Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
FAVORITE UNCLE
Where are you?
Location?
ETA?
Where are you?
Answer your phone.
ANSWER.
***
Head splitting and stomach sour, Luka bolted upright to the ungodly sound of a doorbell ringing nonstop and an angry fist banging on a door.
The room spun, and he winced at the bright sunshine burning across his face.
His mouth felt insanely dry, and he would have given anything for a glass of water.
“What the fuck is that?”
Startled by the unfamiliar female voice, Luka jerked his head toward the right side of the bed. Flashes of the night stumbled through his mind, none of them long enough to piece together a proper story. He blearily looked around and let the evidence fill in the gaps.
Two naked, gorgeous women. One blonde. The other a redhead. Both of them cuddled together next to him in this unfamiliar bed.
Oh, shit.
He glanced down at his bare chest. Lipstick marks. Scratches. He lifted the sheet covering his naked lower half and grimaced. He was a mess of lipstick, dried cum and a glimmering sheen of stripper dust.
“Is someone going to answer the door?” the redhead grumbled from her cozy spot draped across the blonde.
Where the fuck am I? He couldn’t get his bearings. It was obviously not a hotel. This was someone’s house.
Is it Devil’s house?
It had to be. He’d been with the enforcer when they left the shit show at the Dushku house. Luka remembered that much, at least. He’d come here to shower and change. After that, there was a drive and then...music? Cigarette smoke? Alcohol? Sticky chairs? Flashing lights?
And then...nothing.
But, clearly, something had happened.
The knocking and doorbell finally stopped. A second later, Besian’s furious voice tore through the house. “Where is he? I’m going to wring his fucking neck.”
Shit.
Luka tried to disentangle himself from the ladies, but he wasn’t fast enough.
The bedroom door was flung open, and Besian appeared with a thunderous expression.
He glared at Luka and then at the two women who were now fully awake and covering themselves with the sheet.
Besian’s eyes were black with anger as he snarled, “Get dressed. Now. We’re leaving. ”
Luka bristled at being ordered around by his uncle, but he had fucked up royally and deserved to be called out for it. Besian had only ever tried to keep him safe and guide him to make good decisions.
And here I am waking up with two strippers the day after my engagement dinner.
“You two?” Besian jabbed his finger at the women. “This never happened. You don’t know him, and he doesn’t know you. I hear a word of this around town, and you’ll never work again. Not in this city. Not in this state. Never. Again. Anywhere.”
The blonde lifted her chin. “That kind of silence doesn’t come free.”
If Besian was annoyed by her threat of blackmail, he didn’t show it. Instead, he said, “Devil will set you up.”
“Thank you,” they both replied.
“You.” Besian speared him with a disappointed look. “Get dressed.”
Like a child scolded by his father, Luka clambered out of bed.
He located his pants on the floor and his underwear nearby.
His shirt was a mess of glitter and smelled of vanilla perfume and splashes of tequila.
He couldn’t find his belt or socks anywhere.
His phone had a cracked screen and no battery.
“If things don’t work out with Elona, call me,” the redhead said with a sultry smile. “You’ve got my number.”
Luka froze. “Elona?”
“Your fiancée? I mean, just assumed,” she said with a little smirk. “You called me her name four times last night.”
Oh, shit.
Fuck.
FUCK.
“Let me guess,” the blonde interjected with a dramatic eyeroll. “We were a mistake, right? This is where you get post-nut clarity and tell us you’re not like this, that you never do things like this with girls like us.”
He hated that term, but he had to admit, it fit his situation perfectly. He was seeing this awful situation with stunningly painful clarity. “I shouldn’t have disrespected my fiancée or the two of you.”
“Honey, after the things you did with your tongue last night? You can disrespect me anytime.” The redhead noisily kissed his cheek and patted his chest. “Good luck being a one-woman man.”
Luka couldn’t shake the shame that hung over him like a storm cloud. Not even a quick scrub at the sink could wash it away. Out in the living room, Devil greeted him with a travel mug of hot coffee. “Thanks.”
Devil stared unnervingly. “Last night, you were talking a lot about the other sister. A lot.”
Luka’s face burned. “Loudly?”
“Loud enough.” Devil slapped his back in what must have been meant as a supportive gesture.
Instead, it felt like a baseball to the spine.
“My advice when you leave here? Say as little as necessary to the boss and nod so he knows you’re paying attention.
And whatever you do—stay out of striking range. He’s got a mean backhand.”
Luka bristled at the notion his uncle would strike him, but considering what he’d done? It wasn’t outside the realm of possibilities. He might be a grown man, but he was still Besian’s nephew.
Not a word was said when he opened the door of his uncle’s car and slid into the passenger seat.
Besian’s attention was glued to his phone, and his mouth had settled into a firm and disapproving line.
After a few tense moments, Besian dropped his phone into the empty cup holder and shifted into drive.
Finally, he said, “You missed your brunch date with Dafina.”
“Fuck.” Luka had woken with the nagging sensation of forgetting something. At Besian’s mention, he grabbed his phone and scowled at the broken screen. “I need a charger.”
“You need a shower.” Besian wrinkled his nose in distaste. “You smell like cheap tequila and pussy.”
Luka grimaced. “I didn’t intend to end up in bed with two women.”
“If you wanted one last wild night, you should have gone to Alina’s. She would have provided you discreet, vetted and very clean girls. God only knows what you picked up with those two.” He looked absolutely disgusted. “I don’t even want to know where you found them.”
“Devil took me to a biker bar.”
Besian swore under his breath.
“I didn’t mean for any of this to happen.”
“Then why did you go out drinking with Devil? Why didn’t you come home and discuss business with me? Or spend time with the sister you haven’t seen in months?”
Uncomfortable with being forced to face his shortcoming, Luka glanced out the window. “I don’t know.”
“I do. You’re a spoiled shithead kid who has never sacrificed a goddamn thing for anyone else.”
“Hey!” Luka glared at his uncle. “That’s not fair. I’ve sacrificed a lot.”
Besian laughed harshly. “No, you haven’t.”
“I lost my father and my mother and I was forced to take over as head of this family—.”
“And you’ve done what with that power? Besides consistently fuck things up?
” Besian braked hard as they approached a red light.
“Should I keep going? Maybe we can talk about the crypto scam? Or that leather factory you accepted as collateral for the defaulted Shehu family loan? The one we can’t sell or use? ”
“I’m trying to find a way to use it,” Luka weakly defended. “Kristo is in Asia right now looking for cheap products we can sell as cover.”
“Kristo called me a few hours ago looking for you. He failed to find a partner. He’s on his way back to Tirana—and that’s not all.
There was a raid on one of our warehouses back home.
One of our legit warehouses,” he clarified.
“They’ve impounded all the inventory and chained the doors.
I suppose this is something to do with your ex-girlfriend and her father? ”
Luka’s already sour stomach churned painfully. It was another black mark against him. With a heavy sigh, he rubbed his aching head. Feeling vulnerable and low, he admitted, “Every time I try to make things better, I fuck them up even harder.”
“Like making a deal for millions of dollars of product from the Russians?” Besian speared him with a furious glare. “Did you really think I wouldn’t find out?”
“I don’t care if you find out! It’s my decision! I’m the boss!”
Besian snorted in the most aggravating way. “You have the title, but have you earned it?”
“I’m trying, but you and Zec keep undermining me.”
“Saving your ass is undermining?” Besian lifted both hands from the wheel in a wild gesture.
“You know what? Fine. I’ll stop giving you advice.
I won’t even mention that you could have gotten a premium deal if you’d come to me first, used my connections to the cartel.
Even Zec could have gotten you a better rate. ”
“This was my deal. On my terms.” Even as he insisted he had it under control, Luka felt more and more out of control.
They drove in silence for a few blocks. Finally, Besian said, “You know what they’ll do to you if you don’t pay.”
Luka gulped down the urge to dry heave as he considered exactly what they would do. “I know.”
“Then you also know that I’ll cut your fucking throat myself if it keeps Marley safe,” Besian warned.
Luka stared straight ahead, refusing to look at his uncle. It wasn’t an empty threat. No matter how badly it hurt to hear his own flesh and blood say it, Luka understood it. “I know you will.”
“The way you’re trying to solve this problem on your own, without asking for help or guidance, is going to get us all killed. If you fuck up this marriage? If it doesn’t happen? We are—”
“I know,” he interrupted. “I know.”
“Then act like it.”
That was the last thing Besian said for the remainder of the ride.
When they arrived at his uncle’s home, Rina was waiting for him in the kitchen, looking more pissed off than he had ever seen her.
Marley stood behind her, pouring a cup of herbal tea.
She offered him an encouraging smile before scurrying away with her steaming mug.
“You’re disgusting,” Rina hissed.