Chapter 7: A Feather Girl

LUCA

Luca watched Hayley head over to the bar.

He didn’t want her here, but he needed a waitress, and Hayley was the most competent. The other day shift girls were unreliable.

And unlike most of the other girls, she could keep a secret. She’d ~shown~ him she knew the value of secrets.

“A round of coffee,” he instructed sternly. She nodded and went behind the bar to set up the state-of-the-art coffee machine.

“Borroni is after the turf, Boss,” one of the men said in English, and Luca sighed.

He wished they spoke Italian, but these guys had very little Italian in them. They were, however, Frankie’s best street soldiers.

Hayley didn’t seem to be paying attention to the men anyway; she was just there to earn her money.

“He’s pressing down on the runners,” the man continued.

Frankie’s face hardened, and Luca sighed again as he thought of the young men he was losing daily—the low-end guys just starting with the family, who carried money and drugs between them and the dealers.

He knew this hurt Frankie the most because, unlike Nic and Luca, Frankie had been a runner before working his way up.

Like he always said, if Nic was his right-hand man, Frankie was his left. He needed both to be the leader he was.

Hayley began to serve black coffee, and the other men couldn’t keep their eyes off her beautiful curves. He couldn’t blame them—her body was begging to be touched—but it still pissed him off.

“Borroni needs to be taught a lesson,” Frankie spat harshly.

Not long ago, Frankie had had to identify a runner and then bury him quietly. The guy was just eighteen and promising, but he ran into an ambush, and the animals tore him apart.

Luca shook his head. “We can’t have a war just yet. We have our own losses to count.” A war would mean his family would have to go underground. His businesses would be at risk, and so would their employees.

He glanced over at Hayley, who was busily cleaning the bar top, and suppressed a smile. He knew for a fact that thing was spotless before she arrived.

“So what should we do?” one of his street soldiers asked him.

“All runners are to work in pairs and be extra vigilant. Avoid Borroni’s territory. Let’s sit it out to see what he’s really up to.”

Hayley served more coffee as Luca discussed money, people, and drug shipments with his men. Then Luca dismissed everyone. He stayed behind.

When Hayley walked over to the table and began to clear away the cups, Luca approached her from behind. She put the cups down and turned to face him.

“Is everything okay?” she asked him.

He nodded, then sighed.

His world was never okay. He was always walking a fine line between life and death. He was always being reminded of his horrendous dark side—a side that others would keep hidden.

But Luca could never hide his dark side—it was too large and too dominant to control.

Frankie had just told him about four more young guys that had died at his enemy’s hands over the past couple of days. Luca hated that he couldn’t protect them all.

As for him, he was a walking target. Every day enemies aimed for him—a quick bullet to the head and he’d be gone—which, to be honest, didn’t scare him at all.

The cops were also out for blood. They’d take a living witness or an outspoken rat, and that would be enough to see Luca put away for life.

But he also knew how dangerous his world could be for those who got close to him. Frankie and Nic knew the dangers—they knew people would kill them to bring him down.

Luca also knew people would use Siobhan to get to him. She was someone he couldn’t protect from his world, but he would die trying.

And then there were people like Hayley. People who were innocent of all Mafia deeds yet could get hurt just the same—just for knowing a mobster like him.

HAYLEY

Luca put his hands on her waist and sighed.

“Hayley…”

Her heart hummed as he gently pulled her closer to him.

“Listen to me.” His voice was firm and assertive. “If anyone asks you about me, or any Marcello man, you don’t know us.”

“Why would anyone ask me anything?” She shook her head, but something in his face made her realize he was being serious. Was he really that dangerous?

Of course he was!

“Hayley, if people know you work here, cops will try to use you to gain access, and my enemies could use you as well. So please never mention me or that you know any member of the Marcello family.”

Hayley nodded. She understood.

She’d never seen this vulnerable side to him. Losing those guys they’d just spoken about seemed to crush him—something she would never have expected.

“I’m not a good man, Hayley.” He sighed again, and she nodded. She knew this.

She wasn’t dumb, but sometimes his actions made her forget what type of guy he was. The flowers were a prime example of that.

He lifted his hand and cupped her cheek. “I use people to get what I want—sex, money, and power.”

He searched her eyes with his beautiful brown ones, then shook his head and slowly dropped his hand.

“I’m not stupid, Luca,” she reminded him.

“I never stated otherwise. But I’m a bad guy, Hayley. A very bad guy. And the flowers, the drinks at the bar—that is not me.”

“Then why pretend? Why bother?” she asked, more harshly than she intended.

“Because I use people. I paid for your silence. Just remember—I am not good.”

With that, he turned on his heel and left the room.

Hayley just stared at the door, like he might come back through and take her in his arms and passionately kiss her. But she knew that he wouldn’t.

She wasn’t special to him; she was just another woman who worked for him. The feather promise made her unattainable, which intrigued him.

But that was all it was.

***

That evening, Hayley visited Siobhan in her office, a little tired but happy for the extra shifts.

“I’ve noticed you’ve done some private waitressing services,” Siobhan said casually as she flipped through some papers on her desk.

Hayley shifted uncomfortably—where was Siobhan going with this?

“Strictly professional, Siobhan. Not a feather in sight,” she explained, although there was nothing to explain. Not really.

But Hayley owed her friend and boss so much. Siobhan had risked her own life to get Hayley through Europe, had nursed her back to health before hiding her away in Paris.

Siobhan looked up from the papers. “I take it you understand who he is?”

Hayley nodded. “I understand he’s a Mafia boss, a man who will kill in a heartbeat.”

She wasn’t stupid. She knew Luca was a dangerous criminal—she’d heard him kill three men. But that didn’t stop her from thinking about him.

She supposed even the most sensible of women sometimes craved a dark, mysterious bad boy…right?

Siobhan sighed. “Luca’s a difficult man to understand, little bird.”

Hayley sighed at the nickname.

She knew her friend just wanted to protect her, but sometimes Siobhan treated her like she was still that broken little bird she found in Russia, like she needed to be kept in a gilded cage.

She shook her head. “Good thing I’m not trying to understand him then.” She grinned at her boss as she put her mask back on. “I’m a big girl; I can handle myself.”

She stood up and smiled warmly before leaving the room.

When she reached the VIP balcony area beyond Siobhan’s office, she stopped short. The man she couldn’t stop thinking about was sitting in one of the booths. And he wasn’t alone.

A blonde beauty was straddling him, and his hands rested on the top of her thighs.

~Arianna.~