Chapter 5: Another Shot of Whiskey

LUCA

After Nic drove them to an exclusive bar, he waited by the car while Luca took a jumpy Hayley inside.

They sat down on a low leather sofa, and Luca ordered them some drinks before calling Frankie. As he briefly discussed the cleanup in Italian, he noticed Hayley glancing uneasily around the quiet bar.

He also noticed that her eyes kept returning to the singer. Not that he could blame her—Evelyn was an amazing vocalist and an expressive performer.

He, on the other hand, kept his eyes on Hayley, watching closely as she absently fiddled with a charm bracelet on her right wrist.

Who was this girl who stood up to him so boldly, who worked out that those men were cheating him?

When Frankie had finished updating him, Luca hung up and studied Hayley for a couple more seconds, pursing his lips.

She was obviously nervous, the bravado from before long gone.

Perhaps the little spitfire was finally scared of him. Perhaps she was now aware of the evil he was capable of.

The thought made the demon inside him laugh, sick freak that he was.

HAYLEY

“Hayley.”

His voice brought her out of her reverie, and her gaze caught on his dark, chocolate eyes.

He was a handsome man—there was no denying that. But she was growing increasingly frightened of him. Every time she thought about those three gunshots, her stomach churned.

“Are they dead?” she asked quietly, although she already knew the answer.

He nodded once, solemnly, and she felt her stomach drop.

He took a sip of the expensive whiskey the waiter had brought for them, and she picked up her own whiskey tumbler and threw the harsh liquor to the back of her throat.

This man had killed people just because they were ~cheating~.

“Are you going to kill me?” she asked, her voice weak.

He chuckled. “Scared now, bella?” His tone was low and dark, and it made the panic inside her rise.

He smiled, as if the thought of her fear pleased him, then took another sip of his whiskey. “I thought you could handle yourself.”

Hayley cringed when she remembered how confident and brave she’d been with him. That was before she realized he was a mob boss—before she heard him kill three people.

She gave herself a mental shake, trying to pull herself together. If Luca was going to kill her anyway, why stop acting brave? She might as well go out bold, confident, and showing no fear.

“I can.” But the words came out quieter, weaker, than she’d hoped.

Luca gestured to the waiter, who brought her another whiskey.

“Are you going to kill me?” she asked again, and this time her words came out with purpose.

His eyebrows raised as she lifted her glass. “I could be killing you right now.”

She pulled the glass from her mouth and eyed it, her heart racing. He was right—he was a mob boss; he could be poisoning her.

Less messy this way, she supposed.

And maybe he was a sadistic bastard who liked to watch people die slowly.

“If I was, you wouldn’t be able to run.” His eyes locked on hers, and she was captured by their intensity, drawn in by his cold stare. “You wouldn’t get away alive, bella.”

Hayley drew in a shaky breath, then pressed her lips together and lifted her glass toward Luca. “Well then, to life—or what’s left of it.” She threw back the rest of the whiskey.

LUCA

Luca had never been so impressed by anyone before. This woman truly surprised him. He had just implied he was poisoning her, yet she’d downed her drink without hesitation.

He noticed her hand was shaking slightly as she placed the glass back on the table, but she still gestured to the waiter to get her another drink.

“If you are poisoning me, ~Luca~”—his mouth twitched when he heard her say his name—“I may as well enjoy the drinks.”

“Oh, so you’re an only-live-once type of girl, Hayley?”

The waiter placed her third drink in front of her. She thanked him, then looked back at Luca and shrugged. “We’re all going to die anyway.”

She put the tumbler to her lips and took a dainty little sip before lifting her blue eyes to meet his gaze. “Nobody can live forever.”

Luca laughed, surprised at how much her words echoed his uncle’s mantra: ~Mafia men can’t live forever~. Words he’d grown up with and adhered to.

“You would willingly drink poison?”

She shook her head at his words, making her loose curls bounce, then took another sip of whiskey.

“I’d already drunk the first glass, Luca,” she said, raising one eyebrow.

Luca just sat there, lost in her hypnotic, yet now glassy, blue eyes.

“I was already done for, like you said, and I couldn’t run. I had very little choice. So rather than fight death, I allowed myself to enjoy the expensive drink and the amazing—”

He thought she’d been about to say the word ~company~, but she pulled her gaze away from his and glanced over at Evelyn.

“—singer.”

“She ~is~ good,” he said as Evelyn started to sing a popular song that she’d changed so it was almost unrecognizable. “One of the best. I only hire the best.”

Hayley nodded as she took another sip of her whiskey, her eyes still focused on the stage.

“How did you figure out the dealer was false shuffling?” he asked her.

She slowly turned her head to face him, then sighed and placed her third empty glass on the table. “My dad wanted boys.”

The waiter went to get another glass, but Luca could see Hayley was getting a little tipsy, so he shook his head at him.

Luca didn’t want to carry her home, or for her to vomit in the back of his car. He also wanted her to make sense—because he wanted to hear her thoughts, to finally read her.

Hayley chuckled and said, “He and my uncle taught me to play darts, pool, poker. I even had to play golf until I finally put my foot down.” Then her eyes became distant—and sad.

She shook her head. “My dad also wanted me to never fall for cheaters and liars, so he showed me how to spot false shuffling and all the other cheaters’ tricks.”

“Your dad taught you well.” Luca finished his first glass and set it down. “I haven’t poisoned you, you know.”

He could see the relief in her eyes but knew it wouldn’t last. Just because he hadn’t poisoned her didn’t mean he wasn’t planning to kill her another way.

“But you know who I am, what I’m capable of.”

“I didn’t want to know you,” she said.

“I feel the same about you, Hayley.” Evelyn was still singing, filling the room with her hypnotic voice. “But you’ve made yourself known to the most powerful man in New York City.”

“I haven’t told you anything, Luca.”

She was right; he knew nothing about the English beauty, other than she was running from someone—somebody who she feared more than the Mafia boss who sat across from her. This piqued his interest.

“Who are you running from?” he pressed, watching as she nervously pushed a stray bit of hair behind her ear, noticing the pain in her eyes.

“I’m not running from anyone.”

“Don’t lie to me, Hayley. Siobhan told me you’re running, but she wouldn’t tell me from whom.”

Hayley glanced around the room like a trapped animal.

“Hayley,” Luca purred, causing her focus to return to him. “If Siobhan promised you safety, she means it. She always keeps her promises. But who are you running from?”

She swallowed nervously. “The past.”

That answer was never going to be good enough for him, but apparently that was all she was willing to tell.

Normally he wouldn’t care why someone needed Siobhan’s help or why someone hid behind his army. But Hayley was something else. He craved information about her, needed to know who’d made her run from her old life.

He’d get to the bottom of it eventually.

“I heard you kill,” she blurted out. “I know your secret—are you going to kill me?”

The firecracker was back, and her fierceness made him chuckle lightly.

“Hayley. I didn’t bring you here to kill you.”

She gave a relieved sigh at his words, and Luca smiled.

He knew she was still scared, though. But that was what he wanted, wasn’t it? She’d disrespected him, and now she knew not to mess with him.

“Another drink?” he asked now that she seemed a little calmer.

She slowly nodded, and the waiter caught Luca’s eye and brought two more glasses.

Hayley looked back at Evelyn, who was singing an upbeat number.

“You really do like her, don’t you?” Luca had brought many women here, but none had ever seemed as enchanted by Evelyn as Hayley did.

She smiled and nodded, then clapped at the end of the song. When Evelyn began another, Hayley turned to him, her face aglow.

“It’s because she sings from the heart. I love music, love how it can make you feel anything. She’s wonderful.” Hayley beamed, and something stirred inside him.

“Whatever you’re running from, it won’t get to you.”

Hayley took a sharp inhale. “I don’t need protecting.”

“Like it or not, you work for me—”

“I work for Siobhan,” she countered.

He took a sip of his drink, keeping his eyes on hers, then said, “I’m Siobhan’s silent partner. I give her, her club, and her employees protection.”

Luca had vowed to look after his godmother and her Venetian empire. He had many enemies, and her clubs were a major target since that was where a lot of his family was and where a lot of his business happened.

Hayley was part of Siobhan’s empire now, and that meant he had to protect her. And to be honest, a part of him craved looking after her. He studied the beautiful girl across from him.

She was stunning, fiery, and brave. Those last two were characteristics he didn’t tend to look for in a woman, but Hayley was different.

He believed somewhere underneath her brave front was a broken girl who needed protecting, and a part of him longed to be that hero—the one to look after her.

However, a bigger part of him knew that he couldn’t have her, and not because he didn’t want her. No, he didn’t want to hurt her. Because a Marcello man could never love.

Never.

HAYLEY

“Hayley.”

His voice was deep, smooth, and did something to Hayley that only one other voice had ever done. Her stomach flipped, and she had trouble catching her breath.

The man was dangerous but sexy as hell, and she knew she should run in the opposite direction. The last thing she needed was to fall for a man like him.

He killed people and was proud of it, and Hayley had to fight whatever her body was trying to make her feel.

“I think”—Luca reached into his trouser pocket—“I’d best give this back.”

He placed her trusty switchblade on the table, and she picked it up and placed it carefully in her own pocket.

“I’ll take you home.”

She nodded, then knocked back the last bit of her drink before taking his outstretched hand.

He helped her put on her leather jacket, then put his hand on her lower back and led her outside, where Nic was waiting in the black SUV.

They didn’t speak the entire journey. Instead, she looked out the window at the city that Nic was so skillfully navigating. Her mind was a blur.

She’d thought Luca was going to kill her, she’d drunk way too many glasses of whiskey for midday, and she was now positive that he stirred something inside her—something she swore she would never feel again.

But she knew she could never let those feelings show. Luca was dangerous, and she didn’t want to get hurt again. Besides, as he said, she was his employee.

The car pulled up in front of her apartment building, and Luca helped her out of the car, gripping her waist with one hand.

The alcohol had gone slightly to her head, and when she placed her hand on his shoulder to steady herself, she looked up at him.

He was gazing down at her with hunger in his eyes.