needed—she cared about the innocent people who died.

“The guys who were killed—”

He cut her off again with a loud sigh. “A police report was filed. Their families will be notified.”

His tone was cold, and Hayley felt betrayed by his indifference.

“Do you have anything else for me?” he asked.

She thought about Genovese’s visit. But as Detective Blake had done nothing to inspire her trust, she didn’t feel the need to tell him more.

“No.”

He huffed, and she could practically hear his eyes roll. “Then you’ll just have to do better.”

The line went dead, and Hayley dropped the hand that was holding the phone.

~What about the bar guys?~ was her only thought.

LUCA

Luca waited for Borroni to come out of the strip club, and eventually his patience paid off.

Lorenzo sauntered out with Vitali and another goon following loyally behind, then handed a blonde some cash and took her hand.

Luca chuckled. Marcello guys were scattered around, ready to surround the enemy, but this would be too easy. Lorenzo obviously wasn’t anticipating such swift retaliation.

“Now!” Luca said, and his men leapt into action.

The blonde screamed when Luca, Tony, Frankie, and Chuck stepped in front of them. Vitali and the other guy drew their guns, but Lorenzo shook his head.

“I’ll go quietly. He has a score to settle.”

Luca narrowed his eyes. What was Borroni up to? “You killed two people, threatened Hayley,” he growled as Lorenzo walked toward him.

Luca removed his gun from his holster and pointed it over Lorenzo’s shoulder. He fired one shot, and the girl screamed again.

“A life for a life, Borroni. I will take another tonight—mark my words,” he confirmed fiercely. “But I have some questions for you first.”

Lorenzo glanced behind him to see who was still alive as Frankie walked over to the petrified girl.

He gave her a wad of money. “You saw fucking nothing. I’ve got your face etched in my memory—you talk, I kill. Got it?”

The girl nodded frantically and ran away.

“Guys, go to the casino and await a call. Move it,” Frankie said to the Marcello men, then stood behind Vitali and put his gun to the back of his head. “Put the fucking gun down.”

Vitali sighed and did as instructed. Chuck picked up the guns, and Tony put his gun to Borroni’s head.

But Luca needed to get rid of them too. “Tony and Chuck, I need you to head back to the house.”

They looked confused, but obeyed orders.

Luca waited until they were gone before speaking. “I’m going to make this brief.”

Lorenzo remained silent.

“You made your point, Borroni—now leave my businesses, and her, alone.”

“You won’t kill me, Luca. Not now,” Lorenzo teased.

Luca hit Lorenzo in the face with his gun, drawing both blood and curses from his enemy. “You’re right, I won’t kill you. The alliance is keeping your ass alive. For now. But I ~will~ hurt you if you touch her again.”

“But you can’t ~kill~ me.” Lorenzo laughed.

“No, you’re right. But”—Luca echoed his enemy’s laugh—“I can kill Vitali. I only need ~you~ alive.”

Lorenzo’s face darkened, and Frankie chuckled. “Say the word, Boss,” he called out.

But Luca wouldn’t kill Borroni’s second, not yet anyway. Killing Vitali would only lead Borroni to retaliate in kind, killing Nic or Frankie.

“Kill him, Marcello, and alliance or no alliance, I will take one of your right hands.”

And there it was: the threat he knew would come.

Luca fired a warning shot, aimed so it grazed Vitali’s shoulder. Vitali grunted in pain and dropped to one knee. He squirmed but refused to show weakness. Luca was impressed.

“That was a warning,” Luca said, looking back at Lorenzo. “Come near Hayley again, and I ~will~ kill him.”

Frankie used his foot to kick Vitali over, and Luca turned on his heel and walked back to the car.

***

“What will we tell the guys?” Frankie asked as he drove.

Luca was reading a text from Nic explaining that Hayley had gone back to his house, so he paused a second before answering.

“Tell them there’s a bigger plan in motion. Drop me off at home, then you go to the warehouse—tell them whatever will keep them quiet for the next two days.”

Frankie nodded.

Luca opened the CCTV footage of the Dublin that Nic had sent to his phone and watched Hayley bravely try to take on Borroni. He was proud of her.

***

“Where is she?” Luca asked Nic as soon as he entered the house.

Nic, who was standing in the hallway, used his head to indicate the staircase.

Luca nodded and briskly walked past his cousin to take the stairs to his bedroom. He opened the door to a dark room. Muffled sounds were coming from the en suite, and light was coming from under the door.

He removed his jacket and tie and placed them carefully on the chair, then unbuttoned his cuffs, rolled up the sleeves, and undid his top button.

When he opened the door to his bathroom, he found Hayley soaking in the oval gray stone bathtub, listening to gentle piano music. She looked up when he came in.

He walked to the side of the deep bathtub. Hayley had filled the room with the sweet aroma of expensive bubble bath. He knew he had some, but he never took baths. He was a shower guy.

“Did everything go okay?” she asked softly as he lowered himself onto his knees and gazed at her beautiful face. She sat up a little, foam covering her ivory skin.

“Yeah, baby, we fixed it,” he confirmed, trying to sound reassuring; he wanted her to feel safe.

“They didn’t deserve to die,” she whispered, and he could see the pain in her eyes, the sadness.

He agreed with her. “I know. Their deaths have not gone unnoticed. But the police aren’t interested in victims of a club hold-up.”

HAYLEY

Hayley winced. She was well aware of how much the police didn’t care.

“Borroni has paid for their lives, and their families will be looked after too. I’m making sure everything is as okay as it can be,” Luca said. “You’re right that they didn’t deserve to die, but I’m just thankful it wasn’t you.”

Her heart fluttered at his words, but the weight of her guilt sent it crashing back down.

“But it was my fault.”

He gently cupped her face and shook his head.

“Hayley, this is not your fault. It’s my fault. I left you unprotected. I brought you into my violent world.”

“Kiss me,” she whispered, and without hesitation, he did.

She knew he was a bad man. He murdered people—he’d probably hurt someone today. But he hurt bad people. He felt remorse. He cared about his guys and their families. The police didn’t.

She pulled away and looked at him. “Join me.”

He smiled and stood, and as he removed his clothes, she admired his body—his toned chest, his tapered back, the dark artwork that decorated his skin, including the phoenix on his shoulder blade.

She scooted down to give him room, and he slipped in behind her, pulling her back so she lay against his chest.

“This is nice,” she whispered, enjoying the warm bath, the relaxing music, the feeling of his hands roaming over her skin.

She heard him murmur in agreement, felt the rumble in his chest.

“I saw the camera footage,” he said after a moment. “You were very brave today.”

“I tried.” Hayley shrugged, and she felt him kiss the top of her head.

“You did great, baby. You did all you could do.”

If only she could have done more—saved those innocent men.

“We’ll get our revenge. Borroni won’t get away with making me look like a fool and threatening you,” he murmured, and she nodded in agreement.

Because she’d already made that promise to herself: Borroni would pay, and those men would get justice. She’d make sure of it.