by Lisa Daniels
“I get it,” Angela replied slowly. “But I also need to know if my boyfriend would kill me because he suspected I was cheating on him.”
“Touché!” Tanya chuckled, her brows rising in amusement. “And the answer is no. Luca didn’t touch her.”
“How can you be so sure?” Panic laced her words and Tanya scowled slightly, her brow knitting. Angela could clearly read the regret in her face.
It’s too late to back out of this now. I need to know, Angela cried out to her silently. Tanya read the desperation and grunted.
“I just know,” Tanya replied, trying to turn from her, but Angela grabbed her arm.
“How?”
Tanya was suddenly uncomfortable, her blue eyes narrowing as she stared at Angela.
“You’re acting crazy, Teresa. Get a grip before you attract attention to yourself,” she hissed urgently. Angela tried to remind herself where she was and what she stood to lose, but no matter how she tried, she couldn’t let it go.
“Do you blame me?” she squeaked, refusing to let Tanya off the hook. “Please tell me how you know for certain that Luca didn’t kill Mara.”
Tanya sighed deeply before grabbing Angela by the collar of her shirt and pulling her into the supply room. The brunette didn’t fight the movement, sensing that she was finally getting somewhere, if not a few steps closer to the truth about what had happened to Val.
“If you tell anyone this, including Luca, I will hunt you down and murder you myself. Is that clear?” Tanya growled, her words crisp, concise, and sincere. Angela had no doubt that she was speaking the absolute truth and her breath caught in her throat as she nodded in agreement.
“Nod if you understand what I’m saying,” Tanya insisted when no words came out of Ang’s mouth.
She nodded vehemently but Tanya still hesitated.
“I don’t know why I’m telling you this…” she mumbled and Ang could feel her second-guessing her own decision.
“Oh my God, Tanya!” Angela yelled. “Tell me what you know!”
Surprise colored Tanya’s face and an entirely new expression fell over her features as if she were seeing something in Ang that she’d never noticed before.
“Please?” Ang added, giving her an imploring look.
“Mara is alive and hidden where no one can find her.”
Angela gaped at her in disbelief.
There is no way that Val would be hidden and not reach out to her mom to tell her she was okay. She wouldn’t let everyone think she was dead for all these years. That’s just cruel. Tanya is lying.
Her heart began to hammer in her chest as she considered that maybe Tanya had something to do with what happened to Val.
Angela wanted to trust the busty blonde as she stared at her with earnest eyes, her head cocked to the side. Before she could voice her doubts aloud, Tanya sighed.
“You don’t believe me but it’s true,” the bartender insisted. “She’s in hiding, not dead.”
“How can you know that? Is that what they’ve told you?” Angela muttered dully. “Because they could tell you anything. You know that.”
A quick, sarcastic smile formed on Tanya’s lips and she shook her head.
“I learned long ago not to trust these stronzos,” she replied quietly, again looking over Angela’s shoulder to ensure they were still alone. “I only believe what I can see with my own two eyes.”
The implication of her words filled Ang with shock and hope.
“And you’ve seen Mara alive?” Angela gasped, realizing what she was saying.
Tanya gnawed on her lower lip and nodded, dropping her eyes.
“What? Where? When?” Angela gasped, the questions tripping out of her mouth one after the other.
Slowly, Tanya raised her eyes again and met her eyes squarely.
“I am the one who hid her away,” Tanya confessed. “Mara is my lover.”
Chapter Eleven
Explosive Information
He checked the phone again, gritting his teeth as he waited. His anxiety was mounting although he couldn’t say why specifically. Some instinct was telling him that there was trouble afoot even though he had no idea what.
Where the hell is Teresa?
Her shift had been over for two hours and Luca had made himself comfortable in her apartment, naked and longing for her body.
It was the only thing which had gotten him through a typically rough day—the thought of surprising her when she walked in the door to take her on the floor before she even got a word out of her lips.
Despite his frustration at being made to wait, he was willing to forgive her lateness if she would only show up in the next few minutes.
But she was not answering her phone or text and with each passing minute, Luca was beginning to have a terrible sense of déjà vu.
The day had been long, the shipment finally making its way through an inlet at Biscayne Bay. He knew he should be thankful for small favors. At least that had gone without a hiccup for once.
It only took a week but it’s here. Now Gio will get off my ass for a while.
The don had not taken to Teresa’s placement at La Perla well, particularly when he hadn’t been notified until after Luca’s lover had started her first shift. Luca had anticipated his dismay.
“I don’t know a damned thing about this broad!” the old man exploded. “You expect me to give her a place in my restaurant? What were you thinking, Luca?”
“I already gave her the job,” Luca replied smoothly. “Think of it as insurance that she won’t sue you for the assault which occurred.”
It had been the wrong thing to say.
Giovanni’s eyes turned black and he leaned forward, his voice a strangled whisper.
“She’s gonna blackmail me? Are you blackmailing me?”
Luca shook his head quickly, wishing he’d thought his position a little more thoroughly.
“Of course not,” he answered. “She’s not stupid and she’s not that kind of girl. I’m just saying that she’s new to Miami, a pretty, Southern girl who needs a job. If what happened with that stronzo, August, happens to get out, at least it will show that you are trying to do right by the girl. Think of it as good PR, Gio.”
“Why do I get the feeling you’re banging the girl?” Gio asked caustically and Luca forced himself to remain passive, despite his temper flaring at the wording.
What I have with Teresa is so much more than just sex… even if that is amazing.
“So what if I am?” he replied evenly. “It doesn’t make what I just said any less true.”
“She’s better than that other one—Maria,” Gio conceded and Luca bristled in spite of himself.
How does the mere mention of her still send me into a fit of disgust?
“Mara,” he corrected flatly.
“Whatever. Good riddance to her. I never liked that one.”
Luca waited, willing himself not to take the bait.
“So? Teresa can work at La Perla?” he asked, willing Giovanni to get on board with the change he’d already made.
Gio snorted.
“What the hell do I care? If Tanya can tolerate her, I don’t give a shit.”
And that had been the end of that conversation, but it had dredged up old feelings about Mara and questions he did not have the answers to.
What really happened to that woman? Was she really having an affair with Sammy Petrucci, and if so, where is she now?
He recalled the night he had smashed the bathroom door down to find her cowering over her phone.
“Open the door, Mara,” he growled, his amusement becoming anger.
“No!” she snapped. “Leave me alone!”
He pounded on the door.
“Mara, open the goddamn door,” he snarled. “Or I’m going to bust it down.”
“Screw off, Luca,” she retorted in her smug way. The words sent a spark of rage through him and before he could stop himself, his foot lashed out, splintering the frame of the door.
> Mara choked and gasped, her cell phone falling from her hand as she jumped up from the toilet seat cover.
“Luca!” she screamed.
“Who the hell are you talking to?”
“No one!” she panted, reaching for the phone, but Luca kicked it out of her reach, snapping it up before she could touch it.
A red film covered his eyes as he grabbed for the fallen device, reading the texts on the screen.
As if in slow motion, he lifted his head and stared at her, his breath catching in his chest.
“What the hell is this?”
Her lips parted but no words came out.
Mara’s face turned opaque with fear, her arms raised as he approached, hurling the cell at the wall over the toilet.
“Luca, please!” she squealed. “Please calm down!”
“Calm down?” he echoed. “Calm down? What the hell is this? You’ve been lying to me, to everyone!”
“I can explain!” she cried out plaintively, the fear in her eyes almost palpable.
“There is no explanation for this,” he breathed, feeling his body transforming as he struggled to maintain control.
Slowly, he turned to look at himself in the mirror but he didn’t recognize the face staring back at him. His eyes bulged from their sockets, his dark waves an unkempt mess around his livid face. Puffs of smoke emanated from his nostrils.
In that moment, he wasn’t sure what he was capable of.
“Who the hell is this? Who are you sending pics of yourself half-naked to from my bathroom?”
She rose abruptly, her dark eyes flashing with indignation as she snatched the cell out of his hand.
“I’m out of here,” she hissed. “Screw this. Screw all of this.”
There was something in her face, a look which told him that she had reached a breaking point he hadn’t noticed her approaching before. His fury was only pushing her further over the edge but he wasn’t about to let her go so easily, not without an explanation.
“Mara! Get your ass back here!” he roared, chasing after her, but she was gone, the door to the condo reverberating as she slammed it in her wake.
And no one ever saw her again.
The rumors shot through the back alleys, of people who had seen her in Fort Lauderdale or down in Homestead.
Someone had claimed she had run off with Sammy Petrucci while another declared she had been a federal agent. The latter had always made him snort contemptuously. There was no way that woman was a cop of any kind, least of all FBI.
At least, he had convinced himself that was impossible.
All Luca knew was that Mara had deceived him and even though he had seen it coming for a long time, the lack of closure still burned at him.
I don’t miss her, not in the least. Teresa is twice the woman Mara was, and since she’s come around, I’ve barely thought about her.
It was true.
For the first time in three years, he was looking forward to a future, despite the odd thoughts that sometimes filtered through his mind about his missing former lover. All he wanted was to get through the next days, to build a life outside of everything he’d known.
One with Teresa.
Except suddenly, Teresa was nowhere to be found, not answering her phone just like how it had started with Mara.
They are not the same person and you don’t need to be a possessive asshole. She doesn’t need to answer to you. Maybe she stayed at the restaurant with Tanya. Maybe she stopped somewhere to eat. You don’t own her.
It didn’t matter how he tried to placate himself, his disquiet only grew until he couldn’t justify her absence any longer.
What the hell is she doing? Is this some game for her? Is she getting off on torturing me?
He rose from the sofa, his bare ass sticking to the material, and he made his way to the kitchen to make himself a sandwich.
She’ll be home eventually. I may as well eat.
No sooner had he pulled open the fridge door than he heard a rustling in the hallway beyond the entranceway.
“Finally,” he grumbled, stalking into the front hallway to throw open the door, his impatience dissolving instantly.
As he did, a piece of paper slid underneath and a man jumped up in shock to see Luca standing there, naked and confused.
“Who the hell are you?” Luca growled, advancing on the man, forgetting his own nudity.
“I’m the super,” he squeaked, his face turning ashen. “I’m just leaving a note for Ms. Milano.”
Luca’s mouth twisted into a sneer.
“It’s three o’clock in the morning!”
“I work late,” the man insisted, backing away, and Luca was struck at the height of the man.
He seemed to be a stork, towering over him, and Luca wondered if he wasn’t a dragon too.
No way. He’s far too slight, despite his length. He would be the boniest dragon that ever was.
“What do you want?” Luca hissed, not letting the man off the hook.
“I’m just telling her I’m coming to fix the toilet tomorrow! It’s in the note!”
Luca’s blazing eyes became slits of suspicion.
“The toilet?” he echoed, his mind whirling.
“Yeah. Can I go?” the giant demanded, trying to regain some confidence, but under Luca’s withering glare it was nearly impossible.
The shorter but stronger man backed off and watched as he forsook the elevator and ducked through the stairwell.
The super. At two o’clock in the morning. Fixing the toilet. Again.
Luca retreated into Teresa’s apartment, his pulse racing as he leaned down to retrieve the note on a piece of scrap paper.
Fixing the toilet tomorrow. D.
He shut the door slowly, remembering that he was buck naked, but his interest in sex had all but vanished.
His sixth sense was screaming at him, warning him that he had been overlooking something right in front of his eyes—again.
The toilet was supposed to be fixed last week. Why is he coming back again?
Luca made his way into the bathroom, flicking on the light in his wake.
There did not appear to be anything wrong with the unit as he looked at it, his eyes scanning the porcelain for cracks or leaks.
He lifted the lid of the tank to be sure, eyeing the almost pristine parts inside.
The toilet was brand new.
There’s nothing wrong with this toilet. Why does that guy come here to fix something that isn’t broken?
There was only one explanation that Luca could think of.
The same reason that Teresa would not be home two hours after her shift was over.
Why do I keep picking such rotten bitches? he thought furiously, slamming out of the bathroom to dress.
He would have to catch her in the act or else she would deny it, just as Mara had, and he would continue to justify her actions until Teresa left him too.
Luca paused for a moment, trying to still his anger.
She’s not Mara, a small voice whispered in his head, but he silenced it.
He was not about to make the same mistake twice, not when he had finally let his guard down with someone else. If Teresa was cheating on him too, Luca was sure he’d never trust another woman again, not when he’d been so sure about her.
Never again, he vowed, clenching his even, white teeth. I can’t trust anyone, not even myself.
He tried to think of a time when he’d ever been so vulnerable and the feeling made him nauseous.
He was Luca Gallo, second-generation capo. He didn’t fall in love and get burned twice in less than five years. He would never live this down, not with the familia and not with himself.
But he admitted that it was not the humiliation he was worried about. It was the thought of losing Teresa when he was sure that he’d found his mate in her.
Slowly, he put on his shoes, recognizing that he was deliberately taking his time as he went through the motions, hoping Teresa would come home and catch hi
m before he went out and did something irrational.
He didn’t want to storm out of the apartment with unanswered questions. He wanted to demand she tell him where she had been and why her superintendent visited her apartment in the middle of the night.
I want to fight with her and have a loud, smashing argument so I can rip off her clothes and bend her over the sofa’s arm until she pleads for forgiveness for upsetting me.
Luca found himself wracked with confusion.
He didn’t want to walk away from Teresa, her stunningly beautiful face etched in his mind. He thought about how easy it had been to open up to her, like he’d known her well before they had ever met.
Luca began questioning his own doubts and it filled him with consternation.
I’m overreacting to circumstantial evidence, he told himself, the words somehow calming his incensed mind. You don’t own her. If she wants to go out after work, she can. You didn’t have plans to meet tonight. And she has no control over when her obnoxiously tall super comes calling.
He flopped back on the sofa, trying to sort out his thoughts. It had been such a long day, a long week, a long goddamned life.
I’m so tired of all the shit, he thought suddenly. My life is full of incessant doubt and suspicion. I can’t enjoy anything anymore. This is no way to live.
When had he ever managed to appreciate anything without the feeling that a dark cloud was about to rain on his head?
Never. That’s when.
His pulse was regaining normalcy and he decided to remain in the apartment and talk to Teresa if she ever decided to come home.
I can’t make assumptions. I need to talk to—
His thoughts were cut short as he heard a distant chiming, unmistakably that of a cell phone.
He bolted upright, his ears perking toward the sound coming from the bedroom.
Is her phone here?
Luca was certain he had not heard it ringing on any of the other times he had tried to call her, but he was just as sure that the noise he had heard was a text notification.
Inside the bedroom, he looked around for a sign of a cell, but he saw nothing.
He pulled his own phone out of his pocket and texted Teresa again, but when it was sent, it did not ring in the bedroom.