“You’re deluded, Luca.”
“Vaffanculo, Dante.”
He leaps up and the chair flies out from under him, skidding across the kitchen.
“Basta! Enough!” Mamma cries. “We will not fight today. It is a day of celebration, of good memories. Papà loved you both very much, and I know how proud he was of his two boys. So please, no more.” She takes the tickets from my hand, and a rueful smile curls her lips. “This is too generous, Luca. I cannot accept it.”
“Mamma!” I press them back into her chest. “This is a gift, and it’s non-refundable. I already bought the two tickets, booked the villas, rented the car, and I have no one else to take.”
“How about Concetta’s daughter, Gianna? Weren’t you dating for a while?”
I barely suppress a grunt. Ma set me up with her neighbor’s daughter a few months ago, and I took her out one night in the city out of obligation. I’d wanted to end it at dinner, but she insisted on going back to her place. She practically threw herself at me. Like always, I’d been very clear on my rather specific sexual preferences. She’d been more than happy to oblige after hearing my rules.
I was shocked honestly.
But then she failed to obey rule number one. One night only.
She’d become that desperate, needy, clingy girl. She texted, called, even showed up at my penthouse one night. Since she was a friend of Mamma’s I didn’t want to be rude, butmerdashe was persistent.
“We never really dated, Ma,” I finally grumble. “It wasonedate.”
“There has to be someone,figlio mio. I don’t want to die without the joy of ever hearing my grandchildren’s laughter.”
Dio, Mamma knew how to lay it on thick. Unbidden, my thoughts flicker to the waitress atNonna Maria’sagain. Those pink pouty lips, the shot of electricity that went right to my dick when her hand grazed mine …Shit, where did that come from?
“Yeah, right, Ma.” Dante chuckles. “Who’d put up with all of Luca’s rules?”
I shoot my brother a glare. The last thing I need is my mother getting into my sex life. No, keeping it casual with women was the safest bet for all involved.
CHAPTER10
SHE’S MINE
Luca – Present Day
I barrel into the old pawn shop, my heart pounding out a manic rhythm. When Tony texted me a few minutes ago, I’d had my driver cut across three lanes of traffic to race back down here. Isabella Esposito’s daughter is here? I couldn’t fucking believe it.
I hadn’t heard that name in nearly a decade, and just like that the past surged to the surface. I eat up the small space between the front door and the back room where Tony handles business and nearly tear the door off its hinges. I force myself to stop, to inhale a deep breath. I’m not little Luca Valentino anymore. I’m the fucking C.E.O. of King Industries. Pausing at the metal door, I draw in a deep breath and force the frenzied beats of my heart to subside.
I slip on a cool mask and wrap my fingers around the handle. I count to ten before jerking it open. The handle nearly comes off, despite my best efforts. Fury rages through my veins as my gaze lands on the brunette cuffed to a chair in front of Tony’s desk.
The girl at the subway.
The waitress atNonna Maria’s.
“Uncuff her now, Mario.Sei un vero stronzo.” Fucking idiot. “From now on, I’m the only one who touches her.” My tone is lethal, barely constrained fury flooding my system. My boys know better than to question me ever, but this time, Mario’s so fast he’s nothing but a blur. The handcuffs clatter to the floor, and the young woman hisses out a curse between clenched teeth.
From the shadowed entry, my gaze locks on the heart-shaped face, the full pink lips, those piercing blue eyes. Which look like they’re about to murder me. Can it really be her?Dio, last time I saw her we were only kids. Well, hell, I thought I was a big deal, but I wasn’t shit back then. She was the whore Bo had been fucking around with? It couldn’t be.
Stella M. was Stella McKenzieandStella Esposito. How could I have missed it? She must have gone by both names at school.
“He signed the contract,capo.” Tony holds out a thick stack of pages. I immediately recognize my lawyer’s signature. Thatpezzo di merdasold his own daughter to be free of twenty-five thousand dollars in debt? I couldn’t wrap my head around it. This was exactly why I never wanted to have children. People were too fucking selfish.
My fingers close around the contract, but my gaze remains glued to hers.Stella. If I’d known it was her in the subway, I would’ve ripped Bo’s head off with my bare hands. That darkness bubbles up, and my fingers clench into tight fists. She continues to glare at me, not a hint of recognition flaring within those bottomless blue orbs.
Had I changed that much in ten years?
Or maybe she’d erased everything from that terrible day at the cemetery up until the bloodied chaos of the dark alley. My hand moves to my chest, unbidden, my palm pressing against those numbers inked across my heart. The day I’d lost my best friend.
