Mafia Temptation Book 3

HAYLEY

Hayley had done every bit of housework she felt she could do in Mrs. Altera’s already impeccable home. She had no idea when Luca was meeting with her father, but it was close to 10 p.m. Surely, he must have met him by now?

“Hayley, you don’t have to do that,” Maria scolded as she watched Hayley pick up all the dishes from the table and begin to wash them.

The Altera men had a late supper. Most then hung around the kitchen while others left for the evening. Sal was still in the restaurant until closing.

“I want to,” Hayley replied. “It keeps me busy.”

“You know, everything will be okay, right?” Angelo said as he sat with two of his cousins, who were all having a drink. “The boss will have everything under control.”

“I know.” Hayley shrugged as she began to wash the dishes and Sofia began to dry them.

Hayley gazed into space. Her life had been a big lie. Her father wasn’t who he should have been. Her small world had been flipped on its head when she met Luca.

He was who she wanted and whom she could rely on—him and Siobhan, of course.

“Boss?” Angelo’s voice made Hayley turn toward the kitchen door.

“Luca?” Hayley took the towel and dried her hands before running into his arms. He wasted no time in holding her close.

He breathed in her scent. He could smell her cherry shampoo and her argan oil moisturizer. They were comforting to him.

“Mia Luna,” he whispered tenderly in her ear as he hugged her tight.

“Luca,” she breathed as she felt his hug tighten. He was right where she wanted him to be.

“Everything okay, boss?” Angelo asked as he stood up from the table.

“Nic will explain. The other Phoenix men know everything,” Luca answered as he pulled away from Hayley.

Nic passed them both and took Angelo out of the room to the lounge.

“What’s happened?” Hayley asked.

Luca looked around the room at the eyes and ears of the Altera clan, so he nodded at Maria, took Hayley by the hand, and led her out the door Nic and Angelo had left through. Luca took Hayley up the stairs to Frankie’s room.

“I’m guessing things didn’t go too well with my dad,” Hayley presumed nervously.

Luca sighed as he watched Hayley’s blue eyes sadden as she wrapped her arms protectively around herself. He strode forward and put his hands on her shoulders, gently rubbing them to soothe her.

“Not exactly how I think ideally you wanted, baby,” Luca answered.

Luca could tell Hayley wanted only a happy outcome. Her dad and her boyfriend to get along. Luca also wanted that, but it was never meant to be.

“Your dad, well, he wants you to go back home, back to Russia,” Luca replied.

Hayley’s stomach dropped as Luca said those words.

“No, Russia was never my home. My home is here with you. I can’t go back.” Hayley shook her head as panic began to rise within her.

“Baby, shush, I’m not going to let that happen,” Luca vowed.

Luca, Nic, and his most loyal men had agreed Volkova and his family could tear apart New York—but he would never get Hayley, never.

“My dad, Luca, he is a determined man. Even as just a businessman, I knew he always got his way. My mum said that was my dad’s biggest trait: the ability to get his own way.” Hayley trembled a little.

“I’m just as determined to keep you here,” Luca vowed. His mission was to keep her safe with him in New York.

“Why does he want me?” Hayley asked as Luca guided her to the bed and sat her beside him.

Luca knew Hayley needed answers, perhaps the truth. But how much could he tell her? If she thought her father was sorry, would she leave with him?

“Apparently—” Luca sighed—“he wants to take you away from this life. He thinks you deserve more.” Luca secretly agreed with Dima. She did deserve more than this, more than him. But he was too selfish, too greedy to let her go.

“Yet he was happy to sell me to another family?” Hayley huffed as a tear slipped down her face.

Hayley would never forget the pain as the back of his hand knocked her through the glass coffee table, the shouting of her father’s closest men. She remembered everything so vividly.

She’d always remember the way the fluffy cream carpet turned crimson as the glass caused her arm to bleed from her wrist to her shoulder.

She remembered her dad screaming in Russian about respect, about how disappointed he was in her.

As the tears fell from her stinging eyes, she remembered as Ivan knelt beside her and the other men tried to calm her angry dad down. Ivan told her she would be okay.

She remembered him helping her up, telling her father he should calm down and think about what he had done.

Ivan was so angry with her dad. He told Hayley he couldn’t believe he had done it. That was when Hayley decided, at the first opportunity, she would run.

“That is why I am going to keep you with me, baby. There is no way I am going to let him do anything to you,” Luca promised as he wiped away her falling tears.

“What’s going to happen, Luca?” Hayley was frightened, worried about what Luca would do and what her father was capable of doing.

Luca wasn’t sure what to tell her. The truth could see her being reckless.

If Hayley knew lives would be in danger, she would surely find a way back to her father—like what she did for the butterfly girls when Borroni threatened them.

Luca shuddered as the memory of her strapped to the chair flooded his mind, hearing her voice cry out for help as he tried to kill Borroni. He would not put her in that situation ever again.

“Baby, don’t worry, everything is under control,” Luca promised. “I have to go,” he said, but she took his hand.

“Please stay.” Hayley wanted him with her, safe. Staying here meant she was safe. It would be the same for Luca, right?

Luca shook his head and cupped her face lightly. He wanted to stay, but he had too much work to do.

“I can’t, mia luna, I have too much to plan. I will see you soon, when it is all over,” he whispered before he lightly kissed her and stood up from the bed.

“Luca!” Hayley stood up and took his arm as he turned to walk out the door. “What do you mean planning? And all over?”

“Stop worrying, baby, everything—”

“Luca, if you say everything is fine, or under control, I will hurt you,” she threatened him, and a light chuckle left his mouth. “I mean it. I’m sitting here waiting, and you are up to something.”

“I’m not. Your father and I are figuring this out, baby, please,” Luca soothed her, but it wasn’t working.

“Luca, don’t get hurt for me,” she begged. “Don’t let people get hurt for me or for us. I couldn’t stand it.”

“No one is going to get hurt.” Luca kissed her forehead. “I will be back this time tomorrow night when I will be taking you home with me.”

Hayley wanted to believe him, but something in her gut was telling her bad things were happening and Luca, being who he was, had no way of guaranteeing that he would be there tomorrow night—and that was the harsh reality.

Hayley had to do something, but she had no idea what. She knew Luca had this place watched. The women in Frankie’s family were scarier than the men. But if she had to, she would step in.

“I love you, Luca.” She pulled her man closer to her and kissed him. She kissed him like it was their first and last kiss.

He pulled her tightly to him as they kissed. He drank every bit of her in, since he knew for the next twenty-four hours, they would be apart.

Secretly he had no idea what the future held for them, but he was going to fight to come back to her—to this.

“I love you too, my beautiful moon,” he murmured, before he kissed his love again and left Frankie’s room.

Hayley was left standing in the middle of the bedroom, lost, lonely, and a little bit petrified of what was to come.

LUCA

“There you are!” Giovanni’s voice boomed as Luca and his two right hands walked into the house. It was close to midnight, and Luca wasn’t in the mood for this.

“Tell me, figlio, that you have a plan. I mean, we have Dima fucking Volkova’s daughter!”

Luca could see the evil gleam in his padre’s eyes. He could see the dollar signs and the cruel things he could do with her.

Giovanni noticed the beauty wasn’t with Luca. He noticed she hadn’t been seen in this house since Luca spoke to Volkova.

“Tell me good things, Luca. I have waited for a whole fucking day! I want only good fucking news,” Giovanni shouted.

His voice echoed around the space in the hallway of the house. Stefano stood loyally behind his brother, with Marco on his other side, while Luca had his two loyal men behind him.

The silence was huge. Luca couldn’t tell his padre what he so desperately wanted to hear.

“I had a meeting with Dima Volkova. I am handling the Russian situation,” Luca replied coldly.

“So? What is happening? What was the price?” Giovanni asked eagerly.

Luca hated that so many people put a price on Hayley’s head. She was priceless.

“Nothing’s happening. We have until seven p.m. to get his daughter to him,” Luca answered. His eyes went to Stefano, who shook his head at his nephew.

“At a cost. Luca, tell me you made a deal with him. We have the power over Dima Volkova!”

“I won’t be handing her over to Volkova,” Luca answered coolly and calmly.

Giovanni was seething, his fists clenched in the anger he had for his eldest son. How could he be so stupid?

“Tell me you have a plan. For your fucking sake, you better have a plan,” Giovanni warned.

“No, I don’t. Volkova threatened this family, and you taught me wisely, padre, that we don’t react too well to threats,” Luca reminded his ~padre~.

“Good.” Giovanni chuckled lightly. “Then bring the girl here.”

“Why?” Luca was not going to let his father near her.

“Because we will show Volkova how threatening us only works to hurt him, or shall we say, his daughter.” Giovanni laughed.

“No.” Luca spoke harshly. “Hayley is staying where I have put her. She is not a pawn in this.”

“On the contrary, figlio. I couldn’t agree with you more—I don’t see her as a mere pawn. No, she’s the queen. The most important fucking piece in this game. Catch the queen and you get Volkova.”

Giovanni knew it was Hayley who could control Dima, so Giovanni wanted to exploit that.

“I am not letting you anywhere near her,” Luca growled.

Giovanni couldn’t believe the bravery in his son. Perhaps he needed to be reminded who the boss truly was.

“I have two of Dima Volkova’s enemies on standby. They want her, and they are willing to give us ten, even twenty times the amount Dima was offering.”

It made Luca’s stomach churn as he thought of what these enemies could do to her, what ways they would hurt her.

Suddenly Giovanni grabbed Luca by the collar. Luca wasn’t prepared for it when his father kicked the living room door and threw his son in.

The door had some damage, but Giovanni didn’t care as he slammed it shut, leaving him and Luca alone.

“You are going soft. I didn’t walk away from New York for you to fuck everything up!” Giovanni yelled.

Luca stood tall against his father. The child in him was petrified of the things this man had done and was very capable of doing again. But the man in Luca was not afraid. He loved her too much to be afraid.

“I’m not going soft. I am handling this situation,” Luca said as he looked at his father.

“Poorly. Don’t make me step in, boy,” Giovanni threatened.

“I am not making you. I am saying stay out of this. I have this under control,” Luca instructed firmly.

“Under control? You have Dima Volkova in our city, you have his daughter on your dick, and you think you have this under control?” Giovanni scoffed.

Luca lost it. He lunged at his father and slammed him up against the wall. He went to swipe at his father, but Giovanni moved, causing Luca to hit the wall. Luca felt his father grabbing his collar and pushing him away.

“This girl has made you weak, boy,” Giovanni yelled. “I thought I had trained you better than this, you fucking pussy,” Giovanni spat.

“I am not weak. Having a woman doesn’t make you weak,” Luca shouted. He was sick of his padre’s mantra. It had crushed Stefano and made Nic too scared to confess his love for Ava.

“It makes you all goddamn fools. You have the power to make history. You have the power to get control in Russia. The families here in New York will be at your feet.”

Giovanni couldn’t understand why his son was wasting an opportunity to take his family to the top.

“I know what I am doing. This isn’t the first time something like this has come my way,” Luca reminded his father.

“Yes, but this is the first time you have let emotion control the outcome. She is a girl, Luca, a dime a dozen. Trust me, I can get you one like her.”

Giovanni couldn’t believe he was saying those words. Luca shouldn’t need to be coaxed into letting go of a whore.

“This is the principle.” Luca shook his head. Deep down, he couldn’t let her go to anybody. “Volkova threatened us. I can’t have that.”

“I agree with you, son, but use the girl. Imagine the revenge you can have with her.” Giovanni wanted to awaken the monster he’d created, the violent mob boss he’d raised.

“Imagine”—Giovanni began to circle his son—“imagine the power you could have over Dima Volkova.”

Luca’s dark side was always listening to the purr of his padre. Luca knew Dima was Hayley’s father, but he was the enemy, and Luca’s dark side loved having the power over him.

“Imagine Dima receiving his daughter back piece by piece. A man totally broken. We could take his empire right out from under him.

“Imagine what you could do to get revenge on Dima. This man threatened you, the great Luca Marcello.”

Giovanni watched as the fire in his son’s dark eyes was being ignited. He knew Luca couldn’t resist this.

“That man has come to your city and threatened your family and told you what to do. You, Luca, can’t have that.

“Imagine listening to her screams as she begs you for mercy. Imagine him calling to give you everything in exchange for her. Figlio, you don’t even have to do it. You can command me to do it. For you, ~figlio~, I would be happy to.”

Giovanni smirked as Luca sighed and looked at his padre. Luca’s demon inside of him could imagine all of that. He could imagine his girl in his warehouse, her blood on the walls as she cried and howled in pain.

The demon in him could imagine talking to Dima as Hayley cried out for him. The demon was a sick bastard and loved that thought.

But Luca wasn’t the demon his father had made him. Luca wasn’t the boy who was beaten to within an inch of his life and ordered to respect and admire the man who tortured him.

“I’m not hurting, Hayley.” Luca spoke slowly, forcefully, to make sure his words were clear to his aging father.

He never waited to hear his father’s reply. Instead, he stormed past his father, forcing the door open so much that it came off the hinges—not that Luca cared. In the hallway, Nic, Stefano, and his brother, Marco, waited.

“I want to make this perfectly clear. Nobody in this family is to harm Hayley. She is still under my protection. I am going to sort this out, but for now, back off Hayley. Dima, we will deal with.

“Anybody in this family who disobeys my command will have a bullet in their head. Understood?”

Luca didn’t care if his family or his men thought he was weak. He didn’t care. To show he wasn’t, he would blow out the brains of those who thought he was.

The three men in the hallway nodded to let Luca know they understood his request.

“Boss, one of our runners has been shot.” Frankie ran in from the kitchen as Nic’s cell rang. “Apparently, he was targeted. Injured shoulder. He didn’t even see a shooter.”

“Fuck,” Luca hissed.

“Luca.” Nic walked toward his cousin. Luca looked to see Nic holding out his phone. “It’s Volkova.”

Luca sighed as he heard his father scoff and walk into the hallway.

“I see you have this all under control,” Giovanni hissed sarcastically as he walked past his son and out of the hallway. Marco followed, whereas Stefano left to go to the kitchen.

Luca held the phone to his ear.

“Ah, Marcello, I am sorry about your man being shot.” Dima spoke confidently, as Luca said nothing. “You see, I had a point to prove. You understand, right?”

Luca still said nothing to his newly acquired enemy.

“You see, Luca, I can get to any one of your runners, Phoenix men, or even people like Siobhan. Ivan is a skilled marksman—the best, in fact,” Dima boasted.

“You see, I wanted him to wound but not fatally harm someone within your organization. I hear he will be fine, which is all good—a nice battle scar for him.”

“Now, I will not harm anyone again, as long as you bring my daughter to the restaurant at 7 p.m. If you don’t, Ivan’s next shot will be for the kill.”

The line went dead before he could reply. Luca looked at his two right hands.

“We have to plan. We cannot let this bastard win,” Luca hissed. Both his right hands nodded.

GIOVANNI

“Marco,” Giovanni spoke lowly in the darkness of the garden. It was the only safe spot. He had gotten one of his men to decode the microphones so only visual recordings were working.

“Padre.” Marco was always wary around his father. He could never forget what this man could do.

“Your brother is being foolish. This bitch will be his downfall,” Giovanni spoke lowly. He knew how to manipulate his children; he knew what Marco was truly afraid of.

“If your brother fucks this up, we can kiss the money, the clubs, and all the women goodbye.”

Giovanni watched the fear in his lazy son’s eyes under the low glow of an outside lamp. Marco was a playboy prince. He loved all the money but hated the work.

Giovanni wasn’t an idiot. He knew Marco had nothing to do with the family.

“How can we stop him?” Marco asked his father.

“You can bring me the girl. Do it for me. It will bring me such pride,” Giovanni answered.

Marco always wanted his father’s pride and respect. This was music to his ears. He all but forgot Luca’s threat.

“She will be in a safe house—” Giovanni spoke, but Marco interrupted him.

“No, she won’t be.” Marco knew exactly where she would be. “I know where she is. She will be with Salvatore Altera, Frankie’s padre.”

Giovanni couldn’t help but be impressed by Marco.

“That fucker.” Giovanni laughed. “Sal always said he wanted nothing to do with any family, now look at him. Bring her to me, figlio. Let’s get us the money we know she is worth.” Giovanni’s smile was evil.

Marco nodded. He knew he had to do this. For once, he was happy to work for the family.