chapter 2

Luca

I grit my teeth as I clench my fingers around my phone. Marcello Valentino’s photo taunts me from the screen, and I want to reach through it and rip his throat out.

His short hair may be more gray than black now, and there are more wrinkles on his face, but his beady light blue eyes are still the same. My thoughts want to drift off to that dark place where I first saw his eyes about ten years ago, but I don’t let them.

My only goal now is to track Marcello down and kill him, which is proving to be more difficult than I expected. His territory wasn’t even anywhere near mine, but now there’s only one mafia family between us.

Somehow, Marcello has struck deals and overtaken smaller territories, one by one, so no one noticed what he was doing until it was too late. Now everyone thinks he’s too powerful to stop, and they’re sure he’s going to be my unwanted neighbor soon, but that’s not going to happen.

I’m not going to let it, even if I have to wade through enemy territory to get to him. The biggest problem with my plan is that it’s not easy to track Marcello down. He has too much territory, too many hideouts, and too much money.

He even uses doubles to confuse everyone about his whereabouts, and when the real himdoesshow up, it’s so deep in his territory it’s impossible to get to him in time or pass through all his security.

But I’ll find a way. Everyone slips up and makes a mistake eventually. Gets too comfortable. When that happens, I’ll be ready, but my patience isn’t infinite. Something needs to happen sooner rather than later because the Icardis, whose territory borders with mine, aren’t strong or powerful enough to fight Marcello off, only stall him a little. Maybe.

The door swishes open, and I look up with annoyance. Theo’s eyebrows shoot up in fake surprise when he sees me. He’s my second-in-command and my best friend, which makes him the only person who can access this office without an invitation or any special permission.

“Why are you still here?” Theo asks. “It’s late.”

“Marcello.” It’s all I say before focusing back on the information on my phone.

Theo sighs. “You have more than a dozen men working on finding him at all times, and you’ll be the first to know when something happens. You don’t have to move a finger until then, but why am I even telling you all this? You already know it, and yet, you’re always here.”

“I’m not always here.” I meet his blue eyes.

“Yeah, okay. You go home sometimes.” He runs his hand through his dark brown hair. “But you’re always on your phone searching for Marcello, and you can’t deny that.”

I raise an eyebrow at him. “And?”

“Aaaand I was thinking...” His lips spread into a smile. “We could go out. Like I said, you spend too much time working. You need something to distract you and clear your head.”

“Don’t tell me what I need.”

“Burnout is a real thing.”

“Not for me.”

“Oh, come on! One night off won’t kill you. You won’t miss anything. I promise.”

“Like that one time when we lost Marcello because I thought it would be a good time to have a night off?”

He furrows his brow. “Not your fault. Marcello disappeared on us.Youwouldn’t have been able to do anything either.”

“Don’t be so sure about that.”

“One night off. We know Marcello isn’t anywhere near us. If something comes up, we can quickly get to the airport. Actually, there’s this club that’s very close to it and I have a private room there, so we could be on the move faster than—”

I laugh. “I see you already planned out everything.”

“Clarissa’s going to sing there.” His grin widens.

“Clarissa, huh. You obviously don’t need my company then.” I remember the girl he’s talking about.

Clarissa is a pretty blonde that’s totally his type. Theo always likes pretty much every photo she posts on social media, and she does that a lot. The only thing that surprises me is that he hasn’t fucked her yet, which makes me think he’s hoping for more than just that.

I don’t get how he doesn’t find his obsession with her disturbing and irritating. If it were me, I would’ve had her and purged her out of my system a long time ago. There’s no point in wasting too much time on flirting or risking getting too attached.

Theo should know that. Guys like us don’t get to be in relationships or date like normal people. It’s too risky. Our date could turn out to be a spy, or she could be used against us. That’s why arranged marriages are usually the way to go for mafia bosses.

For guys like Theo and everyone working for me, dating in our own circles is the most common so that everyone is perfectly aware of what’s at stake. There’s no need to hide who we really are and what we do, and breaking up is easier too because there’s no risk our ex will talk to the wrong people.

Staying away from everyone and keeping your distance is still the best option. Why complicate things when you don’t have to do it? If someone offered me Marcello in exchange for swearing off women forever, I would agree in a heartbeat, without any hesitation.

“Maybe I don’t need you with me, but you need to do something other than work,” Theo says.

I tilt my head and glance back at my phone. Theo’s right. I can read a whole lot of information, but the truth is that my men have already gone through it all, and there’s very little chance I’m going to spot something new, especially when I’m as annoyed as I am right now.

I groan, turning off my phone’s screen. “You know what? Let’s go.”

Theo grins as I get to my feet. I hope I won’t regret my decision, but it’s unlikely Marcello will pop up somewhere now.

* * *

My guardsand Theo are right next to me as we move through the crowd toward the VIP area. It’s a good thing we’re here to have fun, and the club is in the middle of my territory, so there’s zero danger, because Theo’s eyes are glued to the stage.

Clarissa looks great and her voice is good, but she’s nothing special. Sparkly short dress, long blonde hair.

She’s as boring as almost every girl that tries to throw herself at me because she knows me as a rich businessman. I glance to my right, and a brunette smiles and waves at me to catch my attention, but I have zero interest in her.

“She’s so fucking hot,” Theo says as his eyes sparkle.

It better be the colorful lights that are flashing everywhere that I’m seeing, and not what I think it is—Theo has fallen for Clarissa like some naive fool who still believes that love exists.

But I’ll let him have his fun. His fantasy. It’ll pass, one way or another. Then he’ll realize what I already know all too well—people invented love so they wouldn’t feel lonely or bored, or to get whatever the fuck they want out of life.

Theo elbows me and leans closer to shout into my ear over the loud music. “That one’s watching you.” He nods in the direction of a girl in a tight red top and a black miniskirt.

“Don’t care. Not my type.”

“What about that one over there?” He points at a redhead at the bar.

“No.” I look around. “I prefer someone like...”

My gaze searches the crowd and settles on a brunette whose eyes are wide with wonder and excitement. She’s wearing a plain black skirt, a black leather jacket, and a pale pink top under it.

“That one,” I say.

“Which one? The blonde in the corner?” Theo’s brow creases.

“No. The brunette with her.”

“Really? Are you messing with me right now? The blonde is way hotter.”

“Why? Just because you don’t even have to try hard to picture her naked?

“Well, yeah. At least you know you’re not wasting your time. Your girl looks like someone who’s saving herself for marriage.”

I spread my lips into a smile. “We’ll see about that. I like a challenge.”

Theo laughs. “It’s not going to work. Trust me.”

“Wanna bet? She’ll be mine before midnight.”

The brunette looks like she’s longing to have some fun, but she either doesn’t know where to start or how to let herself go. I can help her with that.

Theo narrows his eyes at me. “Fine. I want to see you try.”

“Stay here,” I say to the guards.

“Don’t want to scare off your prey?” Theo wiggles his eyebrows.

“Quit it. Just stay here and watch. If Clarissa doesn’t distract you first.” I chuckle.

“Oh, nothing will distract me from watching you fail.”

“Never happens. Won’t happen now either.” I head toward the brunette.

She and her blonde friend notice me immediately as I approach, but it doesn’t look like they recognize me or know who I am, which intrigues me even more.

“Hey.” My lips spread into a smile as I meet the brunette’s dark brown eyes and then lean close to her ear. “I haven’t seen you around here before. What’s your name?”

Her breath catches, and she blinks at me as I look deep into her eyes. “Um, Aurora.”

“Nice to meet you, Aurora. I’m Luca.” I extended my hand to her. “Dance with me.”

Her full lips part as if she wants to say something, but she doesn’t. Her friend gives her a little shove toward me, and Aurora glances over her shoulder. The blonde gives her an encouraging smile.

“Okay.” Aurora takes my hand, and I lead her with me to the dance floor.

She’s tense, and a fast song is playing, so I don’t pull her close. Instead, I keep my distance and my gaze on hers as we dance.

“You don’t come here often, do you?” I ask.

“Not really. I’m not from around here. Came with a friend, Julia. She likes this band.”

“Clarissa’s band?”

She nods. “It’s my birthday soon, so...”

“Your birthday?”

“Yeah, I’ll be twenty in a few days.”

“Well, then we have to celebrate.” I’ll make this the best night of her life, and she’ll make me forget about Marcello for a couple of hours.

And then we’ll never see each other again.

It’s a win-win.