Chapter 8: Salt and Sugar

LUCA

Hayley’s brilliant eyes betrayed everything she was thinking in this moment, and she was obviously jealous of Arianna.

He watched her shake her head as if snapping herself out of a daze, then stride out of the VIP balcony.

Part of him wanted to slip the blonde feather girl off his lap and chase after Hayley, to explain that he’d assumed she wasn’t here. But would that honestly make it any better?

He had to make it clear to her that she was just like every other girl in here.

But truthfully? She wasn’t. Hayley wasn’t anything like the girls here. For one thing, she didn’t wear a feather.

Maybe that was why he wanted her so much, why he was slightly obsessed with her. She didn’t wear a feather, and she wouldn’t wear one just to get with him, unlike so many others.

He chuckled wryly. ~Typical.~ He always seemed to want what he couldn’t have.

HAYLEY

“You okay?” Ben asked when Hayley slammed the cash register for the third time. “Something happen in your meeting with Siobhan?”

“I’m fine,” Hayley said, then bravely took another peek at the balcony. All night Arianna had sat beside Luca, nuzzling his neck as she sipped the champagne he’d ordered for her.

And now he was looking over the balcony, trying to catch Hayley’s eye. The nerve. She looked away and began to tidy up around Ben.

Why was she so jealous? Luca wasn’t hers, and until she wore a feather, he never would be.

***

Hours later, Hayley sat in the dressing room, tired and trying to be thorough while removing the little makeup she wore. The other girls were talking about the money they’d made—money that the Marcello men had given them.

Hayley turned her attention to the roses in their crystal vase. One of them had started wilting already. All beauty fades, and so does a man’s interest. Luca’s hadn’t even lasted as long as the flowers he’d sent.

Ava had invited her, along with some of the other feather girls, out for some breakfast. But Hayley wasn’t interested, so she just watched as the other night shift girls left at the unglamorous time of five o’clock in the morning.

Alone in the huge, messy, perfume-filled dressing room, she brushed out the last of the curls in her hair before putting it in a simple ponytail.

The door opened suddenly, and there he stood, his dark, brooding stare locked onto hers in the mirror. She slowly put down the brush.

She couldn’t control her damn heart as it pounded in her chest, or the feeling in the pit of her stomach as they stared into each other’s eyes. This was irrational, and she hated it. Didn’t she?

“Can I help you?” she said, raising her eyebrows, and he stepped inside and closed the door.

You’d never guess that he’d been drinking and playing cards and carrying on with feather girls all night. He still looked pristine.

“I’d like to take you for breakfast.”

Hayley stood up slowly and turned to face him. “I’m not hungry,” she lied, then grimaced when her stomach growled and gave her away.

He laughed, and Hayley was struck again by how handsome he was, how gentle his face appeared when he was happy.

“Fine,” she huffed. “You can take me to breakfast.” She reached for her jacket, and Luca opened the door for her, then placed his hand on the small of her back.

Frankie and Nic were waiting outside the club. And she’d also heard the names of the other two bulky guys who were with them—one was Ric and one was Dom. They were standing in front of three huge blacked-out SUVs.

“How many cars do you own?” she choked out, and Luca chuckled.

“I have quite a few. These SUVs are heavy cars,” he said as he stopped in front of the guys.

“Heavy?” she asked, and Frankie laughed out loud at her ignorance but answered her question.

“They’re armed, Hayley,” he explained. “Bulletproof. Ready for anything.”

“Oh.” That was all she could say. The cars were prepared for violence. Brilliant.

“Nic, you’re driving us,” Luca said. “Frankie, you have to check the lockup to make sure everything is going well. Dom and Ric, I need you two to stay close.”

Everyone sprang into action at their boss’s orders.

Luca opened the car door and held out his hand for Hayley. “After you.” She took his hand, and he helped her into the back seat.

“Hayley,” he said quietly after he slid in beside her. “The four guys you have just seen, if you ever need to get help, for whatever reason, they’re the only four people—after me—you can trust.”

Her heart raced at his words. “What makes you think I trust ~you~?” she said, shooting him a suspicious glare.

He laughed. “Bella, if you don’t trust me, getting into this heavy car was a huge mistake.” His face became serious again. “Always remember, even salt can look like sugar.”

An uncontrollable shiver coursed through her body. He’d said those words so calmly, yet she knew how easy it would be for him to kill her.

But she acted brave, like his words didn’t affect her.

“I trust no one, Luca.”

LUCA

Luca believed her. He believed this girl preferred to fight than trust—and that saddened him. What was she fighting for? What, or who, had pushed her to this life of isolation?

Nic stopped outside the twenty-four-hour diner, and when he gave Luca the nod, Luca opened the door and got out.

He helped Hayley out of the car, then led her into the diner and to a booth by the window where he could see Nic sitting in the car on his phone.

He wasted no time ordering coffee when the waitress approached their booth, and Hayley did the same.

After perusing the sticky menu, she looked at him over the top, eyebrows raised. “This doesn’t seem your type of place to eat, Luca.”

He smirked. “I’m an opportunist, Hayley.”

She put down the menu, brow furrowed, but before she could ask the question he knew she was dying to, the waitress came over with two mugs of coffee and asked if they were ready to order.

“Can we have another couple of minutes?” Luca asked the waitress, who nodded a reply and left again. His eyes went back to Hayley.

“An opportunist?” Hayley asked, clasping her mug in both hands.

Luca felt a cold blast of air on his neck as the door to the café opened.

His eyes went straight to his cousin Nic, who nodded from the car—the informant was here.

A guy dressed in casual jeans walked past their booth. Luca watched him take a stool at the counter, then looked at a very confused Hayley.

“Excuse me, bella,” he murmured as he slid out of the booth.

He walked up to the counter and stood two stools away from the guy who’d just entered the café.

Luca knew he was playing a dangerous game: broad daylight, no men, and a very public place. He glanced at Hayley. She was watching him intently, her hands still gripping her coffee mug.

He was being reckless. This bastard could be betraying him, leading Borroni’s men straight to him.

But that was why he needed this taken care of now.