Chapter 40
“ N o.” I shake my head, my heart pounding, the alarm still blaring through the house. Each shrill wail adds to the tension. “I’m not sitting here waiting. We face this together. We’ve already survived too much to be apart now.”
Luca’s eyes narrow, and for a moment, I see that familiar flicker of exasperation—the same look I’ve seen a dozen times this week when he tries to push me away. But it’s not working now, not after everything we’ve shared, everything we’ve talked through. I won’t let him push me out of the equation.
With a growl of frustration, Luca steps toward me, his hands gripping my face with unexpected tenderness as he leans down. His kiss is brief, chaste even, but it’s full of heat and annoyance. When he pulls back, his forehead presses against mine.
“I fucking love how stubborn you are when it’s not directed at me,” he mutters.
I can’t help the soft smile tugging at my lips, but the moment is fleeting. Luca’s eyes harden again as he pulls away, grabbing his phone from the bedside table. With swift motions, he taps at the screen, his fingers moving faster as he brings up a security feed on the TV in his bedroom.
The grid flickers to life, and I freeze, my stomach dropping when I see the cameras. Dozens of men, all dressed in black, swarm across Luca’s property. I can barely make out their movements, but the way they move in coordinated chaos—armed, tactical, precise—makes my blood run cold. It’s like watching a military operation unfold on my doorstep.
“Oh my God, Luca.” I glance at him, feeling the weight of the situation settle in. “You know that scene in Kill Bill when she fights the Crazy 88s?” My voice comes out barely above a whisper, the question hanging heavy between us.
“Yeah, I was just thinking that.” Luca’s expression doesn’t waver until he snaps out of the initial shock. “We need to get dressed,” he says, his voice steady despite the rising tension, “quickly. And I need to get you to the safe room. Now.”
Right. We are both very naked. And very much under attack.
He’s already moving before I can respond, his eyes locked on the screen like he’s memorizing everything before he turns away. He pulls a gun from the bedside table next, inspecting it. There’s something about the sight of his giant cock, the shifting muscles of his abdomen as he pulls back the weapon, or maybe it’s the cloak of death he seems to drape over himself, preparing to kill everyone setting foot on his land... but... it’s definitely doing something for me.
“That is the sexiest thing I’ve ever watched in my life.”
Luca places the gun on his dresser with a boyish smirk, and I follow him into his closet, pulling on a pair of panties and a sports bra from my bag.
“You have a thing for some gunplay, baby?” he asks, looking me up and down before turning back to his rack of all-black clothing. I’m pulling up my yoga pants, trying not to hyperventilate over the idea of him fucking me with his gun.
“I’d be glad to watch you come all over the barrel of my Glock, Lenny,” he says with a smirk, the timbre of his deep voice extra rich.
“We should maybe pin that for later.” I pull a shirt over my head as Luca, sadly, puts away his megalo-dong. I wrap my hair in a messy bun, and he quickly dresses in black tactical pants, a black shirt, and boots. “Just how did we get here from five days ago? Hmm, what a journey.”
He looks every inch the lethal predator, and that only intensifies when he opens a drawer full of weapons that could rival those in any spy movie.
Luca checks guns, sliding them into holsters I hadn’t even realized he had. Clips of extra ammo go into the pockets of his pants, along with several concealed knives. He takes a vest from his closet and puts it on. A rush of relief washes over me until I look back at the screen, and it seems like the attackers just keep coming.
“How far away are they?” I ask, still looking behind me at the screen.
“We’ve got about five minutes,” he answers, taking a quick look. “Okay, you’re going to strap up.” He comes to me with another harness and vest in hand.
“I would prefer to strap-on... but fine.” I tease as he clips a belt around my waist and straps around my thighs. He shakes his head at my choice of humor in the midst of certain death.
He offers me a gun resting in his palm, and it looks so small in his hands. “Check the weapon and the safety.” Luca is watching me, testing me with the gun.
With a deep breath, I run through everything Jax taught me. Apparently, I pass my test. I earn a kiss on my head and a “good girl.”
I’ll take both of those any day of the week, thank you!
Luca fixes the gun in one thigh holster and lets me check another weapon. I holster this one myself, then secure the knife he gives me close to one of the guns. My heart is beating a million miles a minute, and having weapons strapped to my body is not helping.
Satisfied we are fully armed, he closes up the rest of the weapons, and they disappear into the closet like they were never here. “Come on.”
He heads for the stairs and goes down them quickly, his pace brisk as the minutes tick by.
We head to the kitchen, and he grabs a spatula from the jar of utensils, giving it to me with a roll of his eyes. “For luck.” He winks at me when I grin at him like an idiot.
I do feel better having this silly thing in my hands, and I’m not sure what it is about this trauma-fest of a week that has gotten me so attached to a fucking spatula, but there is no time to ponder it.
Luca presses a combination of keys and buttons on the double oven, and it swings open like a door—a thick-ass door made of metal.
“No way!” I gasp, following him in. “This is just like in the movies.”
“Yeah, except we very well may die, Lenny.”
“Oh, yeah. I mean, that part sucks.”
He walks me back to another door, and we step into a hidden room at the center of the house. The rest of the home seems built around this, its sole purpose to conceal it. I suppose when your family has a long history of associating with the mob, things like this are pretty standard.
The room’s lights turn on automatically when we enter, and screens flicker to life.
I avert my eyes quickly, accidentally glancing at the goddamn murder-barn scene of bloodshed. I think I see a finger falling to the ground, and Marco now looks more like a Marc-oh-fuck-no . “Oh, my fucking God.”
There was a large dark hole where his ear should be. Blood caking his shirt on both sides so I can only assume his other ear has been removed too, van Gogh style.
He’s definitely lost some skin on his hands and forearms. The thought of what else is something I try to push out of my mind.
“Sorry, Lenny.” Luca’s fingers fly feverishly across the keyboard, and the screens change in an instant. A red light in the top corner of the room starts blinking silently.
“What is that?” I ask, my voice tight.
“My silent alarm. I need to call Jax and Enzo up here.” He’s still typing furiously, his frustration mounting. He suddenly slams his hands on the desk. “Motherfucker! I’ve got you now.”
“What?” My stomach knots, the fear growing more tangible by the second.
I mean, I was scared before, but you know... if Luca wasn’t worried, I wasn’t worried. But now? We’ve got a SWAT team of assassins descending on us, I’ve got guns strapped to my legs, and my other boyfriends are torturing someone in the murder-barn completely oblivious to the situation.
So, we can agree I was at least pretending not to be worried.
“Where are you?” Luca’s blue eyes scan each of the screens quickly, searching. “I know you’re here, you bastard.” His gaze fixes on one screen, and it seems the figure in the frame knows it. A masked man, rifle in hand, is staring directly at us.
“Luca, who is that?” My voice is barely a whisper.
“Nico Santoro,” he growls, curling his lip as anger burns in his eyes.
I gasp, my hand flying to my mouth. “Nic.”
Luca’s old roommate in college. They were always neck and neck in everything—top of their class, best friends, constantly in competition with each other.
“He’s the one I taught how to do a blackout net.”
“And you’re not friends anymore?”
“I outgrew his childish need to compete.” Luca sits up and opens a drawer beside the desk.
Surprise—it’s full of guns. We’re all shocked.
He takes a silencer from the top and screws it onto his gun. Then he grabs a pair of brass knuckles, slipping one into each pocket.
“Luca.” I can’t hide the tremor in my voice now as I see how close the horde is getting to the house.
“I have a strong suspicion he helped fabricate the evidence that convicted Jax. He’s the reason Jax was put away on a murder charge—for life.” Luca’s jaw tightens as he looks at the screen, urgency building in his eyes. “He’s the secret to the strange transactions, the last-minute land purchases in Enzo’s territory—all of it. He’s the one helping whatever boss is trying to kill you.”
“So, what does that mean?”
Luca tilts his head, tucking a few stray hairs from my bun behind my ear. “It means I’m going to beat him to a pulp until he stops breathing.” He cups my face and kisses me.
“Okay,” is all I can answer, the impending doom weighing heavily on me.
“This is a safe room. Once I close those doors, no one will know you’re here. You can get out anytime, but no one can come in. Got it?”
I nod, trying to swallow the knot in my throat while twisting my hands around the spatula.
“It’s nearly dark. They’re going to swarm the house. It will be quiet. Nic knows better than to come in here with guns blazing.” I nod again, pretending to understand the strategy. “You can watch me on the screens, but no matter what happens, you can’t leave this room, Lenny.”
He bends down so his eyes are level with mine. “I mean it. No matter how many bullets you see enter my body?—”
“Stop it!” I cry out, tears welling in my eyes.
“No. This is serious.” He kisses me quickly. “No matter what, promise me.”
I can’t. I can’t promise that. But I can lie so I nod.
Luca relaxes slightly and glances at the blinking red light. “When it turns green, Enzo and Jax are on their way. Okay? They’ll get here.” He kisses me again. “Fucking Christ, Lenny. Please stay in here.” He leans his head against mine, and I can’t lie to him again. He already knows the truth.
“Don’t die.” I take his face in my hands, holding him just like he’s holding me.
He pulls me into a kiss that feels too much like goodbye.
“Go,” I choke out. “Go kill everyone and get your ass back here. They’re here to hurt your incredibly sexy girlfriend who has no gag reflex.”
He gives me a crooked grin. “Say that again.”
“That I have no gag reflex?”
“No, silly girl. Say you’re my girlfriend again.”
I smile, and for a moment, amid the chaos surrounding his family’s old home, there’s peace. I stand on my tiptoes to reach him better. “I’ll say it again when you come back to me. So don’t fucking die, or I’ll come out there and kick your ass myself.”
His smirk widens as he cups my ass with one big hand and kisses me, his tongue sweeping into my mouth. “Yes, ma’am.”