Chapter 49: The Thing about Poker

HAYLEY

“Detective Blake!” Mr. Duvall shouted. “This is unnecessary and unwarranted. Miss Tate is simply a guest of Mr. Marcello’s. You have no proof she’s been paid for sexual activities.”

Hayley cringed at the words the attorney used.

“That doesn’t prevent me from doing my search, Mr. Duvall,” Detective Blake sneered.

Hayley’s hands were still flat on the bar top, her body bent over, and she felt the detective’s hands run from her wrists to the tops of her arms.

“Detective!” Mr. Duvall repeated, his voice firm. “Miss Tate has the right to be searched by a female officer. And she has done nothing to indicate that a search by ~you~ is vital for your safety or the safety of others.”

The detective sighed, then called out, “Officer Sinclair!”

He pulled Hayley up roughly and looked her dead in the eye before addressing the woman who stepped forward.

“~Miss Tate~ is to be searched by you, Sinclair,” she said through gritted teeth. “Then, if she is clean, she’s free to go. Please take her to get searched.”

“I’m not going anywhere alone with anyone!” Hayley tried to pull from his grip, but he only tightened it.

“You want to be searched here? In front of a room full of gangsters?” The detective chuckled. “Fine by me. I’ll enjoy the show.”

Hayley shook as she thought of the female officer searching her while all the Mafia men and police watched. Would she be forced to strip?

“Fottuto bastardo!” Luca hissed, but the detective just laughed.

“This is inappropriate behavior,” Mr. Duvall said huffily. “Miss Tate doesn’t need ~privacy~, because she doesn’t need anything more than a simple pat-down. I only requested a female officer so she’d be more comfortable.”

“Fine.” Detective Blake nodded to the female officer, who spoke directly to Hayley, explaining she was going to perform a pat-down. “I want everyone in this room searched immediately.”

A large officer practically threw Nic onto the bar beside her. Nic placed his palms down on the bar top and exhaled forcefully as the cop began to search him.

“You okay?” he mouthed to Hayley, and she smiled weakly and nodded.

“Clear here,” the female officer called out, then others repeated the words she said, including the officer frisking Nic, who forced him back to his knees as Nic swore under his breath.

“You’re lucky, Miss Tate, that I can’t ~prove~ you’re a whore,” the detective muttered loudly enough that Luca heard him.

Luca hurled curses at Detective Blake, but the detective just chuckled as he took Hayley’s arm again.

“You’ve also showed your hand, Luca.” He ~tsk-tsk~ed. “You’re breaking a cardinal rule of poker, vecchio amico.” He chuckled one more time before he forced her down to one knee beside him. “You’re getting too emotionally involved.”

“I think we’re both guilty of that,” Luca retorted. “You and I both know this is about revenge, not justice.”

The doors burst open once more, and a group of officers walked in, led by the one who’d come in before. He was shaking his head.

“Nothing, sir. There are no guns, no storage lockers. This place is clean.”

“Damn it!”

Luca laughed. “The thing about poker, vecchio amico, is you just have to be smarter than the person you’re playing against. Know their face, then you’ll know their hand.”

He lowered his voice. “I’ve seen your face, ~Marino~.”

The room went silent.

“Let’s get out of here,” Detective Blake muttered after a moment, and the room began to clear of all the armed officers.

Luca rose to his feet, followed by the other two family leaders.

“It’s your turn, Marino,” he called out. “What card will you play next?” When the detective turned to face him, Luca shrugged. “This place won’t be here tomorrow.”

The detective narrowed his eyes. “Meaning?”

“Luca—” Mr. Duvall began, but Luca cut him off.

“Your ~sources~ will be useless to you by morning. I will have sold this place. By morning, it will no longer be under my name.”

“Anything you think you know about this place will be useless to you. You’ll have to start all over again.” A smile stretched across Luca’s face. “Like I said, ~Detective Blake~, it’s your move.”

Luca stood with his hands in his pants pockets as the detective spun on his heel and stalked out of the grand room.

Hayley let out a shaky breath as Nic helped her to her feet. The detective was gone, and Luca, and her secrets, were still safe.

LUCA

“Fuck,” Matteo said as men began to pick up the tables around them.

Luca’s eyes went to Hayley. Nic was helping her to a stool by the bar. She looked shaken up.

“Did you get a tip-off, Marcello?” Lorenzo asked, and Luca shook his head.

Ric jumped over the bar and began pouring drinks, and some guys began to hand out the glasses. Luca watched as Hayley took one.

“No, but we needed to coax out our detective,” he finally replied. “Fighting him with weapons, or even having weapons on the premises, would have led to us being arrested.”

A Genovese man came over with a tray of drinks. Both Lorenzo and Matteo took a tumbler, but Luca refused his.

“Adam Marino, huh?” Matteo said as he took a sip of the hard liquor.

“He already knows so much,” Lorenzo hissed, throwing back his drink and then getting another from the tray the guy had placed on a nearby table.

“Yes, but he made a huge mistake tonight. He showed his face.” Luca looked back at Hayley. Frankie was sitting with her now, and Nic had gone to start the cleanup and complete the rest of Luca’s plan.

“We know who he is,” Luca continued. “Our police informants also know who he is. Tonight his ego made him show his hand. But how we play ours is still crucial.”

He was already hatching his next plan. His father had always taught him to stay two steps ahead, and in this situation, Luca had to be even farther ahead than that.

“My rat?” Lorenzo asked quietly, so it was only heard by the three of them.

“He’ll be used to put pressure on Marino, since he’ll act quickly if he thinks he has information on us. The cop won’t want to lose any more rats—he won’t want to start all over again,” Luca whispered.

“Like he did tonight, he will act quickly and foolishly.” Luca was sure of that.

“Our weapons?” Matteo asked, and Luca smiled.

“I had my men transport them to a safe location. Nic will text your right hands the location in the morning.”

“Well done, Marcello,” Matteo said before he finished his drink and picked up a second.

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, Genovese. We have to tread carefully from here on out.”

He wasn’t going to lie—Adam Marino was still a huge problem. His brothers had been strong Mafia men, his family had been caught in the crossfire of the other three families, and he was driven by a thirst for vengeance.

HAYLEY

“You okay?” Frankie asked as she sipped the brown liquor.

She nodded.

“Baby?”

She turned on the stool as Luca put his hand on her back, and she smiled up at him.

“Let’s get you home,” he murmured, then helped her down from the stool, her hand tight in his. He pulled her protectively into his side.

“I’ll drive you, Boss,” Frankie said, walking alongside them.

“Goodnight, darling.” Lorenzo was leaning back in a chair with a cigar in one hand and holding up his glass with the other as if toasting her.

“Yes. Goodnight, Hayley.” Matteo, who sat beside Lorenzo, chuckled lightly.

“Goodnight,” she said weakly. She didn’t want to come across as rude, even if she did want to punch Lorenzo Borroni in the face.

“Come on, baby,” Luca whispered into her ear.

She was shaking as Luca led her out to the lobby, but she wasn’t sure if it was a delayed reaction to the situation or just the drop in temperature.

Luca pulled away from her and shrugged out of his suit jacket, placing it carefully on her shoulders, and she breathed in his familiar cologne—her favorite smell—and snuggled into the warmth from his body.

He pulled her back into his side and led her to the car, where she rested her head on his chest as he held her tight.

She had so many questions she wanted to ask him. She wanted to know why he bailed out Lorenzo. She wanted to know more about the detective—aka Adam Marino. But she was too exhausted and in need of Luca’s affection.

***

“Do you want to talk about tonight?” Luca asked.

They were back in his room, and she was taking her hair down, leaving it in loose messy curls.

Yes, she did. “No.”

He took a deep breath, then sat on the edge of the bed and removed his shoes and socks.

“You sure?”

He stood up, and she walked toward him and turned so her back was to him. She moved her hair over one shoulder, and he unzipped her.

Turning to face him, she looked up into his eyes and shook her head. “Not tonight,” she said softly. “I just want you.”

He pulled her to him and kissed her passionately, and her dress slipped to the floor and pooled at her feet.

She wanted all the answers, all the truths, but she was also terrified of them. She was playing a dangerous game that she knew she’d eventually lose.

But for tonight, it was enough to lose herself in Luca.