THE GAMBLER: a Mafia Romance (Bad Romance Book 3)
Author: Bell, Shanna
Date: 2018-11-03

Contents

Title

Synopsis

Chapter 1 Tess

Chapter 2 Tess

Chapter 3 Luca

Chapter 4 Luca

Chapter 5 Tess

Chapter 6 Luca

Chapter 7 Tess

Chapter 8 Luca

Chapter 9 Tess

Chapter 10 Luca

Chapter 11 Tess

Chapter 12 Luca

Chapter 13 Tess

Chapter 14 Luca

Chapter 15 Tess

Chapter 16 Luca

Chapter 17 Luca

Chapter 18 Tess

Chapter 19 Tess

Chapter 20 Luca

Chapter 21 Tess

EPILOGUE

Plea from the author

Next book in the series

Sneak peek "The players"

Want to follow me?

BAD ROMANCE:

THE GAMBLER

SHANNA BELL

Copyright © 2018 by Shanna Bell

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

All trademarks are the property of their owners.

Copy editor : Jenn Wood

Cover by : Les

HIM...

I will get out from behind these bars.

I’ll make those who put me here pay.

All I need is her; the lock to my cell.

HER...

I’m a geeky hacktivist; the internet is my oyster.

But that’s not going to save my family.

I need him; a Kraken to beat a shark.

Game on...

CHAPTER 1

TESS

Being blackmailed by a loan shark sucked.

As Tess cracked the engine of her vintage car, she thought about how it had been three glorious months since she’d last heard from her deadbeat father.

Then, three days ago, the dreaded phone call happened. As usual, Rufus was broke and in trouble. Every once in a blue moon, he popped back into her life, and the moment was always followed by a disaster. Though this time, he had outdone even himself—getting kidnapped by a loan shark and giving his daughter up as collateral. Like she was his private bank or something.

She didn’t know the specifics of his deal gone awry, nor did she really care. All she knew was the guy who took Rufus’ phone from him scared the crap out of her. Irish Mick’s assignment had been simple: get him ten thousand dollars within forty-eight hours or her father would end up in some ditch. So was the hazardous life of a con artist, a man who lived by one rule only—get rich fast or die trying.

Tess couldn’t remember the number of times she almost ended up in a ditch, or behind bars, right beside Rufus. Actually, she had an eidetic memory, so she could remember every time—she just chose not to. She had actually taken computer courses back in the day just to learn how to digitally remove her juvenile rap sheet. Little had she known she would get addicted to said digital world, which was so much easier to live in than the real one. Numbers made sense; people, not so much.

Now, at twenty-seven, she found it easy to rule the universe from behind a computer screen. As a hacker, or an Elf lord, she could practically do and be anything she wanted. What she never did was bring the online world into her real life, though. That is, until her father dragged her back into the murkier waters of hacking for evil, once again.

So here she was, driving at night in one of San Francisco’s shady neighborhoods with a bag of money. Of course, that was when her old Beetle decided to die on her. Smoke started filling her windshield.

With a sigh, she got out and popped open the hood. She looked at the engine. The engine stared back at her. Nope, she wasn’t even going to pretend to know anything about a car’s mechanics. When it came to hardware, she might as well be a ninety-year-old holding a smartphone for the first time. Crap. It was almost ten o’clock and she still had two blocks to go to meet this Mick guy.

“Car trouble?”

She snapped her head around and spotted a guy leaning against the wall of the copy shop her car had died next to. With the way her life was going lately, the guy was probably a closet axe murderer.

Raised by her grandfather, who believed in the radical honesty principle, Tess found it hard to lie. Often, she just ignored a question or a person altogether. Most people got the hint.

“Want me to take a look at that?”

This one obviously didn’t. Sigh. “Nope, I’ve got this.”

Creepy eyes kept staring at her legs and started to make her feel uncomfortable. It was a hot summer night and she liked her cut-off jeans. Didn’t mean she liked to be ogled.

“Sure you don’t want me to take a look underneath the hood?”

Oh, she was so sure. “Positive.”

“Maybe I can give you a ride.”

An image of rope, duct tape, and a shovel popped into her mind.

She gave him her back and pondered what to do. The meeting point with Mick the Dick wasn’t far away. He had mentioned a certain fast food joint. She took her duffel bag out of the car and started walking.

“Hey! You feeling too good to talk to me?”

Actually, yes, I am.

Ignoring the guy yelling behind her, she picked up her pace. Then she heard feet following. Now, she really started running. If they would have been in her world, she would have so kicked his ass. Unfortunately, the streets of San Fran, nor the characters roaming it, didn’t look anything like World of Warcraft. She didn’t carry a sword to defend herself against an enemy, and certainly no health potion to bring her back to life if that creep got to her. Aside from the occasional hobo, there was no one there. No one to alert the police if she got robbed, mugged, or killed. She was so going to kick Rufus’ ass for this.

The bright green neon sign with the clover across the street was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. She had just run in front of another car when something caught her ponytail.

She turned around, ready to fend off her attacker, when he pushed her against a garage door. The breath left her body, making her head spin. Her arms settled around the bag, not planning to give it up without a fight.

A hand wrapped around her throat, and she stared into dilated pupils, then traveled down to see rotten teeth.

“Great, you’re as high as a kite.” And he smelled like she imagined an orc would. Really bad.

“Now there, pretty purple cat, why you running away?”

“Isn’t it obvious? You look like a crazy junkie. Now, get away from me.”

He fisted her curls, twisted them around his wrist, making her skull hurt. “No, what I’m going to do is fuck you and make you purr. You’re a wild one, aren’t you? With your purple hair, tight little shorts, and these leather cuffs.” His hand went to one of her spiked leather wrist bands. “I bet you like it rough.”

Dammit. The BDSM scene had ruined any leather gear with spikes on them.

“Those are just for decoration. It was a gift.”

From my crazy grandfather. Oh, there’s also a chip in them so he can track me down when shit hits the fan.

Please don’t let shit hit the fan.

“Let her go, Bane. She’s here for me.”

Bane turned away from her and she peeked over his shoulder. Irish accent, red tracksuit, and sounding familiar. Yep, this must be the guy she spoke to the other night.

Saved by the loan shark. Wonderful.

“She don’t look like one of the girls from your stable,” Bane said, a snarl in his voice.

Tess gritted her teeth. Now she was being compared to a prostitute. Could this night get any worse?

Mick looked her up and down. “That’s because she ain’t.” He chuckled. “When Rufus told me you were a computer genius, I expected big glasses and pimples.” His eyes roamed over her body, resting on her unicorn top declaring that a unicorn didn’t believe in humans. “I didn’t know you were pretty. We could certainly find you a clientele.”

Keep it cool, Tess. Remember, you’re in his world now.

“That’s really flattering, and also makes me want to vomit. No offense.” She held up her bag. “Can we please wrap this up? I got what you wanted. Where’s Rufus?”

Bane’s head snapped back to her bag.

She couldn’t help but give him a grin. “I bet you regret going for me now instead of my bag, don’t you?” She rubbed it in.

He growled, but since Mick was apparently top dog compared to Bane’s junkie ass, he let her go. After one last hateful look, he slithered back into the night.

Tess handed Mick the bag. “It’s all there.” He didn’t even bother to count the money. Just peeked inside the bag, made sure it was in there, and then zipped it shut. She looked into nearby cars to spot her father. “Now, where’s Rufus?”

Mick smiled. It wasn’t a nice one, more of a cross between a grizzly and a Sith Lord.

“See you next week, unicorn. Make it twenty this time.”

“What? Wait. No! That wasn’t the deal.” Tess realized she had made a monumental mistake—she paid him off too quickly. Now he believed getting him twenty grand was a walk in the park.

He laughed right in her face, like a cartoon villain. “It is now.” Then he simply walked away with her hard stolen money.

This clearly wasn’t going to work. Unlike what he seemed to think, internet scamming wasn’t child’s play. Not in the long run, when being caught increased every time you did it. Unfortunately, she didn’t have the means to go up against Mick by herself.

She pulled out her phone and glanced on the app that had just copied Mick’s phone. Mick Rourke, bastard extraordinaire, had just made it on to her shit list and was about to find out you never cross a geek.

Because what did you do when you couldn’t beat a loan shark? You brought in a Kraken.

CHAPTER 2

TESS

San Quentin prison was exactly what Tess expected it to be—dark and gloomy. It sent chills through her as she passed along security and was led to a structure away from the actual prison. The place was barred with a big fence. From what she could see, it was more like a row of motel rooms stacked against each other. At the end of the row, she saw another guard leading a woman inside. Her husband, or boyfriend, was waiting for her outside, and they crashed into each other in a big hug. No hugs for her, of course. That wasn’t the reason she was here.

Nope, she was here to enlist someone’s help in exchange for a favor. She was getting really desperate at keeping her little family together. To not knuckle under the weight of the financial mess her father had put her in. Every day, it became more and more difficult not to cross over to the Dark Side. Sure, Anakin Skywalker had turned into a freak after he succumbed to his darker side, but hey, look at the man now. He was doing just fine, roaming in a galaxy far, far away. Darth Vader never had to worry about paying rent, putting food on the table, or help pay off his father’s debts.

It would be really easy too. All she had to do was hack into a few credit card accounts, hardly a challenge. Of course, she would pick big corporate assholes, starting with the CEO’s of Big Pharma. They wouldn’t even feel a few thousand dollars gone missing here and there. But then what? The Dark Side would lurk. Collecting digital coins could quickly get out of hand and in the end, she might get caught. She was already skimming money from too many various sources. The more she took, the bigger the chance of it no longer going undetected. Thus, landing her ass in jail. Then who would take care of her pops?

All of this went through her head as she stood waiting in the small hallway for her prince in orange armor to show up. It didn’t take long before her mark entered the room.

The first thing she noticed about Luciano Detta was that he wore no orange jumpsuit. He was dressed in jeans and a black wife beater. She should have known that. After all, conjugal visits were to sustain relationships between an inmate and his family, so the situation should look as normal as possible. The second thing she noticed was the impassive look on his face. He was standing in the doorway that led to a small living room. His arms were folded in front of his large chest—much larger than she’d seen from pictures—and his legs spread wide, as if he was taking a stand. He didn’t look anything like the corporate guy in a ten-thousand-dollar suit she had familiarized herself with.

She gave him a tentative smile. “Hi, I’m Tess Gib—”

“Don’t give a fuck. Drop your pants. Turn around. Hands and face to the wall.”

“What?”

“Don’t pretend like this is a fucking date. You’re not the usual crazy the twins send to me, or what I expected, but hey, whatever gets your motor running. It’s not like I got anything else to do. Now, remove your pants, and turn your ass to me.”

Oh.

It suddenly dawned on her that he actually expected the conjugal visit to be, well, conjugal. And judging by his words, it was a common occurrence as well. Not that she was surprised by that. He was hot, in a “bad boy with great arm muscles” kind of way. So, it was no wonder that apparently women threw themselves at him, even when he was a convict. Then again, there were women who would bang anything. Even serial killers had a prison following, after all.

“Um, there seems to be a misunderstanding,” she started.

He was on her in a heartbeat, pushing her up against the wall.

His breath was hot on her cheek. “What? Not what you expected from a convict? Did you picture this to be a twisted romantic story in your head? You thought I was going to make love to you?” He laughed, sounding bitter. “This will be nothing more than a quick fuck. You got me?”

Tess channeled her inner Princess Leia to push him away. When he noticed she wasn’t playing around, he let her go. The surprise on his face was almost comical.

“There will be no fuck, quick or otherwise,” she stated. Why were the men in her life always prone to a quick fuck? Whatever happened to the long, hot love making sessions she read about in romance novels? “I didn’t come here for that. Not with you, a dude I barely know, and definitely not in a place that’s probably swarming with bacteria. Yuck. Also, I have a boyfriend.” Trevor may not be able to make her lady parts tingle every time—or much at all—but they were committed nonetheless.

His eyes narrowed. “Who the fuck are you?”

“Now you’re just sounding like Hector. You could have just asked that question without dropping an f-bomb.”

Finally, a form of understanding dawned on his face. He folded his arms in front of his chest. “My brother sent you.”

“Nope. I’m here all by myself. See, my father is in trouble and I want you to help him out.”

His lopsided smirk told her he thought she was crazy. Oddly, that reaction was a common occurrence. “Sure. I’ll just break myself out and then go help you. Easy.”

She didn’t appreciate his sarcasm, but couldn’t really blame him, as she was explaining this poorly.

“I will provide you with documents that will get you out of here. In return, I want you to get Rufus out of the hands of a certain loan shark. Do we have a deal?”

He slowly looked her up and down, his eyes lingering a sec on her black thermal fingerless gloves. It didn’t seem as if he saw anything he liked. She really hated that dismissive look. She almost pointed out that he’d been ready to fuck her a minute ago, but again shut down the crazy in her head. It wasn’t like she actually wanted him to want her. Nope, there was only one thing she needed Luciano Detta to do—get rid of Mick the Dick.

“You are going to get me out of here? Sure, I’ll bite. Do you have magic beans we can plant and then go up a beanstalk? Or maybe you’ve brought a flying carpet with you?”

Asshole. “For a guy who’s been given a chance to get free, you are awfully sarcastic.”

He was silent for a beat. “You have a lot of balls. Supposedly offering me the one thing I want most. So, what is it that you really want? How do you even know about me?”

That was an easy one. “I’ve heard about you through Jazzy. She’s my bestie.” They may not be collegemates anymore, but they were still close.

Also, I’ve been trying to get you out forever.

But I can’t tell you why.

His eyes narrowed. She sure was talking to Mr. Suspicious here. “If you really know my sister-in-law, then you should know she would help you if you asked her. So, why come here?”

It was a valid question. She could have asked Jazzy for help. After all, she was married to a scary dude who had the means to put the screws to Mick.

“I don’t want to owe anyone, or involve Jazzy in a possible dangerous situation. I’m in this mess because my father owes money to some bad people. I kind of want to break that cycle. Also, us Gibsons might not have much, but we never owe anybody anything either, as my pops would say.”

He cocked a brow. “So, you’re here to ask me for my help to honor your dead grandfather’s way of life?”

“My grandfather is very much alive, thank you very much. In fact, I don’t know anyone more lively than him. Or more crazy, but that’s a story for another day.”

“That still doesn’t answer my question. Why me? How did you come up with this idea in the first place? Or stumble across evidence that could supposedly get me out of here?”

Excellent question that led to an even more interesting story. Sadly, it wasn’t one she was willing to share. Ever. There was no way she could explain to him that following her archnemesis’ trail had accidentally led her to Luciano Detta. Onyx wasn’t someone you could explain in an hour, or even a day. Tess had been following Onyx’s trail of destruction for over three years now. The black hat hacker had taken down head pieces of Big Pharma. He was also the reason Luciano Detta had gone down for tax fraud. It was only later that Tess had discovered the linking pin between him and Jazzy. Then she got curious.

It’s true what they say—curiosity kills the cat.

She had followed the breadcrumbs and discovered that Luciano Detta was innocent. Well, innocent of tax fraud, that is; who knew what else he had on his conscience. After all, the guy was filthy rich, and behind every big fortune, there was usually a crime. Still, she had poked and prodded, scourged the dark web, and before she knew it, she actually had a file on him that would, at the least, prove there was a reason for reasonable doubt.

“Like I said, I’m a friend of Jazzy’s. I know that she was um… less than thrilled when your brother first hunted her butt down. But things worked out great for her in the end. When she told me about you, this idea formed in my head.”

Which was partially true. Radical honesty didn’t mean she couldn’t omit a few truths, right? She inwardly winced when she saw her pops shake his head in disappointment.

He leaned forward. “And is this what you think will happen—things working out great for us in the end—if you, as you boldly put it, ‘set me free’?”

For a second, she was confused. She had made him an offer, at no cost or risk to him, which to her sounded like a pretty great deal, so why wasn’t he jumping at it? Then it dawned on her. He wanted to know if she would expect the same fairy tale ending Jazzy had.

“Dude, you are so far off of being my type. I’d rather date a Stormtrooper before you. This is just a business proposition, not a marriage proposal. I have zero expectations from you.” There. She sounded all cool, collected, and businesslike.

Feeling pretty proud of herself, she got up. Then honesty kicked in. “It hadn’t even crossed my mind to actually… keep you. Broody and bitter guys like you aren’t my thing. Also, I’m into blonds.”

Once again, his eyes narrowed. “Are you always like this? Speaking whatever’s on your mind?”

She nodded. “Yep. I was raised with radical honesty, look it up. You think I’m straightforward? You haven’t met my pops yet. He will blow your mind. And possibly blow up your house as well. Mind you, not on purpose—probably—but accidents sometimes happen when he’s reenacting the battle of Gettysburg or the D-Day landing. Anyway, I digress. There’s just one more thing. You can never ask me how I got the information that will prove your innocence. Do we have a deal?”

He didn’t make her wait this time. “You get me out of here, and I will give you whatever you want.”

“Whatever I want, being my father out of that shark’s clutches and his debt taken care of,” she stipulated their deal once more. “You will make it a priority. The first thing you do once you get out. The first thing.”

“We have a deal.”

CHAPTER 3

LUCA

Luca stared at his youngest and most analytical brother, Jackson. The one who had seemed to take it the hardest when he went to jail. While his other two brothers had been fuming and been out to wage a war to get Luca out, Jackson had been shocked to his lawyer core when the laws he worked by and respected hadn’t protected Luca for going to jail on a false claim. It had been one of the reasons Luca rarely agreed to see Jackson in prison, for it seemed that every time he paid him a visit, more of Jax’s faith in rules and regulations crumbled. And though Luca had developed a passionate hate for the system that put him behind bars, he knew his brother needed to believe in that same system. Mastering the art of handling rules and regulations was his calling.

“I was surprised to get your call,” Jax said, as he took a seat at the table across from him.

“I was surprised to make the call myself.”

After this Tess person had left yesterday, he told himself she was crazy. He was used to crazy inside these walls. Women all over the country sent him nude pics or came up with conspiracy theories on how he was framed. Others promised to dedicate their lives to get him free. The old him would have rejoiced at that attention. He would have believed that it was a form of love and devotion, that he’d earned it. The new him knew better. There was no such thing as a loyal woman. The kind that, when the going got tough, she walked beside you, never to let go. Still, despite his skepticism, he’d called his brother. After all, what did he have to lose? Tomorrow, it would be two years that he’d been locked up. Two long years that would have been hellish if he hadn’t been a Detta. Guess he was lucky the way most inmates weren’t. Not everyone’s ass was protected by the Bratva. Didn’t mean he wouldn’t give his right arm to get out and taste the sweet scent of freedom again.

“How are you doing?”

Luca sighed. “Can we not do this?”

Jax frowned. “Do what?”

“This feeling shit. I’m in jail. It sucks. It did on the first day I got here, it does today, and it still will tomorrow.”

His brother seemed to muse over this for a second. “You know you have an alternative.”

Damn, even Jax seemed to be on the bandwagon of breaking him out now. For his most levelheaded brother to join Gio and Vince on that path must mean his situation looked really grim. His prospects of an appeal were probably slim to none. Guess they both knew the truth—Luca wasn’t getting out anytime soon. Not in a legal way anyway.

“You know how I feel of that… alternative.”

Jax nodded. “Part of me admires you for it while another part screams that it is your right. You’re innocent, Luca. You don’t deserve to be in here.”

Except he wasn’t totally innocent. He might be on the tax fraud charges, but he had blood on his hands, like all his brothers, save for Jax. Building an empire with wolves yapping at your feet didn’t go without breaking a few legs and cracking a few skulls. In a way, he was doing time for something else.

“I’m not getting into this with you right now. Tell me about Tess Gibson.”

“Ah, yes, Ms. Gibson.” Jax’ voice immediately turned businesslike. “I have no idea if she can actually deliver on her promise. I know she’s a close friend to our sister-in-law, and that a few years back, she quit college to take care of her grandfather. The guy is an old vet and had some health issues, so she stepped in. Her mother has passed away and she has a father, this Rufus you mentioned. The guy is bad news, a con artist that has scammed so many people that I’m surprised he’s still alive. Tess is an only child that was practically raised by her grandfather on her mother’s side. From what I’ve heard, and what Gio and Hector have experienced, the girl is hell on wheels once she’s got access to an internet connection.”

“Where does she work?”

“Oddly, she works at a computer help desk. Saying she’s overqualified for that job is probably an understatement.”

So, she could actually have the means to get him out. Question was how she had stumbled upon classified information that could get him out of jail while his brothers and their extensive resources couldn’t. Who went out to search to prove his innocence just because her friend had told her once about her brother-in-law? There was something fishy about that. And if she thought he would let her get away with keeping that info from him, she had another think coming.

“What about the loan shark?”

Jax sighed. “Ah… Mick. He’s part of Irish Brian’s crew. They control a big amount of the gambling activities on the West Coast. Hector had an incident with him a while back.”

“How so?”

Hector, who was like a brother to him, wasn’t a gambler. In fact, the guy was as straight as an arrow since he’d started his own security firm. Last he’d heard, he’d even gotten married. Another family moment he had missed since he had been stuck here.

“It’s a long story, but Hector ended up in a cage fight with Mick.” Jax smirked. “Suffice to say, Mick didn’t come out of it unscathed. When it comes to Tess, her story checks out. Apparently, Mick is holding her father in lieu of the money. He’s extorting the girl.”

“Tell me you haven’t told Gio about her offer.”

Jax gave him a look. “What do you think? If I had, he’d have her lifted out of her apartment in no time.”

Yeah, big brother was ruthless like that. Unreasonable when it came to protecting his family. Gio would hogtie and intimidate Tess to release whatever evidence she had to get Luca free. Which was proof that the girl was a bit naive. He doubted she’d even contemplated the second she made him that proposal, he could have taken her out. Even from jail.

“Nah, she would get Jazzy on his ass.”

“Wouldn’t be the first time.” Jax smiled. “She’s a spitfire, that sister-in-law of ours.”

All Luca could do was take his word for it. He hadn’t met her yet. Refused to see her when she wanted to come by. He didn’t ever want her to see him in an orange jumpsuit.

“What about Cruz? Any news on him?” His former partner that had screwed him over was the number one visit on his list when he got out, be it because Tess came through or otherwise.

Jackson leaned closer, a frown marring his face. “We kept eyes on him as you requested. Thing is, he disappeared a few days ago. I did some digging and it seems that his company is in bad weather. He put some pills on the market that weren’t FDA-approved. The papers of the approval turned out to be falsified and there were some casualties. If they catch him, he’s looking at life.”

Damn fucker. Two years ago, Cruz had been pushing him to invest in a pharmaceutical deal. Luca had agreed, even though he’d had his doubts. What else had Cruz been up to? How many more lives was he going to ruin?

“What are you saying, Jax? That he can’t be found, even with the help of a hacker?”

“I’m saying you shouldn’t want to find him. Cruz is gonna end up in jail anyway. Just focus on getting out and let the law do the rest.”

Like hell he would. The only one putting a noose around Cruz’s neck would be him. There was one place that backstabber would be going, and that was six feet under. Shit. He had to get to Cruz before the authorities found him.

“Let Tess know I accept her deal. Set it up the way she wants.”

“How much did you agree on? What’s her cut? I can have it transferred to her as soon as she gives me the file that’s supposed to set you free.”

“Oddly, she didn’t ask anything for herself. She just wants me to pay off her father’s debt.” He didn’t even know a creature like her existed—a woman who could ask him the world and wasn’t using that leverage to gain herself some shiny jewelry.

Still, something was off. If he’d learned one thing, it was to never easily trust anyone again. The second thing was to always have a back-up plan. If Tess Gibson could really deliver on her word, his next step would be to gain leverage over her. After all, he’d vowed three things in prison.

To take revenge.

To keep control over his life.

And to never trust a woman again.

CHAPTER 4

LUCA

Luca looked in the bathroom mirror, his eyes pinned on the ragged scar close to his heart. He’d been a free man and staying at his brother Gio’s house for two days now, but his mind was still partly in lock-up. His eyes stayed focused on the spot that had nearly cost him his life. No amount of silk shirts his eldest brother had provided him with was going to cover up that scar. It was always there for him to see, a reminder of what he’d been through.

He picked up a shirt from the bed. In the last forty-eight hours, he’d been smothered by family. They meant well but he needed his own space. Watching Gio having settled down in married bliss was a strange concept. Even more, seeing Hector, a man he considered his honorary brother, doting on his wife and kids, had been an eye-opener. It had caused an ache in his heart that had nothing to do with the scar tissue.

Odd, how once he had been the one about to get married, to start a family. His brothers avoided marriage or any kind of commitment to a woman like the plague. They used to have one single thing in mind—avenge the death of their parents. Luca hadn’t been there when they had found the culprits and toasted on exacting vengeance. Funny, how things had changed in two years, and yet again, hadn’t changed at all. Not to him. He was still living and breathing vengeance.

Grace.

Cruz.

His former PA and partner, the two people who had screwed him over. He repeated the names three more times, like he’d been doing every day since he ended up behind bars.

He’d just put an arm through the sleeve of his shirt when he detected a movement behind him.

“Fuck.” Gio was standing behind him, watching his scar through the mirror.

“Morning to you too.”

His brother’s eyes were burning in a steel blue retribution. Another subject they were going to have to discuss soon. Luca wasn’t his baby brother anymore. No one was going to stand in the way of his revenge. Not even his overprotective eldest brother who had a knack for trying to micromanage everyone’s life.

“You never told me.” There was a familiar anguish in Gio’s voice. A sound Luca hated. His brother had no business carrying a guilt over his wrongful incarceration.

“There was no point in telling you.”

“I didn’t pay Kristoff for this.”

He started buttoning up his shirt. “Don’t go telling Kristoff off. Not even the great Kristoff Romanov can control everything that happens between the walls of a prison, no matter how many people he pays off. A fight broke out between the Russians and the Armenians. Shit like that happens. The Bratva guy who had my back was worse off. He was turned into shish kebab.”

There wasn’t enough protection money in the world to protect you when things went south in prison.

Gio was silent for a beat. “I came to tell you dinner is ready.”

Sure he was. “Since when are you the get guy when dinner is being served?” He had, like, a dozen people working in his huge mansion.

“I’m not,” Gio admitted. “But I wanted to talk to you before you leave.”

“Leave? You kicking me out?”

Gio gave him an impassive look. Then he took out a set of keys from his pocket. “Like we both don’t know that you want your own place. I can see it on your face, you know.”

“Yeah well, there’s only so much domestic bliss a man can take.” He put out his hand to receive the keys. “These look like the keys from my old condo.”

A place he had carefully chosen for its location. A home he had spent a fortune on to have it decorated according to the latest trends. A place worthy of his former fiancée, Natasha. The love of his life. What a joke.

“They are. I bought the building. Consider it a ‘nice to have you back from jail’ gift. Hector got you some wheels as well. I opted for your old Ferrari, but he said you needed a more robust car. So, it’s a Jeep.”

Apparently, Hector knew him better than he thought. Then again, the former Marine would know what it felt like to have your life turned upside down. While the big guy hadn’t been to jail, he had served his country in the shittiest hellholes on earth. Who knew how many times he’d been caught by enemy fire, ending up with a desire to feel safe in every aspect of his life.

He held up the car key. “Thank him for the car.”

“Why don’t you thank me yourself?”

Luca turned to see Hector leaning against the doorframe. “Thanks, brother.”

“Don’t thank me yet. It has a tracker in it, and it’s connected to Diaz security.”

“I don’t want—”

“It’s the best I can do,” Hector interrupted him. “Don’t think we don’t know what you’re up to. You want to go at this alone? Fine. Do I think it’s stupid? Yeah, I do. But I can get a man wanting to take revenge on the motherfuckers who put him in jail. Doesn’t mean we don’t worry about your ass out in the world again. So, take the fucking car. If you don’t, I’m gonna put a few of my men on you for around-the-clock surveillance.”

His brother’s stony face told him it really was the best he was gonna get. It was going to be even more difficult to keep Vince at bay. They were the closest and he was just glad that Vince had been called to his club because of some business. It would make leaving Casa Detta easier.

“Fine,” he conceded and eyed the file in Hector’s hand. “What else you got for me?”

Hector put the manila envelope on the bed. “All you need to know about your former partner, Cruz. The asshole who testified that you knew about the falsified tax returns has gone off the grid. Got intel on your former PA as well. Grace is missing too, by the way. Quite a coincidence, don’t you think?”

“Fuck. She’s missing too?”

“Yeah, as of this morning. I would suspect shortly after the press conference announcing your surprise release.”

Luca reined in his rage. It would do no good to have a fit over this. His former PA, his most trusted employee, had turned on him during the trial. She could run but she couldn’t hide. He was going to get answers if it was the last thing he did.

“What about Tess Gibson?”

A funny thing happened when he mentioned her name. Both his brothers looked uncomfortable.

“Don’t go there, Luca.” Hector’s tone held a warning.

“Why the hell not? She’s the one who got me out. Clearly, she has the skills to find people. You want to help me out? Help me by locating her. I’m going to find her one way or another anyway.”

Hector scratched his cheek. “I don’t think you really know who you’re dealing with here. I’ve seen her once during girls’ night. She looks all nice and geeky with her ripped jeans and leather cuffs, but I’ve heard the stories. You don’t want to get on her bad side. If you’ve promised to leave her alone after she got you free, leave her the fuck alone. You need me for anything else, give me a call. For the record, I was not here when you mentioned going after Tess.”

“Why are you here, Hector?”

Hector sighed. “You know why. We both know Tess knows more than she lets on. I also see the fire in your eyes. The vengeance you must be wanting. I’d go after the fuckers who put me in jail as well.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

“I owe Tess. A lot. I can’t let you hurt her in your… quest.”

“You going soft on me, old man?”

Hector snorted. “You get out of here and we’ll take a spin in the ring. I’ll show you who’s gone soft.”

Then he was gone, leaving him alone with Gio.

Luca turned his gaze to his eldest brother. “What’s with this Tess person anyway? So, she’s a friend of Jazzy’s. Since when does wife’s friend trump brother?”

Gio scowled. “It doesn’t. But I can’t go after Tess either. Neither can Hector. She saved his daughter’s life. As such, we owe her.”

“You telling me to stay off your wife’s friend?”

“No, I’m telling you I can’t go after her. Neither can I help you going after her. Plausible deniability, brother. Plausible deniability.”

“Do I need to remind you that she was the one that came to me in the first place?”

His brother smiled. It was an evil grin, telling Luca he was on to something. Like in the old days, when he used to run new projects by him.

“Exactly, Luciano.” With that cryptic comment, Gio left as well.

Of course. All he had to do was change the rules. Make her come to him once again.

CHAPTER 5

TESS

Tess had made two more runs to Mick the Dick before finally the day arrived that Luciano Detta got free. It was all over the news. Except, that had been two days ago, and she still had to deal with Mick. Yes, once again, she’d received money to pay him off, but that didn’t solve her problem. After all, when you dealt with termites, you had to eradicate them, root and all. Or else, they would gnaw at your foundation until they had taken you down. It was time to have a word with Mr. My Word Is No Good Detta.

Still, she was glad she’d gotten him out of prison. He didn’t deserve to be in there. Hacking into certain databases and roaming the bowels of the dark web had been a great decision. Using that info to free an innocent man, an even better one. Not only for the money, but surely also for her karma.

But before she would take Detta by the horns, she had one more stop. It was time for her meeting with the investors of her software. It was the best beta version of an encryption software that hadn’t hit the market yet. Trevor was going to pitch it to the right people he’d found through his contacts at the university. Finally, it was paying off to date a professor. He might not be great in the sack but at least he supported her career.

The halls of USF were crowded as usual. She straightened the strap of her postman bag as she continued toward Trevor’s office. It hadn’t been too long ago when she’d actually been his student. That was before her pops got sick and she had to drop out. It wasn’t like she needed the knowledge they could provide her. No book, or professor, could teach her more than she already knew.

The problem was getting a job without a degree, the coveted paper thousands of people busted their asses for, meanwhile getting deeper and deeper in a swamp of debt. Tess had avoided said debt as long as possible. Except, finding a well-paying job without the degree? No luck in that department. Turns out companies loved that piece of paper.

Trevor was on the phone when she entered his office. He abruptly ended his call, seeming surprised to see her, which didn’t make any sense. After all, he knew about her presentation to the investors.

“Tess, you’re early.”

No, she was just on time. The only one who was ever early was Trevor. She bit the inside of her cheek to keep her snark in. Really, it wasn’t fair to call him out on not having much prowess in bed. She had to remind herself that men didn’t like the radical honesty policy she grew up with. In fact, it made them run for the hills. Though, it hadn’t made Luciano Detta run. Granted, he was incarcerated and didn’t have anywhere to go, but it had been like a breath of fresh air to be able to tell that man whatever was on her mind.

Also, it wasn’t Trevor’s fault they lacked chemistry in bed. She’d come to a few conclusions ever since her first time during college. The simple truth was, she didn’t like sex. Not that she’d had it often. Normally, she’d collect more data before she drew a conclusion, but not on this subject. Three and a half times of sex had been enough. And don’t even get her started on that half a time. Not going there. Nope. It was no use thinking back on the most humiliating experience of her life. It definitely made the top three, together with going to class in her underwear because she forgot to put on pants. It had been a hot sultry summer. Shit like that happened. Yes, it somehow only happened to her but still, one accident did not make a habit.

She had an analytical mind. Sometimes it got in the way of fun. This was why Trevor was so perfect. He wasn’t very demanding. He liked her more “for her brain,” as he voiced it. While the analytical part of her rejoiced at that statement, her female parts kind of died a withering death. But hey, what woman had ever found the perfect man to actually be perfect? Certainly not her. Sadly, Gibsons weren’t very lucky in love. It was just one of those sad facts in life she had to live with.

She took out her laptop and put it on his desk. With a few punches, her presentation opened.

“Um… Tess, love…”

Uh oh. She knew that tone of voice, when his British accent became even more pronounced than usual. It meant one of two things.

“I’m not in the mood for sex or to hear an apology, Trev. Don’t got the time for it.”

His immediate answer was a scowl. “Must you always be so blunt?”

“Yes, I must.”

“Ah, yes, your radical honesty thing.”

“It’s not a ‘thing.’ It’s a perfectly valid way of growing up. And I would appreciate it if you tried not to sound as if you were spitting out something nasty.” She could take it when he made fun of her quirks—’cause really, she knew how weird she sometimes was—but no one got to insult her pops or the way he’d raised her.

She reminded herself to stay nice. He was, after all, trying to help her out by pitching her program to investors. Any day now, that could be her breakthrough, to get her out of this financial mess. Until then, she had to make do with what she had—her computer skills.

It wasn’t as if she liked to steal, but it was just so easy when you were desperate and knew how to do it. To compensate for blackening her aura, she did some charity work, of course. Making donations to several good causes. One might even consider her a digital Robin Hood.

“Yes, well, we need to talk about the meeting, dear. See, it already took place.”

Wait. What? She must have heard that wrong. “Wait a minute… so, I missed it?”

Trevor cleared his throat. “Tess, love, you aren’t good with people. I know it’s because of the way your, um… grandfather raised you and… Well, um, anyway… as of two hours ago, I sold the software to the highest bidder.”

“You did what?”

“I sold it to—”

“You’ve sold my software?”

“Actually, technically, it’s mine…”

That had her do a double take. Like, she literally bumped up to him when she did that. She stared, dumbfounded, at her, most likely soon-to-be ex-boyfriend.

Trevor sat on the edge of his desk, towering over her. “I sold it to a renowned pharmaceutical company,” he said, his face showing a crease between his neatly trimmed brows. There were times he was better prepped and prepared than the average women.

Must. Concentrate.

I think he just said Big Pharma.

The horror!

“You sold my software to Big Pharma?” Even speaking those words was like listening to the sound of nails going over a chalkboard.

He scrunched his noise. “Your software? Technically, it’s the university’s software.”

That was when she jumped out of the chair. “Excuse me?”

“Calm down, Tess. There’s no need for you to wave your hand in my face. And must you wear those leather gloves on campus? You look like a juvenile delinquent.”

Kick his ass.

Do. Not. Engage.

Yes. You. Should.

“I want to shove my finger in your eye right now, Trev. My leather-clad finger.”

“I wish you would be more rational about this. You did develop that program with the intention of selling it, did you not?”

“Yes, but—”

“Shh.” He put a finger to her lips. “There are no buts in business, dear. Either way, the deal is done. Don’t worry, you’ll get your cut.” Again, he cleared his throat. “Once I get mine, of course. It can take over a month though. You don’t know how corporate America works, but surely, they will want to test the software over and over. Only when they are completely satisfied will they pay a bigger advance.”

She slowly pushed his finger away and took a step back, sizing her boyfriend up as if she were just seeing him for the first time.

Trevor Miller. Her former college professor, pushing forty but in his tweed jacket, looking like fifty. A brilliant mind. They had been together for nearly six months. During that period, he’d praised her for her work. Praised her for her brain and could actually follow her train of thought when she explained something to him. A rare occurrence in a male she encountered. Usually, men were attracted to her for the wrong reasons and ran for the hills the moment they discovered she was smarter than them.

After having to dumb herself down for her first two boyfriends, and giving up on the dating scene for years, she’d believed she’d found a kindred spirit in Trevor. Yes, he was a bit spoiled and stuffy, but who was perfect anyway? She certainly wasn’t. With the way she was raised, it was a miracle she even had friends. People didn’t like being told the truth to their faces. The radical honesty approach she grew up with had its benefits, but it had even more side effects. Thing was, how did you break nurture? Telling it as it were was incredibly liberating, and if more people would embrace that way of life, surely the planet would be a much better place.

The planet.

He has sold my work to the kind of company that sponges off diseases and kills the planet.

“Selling my program behind my back was a dick move, Trev. This is why you told me the meeting was in the afternoon. But it wasn’t, was it? I bet it took place this morning, like it was initially planned.”

“I don’t like your tone, Tessa.”

“I hate it when you call me that and you know it. Which makes this your second dick move today.”

“Perhaps you should go home. I need to consider if I can live with my girlfriend calling me a dick.”

“I call bullshit. It’s not the first time I called you a dick. It is, however, the first time I did after you sold my program. Which brings me to the logical conclusion that since you don’t need me anymore, you’ve decided to dump me.” His second of hesitation was all the evidence she needed. “You know what? Don’t bother. I’m dumping you.” She snapped the laptop shut, put it back in her bag and gave him her back.

The rat bastard had used her. Stolen her source code. She couldn’t believe it. Not only was he a stealing bastard, but he’d sold it to her nemesis, Big Pharma. There weren’t enough expletives in the world to squelch her rage.

She was going to go nuclear on his ass! T-girl was not one to be trifled with. Of course, Trevor didn’t know about her extra-curricular activities. Or that she had the means to obliterate his digital existence. Had he known the shitstorm she was about to unleash on him, he would be peeing in his pants.

“Oh, come on, Tess!” he yelled after her. “You know you could’ve never got this done the way I have. You are the smartest person I know, but you just don’t have my business skills. We both know you’re a bit um… quirky. And I can’t do quirky anymore.”

She whipped around and glared at him. “Weird. You were going to say weird.”

With a swift motion of her hips, she gave him her back again, imagining herself walking out like a badass, head held high. When she turned the corner, though, she stepped into a pool of water, tripped, and landed on her butt. Her misery didn’t end there, of course. While bracing herself, her arms ended up in the bucket the janitor was using to swipe the floor with. It effectively caused her custom-made digital watch, Pops’ gift, to blink and bleep.

Inside her head, a mini bomb exploded, blaming Trevor for everything bad that had befallen her today. It didn’t take long for her to plot his demise.

Lock and load, young Padawan. T-girl will strike back.

No one got to fuck with a black hat hacker slash part-time warlock and get away with it.

CHAPTER 6

LUCA

It was better to be the hunter than the prey.

Luca looked down at the exquisite body of his ex-fiancée lying next to him on the couch. He hadn’t been in their former apartment for more than an hour before she’d knocked on his door and descended on him. Now, she was trying to catch her breath, all the while looking at him with a stupid smile on her face. Yeah, a stupid one, in the sense of her thinking him as foolish enough to fall for her again.

He might have used her mouth, but there was no way he was fucking her again. Ever.

“I’m so glad we’re back together, Luca.”

Her voice, he once thought to be the sweetest sound in the world, sounded like nails on a chalkboard. “Really?”

She half sat up against the couch, crossing her long legs, putting her beautiful body on display. Just the way he liked it.

A lifetime ago.

“Of course, love.” Her baby blues widened and her big bottom lip quivered slightly. “You have no idea how difficult it was to be separated from you.”

“You could’ve fooled me.” She hadn’t visited him once. Not even to break off their engagement. He’d learned of her new engagement to a business rival through his brother. Even then, he hadn’t wanted to believe it. He’d yelled at Gio for lying to him. His big brother had never liked Natasha. None of his brothers had.

Looking alarmed now, she got up from the couch and stopped him as he put his shirt back on. He couldn’t help but notice the way her nose scrunched when she touched the rough fabric. Of course, she was used to him wearing the finest threads of silk and cashmere. How things had changed.

“You have become bigger… more muscled.” Her fingernails raked over his biceps. He couldn’t help but compare them to talons, meant to claw back into him.

“I’ve become a lot of things.”

Like rage and fury.

“It has been difficult without you.” There was a slight catch in her voice now.

“Has it now?”

She nodded while caressing his stomach, her eyes slowly starting to fill with tears.

Damn, she was good. Really good. How could he have been so blind?

“Yes, Luca. Being without you has been unbearable.”

“Yet here you are. As beautiful as ever. Clearly you were able to … bear being without me.”

Her eyes started to look worried. Finally, she was catching on. Never before had he used that tone with her, nor had he been harsh or refused her a thing in his life. For she was his life. Once upon a time, she had been his everything.

While he got dressed, picking up his clothes strewn from the coffee table all the way back to the front door, Natasha went on about the difficulties in her life. How her marriage—yeah, she was still fucking married—hadn’t worked out the way she’d expected. Of all the woes she’d gone through the past two years.

“… so, you see, Luca. You were not the only one suffering.”

He closed his eyes for a second. She had actually just dared to compare his incarceration to her husband not giving her everything she wanted, which was his credit card as well as his attention. Damn, he owed Gio a big apology. He also needed to yell at him for not pummeling him until he’d seen Natasha’s true colors.

“Get out.”

“—he didn’t want to go to Aspen. As if I could ever miss a season. What would I tell my friends?”

“Get out!”

Her hands dropped as she stared at him. “What?” she asked, putting her dress back on.

He sat back on the couch with his hands behind his neck, looking her up and down, and feeling nothing but disgust. “Get the fuck out and don’t come back.”

“You don’t mean that.” Her nostrils flared, the first indication she was about to have a tantrum. “We just made love, and—”

“Love?” He chuckled, without any humor. It was the first time he hadn’t gotten aroused at the mere sight of her. Picking up on that, she’d given him the blowjob of all blowjobs. “You just sucked me off. Don’t make it more than it was.”

A string of Russian curses followed while she put on her shoes. When she finished, her voice was sweet again. “I know you love me, Luca. You said you’d never love another woman. You can be angry right now, but your heart belongs to me.”

He didn't know what came over him, but one second he was sitting on the couch and the next, his hand gripped her throat.

“I don’t fucking have a heart anymore, Tasha. It got ripped out the second I found out my woman ditched me. You remember that moment? The same day I got picked up by the feds. The day I went inside to never get outside again, for two fucking years.”

Two hellish years in which he’d lost a piece of civilization on a daily basis and become more and more like an animal.

He forced his fingers to stay spread to prevent them from balling into a fist. Natasha would get what she had coming. They all would. Every single person responsible for his incarceration, however big or small their part, would get what they deserved.

There was only so much time his brothers would give him before they would try to bring him back into the fold. They would mean well. Shower him with money, women, and whatever he wanted. He’d asked Gio for time. A time and a place, which ended him in a big condo in Pacific Heights. He didn’t like any people around him, but he did need a place of business. A place he could be alone and plot.

Plot and plan.

Plan and plot.

“Luciano…”

She always called him that when she wanted something from him. Back in the day, he had found it cute, special. An endearment even. Now he recognized it for what it was—manipulation. Any second now, she would pull out the waterworks.

“I said, get out.”

“You don’t mean that…”

“We’ve been over this.” Just as he’d been over her. Odd. For two years, he had pictured this moment. Played it out in his head in a thousand different scenarios. All it did was… disappoint. It did nothing to ease the burning rage inside him.

Then the doorbell rang. Just on time.

Plot and plan.

Plan and plot.

He went to open the door. There she was, standing on his doorstep: Tessa Gibson. His own Lisbeth Salander. Hacker extraordinaire.

He stared at a tiny frame packed in black ripped jeans and a pink Hard Rock Café t-shirt, standing in high-top boots.

“Tessa,” he greeted her. When he heard the click-clack of six-inch heels behind him, he gave Tess a hug. She grumbled and stiffened in his arms.

No need to worry, sweetheart. You are not my type.

“Her? You want her?” As expected, Natasha’s screech didn’t take long. “You prefer this girl with… ridiculous purple hair?" Her Russian accent became more pronounced as she got upset. “But no,” she purred. “She can’t be it.”

Yep, that was the Natasha he knew. Overconfident to the bone. As usual, the world revolved around her. She was like overpriced champagne. He’d done everything in his power to win her, only to find out in the end she was no prize.

“Go home, Natasha. Don’t come back.”

She shot him a death glare, but finally she left. Holding her head high and her makeup still perfect.

His attention turned back to the woman in his arms. One without a speck of makeup on her face. All she carried was… an annoyed look.

“Are you done with your demonstration?” she asked.

Right. He shouldn’t forget that she was a smart one. He didn’t need to explain what had just happened.

“What are you doing here, Tess?” He could be just as manipulative. Playing hard to get had once been his business motto.

“Don’t you ‘what are you doing here’ me. I’ve had it with you condescending men today.” She gave him a dubious look. “By the way, wasn’t that your ex-fiancée, Natasha Vanderbilt? The one who dumped you the second you got locked up? And isn’t she married?”

Was she for real? Had women changed that much since he’d been inside? Didn’t they have a filter anymore?

“Why are you here?” he repeated. “I kept up my part of the deal. Go away.”

Never show too eager to close a deal.

She waved two leather-clad fingers in his face. “No, the deal was for you to keep Mick the Dick off my back. I just had to pay him last night. Again. How is this keeping up your side of the deal?”

Ah, yes, the little issue with Irish Brian’s enforcer. An issue he hadn’t taken care of indeed. “Did or didn’t I pay you twenty thousand dollars last week?”

“You did, but—”

“Did or didn’t you pay off Mick with that money?”

“I did, but—”

“There’s no buts if one party keeps his part of the deal. I pay you, and he stays off your back. It’s a win-win.”

“Maybe for you, but not me. I don’t ever want to see that creep’s face again. And FYI, I paid him ten thousand the first time. Then he upped the ante in a week. And guess what? He did it again yesterday. Now he wants thirty thousand. See where I’m going with this?”

Right into my web.

“You want more money.” Which presented him with a brilliant opportunity. A chance to transfer her debt from Mick over to him. And he wouldn’t even have to threaten her to help him.

The girl blinked. “No, you moron. I don’t want more money. Didn’t you hear a word of what I just said? I want Mick off my back. I can’t believe I have to explain this to you. Don’t you come from a line of Italian mobsters? Honor that proud tradition. When I say, get someone off my back, I mean get him the hell away from me, permanently. Not in the ‘make him sleep with the fishes’ kind of permanently,” she added hastily. “There’s no need for such violence. But put on the screws. Tell him off, I don’t know. You’re supposed to be the badass mobster progeny, not me.” She gave an exasperated sigh. “How is it that I have to explain your job to you?”

Luca found himself having one of the strangest conversations in his life… ever.

“Sorry to disappoint you, but I was merely a toddler when my proud Italian mobster dad died on me. I grew up in private boarding schools, not on the set of The Godfather.”

The look she gave him almost made him feel inadequate as a man.

“That’s a shame, not-so-lucky Lucky Luciano. If you had known anything about mobster circles, your ex probably wouldn’t have had the balls to screw you over.”

That stung. “I don’t have time for this. My time is too precious for that. You want me to get rid of Mick permanently, it’s gonna cost you. Nothing in life comes for free.”

Her eyes flashed. “You slimy space slug. I’ve had it with men screwing me over.” Then she inhaled and exhaled deeply. “Stay cool Tess,” she murmured.

“Do you always talk to yourself?”

“Yes, in fact, I do. Another thing I do sometimes is come bearing gifts,” she said sweetly.

He cocked a brow, not impressed in the least. “And what kind of gift would that be? Empty air?” They both knew she had nothing to back up her threat with. It was only a matter of time before she would knuckle under.

“Nope. It should arrive any minute now. Consider it a… taste of what is yet to come if you don’t keep your promise.”

She’d just turned around when she stopped dead in her tracks. He followed her gaze to the still open front door. Two blond identical-looking men were standing there. One with a scowl on his face, the other with a smirk.

Shit. It had only been a matter of time before they would find him.

“Angel. Damon.”

CHAPTER 7

TESS

The road to hell was paved with good intentions, and a top-notch laptop with killer internet speed. Sadly, Tess was way out of her league, stuck in Luciano Detta’s condo with two infamous twins and no laptop in sight.

Crap.

The crazy twins. Angel and Damon, the Bratva leader’s most entrusted men. With their dirty blond hair and baby blues, they were like a vision of Vikings of old. Angel’s strands of hair roamed freely on his shoulders, while Damon’s stopped at the nape of his neck. The angelic named one was dressed in a suit while his demonic brother wore jeans and sneakers. They might look opposites in their fashion statement, but there was consensus on their mental state of mind. They were both reported to be slightly insane. Yep, she’d done her due diligence after their boss, Kristoff—a delicious, real-life version of Darth Vader—had tried to recruit her last year.

It had been so alluring to just say yes. After all, people like Kristoff didn’t get screwed over or threatened. They were the ones doing the screwing and putting on the thumb screws, probably quite literally.

The second she spotted the twins standing in the doorway, she knew—get the fuck out. She had a feeling if they knew who she was, they wouldn’t let her get away as easily this time. Since she had no intentions of becoming an “asset” to the Bratva, she tried to move her butt away from Luciano Detta’s house warp speed style. Regardless, she wasn’t going to let him get away with not keeping his promise. She just needed time to regroup. Adjust her plans, all while keeping a low profile while the twins were anywhere near his vicinity.

All of this was speeding through her mind as she turned her back to the front door the second they greeted Luca. Surely this place had another way out? Slowly, as not to make any sound in her Doc Martens, she walked toward the kitchen in the hope it would lead to an escape route.

Nope, nothing but a steel kitchen wall full of utensils that looked to be purely decorative. She had an inkling that Mr. Private Boarding Schools had never cooked a day in his life.

She kept a tab on the conversation in the back while continuing to look for a way to sneak out. There was, of course, a chance that the twins wouldn’t recognize her. After all, they had never met in person, only talked over the phone when she threatened to empty Kristoff’s bank accounts. Still, she couldn’t take the chance that they had looked into her. The second they came too close, she would have to make a run for it.

“Comrade!”

Tess snorted at the fake Russian accent. Those two were as much of a Russian as she was a Jedi.

“It’s good to see you guys.”

“We’re here to take you out. To celebrate not having to cover your ass anymore when bending for the soap in the shower.”

“Fuck you, Angel. Just fuck you.”

A chuckle followed. “I bet you said that to all the daddies back in the joint.”

“Just keep on talking,” Tess whispered, as she opened another door, this time to a closet. As long as they were renewing their friendship, she still had time to get the hell out.

As she scourged the kitchen, her modified watch beeped and died. This would not make Pops happy. Great, now she had another thing to worry about, which made it all the more imperative to get home, and fast.

There was one door left she hadn’t opened yet. Then she got a message on her phone. It was from an unknown number. Her heart plummeted when she saw the picture.

Jack of Spades.

No…

She knew of only one person who would send her cards. Whatever it was behind that door probably wasn’t the way to freedom, but she had no other options left. It was all or nothing. If this didn’t provide her a way out, she would have to make a run for the front door, dodging both Luca and the twins.

She sent up a little prayer and opened the door.

Then she screamed.

CHAPTER 8

LUCA

Luca flipped Angel the bird as he gave him more shit about prison life, but couldn’t stop a grin. Life in prison had been hell, but it could have been so much worse if it hadn’t been for his Bratva connections. Despite being imprisoned, he’d had more luxury than most inmates.

“Maybe he doesn’t need us to get him women, brother.” Angel chin jerked to a spot behind Luca.

He followed Angel’s gaze, only to find that Tess had made a run for it. Well, that was an exaggeration, seeing as she hadn’t even made it out of his condo. She just pulled open the pantry door, probably mistaking it for the back door.

Something hit the floor, making a thud, and Tess screamed. Oh shit, what did she find in the pantry? Rats? Spiders? Typical. She looked all badass and tough, but underneath it, she was just a girl.

“I think your girl stumbled upon something,” Angel remarked.

He needed to get the twins out, get Tess to work for him, and continue with his plan. There were still two demons he had to slay: Cruz and Grace, the dynamic duo that had stabbed him in the back. He didn’t have time for girly fits and Bratva soldiers on his back.

He walked into his kitchen, feeling the twins trailing after him. A fluff of pink and purple hair stuck up above the kitchen counter, an oasis of color amongst the stainless steel. At least she was standing tall instead of on a chair.

“What’s with the yelling, Tess? Encountered some bugs or rodents? I thought you were tougher than this.”

Her skin was a chalky white. “Well, excuse me for having a fit when a corpse falls on top of me.”

He followed her gaze onto the floor. There she was. Grace, as dead as a doornail.

“Shit. That’s Grace, my former PA.”

“Yeah, she’s a goner,” Angel remarked beside him, keeping his fair distance from the woman in the bloodied dress littering his kitchen floor.

How the hell had Grace ended up here? And without him noticing? He was supposed to have a top-notch security system.

Damon had a more hands-on approach, kneeling next to the body. “She was planted here.”

“No shit.” Luca raked his fingers through his hair. Having to deal with another problem, without having solved his prior ones, sucked.

Tess spun around, her eyes still wide. “I think I’m going to leave now. We’ll discuss our deal later.”

Judging by her face, she meant a lot later, as in, probably never. He couldn’t blame her. Ripping him a new one for not exactly holding up his end of the deal was a whole different matter than being involved in a murder.

“Not so fast.” Damon got up, a crease between his eyes. He cursed and went to look through the window blinds. “This woman was planted here. Which means someone set this up. As far as we know, this staged scene could have been filmed. It could all be on tape now, from us coming through those doors to right fucking now. Meaning, they could have eyes on this place. A place we now have our DNA all over.”

“Not me.” Tess stepped back quickly, putting her hands behind her back, as if that made any difference. “I don’t know this woman. I don’t know any of you guys, really. I didn’t hear or see anything. So, I’m going to go now.”

The twins boxed her in, effectively cutting her off from her route of escape.

Damon gave him a look. “She’s a possible witness. Putting you at the place of a dead, obviously murdered, woman.”

Luca knew exactly where he was going with this. Well, fuck.

“And more importantly,” Damon added, “possibly putting us at the time and place of the murder. This place could be bugged, for all we know. Even if we’d be able to erase all our prints and DNA from your condo, it could still come back to bite us in the ass one day.” Another look from Damon. “The girl is a liability.”

“No, I’m not,” Tess argued, a panicked look entering her eyes. “Didn’t you just hear me say that I didn’t hear and see anything? You know, like those three monkeys. Surely, you know the story. See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil? Ringing any bells?”

Angel was sizing her up. Luca was afraid he knew exactly why his friend was measuring her height and width. “She’s a tiny little thing, isn’t she?”

“I’m not tiny.”

“You look tiny to me,” Angel said, looking down his nose. Fucking Narcissus himself couldn’t be more full of himself at times than his friend. Luca should’ve warned Tess not to get into a discussion with Angel when he was in this ornery mood. He would bury her. Quite literally.

Curious as to where this conversation would go, he kept his mouth shut. After all, the days of him being a damsel’s knight in shining armor were over.

Tess gave Angel a once-over. “You must be one of those men who actually believe that bigger is better. I could erase your entire life with the flick of my tiny fingers.” She waved all ten fingers in his face, in a challenging gesture.

He was beginning to suspect that she had a bit of a Napoleon complex.

Damon gave her a sad look. “We know exactly who you are. You didn’t actually think you could threaten Kristoff and go on unnoticed, did you? Still, this isn’t anything personal. I just can’t let you risk my brother’s life.”

That was the Damon he knew. For all his crazy viciousness, Luca understood his loyalty toward his brother. There was nothing he wouldn’t do for him. Even the slightest hint of a threat got eradicated, root and all.

Shit, this wasn’t going to end well.

He lifted a protesting Tess by her butt and stuffed her inside the pantry. She didn’t need to hear this. He knew what that look on Damon’s face meant, though he hoped he was wrong.

“Take her out, Luca. You know we can’t leave her here.”

“Dammit, Damon. She’s innocent. What are you going to do? Feed her to your alligator?”

“I’ll make it quick.”

“Besides, Ally had dinner yesterday,” Angel said. “She basically only needs to be fed once a week. If we overfeed her, she gets a stomachache.”

Fucking hell. He wasn’t even going to get into that. “You can’t be serious.”

“Dead serious,” both brothers replied.

Obviously, they still had that annoying habit of answering together, honoring the term symbiotic twins. “How is she any threat to you? Shit, guys, I need her.”

Damon’s eyes narrowed. “Do you know why we’ve stayed out of prison for so long? How Kristoff’s crew differs from the regular Bratva? It’s because we don’t leave anything to chance. We don’t take stupid risks. Ever. The second something or someone is the slightest threat, we eradicate it. Root and all. This girl can connect us to a body. A very dead body of someone who has obviously been murdered. Now, while we have nothing to do with it, she might one day be questioned about it. She might mention our name, connecting us to this case. Being a suspect can lead to a trial. A trial can lead to our asses getting locked up in jail.”

“I’m too pretty for jail,” Angel chimed in.

Damon spread his hands as if weighing something. “Killing a girl and not becoming a suspect or… letting the girl go and possibly one day becoming a suspect. Not a difficult decision.”

It wasn’t. Not for Damon. Luca knew that. He also knew that Damon wouldn’t easily change his mind. To him, Angel’s well-being and safety came before all and everything. He wouldn’t lose a night’s sleep over killing Tess, if it meant keeping his brother safe.

Shit. “I need her,” he repeated. “Also, I owe her.”

“Two weeks,” Damon said, after some pondering. “Then you’ll hand her over to us. If, anytime in those weeks, she gets picked up by the cops, our deal is over.”

“I’m thinking of a different kind of deal,” Angel suddenly said. The sparkle in his eyes told Luca he wasn’t going to like whatever it was on his mind.

“And what’s that?”

“You need her, don’t you? I’m going to give you a tip on women you will cherish for the rest of your life. Consider it my ‘welcome out of jail’ present. Make her fall for you. A woman in love will do anything for her man. You can’t buy loyalty but you can earn it. Make her love you, and she’ll help you find the fucker who screwed you over herself. She would be like your pink and purple digital avenging angel.” Angel lifted his index finger. “So, here’s the first part of my deal. Make her fall for you.”

“She’s not my type, Angel.”

Angel smirked. “Judging by the way she looked at you, you’re not her type either. And isn’t that what makes this fun? It wouldn’t be much of a challenge if she immediately knuckled under for you, now would it? I bet you can’t make her touch your pole with a ten-foot pole.”

Hell no. Not this. Not now. They’ve been going at it for years. “This is about the score of our bets? Are you serious?”

“It’s my turn to choose a new bet,” Angel claimed. “You’ve been ducking it, with going to prison and all, but that’s over now.”

Only Angel could describe the two most hellish years of his life as ‘prison and all,’ making it sound as if he was talking about the weather. Then again, Luca had heard the stories about the twins’ life before they’d found Kristoff. It was a miracle they hadn’t turned into complete sociopaths, instead of merely a quarter of one.

“You really wanna do this?”

“It irks me that I’m a point behind." He sounded dead serious.

“How do we decide the winner?”

“Easy. At the end of the two weeks, I’ll just ask her if you’ve fucked her.”

Luca rolled his eyes. “Crude as always. You’re beginning to sound like Damon.”

“Thanks.”

“It wasn’t a compliment.”

Damon merely gave him the finger and cocked a brow. As usual, he kept his thoughts mostly to himself.

“Now, why don’t you get the pretty doll out of the pantry, so we can discuss the second part of my deal together. After all, it concerns her just as well.”

He was just about to reopen the pantry door when the doorbell rang. All three of them tensed. Damon and Angel quickly shoved Grace’s body into the pantry, obviously having dealt with these sorts of situations before. Luca went to the door, only to find two annoyed-looking agents, holding badges.

Fuck, what the hell was the IRS doing at his door?

CHAPTER 9

TESS

They had stuffed her into the pantry. With a corpse! The nerve. She was going to rain hell on their asses. That is, on Luciano Detta’s ass. Not even she was stupid enough to trifle with the crazy twins.

Then, finally, after what had seemed like a lifetime, the door opened.

“About time!” She scurried out of the pantry and planted her feet firmly back on the kitchen floor.

“Sorry, doll,” Angel said. “We had a little rodent problem. Couldn’t let them catch us with a corpse, now could we?”

Ah, of course. She’d almost forgotten about the anonymous tip she made before she came over.

Damon gave her a knowing look.

Luca had a scowl on his face and cursed. “How in the hell did the IRS come to—”

Tess tried not to gulp when his gaze turned to her.

Big eyes, girl. Give him your big hazel eyes. You have pink hair. No one can suspect anything nefarious from someone sporting cotton candy hair.

Except… Luca apparently kind of did. He rounded on her, pushing her against the wall, and grabbed a loose curl.

“Is this what you meant when you said you came bearing gifts?”

“Um… I…”

He put a finger on her lip, effectively shushing her. “Radical honesty, remember? That way of life you live by. That’s what you told me.”

Crap on a stick. Of all the things to remember, he did that teensy, tiny detail. She was coming face to face with yet another episode of “Why Tess should keep her trap shut.”

“You forced my hand,” she admitted.

Angel came up near them, a hard look on his face. “They took my Vulcan.”

The IRS took his Star Trek doll? “I don’t follow.”

“My Aston Martin Vulcan,” he clarified. “My love. My life.”

Ah, that made more sense. She hadn’t taken him for a Spock lover anyway.

Damon rolled his eyes. “You stole that car this morning from the Koreans.”

“Borrowed,” Angel said in a clipped voice. “Borrowed it until they pay us what we’re owed.”

“I told you it was a bad idea. Han’s too cheap to actually pay for such a car. Of course the papers wouldn’t be up to date.”

Tess gave the Angelic one the stink eye. “You’re giving me grief about a car you stole just hours ago?”

“I get attached to things easily.”

She was just about to give him a piece of her mind when Damon tapped on Luca’s shoulder.

“Let her go. We need to have a talk.”

“I couldn’t agree more. You should let me go, like, right now.” She came here to hold Luca to his promise to free her dad from an Irish mobster. Now, she needed to extract herself from this mess, not to get sucked into a murder mystery.

Luca sighed, but didn’t let her go. “He wants me to let you go so he can take you with him.”

“What?” A hint of fear traveled up her spine when the implication of his words penetrated to her nugget. All that brainpower and she still sometimes read certain situations wrong.

“Unless you agree to the second part of our deal,” Damon said.

What deal?

The Damon dude sounded dead serious.

“She had nothing to do with this,” Luca argued. “We can just let her go. You won’t say a thing, will you, Tess?”

She immediately crossed her heart. “Won’t breathe a thing to a soul.”

Damon leaned against the wall. “Doesn’t exactly go with your radical honest thing, does it?”

“Um... I can see where you're going with this.”

I'm. So. Screwed.

“Shit...”

Judging by Luca’s face, he was getting there too. Huh. Guess he wasn’t as slow as she expected after all.

Damon looked bored. “We’ve already established that she’s a risk. There’s nothing stopping her from giving a statement on the dead body. The second she does, it might lead the investigation to us. And we can’t have our good name smudged like that.”

Tess barely kept in a snort. Good name? They were as good and innocent as Count Dracula near a pool of blood.

“It’s nothing personal, love,” Angel chimed in. “I like women of color.”

Damon sighed. “Not the right context, brother.”

Angel shrugged. “Black, white, or a pink-purple unicorn, I like ’em all.”

Finally, it had happened. She’d met someone even less politically incorrect than her pops.

“She could link us to this scene,” Damon continued. “Even if she didn't want to, one day, she could be forced to testify.”

Okay, so that was not good.

“Of course, there is a way to get out of this mess,” Angel said, studying his nails. The gleam in his eyes told her, whatever it was he was going to suggest, she wasn’t going to like it.

“Out of this mess sounds good,” she said nonetheless.

“She could testify against you, unless you find the real killer or... if you married her, of course.”

Luca shook his head. “That’s not even close to funny."

“It so isn’t,” she agreed.

“No joke. I never joke about holy matrimony,” Angel said. “The moment a man hands over his balls to one woman, and one woman only.”

“This is about that time in Vegas, isn’t it?” Luca sounded aggravated.

Angel scowled, which oddly made his angelic look even more appealing. “She was a loopy-eyed stripper who had fucking snakes as a pet. I woke up with one around my neck. You should’ve fucking stopped me from marrying her.”

“I tried.”

“You should’ve tried harder.”

“What’s the big deal? You got an annulment the next day.”

“She got a hold of my credit card and, to this day, I’m still subscribed to Reptiles Magazine. I was lucky Kristoff didn’t find out. He would have never let me live it down.”

Tess’ mouth dropped, but Luca gave her a look. One that told her to either shut up and follow his lead, or that Angel was just pulling his chain. She went back and forth between the two.

Then he gave an exasperated sigh. “Fine, I agree to your deal. If I can’t find the killer, I’ll marry her. Just give me time.”

“How about two weeks’ notice?” Angel proposed.

Damon frowned. “Again, not the right context, brother. That’s not what a two-week notice is about.”

“Deal.”

Tess’ jaw officially dropped. “What?”

Luca’s grip on her upper arm strengthened. “As I said, we have a deal.”

The twins grinned while Luca frowned.

And her? She wanted to bawl her eyes out. She was screwed. So, so screwed.

***

The minute the twins left, after promising to send a cleanup crew for the body—yuck—Luca settled her on the couch.

“We need to talk.”

“No shit, Sherlock.” She snorted. “What was that crazy stuff about getting married after two weeks? I’m guessing they’re joking, right? And you just went along with it, ‘cause it’s some crazy guy thing? Please tell me I’m right.”

He dropped into the recliner next to her. “You’ve heard them. If it were just Angel who was caught here with the body, we’d be fine. But Damon was here as well. The man has just one goal in life—to protect his brother or the ones he considers to be his brothers. He’s not just messing with me. When it comes to Angel’s safety, he doesn’t have a sense of humor. When we were teenagers, he once blew up a whole street just to find the guy that had ambushed his brother over a car radio.”

This didn’t sound good at all. Still, he couldn’t be saying what she thought he was saying, now would he?

“So, what exactly are you…?”

He raked his fingers through his hair. “I’m saying we have to find Grace’s killer. That way, we’ll keep Damon off our backs. After all, once the killer is found, no one could ever indict Angel or Damon for Grace’s murder. In the meantime, you’d do well to consider yourself engaged.”

“Pretend to be engaged? To you?”

“Only for the next two weeks. And only so the twins will know I’m taking their deal seriously.”

“But… I’m a terrible liar.” She looked him over in his expensive shirt and wool slacks that would probably cost her a month’s rent. They were like Lady and the Tramp, but in reverse. “Anyone looking at us would know we don’t match. Like, at all. Nope, I don’t think I can do this.”

His head snapped up. “You know, just for argument’s sake, maybe you should look at this more positively. I actually have a lot to offer.”

“What exactly would you have to offer?” she asked honestly.

Luca’s gaze raked over her body. His narrowed eyes started a path from her lips to her t-shirt, hanging a bit on her breasts, and then back to her lips. An odd zing started through her body, making her lips feel warm. Feeling strangely uncomfortable, she fidgeted on the couch.

“How about sex, for starters,” he said.

“You can keep the sex, Romeo. I don’t particularly enjoy it.”

“Then maybe you weren’t doing it right.”

Her body tensed. The way he looked at her was probably the way a lion looked at a gazelle the second he was going to attack her. Except, thankfully, there was no attacking. Oddly, she felt a bit disappointed. It wasn’t like she wanted to get molested by Luciano Detta, who was basically still a stranger to her. It was just that, for once, she wished she was the kind of woman a man had difficulty keeping his paws off. That he would want to kiss her, devour her, making a meal out of her.

Oh, wow. Where did that come from? Must be all those smut romance novels she read. The kind that had tall, dark, and handsome heroes, though she was more into the tortured ones. She didn’t really like pretty. Hot, pretty men like Luca were not her type.

“Also, there’s the financial security I could offer a woman.”

What? Oh, right. He was still talking himself up.

“Ten reasons why you should marry Luciano Detta,” Tess mocked. She might be bad at sex, but at least she didn’t misread women the way he did. No wonder he’d attracted a gold digger. “I can steal my own money just fine, Detta, thank you very much.”

He nodded. “Fine then. How about the crazy twins? They will kill you if you don’t hold up your part of the deal.”

“Oh, please. Like I didn’t see that was an internal joke between you guys.”

“It was a joke all right, but the joke’s on you. See, you are a possible threat to them now. There’s no way they’ll let this pass. So, either help me catch Grace’s murderer, which will no doubt lead me to the asshole responsible for putting me in jail or after two weeks, marry me. Dealer’s choice.”

“That’s not much of a choice,” she grumbled. “Those odds suck. Please tell me you were just buying time. No way would they actually make me marry you, would they?” She even sounded hesitant to her own ears.

“Look, I already explained this. Asking me twice isn’t going to change the answer. The second you become a real threat, Damon will kill you without giving it another thought. There’s only one guy they answer to, and that ain’t me.”

“Kristoff,” she murmured.

His eyes turned into slits. “You know them.”

“Um...”

“That’s why you tried to leave without them noticing you.”

“I tried. Not that it did me any good. Never again will I open an unknown closet.”

“Tell me how you know them.”

“I don’t actually know them know them,” she explained. “Thing is, I’m friends with Hector’s wife, Mary. We met a few times at girls’ night. Anyway, when Hector kicked Mary out, I was miffed, to say the least. I kind of threatened Kristoff to get Hector back in line, or else I would make all his money disappear.”

He gave her a “what were you thinking” look.

“You threatened Kristoff fucking Romanov?”

“I needed his help. His brother hurt my friend and their little girl, tiny Zoe,” she defended herself.

“How are you still alive?”

She didn’t deign that with an answer. “Either way, Kristoff and I are just fine. He even tried to recruit me by offering me an astronomical wage. Of course, I declined.”

“And he was okay with that? See, I know the man and he doesn’t easily take no for an answer.”

“Well, he did this time.” When Luca cocked his brow, she added, “Over the past few months, I kind of became friends with Katya as well. She’s his protégé, whatever that means. I found that men, the stronger and tougher they look in public, are still putty in the hands of the women in their life.”

“Smart. It’s what probably keeps him from snatching you from the street.”

She’d figured that out herself as well. You didn’t just poke a bear and get away with it, as her pops would say. And what, other than poking, was threatening to steal the money of a kingpin?

“So, now what? How do I get out of this mess?” Wasn’t that the real question? Worse was, Luca didn’t even know the full truth. He had no idea about the message she’d received. That the playing card was meant as both a present and a deterrent for Tess instead of him. Except, she couldn’t tell him about Onyx without mentioning a few skeletons in her own closet.

“Easy. Help me find the killer. Help me find Cruz.”

“Right. I’m not exactly Sherlock Holmes. And neither are you. I mean, if you had been, no way you would have fallen for the trap that sent your ass to prison.” He gave her an odd look. It took her a second to realize that, once again, she just blabbed the first thing that came to mind.

“You’re just a poster child for diplomacy, aren’t you?”

Again, he didn’t say anything she hadn’t heard before. “Look, diplomatic or not, I’ll help you. We will work together, but first, you have to keep your promise. You have to get rid of this Mick guy. I can’t concentrate on anything else before that.”

Also, she needed to fix her digital watch. If she didn’t take care of it, her pops would get worried. And when Adam Gibson got worried over his granddaughter, he didn’t exactly call the cops or hospitals. Nope, her pops had his own way of dealing with justice. The kind that involved guns and bazookas and Molotov cocktails. After all, such was the life of a Doomsday Prepper.

“I’ll take care of it,” Luca said.

Tess got up. “Good. After that, I have to get back to my apartment to get my stuff. It’s going to take a while before I find this Cruz guy you’re looking for.”

“You find me Cruz, and I’ll give you anything you want.”

“First, we need to get my dad.”

After that, I seriously need to reconsider my life choices.

CHAPTER 10

LUCA

He was going to do whatever it took to make Tess help him find Cruz. A small part of his soul, the part that wasn’t smudged in darkness, felt like an asshole for not helping her out before. There had been a time in his life he would’ve helped her just because she’d helped him. Because he was grateful she’d set him free. But he no longer was that man.

Tit for tat. Everything comes at a price.

The old Luciano Detta was dead.

Cruz.

Grace.

Cruz and Grace. Except, Grace wasn’t alive anymore. Her body had fucking dropped out of his pantry. Someone was trying to put him back in jail by planting a body in his house. Or perhaps send him a message. Several scenarios went through his head, but he came up empty. He would know more once he’d found his ex-partner. He must have killed Grace. Perhaps she’d threatened to speak and tell the truth after she’d learned that Luca got out. Who else but Cruz would have a motive? That was something he would have to worry about later. First, he had to get Tess back into the game.

Meanwhile, he unfortunately also had to deal with Damon’s threat looming over his head. It just was bad timing. He had other things on his mind than to duck a fake marriage. Finding Cruz and bringing him in for Grace’s murder had just become more imperative. He’d known Cruz to be a backstabbing asshole, but a murderer? That was low, even for him. Then again, it made sense he was covering his tracks. Hector’s team didn’t come up with any more info on Cruz than he already had, so right now, Tess was his best option.

There was more to her than met the eye, he’d known that from the get-go. It was the reason why he needed her help. But now, not only did he need to convince her of helping him out, he actually had to keep her alive. Not just because he owed her his freedom but because she was the key to his revenge.

Also, there was the bet with Angel. It was a dick move on his part, but then again, he had to keep her with him anyway, right? Being a nice guy had only given him grief. Making her fall for him would make her more cooperative. It wasn’t like she was a Detta. He didn’t owe anybody anything, unless they were family.

Protect and provide.

He remembered his father’s words. He barely remembered his parents, but Gio had told him about his father’s mantra many times. How a man was supposed to protect and live for his family. But his father had never been betrayed by a woman. Their mother had worshiped the ground on which he walked, she hadn’t stabbed him in the back. Their marriage had started out as one of convenience but the second their father had spotted their mother, it had been one of love. They had never been a day apart since the moment they said their vows. Their mother had been their father’s wild flower, his biggest supporter. Luca had believed he had found his flower in Natasha.

Sadly, she turned out to be a thorny rose, one that had made him bleed over and over again. No, women were not to be trusted, he had learned his lesson. The marital bliss Gio and Hector had found was a once-in-a-lifetime deal. He knew that now. Part of him envied them for it, another part knew that his heart, like a flower bereft of water and sunlight, had withered and died. Tess was just a means to an end. No one would stand between him and his vengeance. Anyone who tried, he would reap with a scythe. For in his heart was darkness, and in his veins, there was fire. Not even a unicorn had the magic to cure that.

Tess was an innocent bystander in all this. Then again, he once thought his fiancée was innocent as well. It was odd how, when playing cards, he could read a table like the back of his hand, but he’d been fooled by a woman wearing a poker face. Her mask hadn’t slipped once in the year they had been together.

“So, you found out how we’re going to save my dad?”

Right, her dad. She must be really close to her father. He didn’t remember his father much, but for Tess, it would be different. She was the type of person who made transactions with a loan shark to save her dad.

He frowned. What kind of a father would give up his daughter as collateral to someone from Brian’s crew? The man made women work for him on his back. For some reason, it didn’t sit well with him that her loyalty was repaid like that by the one man who was supposed to protect her from scum like Brian.

From scum like you who want to use her.

He immediately shut up the voice inside the one bright corner of his mind. A little corner that was still good. The small part that wouldn’t do anything and use anyone just to have his way. She was right about some aspects of his life. He was used to getting what he wanted. He was used to having women fall at his feet. To have people at his beck and call.

Gio, especially, had shielded him from the ugly parts of his life. He and Jackson had had a preppy upbringing. The best cars, the best school, the best clothes. All paid for with the family business. He knew Gio had made a way for them in more gray areas, and they had all reaped the benefits of it. Perhaps that had been his biggest mistake—not taking his brother’s money to build his own empire. To want to go at it alone. To team up with Cruz, someone he’d befriended at boarding school, who ended up stabbing him in the back.

He blinked when Tess waved her fingers in his face.

“Hello, Earth to Luca Detta. My dad. Mick the Dick. Remember?”

Right. Just one more thing he had to take care of before Tess would be totally free to help him out. Thing was, Mick was just an enforcer. He wouldn’t do anything without his boss’s knowledge. Not if he wanted to live. Irish Brian was an Old Testament kind of guy, taking an eye for an eye literal. If he wanted to make Mick back off, he had to go to the hand that held him by the leash.

“Let’s go find Irish Brian.”

***

It had been years since he’d been to Brian’s place. The resident leader of the Irish mob was into gambling and specialized in underground fights. Some called him the Last Crusader because he was said to be fair, but went for the sword when you crossed him. Even before his incarceration, Luca hadn’t been much into this world. The only gambling he did was by card; poker, more specifically. He found back alley fights beneath him.

That is, until he’d had to learn to defend his back in jail. Until he’d learned that a suit didn’t make a man a man. When all his so-called friends had abandoned him. None of the polished, ten-thousand-dollar suit guys in fast cars had ever visited him. Oddly, the only ones, besides his family, that had visited him were the twins. It was behind bars he’d learned the value of true friends.

He closed the door to reminiscing the old days as they entered Brian’s warehouse at the docks. Judging by the men guarding it, it was a busy night. Tess walked by his side with a determined expression on her face. An expression that didn’t bode well.

“Let me handle this,” he warned.

“I will give you one chance,” she replied. “Though I can’t say I’m very confident in your abilities to best this Brian O’Connell person. After all, he’s a Crusader and you are”—she gave him a once-over—“well, you aren’t exactly on his level. If he doesn’t go for the money to let Mick hand over my dad, I don’t think you can make him.”

“What’s that supposed to mean? And since when do you know about Brian’s nickname?”

She rolled her eyes. “I know a lot of things. Anything you want to find about anyone is accessible once you have a name. I copied Mick’s phone during our first visit. From there on, I followed the breadcrumbs. It was child’s play, really.”

It irked him that she saw him as less of a man than the twins or even Brian, a guy she hadn’t even met yet. He saw it in the way she’d looked at Angel and Damon. There was a little fear and a slight hint of awe there. The look she gave him was more… passive. Worst of it was, he didn’t even know why he cared. Perhaps because he’d never met a woman before who made him feel… less.

It’s because you’ve never met a woman before who wasn’t impressed by your looks, cars, and jet-set lifestyle.

He hushed that voice in his head and came to a halt when one of Brian’s men stopped them in front of a door.

“Don’t do anything stupid when we get in,” he warned her.

“Define stupid.”

He didn’t trust her innocent look for one second. “You don’t know who you’re dealing with here. Not really. People aren’t what they seem on a computer screen. Data doesn’t make a person. Brian has a way of dealing with people. He hates liars or rude people. Both men and women pay him with blood and sweat. Men, usually by fighting in the ring. Women, by working on their back, if you get my drift. So, when we get inside, let me do the talking.”

Tess grumped a bit but didn’t contradict him. Then again, surely she was smart enough to shut her trap.

He exchanged a few words with the guard, and then they were let inside.

Two men sat around a square table. Behind them was a desk with several large screens, no doubt giving an overview of the several bets that were going on. Brian had a finger in a lot of pots, from real-life gambling to online poker. Luca immediately recognized the man. He was as large as a warrior back in the days, with a beard and barrel chest. His arms were covered in tattoos and a large cross was burned in his neck. No one knew who’d done that. No one was stupid enough to ask him to his face. Two large, bald men stood behind him. Next to him sat a rat-faced man in a green tracksuit. Must be Mick, judging by the scowl he gave Tess.

“That’s him,” she exclaimed loudly. “Mick the Dick.”

The dick in question jumped from his chair. “What did you just call me?”

Tess frowned. “Oh, did I say that out loud? I sometimes do that, though I’m working on it. You know, to not broadcast everything that comes into my mind. I know some people find it offensive.”

Mick gave her a dazed look. “What?”

“But to answer your question, yes, I called you a dick. Mick the Dick, to be more specific. Because you are one.”

Fucking hell.

When Mick stepped forward, Luca positioned himself in front of Tess. Sure, she deserved her ass to be slapped, but not by Mick.

Or any other man but me.

Brian made a sound and his enforcer stopped in his tracks.

“You’re gonna pay for that, little girl,” Mick spat.

“I can’t because sadly, you already have all my hard stolen money.” Then she looked at Brian. “I know who you are, Mr. O’Connell. It’s very nice to meet you. I tried to contact you after the first time Mick ripped me off, when I gave him the money to release my dad. I’ve heard you are an honest man and, like all thieves, I’m sure you have a code of honor.”

Fuck. This was going even worse than he’d pictured.

“Tess.” He grabbed her arm and pushed her behind him. She was going to get herself killed.

“What?” She frowned. “It’s true. Even the pirates in Pirates of the Caribbean—”

Mick cursed. “Let me cut off her tongue, Brian. Calling you a thief. What the hell?” He was almost foaming at the mouth.

“It was meant as a compliment,” she replied from behind his back.

“Could you please stop talking,” Luca snapped.

“I’d rather not. Do you know how long it took for me to get this meeting?”

Then Brian got up from his chair, his face impassive. The only color in his black ensemble was the silver cross around his neck. He was a large man, easily twice Tess’ size. Luca pondered their options. They were outnumbered, and even though he didn’t believe Brian would be stupid enough to start a war with the Dettas, one could never be sure. The Irish were known to be unpredictable. Especially this one.

“Let her speak,” Brian said.

Tess shouldered past him and pointed a dainty finger at Mick. “I’m Tess Gibson and I call your enforcer, Mick, a lying cheat.”

“You lying bitch!” Mick went red and looked like a raging bull. As Luca expected though, he didn’t dare move with Brian there.

“As my grandfather says, if you don’t like me calling you a liar, then don’t lie,” Tess said. “I’ve learned not to. Pity nobody taught you.”

Brian looked utterly fascinated. A look Luca didn’t care for at all. Men like Brian had a tendency to keep the things they found fascinating.

“Your man has taken Tess’ father because of a debt,” Luca intervened. “Even though Tess paid her father’s debt off, Mick didn’t release him. Instead, he’s asked for more, every week.”

Brian’s sole attention was directed on Tess. “You claim to never lie?”

Tess nodded. “I was raised with the radical honesty principle. It’s not always easy to live by, but nothing easy is ever worth anything, right?”

“The truth is never easy,” Brian agreed. He crossed his arms and turned to Mick. “Speak.”

“She’s lying,” Mick spat. “Yeah, Rufus didn’t pay, so I had him roughed up. Then he claimed his daughter would pay for him. And she did, just once. Then I released him. It’s not my fault if he didn’t contact her.”

Tess gasped. “You slimy…”

Luca put his hand over her mouth. This was not the time to interrupt Brian.

“How much was his debt?”

“Ten large. You can find it in the books.”

Brian nodded and turned back to Tess. “Mick has another story. Which means one of you is lying. I hate liars. As the Book says, ‘The Lord detests lying lips, but he delights in people who are trustworthy.’ Do you have anything to back your claim with?”

Luca expected Tess to pale and sputter. After all, he doubted that Mick gave her a receipt for paying him off. The transactions had all been made in cash. He was just about to step in and offer to take care of it when a grin appeared on her face. Not a normal grin, but one of an evil Disney character, he just couldn’t figure out which one.

“I certainly have,” she said sweetly.

Brian’s eyes narrowed. “It’s not too late to take back your words. I will give you one chance. If you can’t deliver, you will have to either fight or work with my girls. There’s no coming back from that.”

“I will fight him,” Tess called out.

Like hell you are.

Brian gave her a dubious look. “Really? With what mass? One kick to the stomach and you’d be flat on your face.”

“I understand.” She pointed at the computer screen. “May I?”

At Brian’s nod, she went to the computer, took a small device from an inside pocket, and locked it to the screen. Tess fired up her little device, putting in numbers and code to her password. A row of numbers popped up on one of the big screens behind Brian.

“I didn’t mean fighting in the ring,” she clarified. “That is so Middle Ages. The time of fighting with fists is nothing compared to the digital fight.” A few taps on her computer, and the info on her small screen got projected onto three larger screens in the office.

“What the fuck is this?” Mick’s eyes darted from her mini-laptop to the other screens. A dot of sweat had formed on his upper lip.

Tess pointed to the screen. “I took the liberty to circle the money Mick’s been skimming off you, Mr. O’Connell. Those are the red ones, ‘cause I’m helpful like that.”

As Tess explained more and more because she was “helpful like that,” it became apparently clear that Mick was doing a side business, one Brian had no idea about.

It didn’t take long before Mick’s scheme unraveled. Luca had to give it to Brian. His enforcers were that well-raised that Mick didn’t even put up a fight. One look at Brian, and the two men standing beside him, and he correctly assessed his situation—there was no way out.

“Call her father and give me your phone.”

Mick did as Brian said, looking pale as a ghost.

When Brian passed the phone to Tess, a strange thing happened. Luca expected Tess to relax while she talked to her father. Instead, the opposite happened. He was adept at reading faces. What gambler playing cards wasn’t? Turns out, Tess Gibson didn’t have a poker face. She didn’t look like a woman who just had the weight of the world lifted off her shoulders. She looked… strained, and a little tired.

Curiouser and curiouser.

Tess Gibson was a puzzle that needed to be solved.

CHAPTER 11

TESS

Tess ended the call with her father, even though he was still complaining on the other end of the line. She gave the phone back to Brian and took a deep breath.

“Thank you.”

“He’s a free man.” Brian’s gaze turned to Mick, who was standing behind him.

It happened in the blink of an eye. Brian’s hand went to the large cross against his chest. With a whooshing sound, he made a half turn and suddenly Mick’s hands were clutching his throat. Ropes of blood trickled over his fingers, right before he collapsed to his knees.

Her stomach lurched. Oh, God. Brian had used the edge of his cross to silence Mick permanently.

She hardly noticed when Luca grabbed her arm and ushered her outside.

“I didn’t want this,” she whispered as Luca put her in the car and buckled her in.

“I know.”

“I… Oh, God.”

He grabbed her chin. “This isn’t on you. Brian would have found out sooner or later anyway. The result would have been the same.”

How could he talk about this so easily? “I just got a man killed.”

Again.

Only when Luca cranked up the heat did she notice she was shivering. They were driving for a few minutes when he took a turn in the wrong direction.

“Where are you going?”

“My place,” he said.

“Aren’t you forgetting something? I need my stuff.”

I also need to barf, but that can wait.

“You can get anything you want when we get to my place. There’s no need to waste time by going for an overnight bag.”

“Must be nice to order people around and manage their time, as if the world revolves around you. Unlike what you seem to think, I don’t want to go home to get myself panties. What I need to help you out can’t just be bought online.”

“You need your computer stuff.”

“Spoken like a true dinosaur, Mr. Detta. Yes, I need my computer stuff.”

“Are you always this crabby in the evening?”

“You mean, after witnessing a murder, or do you mean like a Gremlin after midnight?” Of course, he wouldn’t get that reference. Mr. Boarding School had probably never seen—

A smile tugged at his lips. “Don’t worry. I’ll be sure not to feed you or get you wet after midnight.”

Well then.

As Luca drove over to her apartment, once again, Tess found herself wishing she had magical powers. For starters, the power to vanish. An amnesia serum would come in handy as well. Especially in the “not having to remember throats being sliced” department of her brain. Furthermore, she would use it to make both her father and Luca forget she even existed, so they would leave her alone.

No, that wasn’t right. This mess hadn't started out with her going to Luca to help him. If she was being honest to herself—which she sometimes loathed—it had begun the day she met Onyx on the dark web. The day she had discovered she wasn’t the only one with fingers that could weave digital magic on a level only a few people could.

That fateful day, she believed she had encountered a group of kindred spirits and eventually had gone on a “quest” with them. Except it hadn’t been to Mordor, which would have been better than where she had ended up with them. Going to a fiery mountain to drop a ring in it was far more to be preferred than going to a power plant to blow it up. And the aftermath, oh, the aftermath of it had been worse than someone biting off half your finger. She would have gladly sacrificed a finger instead of having to look down into the eyes of that dead guard. An innocent man that had been at the wrong place at the wrong time. She believed her penance had been over when she’d helped Luca, another casualty of Onyx, get free, but maybe she’d been wrong. Maybe he was just the beginning of righting a wrong. Perhaps she should just come clean. But how? How could she ever explain to him what had truly happened? He might hate her. Also, he had no idea how dangerous the group was that had targeted him. He truly believed he’d just been set up by his former partner, Cruz.

You can’t tell him about Onyx, Tess. Shut your pie hole.

If he went after Onyx, there was no telling what could happen to him this time. Then there was the fact that Onyx and Tess had never met in real life, which she’d prefer to keep that way. It was never good to meet your heroes, especially not when said hero was sending her warnings by playing cards. She couldn’t afford to be more than a blip on Onyx’s radar.

There was a difference between being considered a nuisance or going full-on Dark Phoenix on Onyx’s ass. The second she challenged the black hat hacker, only one of them would come out of that battle alive. There was no room for both a Dark and Light Vader in the same realm. And no matter how many enemies Tess slew on the battlefields as an elf, in real life, she couldn’t even stand the sight of blood. Onyx, on the other hand, had already shown he was capable of anything.

The best way for her out of this mess was to find this Cruz person. Which would hopefully lead to Grace’s killer. Luca might be hell-bent on revenge, but she was just as passionate about not getting murdered by Damon, simply so she wouldn’t be a liability. It was amazing to what lengths some people would go to eradicate the minuscule chance that she would be a threat to someone they loved. Then again, she understood Damon all too well. On that account, they were cut from the same cloth. The difference being that she dealt in information, not bullets.

Note to brain; find useful info on the twins.

It could never hurt to have a backup plan. Then, when everything was said and done, she would extract herself from Luciano Detta’s life.

When Luca killed the engine in front of her apartment, a sense of peace entered her. It always happened when she got closer to the one place in the world that was her center of gravity. It was a two-bedroom apartment and didn’t account for much, but to her, it was a castle. And other than her grandfather, she usually didn’t allow anyone in.

They went up the stairs only to find out that her front door was open. Her heart started to pound.

Luca grabbed her arm. “Wait here.”

She didn’t really want to but needed a minute to compose herself. The little voice in the back of her mind told her this wasn’t just an ordinary burglary.

Luca returned with a grim expression on his face.

“How big is the damage?” she asked.

“Actually, less than you’d expect. Only one room was ransacked.”

“My study.” She dashed by him, going for her “headquarters,” as she’d dubbed the place. Crap. Her favorite room was turned into a digital ghost town. All her computers, laptops, screens—basically anything having anything to do with technology had disappeared. All that was left were a few old computers that had sentimental value.

“That’s not all,” Luca said. His eyes went to the whiteboard opposite her desk.

Her heart went to her throat when she saw what object was clipped to it.

Queen of Spades.

So much for flying under the radar.

Luca looked at her questioningly. She knew he probably had, like, a million questions, but she couldn’t answer them. Not the ones he really wanted and needed to know.

“It’s just a warning,” she explained. A deadly warning, but nevertheless just a warning. Sadly, it also meant Onyx knew her identity, which sucked.

“What the hell do you mean by a warning?”

“It’s just the Queen of Spades. No need to worry just yet.” Of course, she’d be screwed if it were the final card, the Ace of Spades.

“Did you receive any cards like this before?”

Why did he have to ask that question? “Um… yes.”

“You didn’t tell me.” His voice sounded low. “Why didn’t you tell me, Tess? What happened to your radical honesty?”

That was so unfair. Except, it kind of wasn’t. “I didn’t tell you the code to unlock my phone either. That doesn’t make me a liar, does it? I don’t have to tell you everything. I think our fake engagement is getting to your head.”

That’s right, T-girl. Deflection is an art form.

He stared into her eyes for a moment. She recognized his pose for what it was; a stare-down contest. Her heart started to pound, but she refused to look away.

“Where and how did you get the first playing card, Tess?”

Asking a direct question. The rat bastard was learning fast. Guess there was no way around it. Perhaps it was for the better anyway. He needed to know he was in danger.

“Right before Grace’s body dropped out of your pantry, I received a message on my phone. It was a picture of the Jack of Spades.”

“Cruz must know about you helping me out.” His eyes were scouring the room. “The Queen of Spades after the Jack of Spades with the body.”

Yep, he was connecting the dots. Except, it wasn’t Cruz who’d sent her the message. It was his evil overlord who had pulled the strings.

“Guess you’re not just looks and a big wallet after all. You actually do have a brain.”

He sent her a withering look. “One day, we’re going to discuss this radical honesty thing of yours and the ability to make a man’s balls shrink.”

“It’s not my fault that you can’t handle a few stones to your um… stones.” Then it happened. He actually smiled. Of course, he didn’t know what kind of pickle they were in yet. “It’s nice that you can still keep your humor despite the mess we’re in.”

“It’s nothing a cleaning crew can’t handle. I’ll have some people sent over.”

“Not that kind of a mess.” She walked over to her gear on the table. It was smashed into a thousand pieces. “They’ve ruined my gear. I need certain stuff to do certain searches. It’s not like in the movies, you know. A few taps, and whatever info you’re searching for pops up on your screen within lightning speeds. We’re talking about finding a guy who has done everything to disappear. He has the means to cover his tracks. Even if I had all the software I needed, it’s going to take a while before I’ve found his trace. I’m going to need to find a credit card to connect him with. Or him hitting a public camera so I can place him at a certain location. He might not leave his hiding place for weeks, and only use cash for the same amount of time.” She hoped she was painting him a clear picture.

“What you’re telling me is it could take anywhere between a day and, say, a month before you trace him.”

“Exactamundo.”

“Fine.” He looked around her place. “Pack a bag. You’re staying with me until you find him.”

“Yeah, I don’t think so. See, I’m kind of an einzelgänger. That means a solitary person in German, and—”

“I know what it means. And I don’t care. As long as you’re working for me, you will be a duo instead of a solo. I’m not letting you out of sight. Besides, your place is trashed. Also, you’ll be safer with me.”

She highly doubted that. “Fine. But regardless of where I’m staying first, I need to get some new gear. Big gear, in tiny packages. Just like me.”

“Ah, I’ll get you a new computer.”

“Sure, let’s go to Target and get one.”

He nodded, looking serious. “Of course, let’s go.”

She snorted. “And they say I don’t always understand sarcasm. Look around, Luca. The stuff I use here, it’s not something you can buy in a regular store. Most of it I’ve had custom-made. Some I transformed myself. Digital warfare requires good gear, just like with regular warfare. The one with the better equipment usually wins. They’ve destroyed everything. This is a major setback, but nothing that can’t be fixed. I just need new stuff which, in the short term, I can only get with certain people. One person, to be exact.”

“Fine, let’s go to that person then.”

“Can’t. Not today. Alfie only goes outside on a Saturday, and I have no clue as to where he lives. He operates off the grid. Doesn’t own a cell phone or anything else the government can trace him with.”

“You have odd friends.”

“You don’t know the half of it.” He hadn’t even met her grandfather’s weird ass friends yet. And he never would. They were the kind of people who mostly lived in the shadows and were only seen when they wanted to be seen.

“So, we have a whole week until we can meet this Alfie person.”

“That’s right.” She picked up a rug from the couch, trying to salvage what could be saved.

Then she packed a bag and followed him back home. The drive over to his condo was done in silence. Tess didn’t feel like talking and he seemed to be in a pensive mood. Although “broody” was perhaps more fitting.

The second time around in his condo, she took in her surroundings better. The guy lived in a place straight out of a magazine for the rich and famous. It was nice to take pictures in, but it didn’t have any personality. It was all hard lines, black and steel furniture, and marble. Just looking at it made her feel like she was in a cold bowl.

She put her bag on his rock-hard designer couch and studied him. It was time to get down to business.

“So, who am I looking for, exactly? There’s your former assistant who kind of died on you.” She shivered, thinking back on the body dropping on top of her. That had been like a scene from a horror movie. “Who else should I be looking for? Just this Cruz person?”

Her question seemed to snap him out of whatever dark headspace he’d been in.

“My ex-partner, Immanuel Cruz. I’ll give you everything you need to know about him. Both he and my ex-PA had access to the files that were used against me in court. Both of them testified against me. Hector tried to find him, but it appears he has disappeared from the face of the earth.”

“Don’t mind me for asking but, why exactly has he not been… apprehended before? After all, your brothers could have easily gotten to him and put on the screws, so to speak.”

“They could have,” he acknowledged. “But I made them swear not to intervene. The only one cutting his strings will be me, no one else. I dreamed of that moment, every day, for the past two years. Cruz thinks he can run, but he can’t hide. There isn’t a place on this planet he can hide from me forever, unless it’s six feet under. And even then, I will pull him out of that grave to spit on him.”

There it was again. That look in his eyes. Another shiver went down her spine. Luciano Detta was a man hell-bent on revenge. He was going at it like a bulldozer, determined to destroy anything in its path. She could’ve told him his ex-partner and PA were just the tip of the iceberg. That they were just another pawn in a big game. But if she did, she would have to tell him everything. He might figure out her role in all of this. He was already suspicious of her. Still, she had to ask.

“So, imagine you did find him and he’s not lying in some grave. Then what?”

“Then, I’ll make him regret his mother ever gave birth to him.”

“Wonderful. That doesn’t sound like a sociopath talking at all.”

“Sociopath talk? He destroyed my life. Revenge is my right.”

“Ah yes, your life.” Some life you had.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Did I say that last part out loud?”

He crossed his arms, leaning against the bookcase. “No, but your tone says enough.”

“Well, let’s not get into what I think of your life. After all, I’m just here to—”

“No, no, let’s get into it. See, I have this feeling you got a problem with me. Why don’t you just tell me, Ms. Honesty? Spit it out, so we can get it out of the way. I don’t plan on getting pricked by your barbed tongue for the next couple of weeks.”

That stung. So, maybe he wasn’t the first one to make a comment about her tongue and sarcastic retorts. It was just that, since she was a little girl—being little and having a far from conventional upbringing—she’d been picked on. So, she’d learned to lash out the second someone even tried to put her down. She hated the way he had dismissed her, that first time in prison. Men like Luciano Detta had a certain way with a certain kind of woman. Tess knew she didn’t fit into that mold. She never had with Trevor either.

Dammit, maybe the guy had a point. Maybe she was projecting her feelings of betrayal toward Trevor. Which wasn’t really fair. Her pops would be disappointed in her. Still, that didn’t mean her initial assessment of his personality was wrong.

“You are a prince,” she finally said.

“What?” He looked baffled.

“You’re a prince,” she repeated. “Just think about your upbringing and the people you surrounded yourself with. Show me your friends and I will tell you who you are. That’s what my pops told me. Did any of your friends visit you when you were inside? Don’t answer that, I already know. I’ve seen your visitor’s list. The only ones visiting you were your brothers and some women for a conjugal visit. You didn’t even know the people you called your friends. I know your type. Rich, entitled, king of his world. You collect things, Luca, not people. Your ex-fiancée is a prime example of this.”

“Don’t get Natasha into this.”

“Why not? I bet I know her better than you do, and I’ve only just met her once. What’s her favorite color?”

“White. Her favorite color is white because it reminds her of the diamond I bought for her.”

Tess nodded. “Of course you’ve bought her blood diamonds. Why am I not surprised? But you’re wrong, by the way. According to an interview last year, her favorite color is red. Ruby red, to be exact. It’s the stone her husband bought for her for their one-year anniversary.”

His jaw clenched. “Natasha will get what’s coming to her as well.”

“Really? Do tell. What exactly are you going to do to her? A thirty-two-year-old former lingerie model, who’s basically acting exactly the way people expect her: spoiled. The biggest decision she has to make on a daily basis is what couture to wear.”

“Whatever needs to be done.”

“And what might that be? Are you even going to listen to her? Weren’t you sentenced to twenty years? Did you really want her to spend two decades waiting for you, not living her life? Or are you actually going to listen as to why she did what she did?”

While she didn’t approve of the way Natasha had handled things, Luca needed to know—no, she needed to know—that there was still a hint of reason inside him, a speck of mercy.

“I don’t listen to betrayal.”

Of course he didn’t. “Must be nice sitting atop that high horse, looking down on the rest of humanity. To live in such a perfectly clear black-and-white world. Ever thought that perhaps your former partner had a reason to betray you? Maybe Cruz didn’t actually want to betray you, but his hand was forced?”

His eyes narrowed. “Are you telling me you got info indicating that?”

This was where it got tricky. “I just believe in questioning someone first, instead of whatever it is you’re thinking of doing.”

“And why is that?”

“Because sometimes people screw up. Even when they have the best of intentions, they screw up.”

Like I did. Years ago.

He took a step toward her. Then another one, until they were standing nose to nose. She could see the ice blue of his irises. There was understanding in them. For a moment, she believed she had gotten through to him.

He put a hand on her shoulder. “I will ask him why he betrayed me.”

A relieved breath left her. “Good.” At least this time, she wouldn’t be aiding in someone’s death.

“Then, after I’ve listened to whatever sob story he comes up with, I will end him.”

Her heart plummeted. The raging fire in Luca’s eyes had turned into a blue inferno. This man would know no mercy, no compassion. If he ever found out…

The doorbell rang, shaking her from her dark thoughts.

Luca turned, taking a piece from his back.

She gasped. “You carry a gun.”

“Stay here.” After giving her a stern look, he went for the door.

“I’m so not staying here.” Like she was some poor little woman who couldn’t take care of herself.

The peaceful evening suddenly got shattered by Trevor’s voice. “Who are you?”

Had his voice always been that nasal?

Tess pushed past Luca, who was blocking the front door. She was glad to see that he’d put his gun back where it belonged, out of sight.

Trevor looked somewhat disheveled out of his tweed jacket and without sporting his arrogant look.

“What do you want, Trev? How did you even find me here?”

Her ex cleared his throat. “The manager left me your forwarding info. It’s good to see you, love. We need to talk.”

“I’m not your love. We broke up. You don’t do quirky anymore, remember?” Yep, those words still stung.

So much for forgiveness from your side of the fence, T-girl.

Shut up, inner voice. I’m not talking to you.

“I was wrong, Tess. I came to apologize. I want you back.”

Then Trevor did something totally bizarre. He went down on one knee and pulled out a little black box.

Apparently, pigs could fly.

CHAPTER 12

LUCA

As Luca assessed the kneeling man on his doorstep, he didn’t detect an ounce of love on his face. The stuffy-looking wolf in sheep’s clothing had the same look he’d seen on Natasha’s face. Funny how now he could recognize it for what it was—manipulation. Whatever it was this guy was here for, it wasn’t out of love for Tess. This piece of crap didn’t even deserve to be in the same room with her.

“Too late, pal, she’s already engaged to me. Now, why don’t you put that ring back before I shove it somewhere the sun don’t shine?”

Tess looked perplexed. “I’m confused, Trevor. I thought you didn’t believe in the ‘retarded institution’ of marriage? Not that I actually considered tying myself to you forever, but I do remember those words. What has changed? What did I miss?”

Trevor got back on his feet. He did, however, put the box back into his pocket. Then he mustered a tight smile on his face, all the while ignoring Luca.

He didn’t like the claim this man made on Tess. He also didn’t like to be ignored, so he crossed his arms and moved to stand right next to Tess. So close, he could smell her. Damn, she smelled nice. How had he not noticed that before? It was a delicious blend of strawberry and something lemony.

Focus, Luciano, focus. The rat bastard is trying to steal your prize.

Shit, don’t think of her like that. That’s not what she’s here for.

“I made a mistake, Tess. Please, can we talk about this in private?”

Luca shook his head. “I’m not leaving.”

“You don’t have to,” Tess said. “Whatever it is you want to say, just get it over with, Trev.”

Trevor straightened his dress jacket and once again plastered a smile on his face. Damn, the man was a chameleon. Part of Luca just wanted to slam the door in his face, so Tess didn’t have to deal with him. Sadly, he knew if he tried that, Ms. Independent might kick him in the nuts.

“Like I said, Tess, I’ve made a mistake. We belong together. We are a great team. Working side by side, being side by side. I don’t know anyone else like you who’s at my intellectual level.”

Same intellectual level? Luca snorted. The prick was a pompous ass.

“I bet she’s loads smarter than you,” he taunted.

Trevor’s nostrils flared. “You stay out of this,” he snapped, obviously no longer able to ignore him.

Point one for Team Luciano.

“Am I right, Tess?” Luca asked, knowing she would answer truthfully.

“Actually, you are,” she conceded. “But I was told, numerous times, that it’s rude to point out that people aren’t nearly as smart as I am. Or when I insult their computer skills.”

“Ah. Like that time when you called me a dinosaur?” he reminded her.

She nodded earnestly. “Like that time. And the time when I called you Mr. Spoiled Boarding School.”

He scowled. “When did you say that?”

Her mouth formed an O. “Huh, guess I said that on the inside. See? I’m already learning not to voice every thought.”

Her faint smile assured him she was pulling his chain. Probably. Or not. He couldn’t help but return it.

Trevor watched the exchange between them like a hawk. Judging by his frown, he didn’t like it one bit.

Luca shrugged. “What can I say? I like a woman with brains. It’s the sexiest thing.” He almost lost his composure when Tess blinked. She really had no idea of her appeal. Granted, until now, he hadn’t really seen her much as a woman… well, that wasn’t entirely true. He hadn’t wanted to get mixed up with one. Not before his mission was completed, but he couldn’t let this opportunity pass by either.

Tess gave him an odd look as if she’d never seen him before. He leaned closer to her. So close that he could see the little gold flecks in her hazel eyes. He hoped his body language told her how he felt. It didn’t take too long for her to catch up. This was her chance to show this ass off. But it should be her choice.

“I’m with Luca now, Trev.” She put a hand around his neck, and the other one right on his ass. Then she kissed him.

It was a sweet, tender kiss. A kiss that gave Tess Gibson, whiz kid, away as an utterly inexperienced kisser. He didn’t know why he was surprised. Perhaps because she seemed so on top of everything else. Oddly, her sweet and innocent kiss warmed the frozen-over parts of his heart.

She then let him go and turned to the side, her back to Trevor. He could barely hold in his laugh when her hand indicated that the kiss was “so-so.”

Good old Trevor looked absolutely miffed, but not like a man ready to explode out of anger, because the woman he loved kissed another man. Why was he even still here?

“You’re making a mistake, Tessa,” Trevor said.

Then suddenly it dawned on him. “You need her for something, don’t you?” Luca guessed.

Trevor’s lips thinned. “Your program doesn’t work properly. For some reason, it has shown bugs that make the software unstable. The investors threaten to draw back their investment.”

Tess cocked a brow. “Oh, so now you admit that it’s my program, and you stole it?”

“This is a onetime deal,” Trevor said, his voice all businesslike. “You would do well to work with me on this. We are talking about a million-dollar contract here.”

Tess crossed her arms, looking defiant. “I’d rather eat bugs for a whole year than accept any money from Big Pharma.”

Luca internally rolled his eyes. Of course, Miss Make the World a Better Place would have an issue with pharmaceutical companies. Perhaps this wasn’t the time to tell her he’d invested in companies she obviously loathed.

“Have it your way,” Trevor clipped. “I wasn’t exactly looking forward to spending my life with a cold fish in my bed anyway.”

Luca hissed and barely kept himself in check. The fucker was a sore loser, but any second now, Tess would give him lip, and make him run for his life.

He looked at her expectantly. The hurt on Tess’ face caught him off guard. Then she stepped back, like a little kitten backing off.

His gaze went back to Trevor. The smug bastard held his head high as if he’d won a battle. With just one remark, he’d put down the most ornery, sassy, and confident woman he’d ever met.

This just wouldn’t do. “Say, Trev?”

“Yes?”

Luca turned to Tess. “Fuck, how did you stand that voice all this time? It’s like the sound is coming from his ass.”

Her gaze shot up, just as he’d planned. Right in time to see him plant his fist in Trevor’s face.

“My nose!” Trevor’s hands went to cover his face. “You broke my nose.”

“Yeah, I did. Consider yourself lucky I didn’t break anything else, you righteous bastard. Now get the fuck away from us.” With those parting words, he slammed the door in his face.

He followed Tess back inside and sat next to her as she dropped onto the recliner.

“He’s not entirely wrong, you know,” she said softly.

“I’m not sure what part you mean, but I doubt that he isn’t.”

She’d pulled up her legs and hugged her knees. As if she was bracing herself against something.

“The sex part,” she said. “I mean, I tried. Like, a lot. Watched movies, complete porn collections, read up on my sex education, but nothing seemed to work. I just can’t seem to shut off my brain when I’m, you know. Trevor is actually my third lover, if I count the two one-night stands during college. Those two times before him weren’t exactly a success either.” She shrugged. “I kind of figured that it must be me.”

“Yeah?” He slowly pulled her over his lap. They were going into uncharted territory and what he was about to do was probably a mistake, but he couldn’t just let this go. “You really believe you know everything, don’t you?”

She shivered but didn’t pull away from him. “I don’t about this. I’m just not into sex. I probably miss a sex drive.”

“I highly doubt that.” While there were A-sexual people indeed, he didn’t think Tess was one. He placed a finger under her chin. “Sex is a team sport. If it isn’t working out, it usually isn’t one person’s fault. If it can be called a ‘fault’ at all. Sometimes people just don’t have that synergy.”

She gave him a doubtful look. “I just told you I’ve had three lovers in my life. That amount isn’t exactly enough to conclude an experiment within the sense of the social sciences, but I still think those numbers speak for themselves.”

Facts and numbers. He was starting to learn more and more about how her brain worked. “Fine. Let’s analyze this further. Tell me what happens when you were with Trevor. Though, honestly, one look at the prick and I can’t think of a single woman who’d get hot for him.”

She fidgeted in his lap, as if only now she was aware of where she sat. Right on top of his semi-hard dick.

“It’s getting late,” she said. “I should probably—”

“You should probably just be brave and not change the subject. Go where no man has gone before, or something like that, right?”

She scrunched her nose. “Please don’t go there.”

“Bad Star Trek impression?” he guessed.

“Not entirely, but I’m a Star Wars fan.”

“Aren’t those two the same thing?”

Her eyes widened in horror. “Wow. Just wow. I don’t even know where to start tackling that one.”

He laughed at her indignant look. However, he got what he wanted. She was lying, relaxed in his arms. There was no more talk about her going to bed.

Unless it’s with me.

Shit. Don’t go there. Remember why you’re doing this. You owe her. You can’t give her back her freedom yet, but you can help her out with this.

“So, Ms. Gibson, answer my question.” He wasn’t going to give her the chance to change the subject again.

“Fine.” She frowned. “I just find it difficult to relax. It’s like I’m always thinking of something. My mind works overtime, even when we made out. Then again, we usually talked about work, even when we had a supposedly romantic dinner. Guess this break-up was long coming. Especially after the last thing he pulled, selling my software to Big Pharma. That was the last straw.”

“Ah yes. Why the hate for Big Pharma, anyway?”

For a moment, her body froze, as if she was bracing herself. Then she started talking.

“They killed my mom. I mean, she got cancer and was in a clinical trial. And everyone knew she could be in the placebo group, but that wasn’t what happened with my mom. She received the so-called cure. It only shortened her life. Turned out, the manufacturer knew the high risks, but of course, didn’t tell anyone. By the time we found out, my mom was already a goner. She died the week after finding out about it.

The pharmaceutical company, of course, lawyered up. They went broke on paper. We didn’t receive a dime. And it’s not about the money. No amount of cash will ever be enough to replace someone you love. It’s the fact that they got away with it that ate at me. At the time, I was just a teenager. I didn’t have the computer skills I have nowadays. They just… played with her life and got away with basically killing her. Trevor knows all this. And still, he sold my program to Big Pharma, right under my nose.”

He was beginning to understand what drove Tess Gibson. “You’re the reason that program has a bug, aren’t you?”

Her ‘duh’ look made him smile. “Of course. Like I would ever leave the rebel base into the hands of the Empire.”

“And that’s not all you’re going to do, is it?”

A lovely blush covered her cheeks. “Well...”

“Tell me what evil plans you have plotted to make Trevor pay.”

“What makes you think I—”

“Tess…”

“Fine.” She rolled her eyes. “As of tomorrow, I might have frozen his bank account. Deleted the dissertation he’d been working on for months. Sent him an eviction notice. Granted, that last part won’t hold for long, but it’s a bitch to get it sorted out.”

“Remind me to never get on your bad side,” he joked.

“You really shouldn’t,” she said earnestly.

He couldn’t help himself. His finger trailed over her upper lip, making a full circle on the plump bottom half.

“I’m going to kiss you now, Tess Gibson.”

She swallowed. “Okay.”

Her lips were as soft as he remembered. He would never admit it to her, but he had wanted her the first time he saw her in jail. There was this innocence combined with a fierce passion, and determination surrounding her. He found it utterly sexy. Tess Gibson might be a small package in ripped jeans and rock tees indeed, but that was just her outer shell. Her inside was burning, and he was going to prove it to her.

He slowly took the kiss over, using his tongue to open her lips and then dove in. After that, things quickly got out of hand. The next minute, he had removed her top and bra. She had small but perfect breasts. He dove right in between them, taking a pink nipple into his mouth. He sucked them hard until they turned into peaks.

Fucking. Delicious.

It was as if his fingers led their own lives because they took root between her legs. He pushed one inside her panties and closed his eyes when he found her wet. Damn. He was rock-hard, ready to break out of his pants. Fucking her would complicate things.

He slowly pulled out his fingers. “You’re burning, baby. Like I said, sex is a team sport. If Trevor couldn’t get you hot, that’s on him. Not you.” He planted a kiss on her cheek. “Never on you.”

When he pulled away from her, Tess had her eyes closed and she was panting. With every breath, her breasts went up and down.

Slowly, she opened her eyes. He tensed up. A part of him expected her to bolt. To get angry for stopping. Maybe throw something at his head, now that the moment was cooling down.

Instead, she cupped his cheek. “Thank you, Luca.”

Her smile lit up the whole room and made the gray areas of his world colorful. And he couldn’t use that. Not now. Not before he’d taken his revenge. He couldn’t allow himself another vulnerability.

He grabbed her shirt and put it back over her head. Those perky breasts were a damn distraction.

“You’re very welcome. So, now what, unicorn?”

Her tongue trailed her lower lip before her glazed over eyes regained their focus again. He expected her to get off his lap, but she seemed to be sitting just fine.

“I’ll start my research with the info you’ll give me on Cruz. It probably won’t lead to more than you already know, but it’s a start. And then we wait a week until I can buy the stuff I need from Alfie.”

Seven days. Inside, a week had seemed to last forever. Every damn minute, every day was the same, and had dragged along. He’d been like a ghost, a shell of his old self, just waiting for twenty years to pass. Waiting until the day he would wake up and find himself an old man when he looked into the mirror.

Freedom; something he never thought much about before. Then again, who did? Only a person locked up in a cage could ever understand the true meaning of the word. And the pain when it was taken away from you. He was going to make Cruz pay for it if it was the last thing he did.

CHAPTER 13

TESS

Being tipsy rocked. Tess wondered if anyone had ever discovered that before. It cleared your mind. It didn’t fog your brain at all. How else could she come to one of her most brilliant conclusions ever? One that solved one of the great mysteries in her life. Apparently, she wasn’t terrible at sex. She just hadn’t chosen the right man to have it with. She was so calling this a ‘eureka’ moment.

How could she have been so wrong about sex and intimacy all her life? The other night, making out with Luca Detta, had been the single, hottest experience in her life. Which was nice in a “he made my panties melt” kind of way, but it had also proved her lifelong theory about sex wrong. And she wasn’t sure how she felt about that. Granted, he hadn’t rubbed it in her face that she’d humped all over his lap. Or that she’d greedily stuck her tongue in his mouth, his ear, had licked all over his jaw, but still. It made her question other life choices. Things she’d done that had seemed crystal clear at the time, but the memory was dipped in murky water.

As Tess took another cocktail from Tommie, she contemplated how her life had spun out of control like this. The guilt over her part in Luca’s incarceration weighed heavy on her. Every day, it seemed to drag her down more and more. It had been three days that she spent at his condo. Every morning, he greeted her right before he went to work. She wasn’t sure what he did for a living since becoming a free man again, but she was sure it was something more legal than she did.

Yes, he was still hell-bent on revenge, but he wasn’t a bad person. He was honest about what he wanted—info on everyone involved in his sentence—and what he was going to use that information for. Every day, he managed to squeeze in time to take care of her needs. A vegetarian breakfast, organic green tea, and every other whim he took care of. Not that she needed much, but he asked. Yes, this man, who was already paying her in dollars for her help, actually took the time every morning to ask if she needed anything else. So far, she hadn’t met the spoiled prince she accused him of being. He was actually very down to earth. Did he like the finer things in life? Yes. But who didn’t? And wasn’t she the same when it came to her computer gear? In fact, so far, of the two of them, he was being the most honest. And that, more than anything else, shamed her. He’d even given her pleasure as no man before him had. And how was she repaying him? With keeping things from him and not even reciprocating the hot, sizzling experience.

So, here she sat. At a table in a bar, enjoying her monthly girls’ night, feeling a tad bit depressed. In a silver, sequin dress, no less. Being used to jeans and anything in black, she felt like a Christmas tree on Ritalin. Unlike her bestie, Jazzy, Tess had bypassed the ‘girly-girl’ stage altogether. Makeup wasn’t her thing and she didn't give a crap about designer clothes. Not that she could afford them anyway. This didn’t mean she didn’t have a closet with a few ridiculous expensive pieces of apparels in it, courtesy of Jazzy Detta. Outside of their girls’ night out, Tess just hardly ever used them.

She was pulled out of her musings when Tommie waved a hand in her face.

“That’s my move, dude,” she scolded him.

He winked and pushed another cocktail in her hands. Her head already spun, and she put down the drink. A million things went through her mind.

Luca.

Worries.

Alcohol.

Cruz.

Except, Cruz was just the tip of the iceberg. She had to find a way to tell Luca he was gunning for the wrong man. But how? Maybe another margarita would help.

Yes, because alcohol is a real problem solver.

It can make your worries drown.

Nope. My worries can float just fine.

“So, what’s up with you and Luca?” Tommie asked.

“Not much.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive.”

Mary gave her a look. “He didn’t look too pleased tonight when we came to pick you up. Also, he handed you your jacket really fast, like he wanted to cover you up or something.”

Tess snorted. “That’s because the gap in my cleavage is a possible health hazard. He can’t have me catch a cold and get sick. How else would he find his archnemesis?”

“I don’t think that’s why he threw a jacket over you,” Tommie said in a weird tone.

“Maybe you’re right.” Mary threw a frown toward the bar. “Who knows why men do the things they do?”

Tess followed her gaze only to find Mary’s husband, Hector checking them out. As always, he was focused on his wife. She imagined that the possessive man became even more protective when they had their baby a few months back.

“Yikes.” Tommie followed Mary’s focus. “Way to go, girl, ice that big chunk of manliness right out of your face. Forget Tess. What’s up with you two?”

Tess found Hector frowning back at his wife. The club was beginning to turn into a big frowning festival. Wonderful.

“We had words about him spoiling Zoe rotten,” Mary explained. “And by spoiling, I mean spoiling. As in, anything she wants, he just buys for her. So, I’m not speaking to him right now.”

Ah, the much overrated and counter-effective silent treatment. “That’s no way to punish a guy,” Tess explained. “You should talk more to him. Like, a lot more. According to a study, you punish a guy more by talking his ears off than keeping your mouth shut. In fact, most men see it as a gift when their wife shuts her hole. I believe they perceive it as a moment of silent, marital bliss.”

Mary’s mouth dropped. Then her eyes narrowed as she slowly turned toward Hector again. “Oh my God. Of course. I just never saw it that way before.”

Before Tess could get into the not-so-very academic scientific proof of the social sciences, Mary had veered off toward her husband.

Hector folded his arms across his large chest as his wife, who barely reached his chest, started talking to him. And kept on talking. Adding in gestures with her hands. In fact, Mary didn’t shut up for at least five minutes. A strange thing happened when Mary started telling Hector off. A smile formed on the former Marine’s face. A smile that Tess could only describe as… wolfish.

Tommie was following the one-sided discussion with much interest. “Yeah, I don’t think Hector feels like his marital bliss is over now Mary’s talking. He looks like he…um—”

“Just wants to eat her up.” The way Luca had looked at her the other night. The way he had kissed her as if he couldn't get enough of her. It was the strangest feeling, and even thinking about it made her tingle and formed a hot spark in her belly. Strange because she hadn’t believed it possible to feel that way. Strange because never before had the reality of something she’d read about been better in real life. Her life just didn’t work out that way. A father was supposed to love and protect his child; in theory. In reality, her father never had. Being smart and working hard was supposed to land you a good job. It hadn’t happened. Exchanging scorching kisses with your boyfriend? Never happened to her. Well, not before Luca, and he technically wasn’t even her boyfriend.

A collective laugh shook her out of her thought. Everyone was looking at the bar. Hector had thrown Mary over his shoulder and sauntered off with her.

“There’s the Hector I know,” Tommie said. “Guess your advice wasn’t so sound after all.”

True that. “So much for the social sciences.”

Tommie chugged down the rest of his drink. “What a sad getting laid night it is tonight. Now, we’re only left with two. We should make a new rule about this night. Whoever doesn’t show up has to pay for the drinks the next time.”

“I second that.” She glanced at the bar and found Hector’s right-hand man looking after his boss with a smile. “So, Tommie, when are you going to ask Achilles on a date?”

Tommie almost choked on his drink. “Achilles? He's straight.”

“Are you sure?”

“Pretty sure.”

“That’s not the same as sure,” she pointed out. She got up and waved Achilles over from the bar.

“What are you doing?” Tommie hissed.

She didn’t answer him but just waited for the blond, hulking bodyguard to reach their table. As usual, the guy was dressed in black fatigues and a Henley.

“Hey, Achilles.”

“Hi, Tess, what can I do for you?”

“You can answer a question.”

“Sure.”

“Are you straight?”

He looked perplexed for a moment but then smiled. “I'm as straight as an arrow. But not always.” A wink, and then he left.

Tess turned to Tommie, whose mouth was hanging open. “See, there you go.”

“There I go?” Tommie sputtered. “I’m more confused than ever.”

“You’re not the only one,” she grumbled. It was time to take the bull by the horns. This time, not for a friend but for herself. It was time to do stuff. Hot, sizzling, delicious stuff.

“What should I do?” Tommie asked. “Should I do anything?”

It was getting increasingly hot inside. Maybe that third cocktail hadn’t been such a good idea.

“If you don’t do anything, you get nothing,” she replied, as she called an Uber. “Seize the day, Tommie, just seize the day.”

A determined expression crossed Tommie’s face. “You’re right. I should be brave. And bold.”

“And ballsy,” Tess added. “You go up to him now and ask him on a date. I’ll see you later.”

“Hold on. Where are you going?”

“I’m going to take my own advice,” she hiccupped. Leaving behind a sputtering Tommie, she was back at Luca’s place in half an hour. The doorman let her in and offered to call Luca up, but she declined.

I can make it upstairs myself just fine.

The slightly swaying walls and floor weren’t much help, but she made it anyway. Since she still didn’t have any keys, she rang the doorbell. Once, twice, then she kept her finger on it. Or maybe she did that from the get-go, who knew?

Luca opened the door wearing sports shorts. Little dots of sweat had formed on his bare chest. His very, hot chest with a treasure trail on his six-pack that led to—

“Oh, you look so yummy.”

He smiled. “Are you drunk?”

“No, I’m Tess. Tess Gibson. Nice to meet you. I fix computers.” Then she whispered, ‘cause it was her superhero side job, “I also find people and information.”

Why was she looking up at the ceiling?

“Put your arms around my neck,” Luca instructed.

Right. He was carrying her in his arms. With a sigh, she nestled in his arms, nicely against his chest. He smelled like an honest day of workout.

When he started walking toward the guest room, she stopped him. “Wait. I don’t wanna go to sleep yet. Take me to your room.”

He tensed. “What are you saying?”

Didn’t she have some sort of a plan? A reason why she’d left poor Tommie behind in the murky waters of a possible heart-shattering rejection? Yes, she did.

Sadly, she’d never mastered the subtle art of flirting, so honesty was key here. “I want to explore your body.”

His breath caught but he stopped moving. They were standing right in front of the bathroom. If he made a left, they would be going to his room.

“You’re drunk, so I don’t think—”

She put a finger on his lips, effectively hushing him. “I’m just a bit tipsy, but I know what I’m saying, and I definitely know what I want. No more thinking, please. Can’t we just do instead?”

His eyes went to her cleavage that bared half her breasts. “Fuck. You’re never wearing this dress out in public again. I mean, since we’re pretending to be engaged, I can tell you, no way in hell would I be okay with you walking around like that without me by your side.”

“Then maybe you should take it off.” Another curse followed but all she could do was smile. Never before had she felt so empowered. So completely free to say and do anything. He made her feel strong. “And take off your pants as well,” she added. “I want to touch you everywhere.”

The next moment, they crashed on his bed, with him on top of her. All thoughts of her exploring him and giving him the same pleasure as he’d done to her, flew out of the window. He had her dress removed within a second. The piece of fabric landed somewhere on the floor. Her panties and bra followed. Then he spread her legs and dove right between her legs.

“Oh, God.” Her moan could probably be heard through the entire building. She didn’t care. Not as long as his tongue was doing these wicked things to her.

Then, suddenly, there was a cracking sound at the door.

Oh, shit. Her buzz disappeared at lightning speed.

Luca jackknifed out of the bed. He shot to the cabinet and suddenly he was holding a gun in his hand, aimed at the door.

“Don’t move,” he whispered.

Tess quickly pulled the comforter over her body.

The next second, the door burst open and they were surrounded by two men wearing camouflage outfits and holding guns. She immediately recognized the big, bad, menacing looking one with a silver buzz cut. If she wasn’t mistaken, the other one was Silent Joe.

Tess sighed. “Hi, Pops.”

“It’s been over twenty-four hours since your watch died.”

Oh, right. She forgot about their arrangement. Craptastic. Now she had to explain him to Luca. And Luca to Pops. Then her pops would insist on getting her out of here.

“Who the hell are you?”

Her pops looked Luca up and down. At the way he had placed his body in front of her. “Maybe your troubled Dark Knight has a sense of honor left in him after all, T-girl. But, since I’m holding the guns, I’ll be asking the questions, kid. Who the eff are you?”

Luca lifted a brow. “I’m her fiancé.”

Tess couldn’t help herself, she snorted. And okay, maybe she even rolled her eyes a bit. Nope, a lot. Like anyone, least of all her grandfather, would believe that—

Pops lowered his gun and nodded in approval. “Good. About time she got herself a man who knows how to handle a gun.”

“What?” she sputtered. “This is not the time for a plea about the Second Amendment.”

“There’s no plea, sweetie pie, as a hot blooded American, the Constitution gives me the right to—”

“Nope. Not going there. Can you please focus, Pops?” She pointed accusatory fingers at Luca, who hadn’t lowered his gun but was staring in fascination at her grandfather.

“I’m damn focused, Tess. You engaged to this guy means you are no longer with that pansy ass professor.”

Ah, there it was. She should’ve known. “Trevor isn’t a pansy. He’s an achieved scholar who might be opposed to guns, but that doesn’t mean—”

“He’s a loser. A total slacker. That boy couldn’t beat me in a knife fight with two hands tied behind my back.”

Sadly, she expected that to be true. “Being able to fight isn’t what makes a man a man,” she argued.

Now, she had three pairs of eyes staring at her as if she said something totally stupid.

“It’s exactly what makes a man a man, unicorn. A man who can’t protect his woman is no man,” Luca added.

She gave him an incredulous look. “Are you for real? He was about to blow your nuts off a minute ago. Now you are defending him?” She wasn’t sure why she was arguing about Trevor’s case. After all, he had used her. But plotting to take him down and admitting out loud to her pops that she was bested by that pansy were two totally different things.

Luca nodded at Pops. “I think we understand each other just fine.”

She couldn’t believe it. It was time to nip this bromance in the bud. “He has ties to the Bratva, Pops.”

“Yeah well, that’s still an upgrade from that milk boy you’ve been dating. Never liked Tim.”

“Trevor. His name is Trevor and you know it.”

“I also know that I never trusted him. Now, I’m gonna leave you two youngsters to it. You know where to find me when you need me.”

With those parting words, he disappeared, as if going up in smoke. He sure liked to be dramatic.

“I can’t believe he just left me here with you,” Tess grumbled.

Luca was staring in her grandfather’s wake. “That was your pops? The guy was dressed for Armageddon. He looks like Schwarzenegger.”

“Not what you expected, huh?”

“The way you talked about him, I expected more Santa Claus and less Rambo.”

Yup. Us Gibsons are like that. What you think we are isn’t always what you get.

CHAPTER 14

LUCA

Luca woke up to the smell of apple pie. For a second, it took him back to the mornings when his mom had still been alive. He didn’t have a lot of memories of her, but he did remember her loving to bake. He kept his eyes shut, not wanting to wake up. It wasn’t the first time his mind played tricks on him. Any second now, he would wake up, only to find himself in a jail cell. The only food he would get would be of the processed kind. His only companions, other convicts. There would be no home-baked apple fucking pie. Except, this time the scent didn’t fade away. It didn’t turn into the cold, sour smell of his unwashed cellmate. The taste of baked apples and cinnamon lingered under his nose, slowly enticing him to open his eyes.

When he saw the beige and blue wallpaper of his bedroom, he blinked.

I’m free. I’m still free.

He took a deep breath, then exhaled. A few more deep breaths and the ever-present darkness between his eyelids dissolved. If his room was real, then maybe the pie was too? He took a quick shower, put on some sweats, and followed the delicious scent into his open kitchen.

Then he saw her. Tess Gibson. Picture perfect, straight from his erotic dream last night. Fuck, she’d almost crippled him after their make out session, making him hot for the second time and not finishing. Not that he could blame her, but still, a man could only take so much.

There was no way around her presence in his house. The kitchen counter was stacked with piles and piles of, what appeared to be, muffins. In the center, there was also an apple pie. The baker in question sat on the kitchen island, legs crossed, typing on her phone.

“You trying to feed an army, or what?” he asked, as he walked over to find coffee. The espresso machine almost disappeared between all the baked goods.

She looked up from her phone. “I stress bake.”

Bake talk. Good thinking. Discussing last night would probably be a bad idea. He shouldn’t have descended on her like that anyway.

“How so?”

“The insurance company is giving me grief about my stolen goods. Since there are no signs of breaking and entering, it’s going to take a while before they’ll pay up, if ever.”

“Don’t sweat it,” he said, taking a mug from the cabinet. “I’ll reimburse whatever damage was done.”

“Not the point. Insurance companies are the big crooks in our lifetime. They’re worse than banks.” He could practically see the wheels turning inside her head.

“Don’t even,” he warned.

“Don’t what?” She gave him big, hazel eyes.

“That so-called innocent look doesn’t fool me, unicorn. There will be no cyber-attack or hacking of any kind toward your insurance company. I need you focused on my case. Also, you can’t help me if the FBI finds you and locks you up, now can you.”

She crossed her arms and pursed her lips. “I’m insulted that you think I’d get caught.”

“So, what are you going to do today?”

She pointed at his computer. “Since it’s going to take some time before I can really get on your case, I’m going to work on mine.”

“Your cases?”

“Yep. I’m a VPI. A Virtual Private Investigator. I investigate people. It’s mostly people trying to find old boyfriends or girlfriends. Sometimes a lost family member. Lately, I’ve been looking for people cheating online. It’s not the flashiest of jobs, but it does pay the bills. The overhead is near to zero, especially since no one dares to not pay their bill. After all, we live in the digital age, and no one wants to be on a black hat hacker’s shit list.”

“Didn’t you used to go to college with my sister-in-law? How come you didn’t finish it?”

“Ran out of money.” When he gave her a look, she added, “No, really. I had a scholarship but it wasn’t enough to cover the costs. There was this thing with my dad and—never mind. Anyway, that piece of paper wouldn’t have helped me anyway. What was I supposed to do with it? Go on a job interview and work for the man? I've kind of always had this problem with authority.”

“Why doesn’t that surprise me?”

She grinned and handed him a cupcake.

He grabbed the piece of sugary heaven and sat across her with his coffee. Grabbing his phone, he went through his messages and emails. Every now and then, Tess’ gaze would rest on him.

For days now, he had the feeling she was mustering up the courage to tell him something. Sometimes he found her contemplating look resting on him. Only when she thought he didn’t notice, of course.

He had a ton of stuff to do. Among which was to find Mick’s brother, Jamie. The guy also worked for Irish Brian. That is, he used to. Word had gotten to him that Jamie hadn’t showed his face again after he’d heard about his brother’s demise. He had an inkling that Jamie would blame Mick’s death on a certain techie’s head. There was no way Luca was going to allow him anywhere near Tess, which meant that now he had a second hunt on his mind.

But first, he needed to get her drop whatever was on her mind.

“Spit it out. Whatever’s hurting that brain of yours, tell me.”

She crossed her knees, drawing his attention to her core. Of course, she had no idea what view she gave him, sitting atop the kitchen island like that.

Focus, Luciano, fucking focus.

“You ever did something so stupid that it came to bite you back in the ass?” For a second there, her eyes glazed over. “I did.”

“Yeah. Trusting a man, someone I thought to be my friend, over my brothers. We both know how that story went.”

She stared at her fingers. “My mistake was much worse. As in, deserving a ticket to hell, worse.”

He highly doubted that. “What could you have possibly done to deserve a place in hell?”

Sorrow crept into her beautiful eyes, and he knew he’d hit a sore spot. His bright and bubbly girl had turned ashen.

He grabbed her hand. “Whatever it is, you can tell me. I won’t judge. I promise.” There was no way she did something bad on purpose. There wasn’t a speck of evil inside her.

“I hurt a man. No, hurt is an understatement. I…” She took a deep breath. “I was responsible for a man’s death.” She tensed, as if she expected him to lay into her.

“Go on.”

“After losing my mom to cancer, I kind of blamed the world. When I later found out that her lifespan was shortened by wrong medicine, I was so angry. I hurt people. Not in the ‘I’m gonna stab you’ kind of way, but I set out to destroy the lives—of her doctors, for example. I found out everything I could about them. One of them was having an affair. I exposed him to his wife, sending her pictures. They got separated while having two kids.

“I know what wanting revenge feels like, and I’m telling you it won’t make you feel any better. No matter how you feel right now, it’s not going to change a thing about what has happened to you. It just leaves a bad taste in your mouth because no matter who you take revenge on, innocent people will get hurt. This Cruz, he has a mother, right? A sister? Brothers? People who love him and whom you will hurt by killing him.”

He ignored the part of him going after Cruz. This wasn’t about him. Not really.

“Tell me what happened.”

She had a stronghold on his hand now. “It was an accident. But that doesn’t really matter, does it? In the end, the outcome is still my fault. Sometimes we do things out of goodness, at least we start to, but then it turns ugly. Because we can’t predict every outcome, Luca. Some things are just bound to happen. It’s what we do afterward that counts. I can never repay that man’s family my debt. They will never see him, hold him, talk to him again. That’s on me.”

“Aren’t you going to tell me what happened? There’s no way you hurt that man on purpose. You’re just not that kind of person, Tess. You don’t have a killer instinct.” But he was beginning to understand. “You were angry at that man?”

She shook her head. “That’s the worst part. That man was just at the wrong place at the wrong time. He had nothing to do with my mom’s death. He just got in my way when I was out for revenge.”

This time, it was him who tensed. He knew what she was trying to tell him. He just chose to ignore it.

Didn’t mean he could disregard her pain as well. He just needed to speak her language.

He held out his arms to her. “So, I’ve read somewhere that if you hug someone for twenty seconds, it makes them healthy and happy.”

She snuggled up to him before he’d finished his sentence.

Her cheek brushed against his chest. “That is so true. Hugging increases the levels of oxytocin. Which, in return, reduces your stress levels, blood pressure, and heart rate. It even boosts your immune system.” She was silent for a beat. “Some studies show that the giver of the hug benefits as much from the hug as the one getting hugged.”

“The maybe we should hug a little more. In the name of science.”

“Of course. For science.”

They spent the day at home. Working. Eating together. Drinking together. He found he liked her company.

A few times, he pulled back into his study to make a few phone calls. There was still no word on the whereabouts of Jamie. Angel did tell him, however, that Irish Brian was looking for him feverishly. Something was boiling in Irish Town. He was going to make sure that whatever the hell it was, it wouldn’t back fire on his unicorn.

CHAPTER 15

TESS

It was day five as Luca’s guest and, once again, Tess was dragged into a party she didn’t want to be invited to.

Halloween. The most dreaded of holidays. A fest she avoided like the plague ever since her Sailor Moon debacle. The Japanese manga costume, which was plastered together by glue, hadn’t exactly held her outfit together, resulting in her being left bare ass naked in the midst of a party. Right after her drunk college roommate had pulled her on stage.

Now, years later, once again, she was pushed into an outfit that was glued together. The source of this evil: Tommie Green. Instigated by: Carmen. She held a whip in her hand, which was a nice accessory to her black latex dominatrix suit. Tess didn’t know any woman who was less of a dominant than Carmen. The Carmen she used to know had been a shy, introverted person with an ever-present sadness in her eyes. The current Carmen was surrounded by a sadness that was dipped in darkness. Miscarrying her baby after getting a beating by her husband could do that to a person.

As a distraction, Tess counted the cases in Tommie’s CD shelf that was plastered against one of the walls. His loft above Diaz Security, which used to be Hector’s bachelor pad, was huge.

“Ouch!”

“Sorry,” Tommie said. “Guess my seamstress friend forgot a few pins inside your Vader costume.”

“Can I open my eyes now?” Tommie loved surprises. Tess, not so much. The guy had a knack for being a brat. Who knew what she looked like.

“Not yet.”

There was a smile in his voice that didn’t bode well for her. It was time to turn the tables. “I haven’t spoken to you since getting laid night. Last time we spoke, you were going to ask a certain Greek god on a date. How did things go with Achilles?”

“Don’t mention that,” he hissed. Then, more subdued, “I might have tried to drunk kiss him.”

“Oh, wow. You really did take my advice on being ballsy. So, what happened afterward?”

“Don’t know, but since he hasn’t bashed in my skull, I suppose I passed out before my lips reached him.”

“I think you should try again.”

Even Carmen had to laugh at that.

“Ta-da!” Tommie exclaimed. “You can look for yourself now.”

Tess stared into the floor-length mirror. “This isn’t what a female Darth Vader looks like at all!” Her costume was some sort of a black latex-white satin-pink ribbons mash-up which included a skirt.

Tommie smirked. “You know, it’s okay to be a princess and an evil galactic warlord at the same time.”

“Vader isn’t evil. He’s just misunderstood.” Tommie had no idea what almost absolute power felt like.

“Uh-huh. Didn’t the guy spend his free time blowing up planets?”

Carmen gave an exasperated sigh. “Not this again. I hear you two speak one more word of geek and it’s on.” She waved her whip in a threatening pose.

Tess supposed it could have been worse; he could have gotten her a Jar Jar Binks costume. Not that she really needed one to remind her of how clumsy she sometimes could be.

Tommie took a step back. “Now, since I’ve dressed you two ladies up, it’s time for my own Bohemian transformation.” He went into his bedroom, leaving Tess to her own worries.

“So, where exactly is this Halloween party?” Not knowing where they were headed made her anxious. There were a million things she needed to do. Then again, she could use the distraction. Waking up after her hugging session with Luca had been an experience. In the morning, she could still feel his touch, smell his scent, and want him. Oh, the want. It was an ever-present supernova burning through her veins. It made her feel vulnerable. She needed to do something to even the playing field. There was only one way to do that—make him want her just as much. It was only fair to their experiment. Sex was a team sport after all. He’d told her so himself. Thing was, did she dare take that step and go all the way with him? What if she got disappointed? Or, even worse, disappointed him?

“At a club,” was Carmen’s non-descript reaction.

Right, back to the present. “What kind of a club?”

Was that a blush on Carmen’s cheeks? “A private club.”

“You know, we can go all night long like this. You, not properly answering my question. Me, asking another one, and another one. Why don’t you just tell me what the secrecy is about? And why haven’t you invited Jazzy, or Mary, or even Katya?”

“Jazzy is celebrating Halloween with her husband. So is Mary. And Katya, well, I can’t bring her where we’re going. Kristoff would not approve.”

Meaning he would think it was unsafe. “Where exactly are we going? Is it safe?”

“Of course.”

“Then why did you say Kristoff—”

“Because men like Kristoff think they rule the world. He thinks he is Katya’s keeper. Always keeping a tight leash on her. Men like him think women are nothing. Objects to be used when they deem it fit. They rule by our fear. With an iron fist.”

“Now, don’t hold anything back on what you think about Kristoff Romanov,” she said dryly.

Carmen started pacing on the carpet. “This isn’t about him. I need to go to this party because someone I’m looking for will be there. I need to talk to him,” she said, sounding antsy. “Make him leave me alone.”

“Talk to whom?”

“I can’t live with the regret anymore,” Carmen whispered, her eyes suddenly a million miles away. “It’s the worst thing in the world. Knowing you could’ve done something different, altered the course of your destiny, but you were too afraid to take that step.” A determined look crossed her face. “Never again. Never. Again. This time, I will take matters into my own hands.”

Taking your destiny in own hands didn’t sound too bad. Still, something seemed off. “What exactly did this guy do to you? Do we hate him? I’m a good hater. Just say the word and I’ll be Hater Haterson. Or Hater Haterovski. Or Hater Haterovic.”

A hint of fear entered Carmen’s voice. “This man, he… hurt me.”

Oh, shit. This was serious. “Let’s go to the police.”

“And say what? What he did didn’t happen today. It was years ago, with Franco. He took me to a place and this man was there too. They… I didn’t want to. I told them to stop, but—” She swallowed. “What happened doesn’t really matter. Point is, every time I saw him after that, he kept checking me out. I told Franco once, but he got violent. He called me a whore. Said I wanted his friend. He called me a lot of names that night,” she said softly.

Good thing Franco was already dead or she would have helped Carmen become a widow herself. “Let me guess. Since Franco is gone, this guy started bothering you again?”

“Yes.”

“Like I said, let’s go to the police. We can—”

“No, we can’t. I have no proof.”

“I kind of got that. Okay, forget the police. Let’s go speak to your brother-in-law. Gio’s a scary dude. I’m sure he speaks the same language as this asshole who’s been bothering you.”

“No. You can’t tell him. I can’t put his life at risk. Also, he has other things on his mind.”

Tess grabbed a hold of her arm. “Could you stop with the pacing, please? You’re making me dizzy.”

Carmen stopped in her tracks. A smile appeared on her face. “I’m so happy for my sister. She’s found the one thing every woman wants—a lover who lives and breathes for her. They’re trying to have a baby. How can I tell him about this man? You know how he would take care of him, don’t you?”

“Yeah. Most likely, in a permanent way.”

“Exactly. I can’t be the reason that he takes a life. Not while they are trying to make one. It seems so wrong. I couldn't handle the bad karma.”

“Bad karma?”

“My punishment,” Carmen whispered.

“Um, not sure what you mean.” Her eyes went to Carmen’s fists. They were so tight her knuckles were white.

“I never stood up against Franco. Always being afraid, like a little mouse. I was given to him when I was eighteen. I survived twelve years of a hellish marriage. It took me that long to get pregnant. Unfortunately, it took me too long to leave him. If I had left him when I found out I was pregnant, I wouldn’t have killed my baby.”

Oh, wow. That was some heavy burden Carmen was carrying. Tess wasn’t sure how to respond to that. “You can’t blame yourself for—”

“Please don’t mention anything to Tommie,” Carmen said, when they heard footsteps approaching. “He’s had enough bad people in his life to last him a lifetime.”

“Okay, but about tonight? Are you sure—”

“I need to tell him to back off, Tess.”

“And you think talking to him will do that?”

“I have to try.”

Or die trying.

Those unspoken words just hung in the air. Dammit. The baby dominatrix was going to get herself hurt. She had to save Carmen from herself.

***

LUCA

According to a certain source, his unicorn would be at Vince’s private club tonight. When Tess had told him earlier in the day that she was off celebrating Halloween with her friends, he’d been oddly disappointed. But when he thought about it, the reason was clear. He didn’t like her being away from him. Now, it might be because this fake engagement thing was getting to his head. Or it might be because he’d been horny as hell for days and hadn’t gotten any relief. But mostly, probably, it was because for almost a week now, she was a constant fixture in his life. He liked seeing Tess and her stuff around his condo.

The row of plants that had somehow ended up in his window sill because apparently his place needed color and oxygen. All the organic, vegetarian food, because being a carnivore was going to put him into an early grave. He’d even gotten used to her movies that either had spaceships in them or trolls and elves. And their hours long, heated discussions about which house of Harry Potter was the best. Though, that last one was his fault. The second he’d mentioned he’d never seen any of those movies, he was practically force-fed the entire series. He didn’t care much about movies with magic in them—he was more of an action movie kind of guy—but he sure liked the passionate way she defended her favorite characters. Bottom line was, his house felt damn empty without her in it.

His brother grinned when he saw Luca’s costume. So, yeah, maybe it was a bit on the nose, but here he was anyway.

“You look good, brother,” Vince said, handing him over a drink. “The black and white stripes are very retro.”

He took the drink, a single malt whisky. “Your club looks good as well.”

“We do well.”

Luca could imagine that to be true. Club Obsidian screamed exclusivity, from the design dark, hardwood floors, to the red satin walls, to the white marble bar. He hadn’t visited the place yet in its normal attire, but he could picture it in his head without the people in costume.

Speaking of people in costume, there she was. Tess walked through the door, arm in arm with Tommie and Carmen. She wore a white dress, some sort of black Vader mask that didn’t cover her eyes, and pink ribbons. Sporting a—of course—light saber on her belt. She looked amazing. He owed Tommie for the tip.

“You know, Dad told me about his life before he met Mom,” Vince said.

“Yeah?” Some blond guy in a grunge outfit had walked up to his Tess.

“He basically was a man-whore before he met her. Of course, he didn’t use those exact words, but I got the drift.”

“Hmm.” Who the hell was she talking to? Shit. Hadn’t she told him once that she was into blonds?

“Of course, everything changed after he met Mom. Same thing happened to Gio. According to Dad, every man needs a strong woman. A queen. All Dettas are made like that. The first time they set eyes on the right woman, they know.”

The blond asshole leaned closer to Tess. She was animatedly talking to him, using her hands as she was prone to do when she was explaining something. That “something” might be anything from her favorite vegan cupcake to the start of the Universe. Even from this distance, Luca could see the guy was barely listening to her. His eyes were glued to her chest.

Then his brother waved a hand before his eyes. “What?”

“I’m so glad I have your full attention,” Vince said dryly, following his gaze. Then he cursed under his breath. “What the fuck is she doing here?”

Luca waited patiently until Tommie hand-delivered his prize to him. The guy was dressed as Freddie Mercury wearing a king’s robe, complete with a fake mustache.

Tess looked slightly surprised at seeing him, but then she smiled. She looked sugary sweet, especially standing next to Carmen in all black.

He held out his hand and without any hesitation, she took it, plastering herself against him. Finally, his evening felt right again.

“Why are you dressed like that? You’re not a dominatrix.” Vince’s words sounded clipped.

Carmen slapped the whip on the palm of her hand. “And how would you know?”

Vince took a step closer to her, forcing her to step back. “Stop pretending to be something that you’re not, sweetheart.”

“No, you stop pretending like you know me. I can be whatever, or whomever, I want. And don’t call me sweetheart. I’m neither sweet nor do I have a heart.”

With that, she gave him her back and strode away on her six-inch heels.

There was an awkward silence that Tess broke. “Tommie, could you please go after Carmen? She shouldn’t be alone right now. I need to speak to Vince for a sec.”

Tommie nodded and went off.

Before Tess could continue, they were joined by Vince’s business partner.

“Do we have a situation on our hands, Vince?” Sy asked. He’d obviously witnessed the spat between him and Carmen.

“No, we don’t have a fucking situation. Not yet, but we will any second.”

Sy nodded. “A sub dressed up as a dominatrix could account for trouble, yes. But then again, it’s Halloween. The one day a year anyone can be anybody they want. Even a woman who obviously needs to be someone or something else.”

“You look good, unicorn,” Luca whispered to Tess and placed a kiss on her glossy lips. Cherries. She tasted like fucking cherries. Hell. How much longer was he going to suffer? Maybe giving her the lead in this hadn’t been his brightest idea. This slow burn might actually kill him.

“Look at you, Mr. Detta,” Tess said, with a twinkle in her eyes. “And here I believed they made you wear orange jumpsuits inside. But you look absolutely retro chic in this apparel.”

He knew she’d understand. She was nothing like Natasha, who would have been mortified if he’d worn this to a party, announcing himself an ex-con.

To his surprise, and just because she had to be Tess, she took out a pair of cuffs from behind her back. “I just snatched these from a cabinet,” she fake whispered. “I dare you to put these on.”

“Never dare me, Darth Leia. Never dare me.” He put on a cuff on his left wrist and the other half on her right wrist.

“Hey!”

Now she had no other choice but to stay at his side for the rest of the night. Kurt Cobain could go fuck himself.

Vince gave him a knowing smile, and then it dawned on Luca that his “Dad talk” had been for him. Hell, he’d known that, but he just couldn’t go there. Not yet. He could not trust his feelings about her.

“You needed to speak to me, Tess?” his brother reminded.

She grabbed his hand, looking worried now. “Yes, um, I’m not supposed to tell you, but I don’t know what else to do. I think Carmen’s in trouble. She’s meeting someone here who’s been bothering her. I don’t know who he is, other than real bad news.”

She needn’t say more. His brother and Sy were already gone.

Then she turned to him, putting a cuffed hand to his cheek. “So, this is my first time in a private club. What do you say we find a room and make out for a bit?”

Like she even had to ask.

CHAPTER 16

LUCA

The Saturday night Luca had been waiting for finally arrived. It was the night they were going to buy Tess’ gear from her agoraphobic friend.

She’d brought him to a biker bar. Because… well, of course she had. The front of the two-story bar that had definitely seen better days was lined up with a row of Harleys. A broken neon light told them there was beer and butts inside. One of those butts had her ass planted on a bike, where she was making out with a leather-clad biker whose face was covered with facial hair. Luca might have seen less hair on a grizzly. He was beginning to understand why Tess had insisted on him changing clothes. Of course, he’d refused.

Tess cleared her throat, and gave him a look that said “I told you so.” In her leather miniskirt and purple Harley tee, she fit right in with the crowd they were about to enter.

He straightened his collar. “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”

“I so am.”

“As straightforward as always.”

“That’s me. Right in your face Tess.”

“I remember my face being right in your certain place too.”

Her cheeks turned crimson and she slapped him. “You are so evil for reminding me of that right now.”

No, he had been evil for stopping after he’d made her come. She had been so wet after he’d treated her to a finger fuck, followed by his tongue between her legs. He’d lapped up all of her juices and didn’t stop until she bucked under him and moaned his ears off. It brought him great joy to up her confidence on her being a sexually-desirable woman. He could wait until she would be the one to take the last step.

When she kept staring at his lips and he felt himself getting harder, he knew it was time to change the subject.

“So, tell me. How is it that a world-class hacker like you goes searching in bars for top gear?”

“Hmm.”

“Tess? Focus.” If you can’t focus, neither can I.

“Right.” She looked away from his lips. “It’s not like buying a car, you know,” she started explaining. “When you want a car, you can go to a dealer, and have it custom-made to suit your style. The hacker community doesn’t work like that. In California, Alfie is your guy if you want to get the right stuff. It's a thing among hackers. Just like with deciding who is the greatest among us, the one who never got caught. The biggest bad. The one on the FBI’s list. The more agencies are chasing you, the greater the thrill and the grander your name. You know, like with Lex Luthor. After all, what’s Superman without Luthor.”

“Who’s Luthor?”

She sighed. “I don’t know why your lack of pop culture keeps amazing me.”

“I’m sure there’s an insult aimed at me somewhere there, but I’m gonna let this one slide.” The beefy, tattooed-up bouncer in a leather cut at the door was eyeing them. “Looks like we’re spotted.”

“That’s Teddy.”

That fucker was anything but a Teddy. “What’s in a name, right?”

“There’s a lot in a name.”

“Is disagreeing with me your default stance?”

She shrugged. “Only when you’re wrong, Mr. Custom-made Suits. Teddy really is as huggable as a teddy bear. Unless you piss him off. Then he goes full-on grizzly. Now, we need to get inside that bar, because that’s where I can find Alfie.”

“Then why are we still standing across the street?”

She gave him another up and down. “Do you know anything about biker culture?”

“No, but I’m sure I’m about to find out.”

“Yes, you are. Don’t forget, you wanted to be here. No matter what. You said so.”

“Why do I get the feeling I’m going to regret that?”

“I have no idea.” To his surprise, she grabbed his hand. “For my protection,” she whispered. “If they think I’m with you, they won’t descend on me like the plague. In this world, I’m like candy.”

Then she winked, making him doubt her mental state once more.

They walked up to the bar and classic rock smacked them in the face.

Teddy actually smiled when he spotted Tess. His eyes appreciatively roamed over her body, which made Luca feel on edge. When the guy switched his gaze to Luca, a frown creased between his heavy brows.

Fuck. He would stand out in that bar like a sore thumb. But fuck it, he wasn’t going to change for anyone.

“Hey, doll. It’s been a while.”

“Hi, Teddy.” She let go of his hand and hugged the bear of a man.

The second she let him go, Luca tugged her back to his side. It felt wrong seeing her hug another man. Of course, that was a normal feeling. What man would want the woman he was with, for real or fake, to touch another man?

“What’s with the suit?”

“That’s my guy, Luca.”

“He don’t look like he belongs, Tess. You know this is a biker bar. Unless you’re a follower or pussy, you don’t get inside. I don’t care how expensive his suit is.”

“Guess I have to make a way in for myself then,” Luca said. He was about to ruin a perfectly-tailored suit, but the guy was pissing him off, reminding him of prison. It was true what they said—if you didn’t want to become anyone’s bitch, you had to make a name for yourself. Even with the Bratva’s protection from the inside, the rule had applied to him. People respected power and strength.

Teddy laughed right in his face, his protruding belly shaking his whole body with him.

“Hey boys!” Teddy’s voice boomed over the porch, drawing attention from bikers, both inside and outside. “Looks like I just got challenged.”

It was as if a horn went off, drawing everyone outside. They were surrounded by two dozen people in no time.

Tess drew him to the side. “Listen. Just lose, okay. Let him kick you a few times, then offer him a drink. He’ll feel sorry for you and let you in. It’s an unspoken rule that the loser buys the winner a drink.”

“I’d bet you’d never tell Hector to just go down.”

She gave him an incredulous look. “Of course not. Hector is a former cage fighter. A decorated Marine. A total badass.”

Unlike you, her eyes seem to say. Judging by her look, she didn’t believe he could hold his own.

He ground his teeth when she gave him a pat on the back and two thumbs up. He was going to make her eat those words.

“I’m not going to lose.” He took off his jacket and handed it over to her.

“Of course you’re not,” she said in a placating tone.

He turned toward Teddy and walked right into his fist.

The crowd roared, and Tess yelled. After that, all sound disappeared. It was as if there was a high ringing sound in his ears. Zooming, like a microphone dying.

The next fist, he managed to avoid. He stepped aside, his sole focus on Teddy. Big fucking teddy bear.

He wasn’t sure what it was that made him laugh. Perhaps it was the next blow against this abdomen, reminding him of the first day in the joint, when some big guy decked him in the shower.

He spit out blood, accepting two more blows to his sides. Just let him rough you up a bit, Tess had said. It was their fucking way inside, she’d said.

Teddy punched him one more time, making him sway on his feet. Luca looked up, and it was like watching into a dark tunnel, sounds around him disappearing, color fading to gray and black. Then he saw her. Tess. She was like an oasis of color amongst all the black leather and blue jeans. Even in her black miniskirt, it was her popping colors that gave him something to focus on.

He spit out more blood, hating the taste of it on his tongue.

Tess looked worried. She shook her head, her eyes looking down meaningfully. Get down, they said. Lay down, let it be over.

Fuck.

This.

Shit.

Teddy looked disappointed. “Fucking suit,” he spat.

It was as if a bomb went off inside Luca’s head. Wires got fried. Electricity sizzled through his veins. The next uppercut was from Luca’s fist. It was the same fucking fist that had smacked the asshole in the shower against the wall. His same fist gave Teddy a major blow against his head, making him do a half spin.

He managed a laugh, while trying not to focus on his burning ribs. It sure felt like he cracked a few.

After that, everything became a blur. He heard a loud tear, only to discover that Teddy had ripped his shirt off. White pieces of cloth hung around his body. From the corner of his eye, he saw Tess put a hand to her mouth.

Then he remembered. The scars. The row of scars painting his back from his neck down to the small of his back. It was like a jigsaw puzzle. Courtesy of a courtyard fight and a convict cutting his back open, over and over again.

Another jolt of electricity hit his brain, focusing on the one who had exposed his pain to the world.

Fucking Teddy.

The next moment he came to himself, they were hauling him off the big guy. Tess was screaming something into his ear, but he didn’t hear her. He didn’t hear or see anything but four walls keeping him inside.

“It’s okay, Luca. Come on. Please snap out of it.”

Smack!

Followed by another smack.

He grabbed her hand. “Dammit, Tess. Will you stop slapping me?”

“Not until you snap out of whatever it was that came over you. You looked like a crazy vigilante. It’s not a good look on you, by the way. You are not that kind of guy.”

He opened and closed his fist. It didn’t seem like it was broken. “I’m not what kind of guy?”

“You know. The big, bad warrior. You’re more a guy of… negotiations. That’s what you told me, right? A businessman.”

He got back on his feet, looking down on Teddy. “You forget, unicorn, first and foremost, I’m a gambler.”

Then he drew Tess up with him and went for the door again. This time, no one tried to stop them. When the bartender saw him, he tapped on the bar, extending him a drink.

Luca chugged it in one move. Cheap whisky. He tapped on the bar. “Give me another one. Make it your top shelf this time.” He fucking deserved it.

After having his second glass of whisky, a better one this time, he looked around. It was dark inside the bar. Rings of smoke filled the room. People were playing pool in a corner. Other than it being filled with bikers, it didn’t look very different from what a roadside bar would probably look like.

“I’ll be right back,” Tess said, and took off.

He didn’t bother to go after her. Everything fucking hurt. Hanging at the bar, pretending to be peachy keen, was a much better look on him.

The bartender gave him a chin jerk. “She with you?”

“Yeah, she’s with me.” She was his wild card.

The guy nodded. “Nice ass.”

He supposed it was meant as a compliment, so he chin jerked back. Thing was, he’d never met a woman like Tess before. She was straightforward, almost to the extreme. Best thing was, he never had to guess what she was thinking. She didn’t play the games women played to get a man interested in her, or worse, play hard to get.

She returned in no time. However, he didn’t spot a geeky guy she was supposed to buy stuff from.

“You better have good news,” he said. “Don’t tell me this guy isn’t here.”

“Alfie doesn’t do crowds. He’s in the back. Let’s go.”

He grabbed her elbow before she could take off again. “Is there anything else I need to know?”

“Such as?”

“You tell me. Do I need to pummel through another guy? Do the cha-cha? Sacrifice a goat? In other words, will there be another Tess moment I can look forward to?”

“That’s so insulting. As if I’m some weird ass chick that gets you into trouble.”

“Tess…”

She rolled her eyes. “Fine, fine. No worries. It’s nothing bad. It’s just, well, Alfie… he’s special.”

Of course he was. “Don’t you have any normal people in your life?”

“My pops.”

“I’ve met your pops. He’s anything but normal.”

“Let’s agree to disagree.”

“Stop deflecting my question. Is there anything I need to know about this Alfie guy?”

She pursed her lips. They were a dark pink color, almost like cherries. He wanted to bite in them. Right there, at that spot in a randy bar, he vowed to himself that he would have those lips. He would have everything Tess Gibson offered.

“It’s no big deal, really. Alfie just believes in aliens. So, he might think you are one. Try not to sound too… alieny.”

“Great.” Guess he should consider himself lucky she didn’t want him to wear a tinfoil hat.

CHAPTER 17

LUCA

Alfie was a middle-aged guy with the body mass of a pencil. He sat behind a computer in a tiny office, surrounded by paperwork. Apparently, he was also the bar’s accountant. His tiny eyes snapped up when he saw them walk in.

“Have you ever been probed, boy?”

Luca couldn’t remember ever being called a ‘boy.’ “Can’t say that I have, Mr. Alfie.”

“You sure?” Alfie looked at Tess. “Didn’t you say he was in prison?”

“Not everyone in jail gets raped or probed, Alfie.”

“You don’t have to be in lockup to get probed,” Alfie continued on what appeared to be his favorite subject. “They can zap you up from anywhere they want. Believe me. It’s happened to me. Twice!”

Luca wasn’t sure where to go from here. He didn’t see any computers Tess could pick out, so they could get the hell out of Crazyville.

Then, just when he thought things couldn’t get any weirder, Tess started stripping.

He grabbed her arm, effectively preventing her from taking off her bra. “What the hell are you doing?”

“Do I really have to explain? I thought you were a poker player. I’m sure you’ve heard of strip poker.”

He ignored her mischievous smile. “I’m not kidding, Tess. What’s going on?”

“That’s the wrong question. You already know what’s going.”

He closed his eyes and prayed for patience. Ten, nine, eight. Nope, it wasn’t working. “Fine, let’s play it your way. Why are you stripping?”

Alfie’s eyes darted between them, like a ferret on steroids watching a ping pong match. Luca barely kept himself from giving him the finger.

“Because that’s the only way Alfie will talk to us about business,” Tess explained.

“I need to know you’re not being tracked,” Alfie added.

“Tracked by whom?”

Alfie gave him a look Luca was becoming painstakingly familiar with—one of sympathy, like he was a poor sap who didn’t know a damn thing. It was the Tess look. He didn’t care for that look. Not one bit.

“The feds, Homeland Security, CIA, you name it,” Alfie whispered. “They know we’re not alone, but they’re keeping it from us. I need to be sure you’re not sent by their ruler.”

How the fuck had he ended up in a room, which was practically a broom closet, discussing alien overlords?

Tess patted him on the shoulder. “Don’t think about it too much. This is one of those times your big bucks won’t seal the deal.”

“Money’s the root of all evil!” Alfie yelled, tears forming in the corner of his eyes. “It’s what took Loki from me.”

Loki? He wasn’t even going to ask.

Tess found it necessary to tell him anyway. “His cat,” she said. “Alfie has lost his cat.”

Grinding his teeth, he let go of her and took off his clothes. Tess continued stripping as well. His eyes were focused on Alfie. One wrong look at Tess’ glorious nakedness, and he would take the man out. Computers and aliens be damned.

Alfie seemed solely focused on alien tech though. He nodded and gestured they could get dressed.

Luca assessed the past week. Almost being gunned down by the Terminator, getting into a fight with bikers, and now this loon. He wondered how his life had spun this out of control. He’d only been a free man for just over a week, and already chaos was following him.

His gaze went to what he suspected to be the epicenter of said chaos: Tess Gibson. She was a menace. A curse. He’d easier deal with the seven plagues of Egypt.

“Are we done now?” he wanted to know. “Can you get whatever you need so we can leave?”

When Alfie started crying, Luca had a feeling they weren’t nearly done yet.

“We can’t leave without saving Alfie’s prized cat.”

“Come again?”

“Alfie’s cat,” Tess repeated, giving him a look as if he were the one being weird for not understanding her. “The poor thing is the love of his life.”

“A cat?”

She nodded. “Yes. His ex stole his cat. You must understand that he can’t think of anything but Loki right now.”

“Loki?”

“Yes. He’s named after the one from The Avengers. He’s a Norse god and one of the most misunderstood men in the Marvel universe. He actually has a good heart, but he’s got some daddy issues. Then again, who hasn’t? So what if he tried to enslave the world by cooperating with an alien race? He only wanted to get Odin’s attention. The second Thor needed him, he was right there, fighting by his side.”

Maybe he’d died and gone to hell. Or walked right into a wormhole and ended up in an alternate universe.

“Can we please focus?” His knuckles were burning, his head was pounding, even his eye sockets hurt. “You said you needed to get inside this bar to get your gear. I got you inside the fucking bar. Now you tell me I have to go chase after a cat?”

“A prized cat,” she corrected him. “Loki has won several beauty contests, which is why Alfie’s ex abducted him. We can’t leave Loki in her hands. She will sell him to the highest bidder, just to spite Alfie. The poor cat might end up in a loveless home. So, you see, to get Alfie to cooperate, I have to get him out of his depressed funk. And to do that, I have to reunite him with Loki.”

He gave her a look that, according to his former PA, had once made his personnel run. It had broken grown ass men into sobs. A look that could make lakes freeze over.

Unfortunately, that look bounced right off Tess’ big, hazel eyes. That smart mouth in a small package wasn’t going to back down.

Shit. Maybe he was losing his touch. Right along with my mind. Why else would he be running around town, fighting bikers, stripping to prove he wasn’t abducted by aliens, and now, apparently, going to save a cat.

Gibson.

Tess Gibson.

To be fair, she had warned him that he would rue the day he met her. Guess today was that day.

***

Where else would Alfie’s wife—ex—live but in a trailer park? And what else would the trailer be surrounded with but mud and dog poo?

When Tess walked up to the door, he blocked her with a stretched arm. “This time, we do it my way.”

“You say that as if my way doesn’t work.”

“It doesn’t. It so doesn’t. So far, nothing with you ever happened the easy way. There will be no more superhero talk, or Free Willy stuff. We do this the old-fashioned way.”

“You mean you’re going to throw money at it?”

“Damn straight.”

“That’s very disappointing. You do know that not everything in this world can be solved with money, right?”

“First of all, that’s not true. Apart from health, pretty much everything can be solved with money. And second, I don’t give a shit about Alfie’s ex and their love for a damn cat. I have one goal.”

She sighed. “Yes. One goal only. To take revenge on the people who got you in jail.”

“Exactly.”

He clenched his jaw when he almost stepped in a turd.

Tess looked over at him as she knocked on the door. “Not exactly a place for your cashmere slacks, is it?”

“For once, I’d love for you to know a sane person. Someone who actually lives in a house.”

She snorted. “That’s your first mistake. Thinking that only sane people live in homes. My experience has taught me the opposite. The bigger the house, the crazier the person. In fact, you being a bit of a snob is probably one of the reasons you were targeted by Cruz and the people he worked with in the first place.”

“Ah yes, your little theory about my incarceration being part of a big conspiracy. What was it again? A black hat hacker goes after the rich of the world. What was his name?”

“Onyx,” she said softly.

“Right. This Onyx spotted me because I invested in a pharmaceutical company. Then, this person made Grace and Cruz team up with him to get me into jail as a punishment.”

“You don’t believe me.”

“You don’t say.”

Oddly, she didn’t look disappointed, merely relieved.

“Well, don’t ever say I didn’t tell you the truth, Mr. High and Mighty.”

Ah, there she was with her barbed tongue. His gaze swept back to said plump tongue and before he knew it, he’d swiped a raindrop from her bottom lip.

Her eyes turned dark. An expression he had familiarized himself with. It happened when she got aroused, when she got wet. Fuck. He couldn’t go there. Not now. They were on a damn mission.

“Luca… I—”

Whatever she wanted to say got stuck in her throat because the door finally opened. A pretty little brunette stuck her head through the door. She wore ripped jeans and a tee in all the colors of the rainbow.

He gave Tess a stern ‘leave it to me’ look. “Mrs.…” Shit, he didn’t even know her full name. “Alfie?”

“It’s Fishburn. Mrs. Carrie Fishburn.” Her eyes watered. “That is, for as long as it lasts. I’m getting divorced. What can I do for you?”

“I’m here to buy your cat.”

“You want Loki?” Then her eyes narrowed. “Did Alfie send you? He did, didn’t he? Well, you go and tell that old man I’m not selling him. I don’t care how much you offer!” Then she slammed the door in their faces.

Tess gave him a pointed look. “I’d say that went well, but—”

“But you’d be lying,” he finished her sentence.

“Exactly. So, now what? Are you going to ‘make her an offer she can’t refuse’?” she added, with air quotes. “Or slip a note with numbers underneath the door until she eventually knuckles under?”

She had the oddest ideas sometimes. “No, Tess, I’m going to give her what she wants.”

“Obviously, she wants to keep the cat. I’d say she already has what she wants. She didn’t want your money.”

“Ah, Tess. Your brain is like a library, but you have no idea about the human heart.”

“I know everything there is to know about the human heart,” she disagreed.

“Oh, I bet you can tell me everything about its physiology. How many veins it has, how many times it beats in a minute. But that’s all biology. What I’m talking about, and what Mrs. Fishburn suffers from, is a broken heart. That can’t be saved by a cardiologist. It needs something else.”

She put her hands on her hips. It was a stance she used when she got annoyed. It was great to be on the receiving end of it ‘cause it meant that, for a change, he was the one doing the annoying instead of getting annoyed. How the tables had turned.

“I really hate it when you get that condescending tone.”

“Likewise,” he fired back.

Her eyes turned into slits. “Fine. Then tell me, how are you going to mend her broken heart? How would you even know what she needs to get it fixed?”

“Easy, little spitfire. I’ll learn by just asking her.” He knocked on the door three more times until it opened again.

“What?” This time, Carrie wasn’t alone. The cat was in her arm.

Never before had Luca seen an uglier feline. It was tiny, thin, and had mean-looking eyes, as if he was plotting to take over the world.

“I think we got off on the wrong foot, Carrie. May I call you Carrie? It’s a beautiful name. My grandmother, may she rest in peace, had that name. She used to make me chocolate chip cookies every Sunday. You just reminded me of her.”

“Oh. I’m so sorry about your grandmother.”

Just as he’d expected, Carrie’s eyes turned soft. “Can I please come inside, so we can talk? I promise, afterwards, I will leave and never bother you again. I understand what it’s like to be going through a rough divorce.”

“You’re divorced?”

“Nope. I used to be engaged, but then she left me for another man. A man with money.”

One without the prospect of looking at twenty years behind bars.

Get out of my head, Tess.

Carrie’s eyes grew wider and he knew he had her hooked. After that, it only took an hour to tell her his life story while she served them iced tea. With chocolate chip cookies.

CHAPTER 18

TESS

As they drove back to Luca’s place, Tess let out a relieved breath. She considered herself an animal lover, but that damn cat had hated her. The ball of fur had battled her all the way over to Alfie’s place. For some reason, it constantly wanted to jump on Luca’s lap.

Of course, the cat had no idea that Luca was a silver-tongued demon in disguise. The kind that would say anything to get a poor woman hand over her cat to him. It hadn’t even cost him a single dollar. He’d just told her a sob story. To be fair, he hadn’t lied to Carrie. In fact, he’d told her exactly why he needed the cat. Then they went back to Alfie to reunite the two of them. To him, Luca had told another story, this time from a slightly different point of view, about how important a good woman was. How he should worship the ground Carrie walked upon, because she wasn’t really interested in the cat. All she’d apparently wanted was Alfie.

He had surprised the hell out of her by saving both Loki and a marriage. Yes, he was filled with a hunger for vengeance, but there was more to him. Perhaps he wouldn’t turn into Vader after all. Maybe he would choose the way of the Jedi, and stay Anakin. Which would make him even more dangerous to her, for she was a sucker for Anakin.

She needed to put a firewall around her heart, stat. ’Cause she had no business falling for Luciano Detta.

“How long will it take for you to assemble your gear?”

“A few hours, tops. Once I have my programs working, the second Cruz shows his face in front of a camera, I should be able to trace him.”

“Good. Hopefully it won’t take more than a few days to find him.”

She was going to need every second of those days. First and foremost, she needed the time to cover her tracks, and keep Onyx off her back. Luca might not believe her about Onyx, but to Tess, he was very real.

Then maybe you shouldn’t have told him about Onyx, as if discussing a cooked-up conspiracy.

I was scared!

No, you wanted to come clean but you chickened out when you should’ve told him about your part in the story.

Truer words hadn’t been spoken. Thing was, she had a system of how she dealt with certain situations. When she was pissed, she played Call of Duty. When she wanted to relax, she hopped on a bike on Mario Cart. But this? How was she supposed to prepare for having to face the loathing and hate in Luca’s eyes? The worst thing was that deep in her heart, she knew why she couldn’t tell him the full truth. She wasn’t sure when it had happened, but somewhere between her twenty-second hug and rescuing a cat, she had fallen for Luciano Detta.

Well, crap.

***

All good things truly came to an end.

Tess stared at the little red dot on her screen. It had been less than twenty-four hours, and already the map showed her Cruz’s last location. Her mini-vacation was over.

She put her mug of hot chocolate on her desk. Staring at the screen, her elevated spirit plummeted by the second. It was close to midnight. She still hadn’t mustered up the courage to tell Luca of her role in all the evil that had befallen him.

Another bleep followed. This time, it was on her phone.

King of Spades. Shit.

The last call. Onyx’s last warning to back off.

Tonight might be their last night. Onyx was closing in on her.

Be brave, Tess.

Be the Force.

Don’t live with regret.

Carmen’s words had struck a chord in her. Not being with Luca the way she truly wanted would make her regret it. Forever.

She took a shower and went over to his room. Even though she knew how the night was going to end, she felt nervous. Like she was going to take on the last boss in Mortal Combat, and had only half her blood left.

***

Luca was already lying in bed. How convenient.

She took off her bathrobe, which left her totally naked. The smoldering heat that flashed in his eyes assured her he liked what he saw. Another thing she loved about him. He didn’t make her feel self-conscious at all. In all their make out sessions, he had adored her curves and especially her slightly out of proportion butt. According to him, her ass was her best asset.

He dropped the magazine he was reading and watched her sit on the bed next to him.

Her hands automatically went to his chest, then to his arm, sliding all the way back to his stomach. Never before had she considered a man’s body her property, but she did with him. And tonight, she decided to feast on him.

How to do this? Tell him she wanted to go all the way? Perhaps she should just keep it casual and sexy.

“So, I’ve been reading up on gay romance, and—”

Luca made a choking sound. “You’ve been what?”

Okay, obviously casual and sexy wasn’t her thing. She was more of the type to blurt things out.

Her fingers trailed over his tight stomach. “I want to reciprocate. Do to you what you did to me. Give you pleasure.”

“Aha. And so, you’ve been, um… doing research?”

She frowned. “Of course. How else would I know what to do? Since practice didn’t exactly make perfect, I’ve decided to hit the books.”

“Gay romance books?”

“Yes. Steamy gay romance written by a male author, to be more specific. If anyone knows how to write a sex scene from a male point of view, it should be him, right? I mean, no woman alive can know how a man feels pleasure like a man.”

He cupped her cheek. “You know, every time I think that there’s nothing else you can say or do to surprise me, you prove me wrong. You, Tess Gibson, are like an onion. You have so many layers, I don’t think I will ever figure you out.”

“Speaking of layers,” she said, as she slowly peeled off his boxers. “Apparently, men have layers of nerves on certain parts of their bodies.” She straddled his hips and slowly cupped his dick. He was already semi-hard, pulsing in her hand.

Luca folded his hands behind his head. “You don’t say? And where might those nerves be?”

“Why don’t I show you, instead of telling you?” Lowering herself over his body, she made a place for herself between his legs. On her way down, she flicked his nipples, enjoying the hiss that came out of the back of his throat. It got to her every time. Every lick, every nibble at his nipples, made her feel more confident, more capable.

She supposed that was Luca’s superpower. He made her feel like she could do anything. There were no taboos. Never before had she felt this comfortable with a man.

Slowly, oh so slowly, she kissed her way down, following the trail of hair that went to his special place.

He hissed when she kissed the tip of his dick. Then she started licking. Wetting the palm of her hand first, just as Luca had taught her. Nice and easy. She didn’t want to think of the time she almost bit him in the family jewels.

Then she descended lower, pushing her butt down and spreading his legs. When she reached his balls, loving on them with her lips and tongue, he made that sound again. It was the most beautiful sound in the world. She looked up to see he had closed his eyes. His head was rolling from the left to the right, a light frown between his brows.

“Yeah, right there,” he hissed. “That’s the spot.”

One by one, she took his balls in her mouth, all the while pumping his dick. He was rock-hard. This had been the easy part. Now, she had to practice what she’d read.

Her lips kissed his sack, then went to the small place right below his balls. He stiffened when she kissed around his anus.

“What are you doing?” His voice was hoarse.

He didn’t jump up though, and she decided to take that as a positive sign.

Her tongue drew circles around him. When he hissed and started to close his legs, she placed her shoulders between his knees. He took the hint and kept his legs spread.

“Remember those layers of nerves I was telling you about?” Her wet finger circled his ass, slightly dipping at the corners of his anus.

“Fuck!”

His abdomen rippled from the strength it took to keep himself at bay.

“Apparently men have them right… here.” The second she ended her sentence, she started rimming him.

“Oh hell!” This time, he did jump up. He looked at her helplessly, his cheeks flushed, eyes wild, then he dropped back on the bed. “Maybe we should talk about this first.”

“Sure, you talk while I lick.”

Then he started praying, or talking nonsense, she wasn’t sure what words he croaked. What she was sure about, however, was that she loved his taste and moreover, he loved her every touch.

So, this is what sexual power feels like.

Why hadn’t anyone told her this before? That you could reduce a strong man into a babbling mess by just kissing his dick and licking him below his balls? It was amazing. She felt like she’d discovered the Holy Grail of sex. Someone should notify all women. First thing in the morning, she was going to email her new favorite author and thank him. Then, she was going to order all of his books. Who knew what other pearls of sexual wisdom she could find in them?

Luca kept talking to her, every now and then giving her directions. All the while, she kept licking him. Eyes closed, just doing what she felt like, following her desire to give him pleasure. He tasted so nice. Should she tell him? Was that even allowed? She wasn’t sure.

“What’s with the frown, beautiful?”

“I was thinking that you smell and taste really nice. I wasn’t sure if I should tell you.”

He hauled her forward and cupped her cheek. “You never hold back your words, why start now?”

Wasn’t it obvious? “Because we’re having sex.”

“So?” There was a smile in his eyes that even his long downcast eyelashes couldn’t hide. Seeing that somehow relaxed her.

“It just seems a bit weird talking during sex.”

His lips went to her ears. “Let me tell you a little secret. Just in case no one has told you before. You, Tess Gibson? You are weird.”

When he started laughing, she thumped his shoulder. This broke him into an even bigger laugh.

“You are such a jerk.”

“Yeah, but tonight, I’m your jerk.”

That he was. And she knew exactly how to turn the tables. After all, he’d given her ammunition just by the way he reacted.

She pushed him until once again he lay on his back. “You’re right. I am weird. And I do like speaking my mind. In fact, I think I’m going to be talking your head off all night.”

“I can live with that.” There was a strain to his voice when she licked the head of his dick.

“Good. I’m glad you can live with it. After all”—she pumped him a few times—“this wouldn’t work if you weren’t alive, now would it?”

“Yeah…”

“I like licking you.” She instantly put her words into action. “Sucking you.” He immediately took advantage of the situation by moving his hips, getting deeper and making her gag.

“I like deep throating you too, baby.” He winked.

Oh, it was on. “I’m going to lick your most sensitive spot. I’m going to love on those tiny hidden nerves until you beg me to stop. Until you bite the cushion, so your neighbors won’t hear you scream.”

He made her feel bold, brave, and a little bad.

Luca placed his hands behind his head and closed his eyes. He was right, no more words were needed.

CHAPTER 19

TESS

She woke up plastered all over Luca’s chest. He was still deep asleep. A faint light was already pouring through the curtains. Morning had come, and so had her time to make a decision. To go after Cruz or not to go after Cruz, that was the question. Though, deep in her heart, she already knew the answer.

Her finger trailed over his jaw. This confident and stubborn, yet so supportive, man had given her so much in such a short timeframe. And all she’d given him were lies by omission. Technically, one big lie, but it was the lie of a lifetime.

With a heavy heart, she got out of bed and hopped into the shower.

She’d taken the lead last night in bed like she never had before. It had been the most amazing experience of her life. The way she had lost control over her body, how she kept riding him, and how he had finished, screaming her name. Oh, the power, and the thrill. There weren’t enough expletives to describe the feelings he’d awoken in her. There was also no way she was going to let him go after Cruz. And then there was also Onyx she’d have to deal with. Ugh. Even thinking of that name gave her hives.

According to her research, Cruz was staying in an abandoned office downtown. The building was scheduled for demolition. She didn’t understand why the man hadn’t left San Francisco yet. After all, he knew Luca was after him. He’d even killed Grace to cover his tracks, so why remain in Luca’s hometown? It didn’t make any sense. The proof was there though, in the cam feeds she’d found. She had to go look for herself before she told Luca. She couldn’t be responsible for him walking into a trap. Not again.

She finished her shower and put on her usual outfit—jeans, a tank top, and her pointy biker boots that could turn a man into a eunuch with one good kick.

Before she walked into the office complex Cruz was squatting in, she sent Luca a message with her whereabouts. If something went awry, she wanted him to know about Cruz.

A trail of papers littered the floor of the long hallway and led to a row of offices and cubicles. One of the middle offices wasn’t empty. It had a person sitting on an office chair in front of it. That person waiting wasn’t Cruz though. It wasn’t even a man, but a woman around her age, with dreadlocks and sporting a crimson leather jacket. She had creamy, mocha skin, and for some reason, familiar hazel cat eyes.

Tess looked around, to see if she could spot anyone else. Other than office supplies littered on the floor and a couple of chairs, the bullpen was abandoned.

“Who are you? And where is Cruz?”

The woman pushed up from the chair and slowly walked over to her. Her heels clicked over the concrete floor, making an echo in the mostly empty space.

“Obviously, he’s not here. You were told to back off. Stop the search.”

She’d been right. This was a trap, set up by Onyx.

“I’m not very good with following orders.”

For some reason, this made the woman smile. “Guess we have that in common.”

“I’m not here for small talk or to make friends. Tell me where Cruz is. And if you can’t, then call your boss.” It was time for her to face her demons.

“My boss?”

“Yes. Onyx? Where is he?”

Her answer was an exasperated sigh. “What makes you think Onyx is a guy?”

“I—”

“You’re such a girl, Tess. And a sheep, like most people. Whenever someone anonymous excels at something, it has to be a man, right? Morons.”

Crap on a stick. “Onyx?” she asked.

“Bingo.”

Then another thought hit her. “Is this an ‘I’ve told you my secret identity so now I have to kill you’ moment?” That would suck.

“If I’d wanted you dead, you would already be dust in the wind.”

She imagined that to be true. There was a certain kind of crazy in Onyx’s eyes. Also, something very familiar, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it.

“Then why would you come out now? Tell me who you are?” It didn’t make any sense.

“Because I needed to meet you in person. I always resented you. Believed he chose to be with you and not me.”

“He?”

“The sperm donor. Your dad. Then I learned he sold you out to the Irish. It wasn’t the first time you had to clean up his mess either, was it? And afterwards, when you once again got him out of trouble, he didn’t even call you to check up on you, did he?”

A hard knot of shame lodged in her throat. There were no words to defend her father. But why did Onyx—

Oh no.

No, no, no, no.

Those eyes, the slightly too-big bottom lip, it was almost like looking into a mirror. How had she not seen it before? Suddenly, everything made sense.

“All of this. It’s personal, isn’t it? But how? I mean, I would’ve known if… He would’ve told me if…”

“If he had another daughter?” Onyx snorted. “Our dear old dad hooked up with my mom when your mother got diagnosed with cancer. He was such a hero, going after a nurse between visiting the hospital to see his wife.”

“That’s it,” Tess whispered, everything crystal clear now. “The reason you’ve been following me online.”

“Duh.” Onyx rolled her eyes. “You didn’t really think it was a coincidence that I found you, did you?”

Actually, she had. “This explains so much. Why you are out to get me. It’s not just rivalry.”

Onyx cocked a dainty brow. “What rivalry? I could make you spin circles, sis.”

Tess snorted. “As if.”

Then Onyx got serious again. “My mother was right. The sperm donor isn’t capable of love. It was a waste setting up an opportunity to meet him. I always wondered why he didn’t love me. Now I know. He doesn’t love you either.”

She wished those words didn’t lodge into her heart like little needles. No, her father didn’t care much for her. The man was a con artist who used people. Still, he was her dad. A part of her would always wait until he would show her love. Obviously, Onyx didn’t have any such hope.

“So, now you know,” she said softly. “You have absolutely no reason for resentment. Does this make you feel better?”

“I wish it did, but it doesn’t. Only makes me miss my mother more.”

Tess had a feeling they were getting to the crux of the problem. “What happened to her?”

“She died.”

“I’m so sorry to hear that.”

There was a fire in Onyx’s eyes similar to the one in Luca’s when he talked about revenge. Whoever it was her newly-found sister was after, Tess didn’t envy them.

“You need to leave,” Onyx said.

“Can’t. I need you to hand over Cruz to me.”

“No.” The fire in her voice had turned into boredom. She even had the audacity to check on her phone, as if Tess was merely a pesky problem she had to deal with.

Nope. They weren’t having any sister spa days anytime soon.

“I need to bring Cruz in,” she repeated. “If I don’t, Luca will kill him, and I can’t live with him going to jail again.”

“You mean, like the last time, when you sent me the list with his name on it?”

“I didn’t know!” Tess snapped. “I didn’t know what would happen with that list. I thought you were just gonna expose those investors for supporting a research that killed people. Just like I couldn’t imagine you would go after the pharmaceutical companies’ factory and blow it up. I didn’t know.”

Onyx put her phone back in her pocket. “I know you didn’t. And you should stop feeling guilty about that. They had it a long time coming.”

“An innocent man died!”

“There’s no such thing as an innocent man.”

“Do you even hear yourself?” It was like talking to a wall. “Why are you doing this? What’s your interest in Cruz?”

“He knows how to get to them.”

“Them? Who is them?”

“Vil Corp.”

Tess couldn’t hold in a gasp. The poor girl had obviously lost her marbles. “I think I’m in need of a hearing aid, ‘cause I think I just heard you say Vil Corp.”

Her sister scowled. “You’ve heard me right.”

“Vil Corp is a myth. There’s no such thing as a global Big Pharma conglomerate ruling the pharmaceutical world. Believing in them is like believing in one government that rules all of humanity.”

“Think what you will. I’m on their trail and I will find them. They took my mom from me, so I will make them pay.”

“You want revenge.” It was like talking to a real-life Count of Monte Cristo. “Even if they did exist, which is a big if, you can’t take on a gigantic corporation all by yourself. Don’t ruin your life with an endless quest. Please.”

“No, you will get yourself hurt, if you don’t back off. Cruz already killed one woman to cover his tracks. You don't want to be the next.”

This time, her threatening tone couldn’t be missed. “You can’t go on like this. One day, someone better than you, with more extraordinary skills, will cross your path.”

“Doubt it. Also, don’t really care. As long as Cruz gets me what I want, I’m okay with the aftermath. I wasn’t planning on retiring to some beach, to sip Mai Tais all day long anyway.”

Tess tensed when Onyx’s eyes went to a place behind her. She turned, only to find herself face to face with a seething Luca.

“Luca… I…”

“Save it.” He stepped back, as if the mere sight of her repelled him.

“I’m so sorry, Luca. Please, let me explain.” She took a step toward him, to only find him walking backward.

“Not. Good. Enough. You lied to me.”

“I didn’t lie. I just…”

“You just forgot to tell me the truth?”

“I…”

“I trusted you!” he roared. “You have any idea how difficult that was? It was the biggest fucking gamble of my life. I thought I knew betrayal, but as it turns out, I know nothing. But most of all? I don’t want to know you anymore.”

Had it been possible to wither and die on the spot, she would have chosen that option, no questions asked. Instead, she froze, her limbs refusing to move, staring at the spot Luca had just vacated.

Her eyes went to Onyx, who’d just grabbed her bag from the floor.

When she passed Tess, she put a hand on her shoulder. “I’m sorry I let that happen to you, but I needed to get you off my back.”

“You’ve succeeded,” she said, deflated.

It was all over. Luca hated her. She had kept the truth from the one man who had truly accepted her as she was. The betrayal on his face had been worse than the words he spewed in her direction. She didn’t even know where to go from here.

Onyx let her go and went for the door.

Then Tess heard a sudden thud. When she turned around, her sister was lying on the floor, passed out.

A man was standing over her, holding a gun.

CHAPTER 20

LUCA

Luca chugged down another drink. He’d barely finished it when Angel signaled the waiter to keep them coming. Being at his friends’ club had its benefits. Such as not having to ask for anything. Not even having to talk, just wallow in your misery.

How could he have been this fucking blind? It had been her. All along, it had been her, the reason why he was even targeted and ended up in jail. He wouldn’t have blinked an eye as he popped Cruz in the head, but how was he supposed to point the trigger at Tess, let alone put a bullet in her.

Fuck my life.

He couldn’t do it, because he was in love with geeky, weird-as-hell Tess Gibson. And didn’t that make this whole fucked-up situation sad?

In hindsight, she had tried to warn him. The story about her mom, the dead guard, everything made sense now. He understood that she hadn't meant to send his ass to jail. Thing was, even after everything they had been through, she hadn’t come clean. And he didn’t know how to get past that.

At the other end of the table, Damon was frowning at him. “So, let me get this straight. After turning San Fran upside down for weeks to find Jamie, you’ve decided to call it quits?”

Right, he was giving an update on the fucker that might be after Tess. Except, he didn’t care anymore. He was done with her.

“She betrayed me.”

“And? That’s no reason for letting this guy go. A guy who knows you’re after him. You should finish the job and not get complacent.”

“Complacent,” Angel repeated. “Wasn’t that yesterday’s Word of the Day?”

“It was.”

“Doesn’t matter,” Luca argued. “We’ve been looking for Mick’s brother for over a week. He must be long gone. I don’t think he’s a threat to Tess any longer.” And even if he were, she was no longer his problem. She’d fucking lied to him. For weeks.

“I don’t think you get what I’m saying,” Damon stressed. “Regardless of whether he’s after your girl—”

“Ex girl.”

“Guess that means the wedding isn’t happening. I can take her out then?”

Fuck. He hadn’t even thought of Damon’s demand.

“Not tonight, D. Not fucking tonight." He still had time to find Cruz and make him confess to killing Grace. And he was going to find him. With or without Tess.

“Fine. That doesn’t make the Irish issue go away, though. Jamie knows you’re after him. If I were him, I’d take you out first.”

Ah, yes, that was the Damon he knew. Always planning three steps ahead. Thing was, Luca didn’t want to plan anything right now. He was tired of plotting and planning. He was done. Or maybe it was the alcohol speaking, though he’d only had one drink so far. Perhaps that was the problem; he wasn’t intoxicated enough.

“We should order a bottle,” he suggested.

“We’ve got something new from St. Petersburg. It will blow your head off. Unless you’re Russian, of course.”

“Shut up, you pricks. You ain’t Russian.” He wasn’t sure what they were, but they sure as hell weren’t from Mother Russia.

Angel cocked a brow. “If we say we are, then we are. We can be anything we want, comrade.”

“Ah, hell, not the comrade talk again.”

“You Americans are so fixated on creed.”

“I bet you two are bloody American too,” Luca disputed.

“Only our mom,” Angel said. “And even she had a hint of Mohican in her.”

Right. “Mohican, huh? Doubtful. I distinctly remember a movie called The Last of the Mohicans.”

“Don’t believe everything Hollywood tries to sell you,” Angel warned. “Our mom was a Mohican medicine woman. Spoke to spirits and stuff.”

He needed more drinks. A lot more. “Get me a bottle of your good stuff.”

He was just about to get shitfaced when some leather-clad hand snatched the glass from his.

His heart started to pound. For a millisecond, he’d believed it was Tess. Then he looked into Onyx’s face. Though her eyes were the copy of Tess’, the two women didn’t look much alike. She didn’t come across like an evil mastermind either. What she looked like was a grunge co-ed.

“Well, isn’t it nice of you to visit me. Look, boys, this is the snake that put my ass in jail. A fucking woman. Why are you here?”

She didn’t acknowledge the twins’ presence, though. Her sole focus was on him.

“I need your help.”

Was she for real? “You’ve got some fucking balls to ask me for anything.”

“If I had balls, you would have probably killed me by now.”

It sounded as if she was stating a fact, not gloating at him being unable to kill a woman.

“I would have regardless of you having balls,” Damon said softly.

Her head snapped up to him.

“We both would have,” Angel added. “We believe in equality between the sexes.”

He had to give it to her, she didn’t step back or even look afraid. There was a determination in her eyes that screamed she would go through all and everything to get what she wanted.

Then she turned back to him. “Someone kidnapped Tess. You have to help me.”

“Yeah, why should I care?”

Like he was going to believe this cooked-up story. Or that the two rival hackers had suddenly become friends.

Onyx cocked her head, eyes blazing. “I’m sorry, did I hear you right? Did you just say that you shouldn’t give a shit that Tess is taken?”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying.”

“This is not the time to wallow in self-pity and drown your woes in alcohol. If you care about Tess, you’ll swallow your damn pride and help me.”

The fear in her eyes made his stomach churn. “Shit. You’re serious. This isn’t just a way to get my attention.”

Onyx’s curse was followed by slaps on his arm. “No, you idiot. Do I seem like the kind of woman who needs any man’s attention? Your gender is dead to me. If I didn’t need you, I wouldn’t be here. I don’t know who this guy is, but he took me down, and when I woke up, Tess was gone. I tracked her watch—that grandfather of hers is just brilliant, putting a tracker in it—and followed her to a warehouse. They have a small army inside.”

She took out her phone. “Shit. They’re on the move.” Her eyes looked at him pleadingly. “Tess isn’t like you and me. That guard who died? That’s on me, yet, she takes it on her. Just like she took the responsibility for your incarceration. She can’t live with the fact that she hurt someone, let alone you. Me, on the other hand, I will do anything to protect or avenge the ones I love.”

Looking into her stormy and somewhat crazy eyes, he believed her. Fuck. Did he have the same deranged look when he spoke about Cruz? For the first time, he considered that maybe Tess had a point about the path he’d chosen.

He grabbed his jacket and took the safety off his piece when she waved her phone in his face. What was it with women waving stuff in his face? Shit, he missed Tess doing just that. How the hell could you miss an annoying habit like that? It didn’t make any sense. Yet here he was, wishing Tess would roll her eyes at him, and wave a leather-clad finger before his eyes.

“We need to leave, right now. I counted at least thirty men in that warehouse. You need to round up as many people you can get, stat. You free Tess and I will give you Cruz.” She gave the twins a once-over. “Maybe your Bratva posse can help you out.”

“You would owe us,” Damon said.

Onyx pursed her lips. “Fine. I will pay you whatever—”

“Not the currency we’re looking for, love,” Damon said.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“One night with the both of us,” Angel clarified. “That’s what it takes.”

Luca waited for her to blow up, but she went eerily quiet. Then she nodded.

“I’ve called in reinforcements, they’re waiting outside,” she said, and left, a mountain of dreads like that of a lion following in her wake.

“Damn, that woman is vicious.” And totally off her rocker.

“She’s an alpha,” Damon said, his eyes fixated on Onyx’s ass.

“I think I’m in love,” Angel added.

Hell.

CHAPTER 21

TESS

Tess stared right into the barrel of a gun. The man holding it wore a blue tracksuit. There was something familiar about him, something she was seeing a lot of tonight. She pondered taking her chances, but then two more men entered the building. Both of them held big ass guns that should only be allowed in video games.

One of them looked down on Onyx, who was passed out on the floor. Then his gaze went to her. “That the egghead?”

She bit her lip, afraid she’d piss someone off and they would shoot her just to shut her up.

Progress, T-girl. That’s called progress.

Yay, me.

“Finally found you without Detta on your ass,” Tracksuit said, in a heavy Irish accent. “Been trailing you for days now. Guess today was my lucky day.”

She forced a watery smile into place. “Must be nice. To have lucky days.” Sometimes she felt like if it weren’t for bad luck, she wouldn’t have any luck at all.

“Know who I am, girl?”

“Can’t say I do, but I suspect you work for Irish Brian.” Though, that didn’t explain why she was being held at gunpoint. Last time she checked, she’d helped the guy out. Then again, Luca had warned her.

Luca.

Thinking of him caused a feeling of hollowness in her core.

“I’m Jamie. I used to work for Brian. But then the pretentious fuck killed my half-brother, Mick.”

Crap. Bad karma had caught up with her, yet again. “I get that you want to avenge your brother,” she hastily said. “I truly do, but—”

His face reddened. “Avenge Mick? He was a dick!”

“He was? I mean, of course he was.”

“I don’t give a shit about that asshole. He promised me we would make it, and then got himself killed. You’re my last bloody option. My ticket away from that crazy Crusader asshole.” He gave her a hard look. “I heard what you did in Brian’s office. Now, we’re going to get inside, and you’re going to weave your magic, transferring every dollar Brian owns to an account number I’m going to give you.”

There was no way she could do that in a moment’s notice. Except, she had an inkling he wouldn’t listen to reason.

He pushed her outside and into a black van. From the corner of her eye, she saw three more vans lined up. Shit. It was a small army.

Jamie turned to her from his seat. “You try anything funny and I’ll put a bullet in your head.”

That’s not very constructive if you want to use my computer skills.

More words she held inside. She was tired, had a knot in her stomach the size of Alaska, and felt deflated. All she could think about was Luca. Would she ever see him again?

When they pulled over at the docks and stepped out, Tess looked upon at least three dozen men, all heavily armed. Across the street was Irish Brian’s place of business. It was dark, and eerily quiet. To Tess, it seemed like the calm before the storm.

“I really don’t think you should go in there.”

Jamie grabbed her by the throat and lifted her off her feet. Her hands flew to his arms that were slowly choking the life out of her.

“Didn’t ask what you were thinkin’, did I?”

No, but if he thought he could just walk in and out of Brian’s place, he was deluded.

She desperately shook her head and he finally let her go. She dropped to her knees, coughing and trying to catch her breath.

“Brian doesn’t work on Sunday nights,” he entrusted her.

“Then why all the guns?” she croaked, rubbing her throat.

“Precaution.”

I call bullshit. Jamie was scared shitless. As he should be.

Oddly, the big hall where underground fights were arranged was truly abandoned. A few spotlights were still on, making the place seem even creepier to her. The only sound was that of a few dozen marching boots on the concrete floor.

The men spread out in the building, covering the windows and the door. Tess was placed behind the computer in Brian’s office.

Jamie waved a gun in her face. “You better start working.”

She tried to keep her trembling fingers steady. “I need to concentrate. A gun in my face isn’t really helping.”

“Get to work. You’ve got about three hours.”

Her anxiety spiked and reached a whole new level. There was no way she could pull this off. He had no idea what he was asking of her, which meant there was probably only one outcome of this night—her getting killed.

She started working, bringing up screens which showed rows of numbers. Every few minutes, Jamie took a look at what she was doing, then left, leaving her alone with a guard.

Luckily this guard didn’t seem to be interested in what she was doing. He probably couldn’t follow her fingers that were racing on the keyboard anyway. So, in what possibly might be her final hours, Tess decided to send a message to Luca, explaining to him what had happened and to apologize. To her Pops, she sent a string of love emoticons. He hated his smartphone, so it would take a while before he saw her message. There was no way she was getting him into this mess. And lastly, she sent a message to Onyx, telling her she wished they’d met under different circumstances.

The silence of the night suddenly got pierced by speakers turning on. Her heart thudded when she heard Juice Newton’s “Queen of Hearts” blasting through the speakers.

Onyx.

Her guard plastered his back to the wall, peeking outside.

Then, all hell broke loose. Windows shattered, and a rain of bullets lodged into the door. Tess tossed herself on the floor and looked around for an escape.

Jamie rushed back inside, his face a stark white. “Fuck. Brian’s here.” He pulled her up from the floor. Using her as a human shield, he walked out of the office.

Someone took a shot at them. Tess closed her eyes, expecting to be turned into Swiss cheese any second. Her heart was in her throat and it took all her strength to keep afoot.

Another rain of bullets followed and she opened her eyes. Their assailant lay dead on the floor, and she tried not to heave.

“Move.” Jamie pushed her forward through the hallway toward a back door.

To her, it seemed like it would take ages to get to their escape route. And she was right, ‘cause the second they turned the corner, they came face to face with Brian. They were surrounded, and she couldn’t see this ending well for them.

“I try not to kill on a Sunday,” Brian said. “But I’ll make an exception for you.”

The back door slammed open and another group of armed men in black fatigues, much larger than either Brian’s or Jamie’s, strode in.

Her heart did a happy dance when she saw who was leading them.

“Put away your gun, Brian,” Luca warned.

She barely recognized him in army fatigues and black boots. There was something absolutely panty-melting about a man in a semi-uniform.

Her belly warmed as she locked eyes with him. There was no hate or revulsion in them. All she saw was worry. The same expression she spotted on her pops. What was he doing here? Speaking of unlikely saviors, what was up with the twins flanking Luca?

“Detta,” Brian said, his weapon still aimed at Jamie. “You come as a friend or foe?”

“Neither. I’ve come to collect my woman. What you do afterward, I don’t care.”

She could feel Jamie’s heavy breath on her neck. The man was panicking, probably feeling desperate since he ended up in a Mexican standoff as the weakest party.

“You should let me go,” she whispered to him. “If you don’t, you will have two bloodhounds chasing you, instead of one.”

He must be thinking the same thing, because he removed the iron grip he had on her.

The atmosphere in the room was boiling with tension, ready like a barrel of gunpowder set to blow any second. Then Brian made a move and his men lowered their guns.

Tess ran toward Luca. Just as she was about to fall into his arms, she heard Jamie curse behind her back.

“Fuck this shit.”

The next moment, she got tackled. Luca’s big body covered her while bullets flew everywhere.

He dragged her with him into a corner, where they took refuge underneath a table. The shooting stopped exactly five seconds later, she’d counted them. Her head peeked above the table and what she saw made her stomach churn. As she’d expected, Jamie and his men had been slaughtered. Damon was chatting it up with Brian, who had Angel of Wrath written all over him.

She took a deep breath and tried not to gag.

Luca gave her an odd look. “Really? You get sick at the sight of blood?”

“It’s called vasovagal syncope and is an acknowledged medical condition, thank you very much.”

He pulled her close and gave her a hard kiss. “I missed your sass, unicorn. Even your big mouth.”

She slumped against his chest. “You don’t hate me anymore?”

He sighed. “Never did. I was pissed that you kept the truth from me. I’m still pissed, but I do understand.”

“I never meant for you to go to jail. When I found out what happened, I tried everything to get you out.”

“I know you did. What happened wasn’t your fault.” He tensed. “We both know who framed me.”

Maybe this wasn’t the right time to tell him about Onyx’s true identity.

“So, what about Cruz? You’re still going to go after him?” She had to know. “If you do, I will support you all the way. But I can’t be there if you want to kill him. When I learned about that guard dying, I hardly slept for weeks. Being responsible for someone’s death, whether directly or not, is a terrible thing. I feel like there’s a permanent dark smudge on my soul. One that, no matter how often I’ve tried to wash it off by doing good, will never really get clean.”

He picked her up and carried her outside. “I know what you’re trying to tell me. What you tried to tell me all along. I’ve thought about this long and hard. How I need to start over fresh. A wise man once said that he who lives in the past can’t have a future.” He set her on the hood of a car and gave her a kiss. “Do you want to be my future, Tess Gibson? Share my good days and the bad ones? Wake up next to me every morning? Battle me over a bacon and pancakes breakfast, argue I eat too much dark chocolate, and try to get me used to your disgusting green tea?”

She deepened their kiss. “There’s nothing I’d like more than to put you on a vegetarian diet, stop you from getting an early heart attack, and get you on a steady supply of green tea.”

“Ah, baby.” He smirked. “Never gonna happen, but it’s good to have dreams.”

Ha! They would just see about that.

EPILOGUE

Three months later.

Tess closed her mail and got comfortable on the kitchen counter. It was her favorite place to sit and wait for Luca to get home. How her life had changed since she’d met him.

She had a sister now, though she wasn’t sure how to feel about that. Then again, knowing that Onyx had come through when she’d needed her the most, was enough for now. She’d learned about her sister’s deal with the twins. It was no wonder she’d fled before she paid them her debt. If anyone could avoid those two, it would be Onyx. Tess had hope that one day they might grab a cup of coffee and hold a game night.

All in all, lately, life had been pretty great. Of course, Luca still had his Boarding School moments. The other day, she’d come home and was greeted by a Tiffany box. To be fair, any other woman on the planet probably would have been delirious with the content. Her, not so much.

When she saw her guy come in, her heart started beating faster, making her feel alive and kicking. Like it did every time they were in the same room.

He kissed her cheek. “I got you a gift.”

Oh God. What horror awaited her this time? Another blood diamond? An impractical couture dress, or—she swallowed—the keys to a sports car that sucked up fresh air, killing the environment?

“There’s no need for that. Really, no need.”

“Remember Damon’s two weeks’ notice?” he reminded her.

“How could I ever forget? We practically ended up engaged because of it.” She frowned. “Don’t tell me he’s still holding you to that ridiculous deal. Three months late, I might add. Besides, Cruz is caught. Onyx sent that footage of him killing Grace.” The guy was looking at a lifelong sentence.

Luca gave her a long, lingering kiss. “He isn’t holding me to it, no. But even still…” He pulled out a little box. “Will you marry me, and turn our fake engagement into a real marriage?”

A happy flutter rippled her stomach. It was a plain silver ring. “I love it. Though, I have to admit, it doesn’t really scream ‘Mrs. Boarding School Detta,’” she joked.

Was that a slight flush on his cheeks?

“Well, in the spirit of your radical honesty, I have to admit that initially, I got you a diamond ring. Then I decided to check it with Jazzy. She dropped some sarcastic comment on how you could spot that rock from Mars. Then she went off on how you disliked blood diamonds and how those rocks came from little villages in Africa, over to stores in the U.S. I think there was even a part about little orphans in her story. Suffice to say, I returned the evil rock and got you a silver ring by an indie designer who ‘doesn’t work as a slave on minimum wage for some big corporate asshole.’ I don’t know how my brother deals with my sister-in-law.” He frowned. “She can have a real foul mouth on her.”

She put her arms around his neck and returned his long, scorching kiss. This was her favorite place in the world—lips locked and skin to skin with Luciano Detta.

“You’re my hero.”

He pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. “You didn’t answer my question.”

Marry her own corporate asshole? Like there was even anything to consider. “Yes, I will marry you, Luciano Detta.”

As he deepened their kiss, she wondered how he would feel about a Star Wars-themed wedding.

Dear romance lover,

Thank you so much for taking a chance on me by reading “Bad romance: the Gambler”. Your support means the world to an indie author like me who doesn’t have a huge budget for promotions.

I would appreciate it immensely if you would take a moment to place a review. More reviews usually means more discoverability, which means I will be one step closer to achieving my dream to become a full-time author. It also means that I will continue writing in this series.

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Upcoming book in the BAD ROMANCE series:

“THE PLAYERS”

HER…

Never again will I let a man enslave me.

Never again will I let fear rule me.

I’m going to fake it until I make it, or crash and burn.

THEM…

She came.

We saw.

We will conquer.

Game on…

Author’s note: Trigger warning. This book contains some D/s elements and sexual traumas. If this offends you, please skip this one in the series.

***

CLICK HERE to Pre order

PROLOGUE
from “the Players”

CARMEN

Everything hurt. Carmen shivered lying on the kitchen floor. The cold from the tiles seeped into her bones turning them into shards of ice. Yet, somehow, her cheek that wasn’t plastered onto the floor felt burning hot.

Why couldn’t she move?

Something dripped down her chin and got caught on her broken lips. Then she tasted it; blood.

Her breath caught as the last gruesome hour of her life came back to her with the velocity of a Mack truck. Then she heard the most hated and feared sound in the universe; her husband’s voice.

“There’s no more loyalty left in this world. You think you can just leave me? I’ve bought you, slut. Paid good money for your virgin body. You can’t leave me. You will never leave me!”

Carmen’s head pounded. She tried to open her eyes, but her vision spun.

Oh, God. She’d told her sister that she was going to leave Franco. Jazzy had left to get her a moving truck. Any minute now she could return. Carmen didn’t want Jazzy to get caught up in her mess. Jazzy wasn’t anything like her; she was brave, bold, and would fight Franco with her every breath.

He will hurt her.

She desperately tried to get a view of her surroundings, but all she could see were Franco’s boots through the slits of her eyes. He kept on talking, though she couldn’t make anything of his words anymore. There was a loud ringing in her head and it felt as if any second she could pass out.

Still, like nails on a chalkboard, his voice penetrated through her foggy brain.

“The cold, barren slut actually believed she could leave me.”

Barren. Ah, yes, one of the reasons he hated her so much. The very thing he taunted her with.

Another shiver went up her spine. Something, a dark, distant memory, scratched against the surface of her brain.

No. I don’t want to remember. I want to forget the past ten years of my life. Please, God, take me to your kingdom. Let me have peace.

Something crashed against the wall. From the sound of it, it must have been one of Franco’s whiskey glasses.

Then she heard her sister’s voice.

“Franco, please. Carmen’s bleeding. Let me call an ambulance.”

Oh no, Jazzy was already here. Carmen tried to make a sound, warn her sister off, tell her to run and save herself. No one knew better than her how unpredictable Franco was when he got drunk. Or the monstrous things he was capable of. Another dark memory resurfaced but she quickly pushed it away. She’d vowed to never think back on the night he had finally broken her.

Franco snorted. “Why? I didn’t shoot her. I just broke her leg, so she can’t fucking walk away.”

“There’s a lot of blood, please.”

It killed her to hear Jazzy’s pleading voice. She’d never heard her little sister beg for a thing in her life.

I’m not going to let him break you too, sis.

“Don’t know why she’s bleeding like that. She never did before.”

For some reason, the mentioning of blood pushed their conversation into the background. She could feel it now. A cold, yet somehow still warm feeling from her belly all the way to her thighs. Her heart started pounding and she felt sick.

No…

The next second, when she heard Jazzy mention Franco had a gun, her heart froze. She forced herself to shut out her brain for all and everything but her sister’s safety. That was the only thing that mattered right now. Not her pain, not the tears streaming down her face for something that would never happen. The only thing she could think of was keeping Jazzy safe.

I’m not going to fail you too, Jaz.

When she re-opened her eyes, she saw that Franco had lifted Jazzy by her hair. Her anxiety level reached a peek when he waved a gun in her sister’s face.

“You’re not taking her anywhere,” Franco snarled. “She’s mine. She will always be mine.”

“Fuck you. She isn’t a piece of property you can just kick around. She’s a human being, you asshole.”

Franco knocked Jazzy down, making her drop to her knees. Her sister’s gaze was immediately on her. Their eyes locked. Jazzy looked passed her though, to the window.

Where was she looking at? What was she trying to tell her?

Carmen silently screamed for Jazzy to run. She opened her mouth but she had no breath left to form words.

Then Franco pointed his gun at Jazzy. Carmen’s brain almost short-circuited. A fire started in her belly, and she slowly pushed up on her good leg.

A jeans-clad figure suddenly stormed into her vision, knocking Franco away from Jazzy.

Tommie…

Thank God for blue-haired miracles.

Carmen could hear the men struggle on the floor, as she forced her legs to move. Her arms finally came back to life and she pushed herself into a sitting position.

A shot went off and she froze. Franco got up, leaving a bleeding Tommie on the floor.

The devil always rises again…

Jazzy yelled and launched herself at Franco, getting in hits wherever she could land a kick and a punch. The gun clattered onto the floor, but Carmen was in no condition to look for it. She crawled to the nearest-by cabinet and pulled herself up.

Jazzy managed to kick Franco against a wall. Pots, pans, and all kinds of cutlery dropped onto the floor. The metallic sound made her head pound, almost knocking her back on her knees, but she couldn’t give up. Not while Franco kept storming toward Jazzy.

She grabbed the first sharp object she could get her hands on.

Butcher’s knife.

Perfect.

She slowly neared Franco’s back. Just as he was about to punch Jazzy again, she struck.

It wasn’t like in the movies; there was no blood pouring out of his back like a fountain. Instead, she heard a sick thud as the knife lodged into his lower back and hit bone.

With all her might she tried to pull it out, just so she could strike again, afraid she hadn’t finished him. Unfortunately, the knife was stuck. Sheer adrenaline kept her on her feet. The second Franco dropped onto his face, her body swayed and she fell behind him. Within seconds, she sat in a circle of blood.

Not all of it is his…

Her hand went to her flat tummy and she gagged.

I’m so sorry, little one. So sorry I let him snuff the life out of you before you could even blossom.

She couldn’t look away from Franco’s body, afraid that the second she unlocked her gaze he would rise again. He always came back to torment her.

Jazzy hurried over to Tommie who seemed to have a gunshot wound to his shoulder. Carmen couldn’t see for herself, because that would require her to look away from Franco. If she looked away, he might get up and hurt people again. After all, he had survived a mafia war, an attempted assassination, even a car bomb, but always landed back on his feet.

She needed to make sure he would never get up again. Because this time it wasn’t only her he would go after. Jazzy had defied him and once Franco got back his strength, he would kill her. He wouldn’t care that her sister had married a man far more dangerous than he could handle. He believed women to be beneath him. Considered them to be dolls; to be played with, to be broken whenever he deemed fit.

She had to make sure he was dead. Then the ringing in her head started again and her vision got blurry. Jazzy was yelling something at her, but she couldn’t make out any words.

Her last thought before the world faded into black was that Franco had vowed that she’d never be freed from him.

I will find a way.

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