Chapter 4
Four
Luca
What the hell are Kensley and Harper doing showing up tonight?
The thoughts that swim through my head fill me with unbridled rage. Has she been hanging around with Ashton?
For how long?
It’s clear he invited her over with her friend.
“What are you doing hanging around with him?” I’m struggling not to scream at Harper, because that’s all I want to do.
Shout at her.
Demand her to tell me why she lied to me.
And force her to confess all her secrets, because if she hid Zeke from me, what else is she hiding?
“How long have you and Ashton been hooking up?”
She scoffs and backs up, but her back is against the door. She has nowhere to go, nowhere to run. Even if she tried, we’d find her. The mafia won’t let her escape after all she’s seen.
She’s a liability.
And problems get removed.
“I’m not sleeping with your friend,” Harper says.
I step closer, staring into her darkened gaze, trying to decipher if she’s lying to me.
But I’m no interrogator.
I couldn’t even tell when she had kept the truth about Zeke from me. How the hell am I going to work for the mafia when I can’t discern secrets from the truth?
My hand caresses her cheek, holding her jaw to me, glaring at her. “Prove it to me,” I seethe.
Her brow furrows as she contemplates how to answer. “I can’t. That’s impossible.”
The heat between us fills the small space, and my heart pounds wildly in my chest.
I will not kiss Harper McKenna.
Her lips are luscious and thick. A soft puff of air spills past, and I lean in, closing half the distance, but I wait, and like a rubber band, I’m being yanked back to reality.
“You lied to me. How am I supposed to believe you now?” I demand. One hand caresses her cheek, the other traps her against the door, keeping her from going anywhere.
“Trust goes both ways, Luca.” Her voice is soft, fueled with warmth. She meets my stare, unafraid of me.
She should be afraid.
I’m the son of Dante Ricci.
Her hands are on my waist, her touch is firm yet gentle, her fingers skimming the hem of my shirt. She creates a fire building within me, yearning for her.
“I know you hate me,” Harper says. “I can live with that, but will you condemn my son to death?”
I pull back.
Her son.
Zeke.
I need space to breathe.
Air.
I keep distance between us and fumble back toward my bed, falling to the edge as my knees give out and I struggle to function.
Harper watches me, but she doesn’t move closer. “You lied to me too,” she says, her voice calm, but I feel the betrayal. “This wouldn’t have happened if I’d known the truth about your family.”
“You’re blaming me.” My gaze shoots up at her. “You were the one who snuck into the basement and let that kid out. You nearly got both of us killed!”
I can’t admit that she nearly got herself killed and I would have been the one forced to pull the trigger.
I swore I’d never become my father.
If she dies, I die.
But this isn’t some Romeo and Juliet bullshit.
Right now, I don’t even like her. And I’m pretty sure Romeo loved Juliet.
How’s that for tragic?
Me, forced to marry a girl I don’t love to protect her. But I don’t love her.
I tip my head back, staring up at the ceiling, and sigh. I really wish we had a hockey game tonight. I could use the time on the ice. Lifting weights wasn’t enough to stave off the excess energy that she’s building within me.
“What are we going to do about next weekend, dinner?” Harper asks.
“Cancel it. You’re not stepping foot back into that house,” I say. All she’ll do is wind up dead.
“I don’t think your parents are just going to accept that our engagement is over,” Harper says. “They threatened my son, Luca. Maybe you don’t care about what happens to him, but I do.”
“That’s not fair,” I growl at her and leap up from the bed. I’m just inches from her face, and I can feel her breath caress my cheek.
My body craves her as I lean closer, but my mind knows better.
If there were any other way out of this mess, I’d jump at it.
Marrying Harper wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world if she didn’t have a son. But putting Zeke’s life in my hands, it’s dangerous.
When I’m ordered to kill men, how can I not turn into the man I despise most of all? I don’t want that for her son.
“Tell me what I’m supposed to do, Luca.” Her voice is soft and filled with concern. Her brow is etched with worry. “I’d leave this place all behind, take Zeke with me, but you said there was nowhere I could go that your family wouldn’t find me.”
She’s right; there is no escape for either one of us that doesn’t end with us buried six feet deep.
Reluctantly, I reach for her hands. Her fingers are cold, and I feel the slight tremble as I intertwine our fingers together. “We put on a show, for your parents, for mine.”
“You’re willing to do that, for me?” Harper asks.
“I told you I’d protect you, that means your son as well.”
Standing outside of Harper’s dorm room, she has her backpack over one shoulder and a duffel bag in her hand.
“No Quinn today?” I ask, noticing her roommate isn’t in the room. I’m more than relieved. After Quinn practically tackled me at the front door, shoved her lips on me, and landed me in hot water with Harper, I don’t want to run into that succubus.
“Haven’t seen her the last two days. She’s been by the room; she dropped some things on her bed earlier, but I’m guessing she’s found a new boytoy to hook up with. Maybe she’s finally sleeping with him at his place!”
Sounds like good news for her. I hope it continues for both of us this evening.
“Are you ready to go?”
“Yeah, I have everything, including an extra change of clothes.” She shows me the duffel bag in her hand.
“What? You don’t need all that, Harper. It’s just dinner tonight.”
“You’re spending the weekend at your parents’. I figured since you’re my ride there, I would be too.”
Absolutely not.
“I’ll drive you back to campus after dinner.”
“That’s an extra two hours round trip,” Harper says. “If you really don’t want me to stay over, I’ll just take the bus.”
“I don’t know how long dinner will be, and there’s zero chance, if it’s the bus around midnight, that you’re getting on that one alone. I’ll drive you,” I insist.
While the bus system from Breckenridge down to Evergreen is relatively safe, I wouldn’t trust Harper to ride it alone past about ten o’clock at night. There are some sketchy guys in our town, and a woman alone? I absolutely won’t fathom it.
“Fine.” She drops her duffel beside her bed. “I suppose I don’t need my books then, either, if I’m not staying with you this weekend.” But she pauses before leaving her bag. “On second thought, just in case.”
“Just in case, what?” I ask. She’s refusing to relinquish her books. Is it because she’s struggling in economics again? One week without studying together, and she’s already looking a little stressed. Or maybe it’s tonight that has her worked up.
“You’re not going to need the books, Harper. Leave them here.”
She sighs and places the backpack on her bed. “I really need to study this weekend. We have a quiz next week, and I’m going to be so royally screwed.”
“What class?” I ask.
She glares at me. “Economics. Do you not pay attention anymore when we’re in class? Our professor said we have a quiz coming up, that it’ll be on last week’s lectures.”
I never really started paying attention in that class. The tension between us has gotten a little bit better over the last few days. While I had skipped economics earlier in the week, after our little chat in my bedroom, I relented and showed up in class later in the week.
Honestly, it’s not like I even need to show up. I could glance at the book or just remember everything I learned in high school. The concepts are all the same, nothing’s changed. I’m certainly not learning anything new.
At least it makes for an easy passing grade.
I haven’t spent any time alone with Harper, which means no study sessions as of late. I haven’t been in the mood to be overly helpful with her. After all, I’m already keeping her alive. Isn’t that enough?
But the look of concern on her face and the fact that she is becoming my problem, I need her to keep her grades up so that she can retain her scholarship.
“I can’t study this weekend, unless it’s Sunday night after I get back on campus. I’m not even sure what time I’ll be home.” I don’t want to stay the weekend, let alone learn anything about my father’s business.
He’s a murderer.
What’s there to know?
We head to the car and climb in. She buckles in and then glances at me. “How was your game last night?”
“Good.” It’s the one thing that brings a genuine smile to my face. “Kind of wish it was tonight so that we wouldn’t have to make the drive this weekend,” I admit.
Most of our hockey games are played on Fridays and Saturdays, which, during the season, saves me some time away from my father. Had we played on Thursday, I’d have been forced to spend Friday night through Sunday under my father’s roof.
At least playing Friday cuts one of those days off, and Saturday games make it so I don’t have to show up that weekend.
I couldn’t be that lucky today.
“I heard you guys won,” Harper says.
I glance at her, surprised she knew anything at all. She swears she hates hockey, but I caught her once at one of my games. I keep hoping that she’ll show up again.
“We did. Like I said, it was good.” I beam.
I scored two goals, which made it pretty damn spectacular after the previous week when I flubbed up.
“No time in the penalty box?” she asks, glancing at me.
A sly smile spreads across my face. “I didn’t say that.”
Harper laughs, and for the first time in a week, it actually feels like maybe we can get through this tonight.
“When are you coming to see me play?” I glance at her, hoping that she’ll show up next week. It’ll be another Friday game, which sucks that I’ll have to spend Saturday and Sunday back at the compound, but I know what I’m in for.
“Hockey is boring, Luca.”
I should be offended. “You don’t like watching guys fight on the ice?” My attention is on the road, but I want it to be on her. The fact that she’s even asking about hockey has me filled with curiosity and tingles of warmth.
Is this her way of trying to make peace after all that’s happened?
“I don’t like worrying that you’re going to get hurt,” she says.
My gaze meets hers briefly before I return my focus to the road. “You don’t have to worry about me, Harper. I can take care of myself on the ice. I’ve been playing for years.”
“I know,” she says and glances out the window. “I just don’t want to see you get hurt.”
“Before we met, did you ever like to watch guys fight on the ice? A lot of girls find it a real turn-on.” The number of puck bunnies who follow us from game to game is intense.
“Sorry, I’m not one of those girls who drools over guys fighting. I don’t like boxing or MMA, either.”
Fair enough. I’m glad she’s not a glutton for other people’s pain.
Silence fills the car, and she shifts again, her hands tapping nervously on her lap. “You should know, Luca, that I didn’t mention the engagement to my parents.”
Well, that’s going to make things hell awkward when my parents inevitably bring it up. “Why not?”
Harper shifts in the seat and sighs. “There is zero chance that they’d have gotten on board with coming tonight if I told them I’m engaged.”
“Even if you mentioned that he’s the most amazing guy you’ve ever met.”
She laughs and grins. “He’s modest too.”
“Seriously, Harper, what did you tell your parents about us?” We’re only a few minutes out from the compound and now we’re having this conversation.
My grip tightens on the steering wheel, and my shoulder muscles tighten. I can feel my muscles in my neck arguing with me to lighten my hold on the steering wheel, but it seems impossible.
“I mentioned that we met on campus, that you’ve been helping me in economics, tutoring me. They know you’re a year older, and I mentioned that we had dinner with your parents last weekend, and they want to get to know my parents.”
“Okay, all truths,” I say, realizing it will definitely be easier if we don’t have to create too many fabrications to keep track of.
“Anything else?” I ask. While she may not have mentioned the engagement, I’m curious how serious her parents think our relationship is at the moment.
“I told them that I really like you and to be nice.”
“All good things to mention.” I exhale nervously and glance at Harper. “Is Zeke coming tonight?”
“Yes, my son will be joining us for dinner. I tried gently suggesting that maybe we could find him a sitter for the evening, but they insisted that Zeke come, since he’s family, and my son.”
“It’ll be fine,” I say and reach for Harper’s hand, trying to reassure her that her son will be safe.
“Will it?” She stares at me. I can feel the worry on her shoulders. “Honestly, Luca, I really was hoping we could push the parents meeting back and have you meet them and Zeke first.”
That would have been the safer option and might have even helped for tonight’s dinner, but my parents had insisted that we all dine together. “Dante would never go for that. He wants to watch the madness unfold in front of him.”
“Seriously?” Harper asks. “I just assumed he was afraid I’d spill the secret about the mafia or the little boy being held in the basement—”
She is right. I’m sure that had been on the forefront of my father’s mind, concerned that he couldn’t control her if she’s not under his roof. It’s why he had originally demanded we stay until we were wed.
That was until he realized Harper was good at keeping secrets. She’d kept Zeke from me. From everyone at Evergreen University.
“You can’t mention the little boy in the basement.”
“I know, but—”
“No.” I shut that down immediately. “You can’t mention the kid. I’ll—look into it while I’m working for Dante,” I say.
“You will?” Her voice catches with a ray of hope.
“Just let me deal with the mafia stuff. You stay out of trouble, please.” I don’t want to have to worry about Harper all evening. It’s going to be enough to try to get through dinner with both of our parents.
“I promise not to step foot in that prison basement again.”
I snort. “Good.”
I hate the cost of what it took for her to learn her lesson.
A price we are all forced to pay.