Mia laughed and squeezed me back. “That’s okay. I know what you’re like and should have realised… Sorry.”
Standing by the car, it wasn’t long before Tony and the others were back. “Let me guess. He wasn’t there?”
Tony shook his head. “Luca’s super pissed, and he wants you back at The Castle—pronto.”
I rolled my eyes. “Of course. We can’t keep the lord and master waiting, can we?”
I was trying to be light-hearted about it all, but the whole journey back, I couldn’t help but replay Antonio’s words back in my head. How much did I really know about Luca? I was mad because I didn’t want what Antonio said get to me. But how could it not when there was some truth to what the arsehole had said?
Getting back to The Castle in next to no time, it wasn’t long before Luca was out the door and running towards me. “I’m going to rip that fucker’s heart out. What did he say?”
Ignoring him, I carried on up the stairs to the door. “Why do you look so worried, Luca?”
Huffing he shouted, “Don’t play fucking games with me. What did he say?”
Stopping momentarily in the hallway, I was aware that an audience was gathering. “I’m not having this conversation here.”
Getting madder, Luca stood his ground. “Well, let’s go up to the tower and discuss it.”
I gestured to the bar and smiled at him. “I will do. But I will get a drink first. I’m suddenly dying for one after all that shopping.”
Luca looked dazed and flustered. “What the fuck? Clara, get your fucking ass up the stairs now!”
I glared at him. “No! Drink first and then we talk.”
Walking towards the bar, I noticed a number of my girls—and even some of Luca’s men—smiling in amusement at our little battle of the sexes thing we had going on.
I’m not sure if Luca was shocked or too angry and high on adrenaline to act, but he let me go without a word.
I sat down at the bar and gestured towards Bill. “Hey, Bill, can I get a brandy—neat—please?
“Certainly, Clara.”
Swivelling my chair around, I noticed a very pissed off Luca glaring at me along with some highly amused faces. “I’m ever so parched,” I said, winking.
Forgetting himself for a moment, Alessandro blurted, “Oh Luca, I think you’re in trouble now.”
Luca glared at him with clenched fists. “Shut the fuck up!”
I got angry. “Don’t you dare speak to him like that!”
“Or what, Clara? Tell me?”
Downing my drink in one go, I shouted, “Or the next time you’ll be moaning my name it won’t be because I’ve just given you the best fucking orgasm you ever had in your life!”
Shocked and regaled is what I would call everyone’s expressions. It didn’t take a genius to realise Luca had had enough. “Are you finished with your drink now?”
Shaking my head, I stood firm. I was finished, but I’d be damned if I let Luca have his way anytime soon. “No. In fact, I think I’ll have another.” I was about to swivel my barstool back round to Bill when I felt his hands on me.
“You’ve had enough because I say you’ve had enough!” Luca picked me up like a rag doll and threw me over his shoulder. No one was surprised by this. It was definitely a regular occurrence in this house.
Just for an added show of authority Luca smacked my arse. I really didn’t want to yelp, but it was so shocking that I couldn’t help it. “You fucking arsehole!” I seethed.
Once in “our tower” as we seemed to now be calling it, Luca placed me down on the bed and towered above me. I had to snigger at that. He always wanted to assert his authority over me. Even now!
“Are you going to stop acting like a child and talk to me?”
I could have spat back, but I held my tongue. Instead I surprised him. “Who are you?” I figured it was about time we had this conversation.
“What do you mean? I’m Luca, the man you—”
“What, Luca? What? The man I’m fucking, ‘cos we seem to be doing very little else. You know everything about me, and yet I know diddly-squat about you.”
Clenching his fists, Luca bared his teeth. “You know we mean more to each other than that.”
Deciding I didn’t much like sitting on the bed with a towering lion hovering above me, I decided to stand. “Really? Don’t kid yourself. What do I know about you? Oh yes, you’re an Italian, hard-nosed, domineering little arsehole who likes piña colada’s and getting caught in the fucking rain!”
Getting up in my face, Luca locked my eyes with his. “What did he say to you? What did the fucker say to get you so angry? You mean everything to me. I thought you would know that by now. I keep telling you as much.”
I shook my head in exasperation. “That’s the thing. They’re just words, just goddamned fucking words. They don’t mean shit.”
“What do you want from me?”
“I want you to tell me the truth!”
Exasperated, Luca let go of my arms and paced the floor running his hands through his hair. Turning back to me, he stood firm like a bull about to charge.
“Okay. You want the truth? I’ll give you the goddamned truth. I fucking love you. Is that what you want to know? I can’t stop thinking about you and haven’t stopped thinking about you since the moment I saw that fucking picture. You’ve stolen my heart, and you’ve stolen my soul. I cannot breathe without you. I cannot live without you. Every time you’re not with me, it’s like I can’t function properly without you. I’m like a fish without water—a fire without its spark. I’m nothing unless I’m with you. Nothing unless I have you in my arms. You’re my missing piece in a symphony, my lantern in the dark. My world. My one and only. You complete me.”
Feeling the tears sting at his words, I walked away. I couldn’t look at him as I knew I would cave. “It’s not enough. I need something—anything. I need more.”
Grabbing my arms and pulling me to face him, Luca looked desperate. “What more can I give you that I haven’t already?”
I momentarily looked down at my feet. “It’s not about the gifts you buy or the number of orgasms you can give me. I need to know what’s in here.” I placed my hand on his heart. “And in here.” I moved my hands to his head.
Sighing in defeat, Luca dropped my arms and turned away. I stood, silently waiting. Every second that passed was like an agonising hour.
Shaking his head, Luca looked down towards the floor, sighing. He groaned, taking a few more deep breaths, and before I could even register it, he turned towards the door and left.
Shocked and bewildered, I sat down on the bed, wondering what the hell had just happened. How on earth could he tell me he loved me in one breath and in the other refuse to let me in? I didn’t know what on earth was going on, but I knew one thing was for certain. I wasn’t going to let this lie—not by a long shot. He would come back, and when he did, he would have some explaining to do.
Three days passed, and I still hadn’t heard from him. A part of me yearned for him, but a huge part of me was royally pissed off. He said he couldn’t live without me, but somehow, he had been managing very well for three days. He was like a walking, talking contradiction, and quite frankly, I had exhausted the many ways I thought we could move on from this. We couldn’t possibly move on. Not at this point. Not unless he was willing to reach out to me and tell me about his past. How could I possibly love someone who was not willing to give all to me? It just didn’t seem fair. Even absent, he was asserting his alpha status by knowing a damn sight more about me than I did about him. He had walked away from me for the time being, but he couldn’t run forever. He would either face me, or we would be done.
“Are you sure you’re okay?”
I didn’t even realise I was in a daydream until Belinda spoke. “Yes, I’m fine. Would everyone stop fussing?”
“We’re just worried about you,” Mia said, placing her hand on the bar.
With my posture picked up, I smiled bright
ly and slapped the bar with my hand. “I’m fine. In fact, I’m more than fine. I fancy a night out on the town. We haven’t done that in a while. Who’s with me?”
Belinda smiled. “I would love to, but someone has to stay and run this place.”
Mia jolted up. “Why don’t you two go with a couple of others? I’ll stay and help keep an eye out. Well, me and Alessandro of course.”
Just as his name was mentioned, the one and only walked into the bar, placing a gentle, possessive hand on Mia’s back. “Hey, ladies.” Bending down, Alessandro placed a seductive kiss on Mia’s lips. Mia moaned, and everyone rolled their eyes.
Managing to pry himself away, Alessandro looked up. “What are we talking about?”
“We’re talking about a night out. Belinda and I along with a couple of others are going.”
Alessandro looked flustered all of a sudden. “But you can’t. Mr. Belatoni—”
I glared at him. “Mr. Belatoni can shove his attitude where the sun don’t shine. Do you hear me? I haven’t heard from him in three days—yet, he seems to think he still has a right to order me around and tell me what to do. I’m not sitting around here like a lost puppy waiting for her lord and master to return. I refuse to do that.”
I got out of my seat. I’d had enough. I was more determined than ever to have that night out. “Mia, I will accept your offer to look after the place this evening. Thank you.” I gracefully nodded to her and smiled.
“You’re very welcome. Don’t worry. You ladies have fun, and I promise I will look after everything while you’re away.” Alessandro nudged Mia, causing her to glare back at him.
Great! I had probably caused an argument between those two lovebirds.
Squeezing Belinda’s arm, I pulled her away from Mia and Alessandro. If they were going to fight, I would let them get on with it.
“So, who do you think will be up for it tonight? Any ladies feel they need a break?”
Belinda looked away in deep thought. “I think Samantha would like to come. She’s always good for a night out.” Biting her lip, she thought some more, but then something caught her eye, and she smiled. “Oh, and I think I know just the other person.”
Looking in Belinda’s direction, I spotted Tammy smiling and looking around the hallway. “Tammy!” I shouted. I was glad to see her after so long.
“Clara!” she shouted back as we both ran in for a hug.
“How are you, Clara? I heard things had changed around here since I left.” Just as she said this, Natalie—the girl who took Tammy’s place—wandered over.
“You can certainly say that! I’ll get to that in a bit, but first of all, I’d like to introduce Natalie here to her predecessor. Natalie, this is Tammy.” Shaking hands, they both smiled while taking one another in. I knew they were sizing each other up.
“So, what were you two looking so excited about before Tammy came in?”
I smiled at Natalie. “Well, Belinda and I are going out tonight, and we were wondering who would want to come.” I nudged in Tammy’s direction and she gasped, “Oh I’d love to. We’ve never really had the chance to have a girly night out, so count me in.”
Turning towards Natalie, I felt the need to include her. “I would love to, but I’ve got a very special client coming in tonight—Mr. Gosport.” Natalie’s eyebrow rose.
“No! The famous actor?” Tammy squealed.
Natalie nodded with a smirk. “The one and only.”
“Damn. I’ve missed out there,” Tammy said, biting her lip.
Elbowing her in the arm, I said, “Oh come on, Tammy. I thought you had the love of your life?”
“Oh I do. I love him to bits, but for Mr. Gosport, I think I’d have made an exception.” Giggling across the hall, we soon had a load of eyes upon us.
“Look, it’s probably best we don’t continue this conversation until tonight. Can we meet you at Club Med—say around eight?”
Tammy squeezed my arm. “I’ll look forward to it.”
Getting ready for my evening out, I was startled when a text suddenly arrived on my phone. Retrieving it from my packed and ready bag, I opened it up.
Luca: You’re not going anywhere tonight. I shall see you in a couple of hours. Stay put!
Tossing the phone back in my bag, I checked my make-up one last time and moved towards my door. Upon opening up, Tony stood to attention. “Mr. Belatoni told me of your planned night out.”
Closing my door behind me and heading for the stairs, I said, “Yeah. What of it?”
“Please, Clara. You can’t go out tonight. Luca would have a fucking hernia.”
I stopped at the stairs momentarily, trying to calm myself. I turned to a flustered Tony. “Listen, I appreciate your concern, but it really is none of anyone’s business what I do—least of all Luca’s.”
I could hear Tony’s loud footsteps behind me as I carried on my journey. Seeing Belinda at the foot of the stairs, I smiled. “Are you ready?”
Belinda held out her arm to me and smiled. “As I’ll ever be. Samantha can’t come, but Tammy said she would meet us there.”
Turning to Tony, I squeezed his arm. “Goodnight, Tony. I may or may not see you when I get back.”
Hearing Tony cursing, Belinda and I laughed all the way outside. I knew Tony had instructions to keep me in my castle, but all of them also had strict instructions not to touch me. Where did that leave them when it came to stopping me from doing anything? Not with much I thought. It didn’t stop them doing what a lot of them did next, however. Halfway up the road in the taxi, I spotted Tony and some others climbing into another car. I guessed I was going to be tailed and stalked all evening. No rest for the wicked.
“Wow, you both look great.” Tammy was waiting outside Club Med wearing an elegant, black, knee-length dress and the most gorgeous high-heeled shoes.
Kissing Tammy on both cheeks, I smiled. “You look great, too. Come. Let’s go in now before the mob turns up.”
Looking confused, Tammy just shook her head and tagged along. The music was booming, and it was welcome. Club Med was having an eighty’s night, and I loved eighty’s music.
After ordering our drinks, we were about to head over to a table and chairs when a security guy came marching over. “Excuse me, Miss Murphy?”
All the girls shrugged their shoulders. “Yes?”
“I have a VIP table upstairs for you and your lady friends.” The security guy eyed both Belinda and Tammy, and then his look turned to one of hunger.
“Okay. Lead the way, McDuff!”
Laughing inside, I knew full well who was responsible for this. Even now, he was getting his own way. I wasn’t going to say no, though. I wanted to be with my girls more than anything tonight.
Walking into the plush, cosy room, I experienced a sense of comfort. It was well put together with comfortable sofas and a big-arsed TV screen taking up the expanse of the room. On one of the tables by the balcony—which overlooked the dancers below—was a bottle of champagne and three glasses.
Shaking my head again, I sighed in disbelief. “I can’t believe he’s done this.”
The security man nodded. “I shall leave you ladies to it. Unless I can get you anything else?” His leering eyes were still roaming over Belinda and Tammy.
“No, this is fine, thank you.” With a little bow, the security guy was out the door.
“What the hell is all of this?” Tammy looked around the room in awe.
I sighed and looked at Belinda for a moment. “It seems I have a lot to tell you.”
Settling down in our seats and helping ourselves to our drinks, I began telling the full story to Tammy. She sat, listening attentively with occasionally widening eyes and a few cheeky grins. It seemed she was just as amused as everyone else had been.
“I can’t believe Rachael did that.” Tammy looked pissed.
Shaking my head, I completely agreed with her. “I know. I really didn’t think she felt as strongly as she did. It was quite uncomfortable—the who
le experience was.”
“I bet it was,” Belinda interjected. “She’s always been a little strange. At times, I thought she may have been bipolar or something. Her moods were all over the place.”
Feeling this conversation was getting a little too deep, I decided to change the subject. “So, Tammy. You and John. How’s that going?”
Smiling, Tammy put her drink down. “We’ve set a date. Well, a roundabout date”
“Really?” Belinda’s posture picked up. “When?”
“We were hoping for mid-June. It will be two years since we met by then.”
Squeezing her hand tightly, I smiled. “That’s so sweet. I hope you’re going to invite us all?” Biting her lip, she looked a little apprehensive. “What is it sweetie?”
“I wanted to ask you something, and I didn’t know how you would feel about it.”
Feeling a little worried, I asked, “What is it?”
Tammy nervously darted her eyes and paused for a moment before she spoke. “I was kinda hoping we could have the wedding at The Castle. I understand it would be a big deal, and I know it would mean hiring it out for the day and the evening, but you would be highly compensated for it. John is rather wealthy, you see.” Taken aback by her request, I hesitated for a moment. “I told John it would be a bad idea.”
Shaking my head, I found my lucidity. “No, of course it isn’t. I’m just surprised; that’s all. I thought you wanted John well away from The Castle.”
“Well, I know it carries a certain risk, but I also know that I trust everyone there not to blab. It’s just that I talk about The Castle a lot to John, and he knows how much the place—and all of you—mean to me.”
Tammy smiled sweetly, and it caused my heart to flutter a little. Giving her a reassuring squeeze, I looked her dead in the eye. “Of course you can have your wedding at The Castle. It would be my pleasure.”
For a solid half an hour or so, we made plans for the wedding and figured out how much it would cost. I would normally charge quite a bit for hiring out The Castle exclusively, but this was Tammy. I wasn’t going to charge her and her husband-to-be the going rate. She wanted some of her guests to stay as they were travelling a great distance, so I worked it all out in my head and came up with a figure. She was stumped.
Luca - You Will Be Mine (Sicilian Mafia #1) Page 19